32nd Massachusetts Aid Station

Situated on the Stony Hill in Gettysburg, across the road from the much visited Irish Brigade monument, sits a large boulder with a plaque on it. This area of the battlefield gets so few visits. I often wonder why, when people stop to get out and look at the Irish Brigade monument, they don't just walk across the road to visit the little grouping of monuments there....but often they don't. I've watched. And its a shame.

On this particular boulder sits a plaque that would be well for anyone to read:
Behind this group of rocks, on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, Surgeon Z. Boylston Adams placed a field hospital of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Army Corps, established so near the line of battle, many of our wounded escaped capture or death by its timely aid.

So, you walk behind this boulder and sure enough, there is an area that is surrounded by boulders. It would be an ideal spot to place a field hospital....an aid station, if you will. I often stand and look at this particular spot and wonder what it must have been like for Dr. Adams and anyone who was working with him. They were right in the heat of the battle. The regiments were fighting right around where he was working to save the lives of those who fell. And save their lives, he did.

I tried to find some information, personal or otherwise, on this extraordinary man. There doesn't seem to be much out there. But I did locate this on the United States Army Medical Department Regiment website http://ameddregiment.amedd.army.mil/Leadership_Courage.asp:

Surgeon Z. Boylston Adams

Medical Corps

During the Battle of Gettysburg, Surgeon Adams showed great courage by working on the wounded of both armies for two days and three nights without sleep. The eye-strain and fatigue were so severe he finally collapsed. Surgeon Adams suffered an attack of blindness and remained in a state of severe exhaustion and was honorably discharged.

When I read stuff like this, it makes me realize that it wasn't just the soldiers who were the heroes, but the men behind the scenes, too. The men who treated the wounded, the men who drove the wounded to the hospitals, the men who drove the supply wagons, the men who helped with the horses, the men who we hear very little about: they were all heroes.

Dr. Adams would probably be forgotten except for this little plaque that no one really notices. I, for one, pay attention to it, and I, for one, salute him for helping the wounded in such horrendous circumstances. Here to you, Dr. Adams!