Richard Sherwood Satterlee (1798–1880) was a medical officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Biography

Satterlee was born on December 6, 1798, in Fairfield, New York. His father, Major. William Satterlee, had served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Sattlerlee obtained his medical license in 1818 and began practicing in rural

Seneca County, New York Seneca County is located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,814. The county seat is Waterloo. It became a one county in 1822, which currently remains in effect and uses one locations as county seats a ...

. He moved to Detroit, then part of the

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit w ...

, in 1822. There he married Mary S. Hunt, sister of John Hunt, a Michigan Territorial Supreme Court Justice. Satterlee died on November 10, 1880, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career

Satterlee joined the Army in February 1822 at the Detroit Barracks as assistant surgeon. He was subsequently stationed at Fort Niagara in Porter, New York, Fort Howard in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

, and Fort Mackinac on

Mackinac Island, Michigan Mackinac Island ( ) is a city in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a permanent population of 583. The population numbers in the tens of thousands from May 1st to October 31st due to an influx o ...

. In 1831 he transferred to Fort Winnebago in

Portage, Wisconsin Portage is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Wisconsin, Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2020 census making it the largest city in Columbia County. The city is part of the Madison, Wiscon ...

. While there he would take part in the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

. Following a second tour of duty at Fort Howard, Satterlee was sent to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to assist in a campaign against the Seminole. During his time there, he was given an official commendation by his commanding officer, future U.S. President

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

. After a tour of duty at Fort Adams in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, Satterlee was sent to serve in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. Serving under

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

, Satterlee took part in the

Battle of Molino del Rey The Battle of Molino del Rey (8 September 1847) was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Mexican–American War as part of the Battle for Mexico City. It was fought in September 1847 between Mexican forces under General Antonio León against ...

and the

Battle of Chapultepec The Battle of Chapultepec was a battle between American forces and Mexican forces holding the strategically located Chapultepec Castle just outside Mexico City, fought 13 September 1847 during the Mexican–American War. The building, sitting a ...

. Following his service in the war, he returned to Fort Adams in 1848. In 1853 he survived the sinking of the

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

San Francisco off the coast from New York as it was carrying an artillery regiment to the West Coast. He served throughout most of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

as head of the Union Army's Medical Purveyor's Office in New York City. While there, he oversaw the introduction of the Satterlee bone saw, used for amputations, which had a "pistol grip." This saw is still in use. During the war he was brevetted a Brigadier General and was a candidate for the command of the Medical Corps following the dismissal of

Clement Finley Clement Alexander Finley (May 11, 1797 – September 8, 1879), was the 10th Surgeon General of the United States Army, May 15, 1861 – April 14, 1862. Early life Clement Finley was born at Newville, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. His fath ...

. The command eventually went to William Alexander Hammond. Satterlee retired in 1869.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satterlee, Richard Sherwood 1798 births 1880 deaths American military personnel of the Mexican–American War American people of the Black Hawk War People from Fairfield, New York Union Army surgeons United States Army Medical Corps officers