The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War. Volume III: Finance and Supply.

Shortly after the surgeon general's office was established in 1818, the war department defined the method of procuring supplies needed in the care of the sick. An important part of the method was that supplies should be ordered on an annual requisition. These, when summarized as they came from various posts, formed the basis of the annual estimate of supplies for the medical department. From time to time changes were made in the list of and in the method of procuring supplies. The Spanish-American War came along and found the supplies of the medical department at a low ebb. It was difficult to meet the need for rapid expansion. Criticisms of this and other departments of the army were made and the President appointed the Dodge Commission to conduct an exhaustive investigation. The conclusions of the commission which pertained to the medical department were that it had practically no hospital