Recently, I reread I Acted From
Principle: The Civil War Diary of Dr. William M. McPheeters, Confederate
Surgeon in the Trans-Mississippi. Well edited by Cynthia Dehaven Pitcock
and Bill J. Gurley, the book offers a number of insights into the life of a
Confederate surgeon. A resident of St. Louis when the war started, Union
officials levied fines on suspected Confederate sympathizers such as the doctor
and his family. Since he refused to pay the levy, furniture and other items
were confiscated from his house. Several months later, in June 1862, McPheeters
fled St. Louis and became a Confederate surgeon. The diary contains entries
from June 1, 1863 to June 20, 1865 and documents his close association with
Arkansas and Missouri leaders such as Thomas J. Churchill, Mosby M. Parsons,
Sterling Price, and James C. Tappan.
It seems to me that many published accounts by Civil War surgeons are
lacking in medical information, but McPheeters regularly mentions patients that
he is treating and discusses other work duties. In the winter of 1863, he
organized the Army Medical Association that resulted in regular meetings and
discussions among trans-Mississippi physicians. McPheeters documents also his
long absences from his wife, Sallie, and their two daughters. Luckily,
McPheeters seemed to be a social man, and he frequently mentions visitors and
acquaintances in almost every area that he traveled through. There are many
topics of interest in the diary such as the poignant entries that document his
family’s banishment from St. Louis in January 1865. Sallie and her daughters
traveled more than 400 miles south on the Mississippi River and then debarked in
Arkansas. Afterwards, the anxious Dr. McPheeters searched for his family in
southern Arkansas and finally reunited with them in Warren. As for military
service, McPheeters wrote of the battles of Helena, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill,
Jenkins’ Ferry, as well as Price’s 1864 Missouri Expedition. If you enjoy
firsthand accounts, this is a highly recommended read!
Here is the full bibliographic citation for the book:
Cynthia Dehaven Pitcock and Bill J. Gurley, eds. I Acted From Principle: The Civil War Diary of Dr. William M.
McPheeters, Confederate Surgeon in the Trans-Mississippi. Fayetteville:
University of Arkansas Press, 2002.
