In September 1861, the Confederate Medical Department built a large general hospital at Mt. Jackson to care for sick and wounded southern soldiers. It was located there because Mt. Jackson was the western terminus of the Manassas Gap Railroad, which facilitated transportation from northern Virginia battlefields. The hospital consisted of three two-story buildings, each 150 feet in length, "perfectly ventilated, and yet warm," several small support structures, and space for 500 patients. Dr. Andrew Russell Meem, a Shenandoah County resident, served as Surgeon-in-Charge and resided at Harrison House, the home of local businessman Col. Levi Rinker, who owned the hospital site and a plot across the Valley Turnpike where "Our Soldiers' Cemetery" was established for those who died there. The staff included Meem, two assistant surgeons who were contract physicians, five stewards, ten nurses, eight cooks, and five laundresses. The Union army occasionally took over the hospital, including after the Battle of New Market, when Federal surgeons worked into the night and one recalled that many mortally wounded died on their hands. After the war, the U.S. Army dismantled the hospital and used its lumber to build a military installation at Rude's Hill that included a courthouse, guardhouse, ballroom, and gallows. In February 1865, after falling ill, Meem was admitted to Harrisonburg General Hospital, where he died at age 41. His wife, Ann Jordan Meem, had assisted him at the Mt. Jackson hospital and in October 1861 organized the Ladies' Soldiers Relief and Aid Association to provide clothing, food, and supplies. The association held one of the earliest Confederate Memorial Day services at "Our Soldiers' Cemetery" on May 15, 1866.

Photo: Bradley Owen

Photo: Bradley Owen

Mount Jackson, Virginia · USA