Hunter McGuire
Encyclopedia
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, and orator. He started several schools and hospitals which later became part of the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. His statue sits prominently on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol
Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the United States, the Virginia General Assembly...
. Nearby, the McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center
Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center
Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center is located in Richmond, Virginia.-History:McGuire VA Hospital was established on the land of a former racetrack in Chesterfield County, Virginia after World War II along State Route 10 and Richmond's Belt Boulevard, an early highway bypass...
is named in his honor.
Youth and education
Hunter Holmes McGuire was born in Winchester, VirginiaWinchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
to a prominent eye surgeon, Dr. Hugh Holmes McGuire and his wife Eliza. Young Hunter was one of 7 children. He often accompanied his father, and studied medicine at the Winchester Medical College where he graduated in 1855. His continuing medical education in Philadelphia was interrupted by the onset of the hostilities which led to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He taught briefly at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans before joining the Confederate Army in 1861.
Civil War
Dr. McGuire joined "The Winchester Rifles," company F of the 2nd Virginia Infantry2nd Virginia Infantry
The 2nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in today’s West Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought as part of the Stonewall Brigade, mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia....
, Confederate Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, as a private. However, his services were much more valuable as a doctor rather than a front line soldier. McGuire was made a brigade surgeon and was ordered to report to General Thomas J. Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
at Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. In many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry" with an apostrophe....
. Jackson initially scoffed at McGuire's youth, but the two became very close as the war progressed. Dr. McGuire treated General Jackson after the First Battle of Manassas, where the General picked up the nickname "Stonewall Jackson" following an exclamation by General Barnard E. Bee Jr. (who himself was killed during the battle).
In 1862, McGuire was promoted to the chief surgeon of Jackson's Corps, serving in the Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
under its Medical Director, Dr. Lafayette Guild
Lafayette Guild
LaFayette Guild was a surgeon in the antebellum United States Army, a noted pioneer in the study of yellow fever, and then a leading medical administrator in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served directly under General Robert E...
. In May 1863, Jackson was gravely wounded by friendly fire near Chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...
and Dr. McGuire amputated his left arm in a vain attempt to save his life. Jackson died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
a few days later. His last words were recorded by Dr. McGuire as: "Let us cross over the river and rest beneath the shade of the trees". The death of Jackson affected McGuire greatly. He would always remember Jackson with the deepest reverence and served as a pallbearer in Stonewall's funeral.
At the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
two months later, Dr. McGuire amputated the leg of General Isaac R. Trimble
Isaac R. Trimble
Isaac Ridgeway Trimble was a United States Army officer, a civil engineer, a prominent railroad construction superintendent and executive, and a Confederate general in the American Civil War, most famous for his leadership role in the assault known as Pickett's Charge at the Battle of...
after Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander,...
. He later served under General Richard S. Ewell
Richard S. Ewell
Richard Stoddert Ewell was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame as a senior commander under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E...
and General Jubal Early
Jubal Anderson Early
Jubal Anderson Early was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil War. He served under Stonewall Jackson and then Robert E. Lee for almost the entire war, rising from regimental command to lieutenant general and the command of an infantry corps in the Army of Northern Virginia...
.
After the War, McGuire contributed to the original (first) of the Geneva Conventions
First Geneva Convention
The First Geneva Convention, for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, is one of four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It defines "the basis on which rest the rules of international law for the protection of the victims of armed conflicts." It was first adopted...
, which is why the Boston Medical Journal said in his obituary that he had "humanized war."
Educator, hospital founder
After the Civil War ended in April 1865, Dr. McGuire returned to Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
where he became chair of surgery at the Medical College of Virginia. He married Mary Stuart of Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
in 1867. They had ten children, many of who followed in his footsteps into medicine, notably Dr. Stuart McGuire. They maintained a summer residence just west of Richmond in Bon Air
Bon Air, Virginia
Bon Air is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,366 at the 2010 census. The community is considered a suburb of the independent city of Richmond in the Richmond-Petersburg region, and shares a post office with Richmond...
.
Dr. McGuire was president of the American Medical Association
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
and numerous other organizations. He has been described as a brilliant administrator, a gifted teacher and orator, and also wrote prolifically.
He founded St. Luke’s Hospital and Training School for Nurses, helped found the Medical Society of Virginia, and in 1893, he started the College of Physicians and Surgeons, later University College of Medicine.
Legacy
Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire is immortalized by a statue by American sculptor William CouperWilliam Couper
William L Couper was an American sculptor.Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Couper returned from the studios of Munich and Florence and established himself in New York in 1897 as a portraitist and sculptor of busts in the modern Italian manner...
placed on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol
Virginia State Capitol
The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital of Virginia. It houses the oldest legislative body in the United States, the Virginia General Assembly...
in 1904, which is 2 blocks from his beloved hospital. The inscription upon it reads:
- Hunter Holmes McGuire, M.D., L.L.D. President of the American Medical and of the American Surgical Associations; Founder of the University College of Medicine Medical Director, Jackson's Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. An Eminent Civil and Military Surgeon and Beloved Physician. An Able Teacher and Vigorous Writer; A Useful Citizen and Broad Humanitarian, Gifted in Mind and Generous in Heart, This Monument is Erected by his Many Friends.
In 1913, his University College of Medicine became part of the Medical College of Virginia (MCV). McGuire Hall was named in his honor at that time. The following year, his son Dr. Stuart McGuire, was named president of the combined institution, a leading medical center. In 1968, MCV became part of Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
(VCU).
The Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center
Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center
Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center is located in Richmond, Virginia.-History:McGuire VA Hospital was established on the land of a former racetrack in Chesterfield County, Virginia after World War II along State Route 10 and Richmond's Belt Boulevard, an early highway bypass...
in Richmond was named in his honor. It was the first VA hospital to perform heart transplants. The McGuire VA Hospital, as it is known locally, has a full range of health care services ranging from comprehensive outpatient care to complex inpatient services such as heart, liver and lung transplantation, and care of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. The medical center has 427 operating beds, which includes acute care, spinal cord injury, mental health services and a skilled nursing home. An exact namesake of Dr. McGuire, presumably one of his descendants, was a physician there in the late 20th century.
Websites
- eHistory - Hunter Holmes McGuire
- Handley Regional Library, Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, Hunter Holmes McGuire Collection
Additional reading
Shaw, Maurice F. (1993) Stonewall Jackson’s surgeon Hunter Holmes McGuire : a biography H.E. Howard; Lynchburg, Virginia.Schildt, John W (1986), Hunter Holmes McGuire : Doctor In Gray J.W. Schildt; Chewsville, Maryland.