Old Military Hospital

Operated at this site 1861-1865, as San Antonio was a hub of Civil War troops and supply. Drew casualties and the sick of frontier commands from the Red River to Rio Grande. In camps, farm boys took whooping cough, measles--from first exposure in their lives. Convalescents and volunteer local ladies were nurses. City homes sent in delicate foods; patients ate well. To cope with medical shortage, doctors had local people gather wild herbs: foxglove, mullein, jimson, poke. Encouraged patriots to supply narcotics by growing and milking garden poppies. (1965)