View source for Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

The ''Bureau of Medicine and Surgery'' (abbreviated as ''BuMed'') was the [[United States Navy]] bureau responsible for medical care both ashore and afloat.

==History==
===1893===
<blockquote>l. The duties of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery shall comprise all that relates to laboratories, naval hospitals, and dispensaries.

2. It shall require for all supplies, medicines, and instruments used in the medical department of the Navy.

3. It shall design the various buildings erected within navy yards for its own purposes, so far as their internal arrangements are concerned, and, after their completion, have control of the same.

4. It shall design, erect, furnish, and maintain all the buildings constructed for its own purposes outside the limits of navy yards, for which it may have estimated; and it shall be charged, under the special instructions of the Secretary, with the purchase, sale, and transfer of all land and buildings in connection therewith, and with the preservation of the public property under its control.

5. It shall determine upon and require for all the stores, stationery, blank books, forms, materials, instruments, means and appliances of every kind used in the medical department for its own purposes, and shall have control of their inspection, storage, and preparation.

6. It shall superintend all the work done under it.

7. It shall have control of the organization and muster of the employés [''sic''] used entirely for its own purposes.

8. It shall estimate for, and defray from its own funds, the cost necessary to carry out the duties as above defined.

9. Orders relating to navy yard business connected with the bureau shall be given by the chief of bureau to the commandants, who shall be responsible for their execution.{{USNavyRegs1893|p. 6}}</blockquote>

===1896===

===1900===

===1905===
<blockquote>(1) The duties of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery shall comprise all that relates to laboratories, naval hospitals, and dispensaries.

(2) It shall require for all supplies, medicines, and instruments used in the Medical Department of the Navy.

(3) It shall design the various buildings erected within navy yards for its own purposes, so far as their internal arrangements are concerned, and, after their completion, have control of the same.

(4) It shall design, erect, furnish, and maintain all the buildings constructed for its own purposes outside the limits of navy yards, for which it may have estimated; and it shall be charged, under the special instructions of the Secretary, with the purchase, sale, and transfer of all land and buildings in connection therewith, and with the preservation of the public property under its control.

(5) It shall determine upon and require for all the stores, stationery, blank books, forms, materials, instruments, means and appliances of every kind used in the Medical Department for its own purposes, and shall have control of their inspection, storage, and preparation.

(8) It shall superintend all the work done under it.

(7) It shall have control of the organization and muster of the employees used entirely for its own purposes.

(8) It shall estimate for and defray from its own funds the cost necessary to carry out the duties as above defined.

(9) Orders relating to navy-yard business connected with the Bureau shall be given by the Chief of Bureau to the commandants, who shall be responsible for their execution.{{USNavyRegs1905|pp. 17-18}}</blockquote>

===1909===
<blockquote>(1) The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery shall have control of all hospitals and of the force employed there, and it shall have the general direction of the internal organization and administration of hospital ships; it shall have advisory power with respect to all questions connected with hygiene and sanitation affecting the service and, to this end, opportunity for unobstructed inspection: it shall provide for all physical examinations; it shall pass upon the competency, from a professional standpoint, of all men in the hospital corps for enlistment and promotion by means of examinations conducted under its supervision, or under forms prescribed by it; it shall have information as to the assignment and duties of all enlisted men of the hospital corps, with opportunity to invite the attention of the Department to any changes which may seem to be desirable; and shall have power to appoint and remove all nurses in the nurse corps (female), subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Navy.

(2) The duties of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery shall comprise all that relates to medical supply depots, medical laboratories, naval hospitals, hospital ships, dispensaries, and technical schools for the medical and hospital corps, and the nurse corps (female). It shall require for all supplies, medicines and instruments used in the medical department of the Navy.

(3) It shall approve the design of the various buildings erected within navy yards for its own purposes, so far as their internal arrangements are concerned and, after their completion, have control of the same.

(4) It shall design, erect, furnish, and maintain all the buildings constructed for its own purposes outside the limits of navy yards, for which it may have estimated; and it shall approve, under the special instructions of the Secretary, the purchase, sale, and transfer of all land and buildings in connection therewith, and shall be charged with the preservation of the public property under its control.

(5) It shall determine upon and require for all the stores, stationery, blank books, forms, materials, instruments, means and appliances of every kind used in the medical department for its own purposes, and shall have control of their inspection, storage, and preparation.{{USNavyRegs1909|pp. 15-16}}</blockquote>

===1913===

==Chiefs of Bureau==
Dates of appointment given:

<div name=fredbot:officeChief otitle="Chief of Bureau of Medicine and Surgery" nat="US">{{TenureListBegin|Chief of Bureau of Medicine and Surgery}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CommUS}}|name=William Maxwell Wood|nick=William M. Wood|appt=1869|end=1871|precBy=Phineas J. Horwitz}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=Jonathan Messersmith Foltz|nick=Jonathan M. Foltz|appt=1871|end=1872}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=James Croxall Palmer|nick=James C. Palmer|appt=1872|end=1873}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=Joseph Beale|nick=Joseph Beale|appt=1873|end=1877}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=William Grier|nick=William Grier|appt=1877|end=1878}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=John Winthrop Taylor|nick=J. Winthrop Taylor|appt=1878|end=1879}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=Philip Skinner Wales|nick=Philip S. Wales|appt=1879|end=1884}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=Francis MacKall Gunnell|nick=Francis M. Gunnell|appt=1884|end=1888}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=John Mills Browne|nick=John M. Browne|appt=1888|end=1893}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=James Rufus Tryon|nick=James R. Tyron|appt=1893|end=1897}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=Newton L. Bates|nick=Newton L. Bates|appt=1897|end=1897}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CdreUS}}|name=William Knickerbocker Van Reypen|nick=William K. Van Reypen|appt=1897|end=1902}}
{{Tenure|rank={{RearUS}}|name=Presley Marion Rixey|nick=Presley M. Rixey|appt=1902|end=1910}}
{{Tenure|rank={{RearUS}}|name=Charles Francis Stokes|nick=Charles F. Stokes|appt=1910|end=1914}}
{{Tenure|rank={{RearUS}}|name=William Clarence Braisted|nick=William C. Braisted|appt=1914|end=1920}}
{{Tenure|rank={{RearUS}}|name=Edward Rhodes Stitt|nick=Edward R. Stitt|appt=1920|end=1928}}
{{Tenure|rank={{RearUS}}|name=Charles Edward Riggs|nick=Charles E. Riggs|appt=1921|end=1933}}
{{Tenure|rank={{RearUS}}|name=Perceval Sherer Rossiter|nick=Perceval S. Rossiter|appt=1933|end=1938|succBy=Ross T. McIntire}}
{{TenureListEnd}}
</div name=fredbot:officeChief>

==See Also==
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{{refend}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
<div name=fredbot:bib>
* {{USNavyRegs1893}}
* {{USNavyRegs1896}}
* {{USNavyRegs1900}}
* {{USNavyRegs1905}}
* {{USNavyRegs1909}}
* {{USNavyRegs1913}}
</div name=fredbot:bib>
{{refend}}

[[Category:Pages with Offices]]