SANITARY COMMISSION, UNITED STATES, an organization created from among the people of the northern states during the war of the rebellion, which supplemented the medical service of the union army.. Its duties and labors comprehended the choice and inspection of camps; the transportation of the wounded from the field of battle and their proper pospital accommodation and treatment; the supply of medical and general stores; the formation of convalescent camps; the organization of relief corps to proceed wherever needed and perform whatever sanitary or other helpful service was required; the special inspection of hospitals by skilled surgeons and physicians; and the establish ment of a bureau of vital statistics, whose reports and investigations have added more to the existing knowledge on the subject of the sanitary conditions of warfare than was ever before published. A hospital directory contained the names of 600,000 men who passed through the military hospitals, and successfully answered 70 per cent of all inquiries made after battles, or for missing friends or relatives. Soldiers' homes, estab lished by the commission, afforded food and shelter to as many as 2,000 soldiers per day during the four years of the war. At as many as 600 out of the 700 battles and skir mishes of the war, the commission was represented by its agents and its benefits. More than 4,500,000 meals and 1,000,000 nights' lodgings were supplied by this organization; and $2,500,000 were collected by it of soldiers' pay. The quantity of stores supplied to the soldiers after the battle of Gettysburg is almost incredible, and the details far tco numerous for statement here. The first call for funds by the commission was made June 21, 1861; and up to Mar. 28, 1862, but little more than $50,000 had been contrib
uted, mostly from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. In Sept., 1862, its entire receipts had reached the sum of $158,501. The magnificent gift by the state of Cali fornia of $100,000, made in the month last named, secured the commission from failure; and being followed within two weeks by another donation from California of the same amount, incited others to generous giving, and thenceforth there was no lack of money. Early in 1864 a series of ''sanitary fairs" was undertaken in the chief cities and towns throughout the north, and these brought enormous sums to the treasury of the sanitary commission.
The following table shows the money contribution to the U. S. Sanitary Commission from all sources, June 27, 1861, to Jan. 1, 1866: After the war the•en tire collection of records, documents, correspondence, and other papers of the U. S. sanitary commission were deposited in the Astor library, New York; and some years later were formally placed in the possession of that institution, where they remain. The board of direction of the sanitary commission comprised the follow ing gentlemen named by the medical bureau and the secretary of war: rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows, prof. Alexander D. Bache, prof. Wolcott Gibbs, Dr. Jeffries Wyman, Dr. W. H. Van Buren, Dr. Samuel G. Howe, R. C. Wood, surgeon U. S. A.; G. W. Cul lum, U. S. A.; A. E. Shims, U. S. A. Mr. Fred. Law Olmsted filled the position of general secretary of the commission during the first two years of its history, and to his judgment, sagacity, and administrative ability may be fairly attributed much of its success.