British Ambulances In The Franco-Prussian War

Though the United Kingdom remained neutral during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, it provided ambulances and other medical assistance to both combatants and the civilians affected by the war. The term "ambulance" at this time denoted a medical organisation that provided field hospitals, transport and surgical operations, not the more limited modern use. The British public donated more than £300,000 to provide medical assistance during the war. The ambulances, together with those of other neutral organisations, proved very effective at treating casualties, and following the war all major powers took steps to implement similar arrangements for future wars.

Background

The United Kingdom was neutral during the Franco-Prussian War, but numerous organisations were formed to provide medical assistance to one side or both during the war. More than £300,000 of donations was made by the British public to provide for medical services during the course of the war. Much of the funding went to "ambulances", a term that at the time referred to an organisation providing large-scale medical facilities including transport, field hospitals and surgical facilities rather than the more limited usage of today. Many of the ambulances were staffed by doctors on leave from the British Army with medical students from other nations serving on an ad-hoc basis.

A number of other neutral nations formed their own ambulances to provide medical assistance during the war including the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and Belgium. By the war's end, it had become clear that ambulances and formal medical provision were a key requirement of warfare of the time. All of the major powers subsequently made efforts to establish permanent organised ambulance services for the transport and treatment of their wounded during wartime.

Individual ambulances

Ambulance Anglaise

A prominent British resident of Paris, Richard Wallace contributed funds to establish two ambulances during the siege; one for French wounded and one for "sick and destitute" British citizens. He also contributed more than £12,000 of funding for the ambulances as part of the 2.5 million francs he gave to relieve suffering in Paris during the war. Despite having the opportunity to flee, Wallace chose to remain in the city throughout the war. The ambulances, staffed by English surgeons, became known as the Ambulance Anglaise ("English Ambulance"), though Wallace named the field portion of the unit after his father, the Marquess of Hertford. The unit provided a hospital of 50 beds in the city and absorbed some of the staff of the American Ambulance after it was disbanded in March.

After the war, Wallace's ambulances were absorbed into the Hertford British Hospital, established in Paris by Wallace on 15 October 1871. As a result of his work, Wallace was said to be the most popular British resident of the city. He was honoured by having a street named for him and received the Legion of Honour from France and a baronetcy from Queen Victoria.

Anglo-American Ambulance

The Anglo-American Ambulance was formed as a splinter of the American Ambulance, following a dispute between medical staff and the ambulance committee over deployments (the committee wanted to wait for the siege to begin whereas the doctors wanted to immediately head to the front). The Anglo-American Ambulance was led by Confederate American Civil War veteran J. Marion Sims, who was then resident in France, and British surgeon William MacCormac. The new ambulance was partially funded by the British Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War and consisted of 8 American and 8 English medical staff with three ambulance wagons. All bar one of the Americans were former Confederate Army surgeons.

Charles E. Ryan served with the corps as a dresser and assistant surgeon and in 1896 published an account of his time with the unit. The unit left Paris on 28 August by train for the battlefield of Carignan but was delayed as Prussian forces had captured the railway line. The ambulance was held at Sedan railway station where its personnel encountered the French Emperor Napoleon III and the retreating survivors of the Battle of Beaumont. The ambulance attempted to move towards the front by road but found it was caught between the two armies and returned to Sedan. Twelve men of the ambulance treated more than 600 wounded of the subsequent Battle of Sedan (1–2 September) from a hospital that periodically came under shellfire. The remaining four medical staff ran a secondary hospital at Balan which treated the wounded of a battle fought there on 31 August and those of the 1 September Battle of Bazeilles. With the ambulance at Sedan was Marcus Beck who reported that the French army surgeons had not adopted the anti-septic measures advocated by his father's cousin Joseph Lister.

Following the French defeat, the ambulance was re-united at Sedan under Prussian occupation and erected 36 tents to accommodate the large number of wounded from the recent battles and those given to their care by the Prussian forces. The ambulance was granted permission to leave Sedan for Paris on 4 October and travelled via Belgium and Rouen. However, it proved impossible to enter the capital due to the ongoing siege and instead the unit was placed at the disposal of the Prussian Army at Versailles by Robert Loyd-Lindsay of the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War. At around this time the ambulance changed its previously French-inspired uniform for that of the British Army's Royal Artillery undress uniform.

The ambulance arrived at the city of Orléans