Existing comment:
on the basis of mental disability was through GHI. The admissions and discharges were controlled and authorized by the Adjutant General's Office. However, not all Union soldiers were treated at St Elizabeths. Dr. Nichols observed that the majority of these cases had both mental and body diseases. After the war, the Army and Navy general hospitals were closed and the artificial limb manufacturing shop was dismantled. But the hospital continued to care for the mentally ill Civil War veterans.
Following the Civil War, there was an increase in the number of mentally ill veterans. On July 13, 1866, Congress passed an act that permitted the GHI to admit all men who had served as Union soldiers in the Civil War and were found insane within three years of discharge by reasons of continuation of mental illness, relapses after recovery, or mental illness relating to military service. The hospital gradually received veterans from all parts of the United States. Many of these former soldiers were chronically ill and required custodial care. To relieve congestion and overcrowding, the hospital continued to construct new buildings. The Dawes * extension to Center Building was built in 1871 to house 100 males. In 1872, another wing named Garfield was added. In 1878, Atkins Hall was built. The hospital's expansion continued with the 1880 construction of the Relief Building to house 250 chronic male patients.
Between 1898-1899, four Allison ** Buildings were constructed to care for infirm and bed-ridden Civil War Veterans. The hospital always maintained high standards in caring for the Civil War soldiers. A s stated by Dr. Nichols, "the patriotic sacrifices of the military patients will always entitle them to our best endeavors to promote their comfort and their restoration to health." |