Chattanooga had been part of the Confederacy since June of 1861, but had been little touched by the war in its opening months. However, as February 1862 neared its end, that was about to change; Fort Donelson had fallen and as a result, Nashville was being abandoned.
The civilian telegraph operator in Chattanooga stared at the message in disbelief: “Prepare as best you can for some 1,000 or 1,200 sick and convalescent from this army and the hospitals at Nashville. They will be sent forward as fast as cars can be supplied.”
The telegrapher was not even sure who to give this message to; there was very little Confederate military presence in the city and no preparations to treat sick and wounded had been made. It would fall to the citizens of Chattanooga to improvise a treatment facility for the new arrivals.
“When the first train arrived with some 300 on board, they were in a most pitiable condition. … Tears filled the eyes of many at the depot when these poor fellows were taken from the cars … a majority of them were helpless. Two other trains came in the following day with men in the same condition. Three soldiers were found dead in the cars, one died in the depot before removal and another died on the way to the hospital.”
Led by their mayor, Milo B. Smith, a physician, the citizens would lose another six men in their makeshift hospital before Confederate authorities arrived within a couple of weeks and established a medical presence.