George Cuvier Harlan papers, 1858-1909, bulk 1861-1864

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Summary

Creators:
Harlan, George C. (George Cuvier), 1835-1909
Abstract:
Papers belonging to American physician George Cuvier Harlan who served in the American Civil War as a surgeon for the Union Navy and Army.
Extent:
4.8 Linear Feet (4 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. George Cuvier Harlan papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Correspondence and miscellaneous papers of George C. Harlan, chiefly covering his Civil War experience. The bulk of the collection consists of his letters to his mother Margaret Simmons Hart Howell Harlan and younger brother Edward S. Harlan. George C. Harlan regularly reported to his "Philadelphia headquarters" war news and rumors and recounted the details of his hospital work, including the numerous challenges he faced in his effort to keep his camp and field hospitals up to the "hospital standards of Pennsylvania," and described his patients, colleagues, commanders, fellow officers, soldiers, escaped enslaved persons, and Southern secessionists. His letters contain accounts of the military operations and events he witnessed, including the capture of blockade-runners, the rampage of the Confederate armored warships, the Monitor and the Merrimack, the Peninsular Campaign of 1862, and the siege of Petersburg in 1864. The letters written from Confederate prisons describe Harlan's capture and his medical work in Confederate hospitals. Also included are letters by Ely McClellan (1834-1893), H.W. Rivers, surgeon-in-chief of Kautz Cavalry Division, and others, relating to Harlan's capture and efforts made to secure his release; Harlan's military and professional records, including his Navy commissions signed by Gideon Welles and his muster-out roll; letters of recommendation; pension documents; his obituary, and resolutions by veteran and professional societies and associations on the occasion of his death in November 1909. Also included is a copy of Harlan's book Memoir of Dr. William Fisher Norris, published in 1902.

Biographical / historical:

George Cuvier Harlan (1835-1909) was an American physician who was the son of the naturalist Richard Harlan (1796-1843), and nephew of Josiah Harlan (1799-1871), famous for his travels in India and Afghanistan. Harlan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in January 1835. George C. Harlan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1858, and was then resident physician of several hospitals in Pennsylvania including Wills Eye Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, and Pennsylvania Hospital. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined the state Home Guard, but soon resigned his position to accept a Navy appointment of an acting assistant surgeon in June 1861. For three months he served with the Atlantic Blockading Squadron off the shores of the Carolinas, onboard of the screw steamer Union. In August of 1861, he resigned his commission to join "Harlan's Light Cavalry," an independent regiment raised by his uncle Josiah Harlan. The regiment was designated 11th Regiment of Pennsylvania Cavalry in November 1861. As the regimental surgeon, Dr. Harlan fought in Virginia and North Carolina, taking part in the Peninsular and Petersburg campaigns. On June 29, 1864, he allowed himself to be captured near Ream's Station when he voluntarily remained on the battlefield to tend to the wounded. As a wounded prisoner, Dr. Harlan was sent to a prison hospital in Petersburg; he was exchanged on September 26, 1864. Shortly afterwards he was honorably discharged because his term had expired. After the war, he was professor of ophthalmology in the Philadelphia Polyclinic and author of numerous works on the subject. Harlan died in September 1909, following a fall from a horse.

Acquisition information:
Purchased for the Huntington by the Library Collectors' Council from Carmen D. Valentino, January 2004.
Processing information:

Processed by Olga Tsapina in May 2006. In December 2024, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. George Cuvier Harlan papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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