A 'humble instrument': Echoes of Nashville's Hospital No. 8

Circa-1860s image of Nashville's Downtown Presbyterian Church, used as a Union hospital during the war. (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.)

A present-day image of  Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville.

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At the corner of Fifth Avenue and Church Street in downtown Nashville, two blocks from the honky-tonks of Broadway, a tour bus creeps through busy traffic. On the steamy Saturday morning, diners sip coffee at outdoor tables while three young men jostle for a spot on a bench next to the Downtown Presbyterian Church. A large sign on the front of the unusual Egyptian Revival–style building notes its use as a Federal hospital during the Civil War, but few seem to notice it. 

A large sign on the church notes its use as a
Federal hospital during the Civil War.

During the war, life-and-death decisions played out inside the church, one of at least 25 Nashville structures commandeered by the U.S. government for use as hospitals. Pews were removed from the sanctuary to make room for 206 beds for sick and wounded soldiers, and the Union army used the basement as a stable for horses. 

The Presbyterian church, along with the four-story Masonic Hall across the street, was designated Hospital No. 8. Near the end of the war, a “very pleasant affair” — a small slice of humanity — took place in Ward 5 at Hospital No. 8, either inside the church or at the now-demolished Masonic Hall. 

Acting assistant surgeon George Duzan, a 23-year-old from Indiana in charge of the ward, was presented on behalf of the attendants and patients with a “beautiful” inscribed silver watch, chain and key that cost $75 (nearly $1,500 today). The hospital chaplain said the gift recognized Duzan’s “kind attention and skillful treatment” and his “gentlemanly deportment” during his service.

Duzan, who served with the 52nd Indiana, became emotional during the presentation, according to an account published in the Nashville Daily Union on March 28, 1865:

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COMPLIMENTARY TO A SURGEON

Post-war image of George Duzan,
Federal surgeon during the Civil War.

U.S. General Hospital No. 8, Nashville, Tenn., March 25, 1865 -- A very pleasant affair came off this afternoon in ward 5 of our hospital, showing the feeling existing between Dr. Duzan, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. A., in charge of the ward, and attendants and patients he daily comes in contact with. At  4 o'clock all were assembled, when Chaplain Goodfellow presented the Doctor with a beautiful American Silver watch, chain and key, costing 75 dollars with the following inscription engraved upon it:

"Presented to G. U. Duzan, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. A, by attendants and patients of ward 5, Hospital No. 8, Nashville, Tenn., March 25th, 1865."

In the following words:

Dr. Duzan: "It is my pleasant duty to present you this watch and chain in the name, and in behalf of the ward-master attendants, and patients of ward 5, as a testimonial of their respect, for your kind attention and skillful treatment, as well as your gentlemanly deportment, since you have been on duty among them. May you when you look on the figures indicating the hours of the day, and the minutes comprising those hours, remember that one represents your days and the other the hours of those days and may you be thereby taught a profitable lesson. And when these brave but afflicted donors have separated, this ward broken up, and this cruel rebellion crushed -- may you look upon this gift with as a kind remembrance of these men, as is now felt by them, in presenting it."

Duzan may have received
a pocket watch similar
 to this one.

The Doctor with emotion responded in the following words:

Attendants and patients: Your afflictions, the result of privations endured for our country's good have caused our association. You as patients, the suffering subject of disease, I as an humble instrument, employed to alleviate your sufferings and to minister to your physical wants. That our association with each other has been an agreeable one, this gift will testify. I accept it as testimonial of your appreciation of my services; as such it will be preserved and cherished with feelings of gratitude and pride."

POSTSCRIPT: After the Civil War, Duzan continued to practice medicine and surgery in Zionsville, Ind. A "man of pleasant address and commanding appearance," he died Nov. 6, 1893. "His death was sudden," the Indianapolis News wrote about the 51-year-old doctor. "He rose in fright from his bed, and was caught by his friends and returned to the bed -- dead." The primary cause of death was heart disease.

The whereabouts of the precious watch he received during the Civil War are unknown.

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SOURCES:

• Indianapolis News, Nov. 6, 1893
• Nashville Daily Union, March 28, 1865
• National Historic Landmark nomination form, Old First Presbyterian Church, National Park Service. Accessed July 14, 2018