"Dominique Jean Larrey can rightly be said to have awakened the conscience of mankind to the inhumanity of war. Before him, casualties had simply been a nuisance on the battlefield, perhaps helped to the rear by comrades ... where they would be tended by camp-followers or occasionally by a surgeon -- but more likely, left where they fell. Larrey invented a 'flying' ambulance to rescue the wounded on the field, often himself amputating and dressing injuries under fire. But he did more than invent a vehicle; he devised a complete system of casualty evacuation to base hospital which survives in principle to our own day. He ignored rank and insisted on treating casualties, including any captured enemy, in order of severity. Throughout his career, he was in conflict with the Administration to get the necessary essentials for the sick and wounded"--Jacket.