Montgomery, AL- Civil War Hospitals

Montgomery, Alabama was an ideal location for a Civil War hospital center. It was located far from active military action and could be accessed by both rail and water. Six Confederate hospitals were eventually established there, most were pre-existing structures that were requisitioned by the Confederate government. The map below is from William Warren Rogers excellent book referenced in the sources. It shows the locations of several Civil War hospitals in Montgomery. The government operated hospitals were: #8- General Hospital; #6 Ladies Hospital location; #2- Madison Hotel Hospital; #3- Concert Hall; #15- Watts Hospital; and #16- Stonewall Hospital. The Soldiers’ Home (#14) and Wayside Home (#7) were locally operated.

Ladies Hospital– Ladies Hospital was located at the same site that had once served as a Confederate office building the year before (no longer standing) when Montgomery was the capital of the Confederacy. General and Ladies Hospital were under the supervision of Dr. Samuel Stout, the medical director of the Army of Tennessee. Stout placed Dr. Watson Gentry in charge of all Montgomery hospitals. Both were outstanding administrators.

**105 Commerce Street**– **former site of the Ladies Hospital**

The General Hospital– was located on the opposite corner of the same intersection at 84 Commerce Street. The original building no longer stands.

Soldiers’ Home Hospital– was a locally operated hospital founded by the Ladies’ Aid Society of Montgomery in June of 1861. It was originally located in a four-room house owned by Dr. Carnot Belinger and his wife Sarah Hails Bellinger on their farm south of the center of the city. The Belinger’s donated the land for the facility and ran it. In May of 1862 the strain of operating the facility had taken its toll on the couple and the hospital was moved to the city and became the Ladies Hospital. A stone in the ground at the intersection of South Hull Street and Burton Avenue marks the site of the facility which is no longer standing.

**Site where the Soldiers Home Hospital sat**

Madison House Hospital– Previously a hotel the Madison House was located at the corner of Market (Dexter) and Perry Streets. The four-story brick building was requisitioned in 1863. It had a capacity of three-hundred patients under the supervision of Dr. Courtney Clark. The building no longer stands and a parking lot now sits on the site, shown below.

Concert Hall Hospital– Concert Hall was requisitioned in 1864. Located across Perry Street from the Madison House, it could accommodate 250 patients. The original building no longer stands and a retail store now sits on the site, shown below.

Watts and Stonewall Hospitals– Both of these hospitals were clusters of tents located near the Alabama and Florida Railroad depot on the outskirts of town established in 1863-1864. They were set up to house patients that were less acutely ill during periods of high capacity.

With the start of Sherman’s Atlanta campaign from May to September of 1864 large numbers of wounded soldiers arrived in Montgomery via the Montgomery and West Point Railroad. All six hospital facilities were filled beyond capacity and the resources of the town severely taxed.

Oakwood Cemetery- Those who died at these hospitals were buried in Oakwood Cemetery (829 Columbus Street- 32.3842363, -86.2964685). A Ladies Memorial Association Monument is also there.