The dying Union colonel who turned Arkansas hot springs into America’s healing capital

Colonel Fordyce’s Miraculous Recovery at Hot Springs

In 1873, Union cavalry officer Samuel Fordyce arrived at Hot Springs on a pallet, weighing just 120 pounds. Doctors had given him six months to live.

His body was broken from the Civil War – multiple wounds, broken bones, and malaria from his days fighting at Shiloh and Chickamauga.

Yet the thermal waters worked magic. Not only did Fordyce heal, but he then built Hot Springs into America’s top health resort.

By 1915, his grand Fordyce Bathhouse stood as the crown jewel of Bathhouse Row, costing over $212,000. The stunning building still stands today.

A Young Ohio Man Answers Lincoln’s Call

Sam Fordyce was born in Senecaville, Ohio in 1840. He grew up in a normal Midwest family with parents John and Mary Ann.

After college in Pennsylvania and Illinois, Sam got a job with the railroad. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the 21-year-old joined the First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry.

His leadership skills got him noticed fast. The army quickly moved him up from private to second lieutenant, then to first lieutenant.

By 1863, Sam became a captain, leading Company H and helping inspect cavalry units.

The Cavalry Captain Faced Death Repeatedly

Sam served in the Army of the Cumberland under General George Crook.

His unit fought in the bloodiest battles of the war – Chickamauga, Shiloh, Murfreesboro, and Perryville. Military records show he always ended up where fighting was worst during campaigns across Tennessee and Kentucky.

Generals Rosecrans and Buell came to count on the brave young officer. After nearly three years of rough combat, Sam quit the army on December 24, 1863.

The war hurt his body badly, though he wouldn’t know how badly until later.

Bullets and Prison Camps Couldn’t Stop Him

The war left Sam with serious battle scars. Enemy fire wounded him three different times.

Confederate forces caught him three times, yet he never stayed in a prison camp. Once, he boldly escaped from his captors.

The other two times, he got caught again but somehow talked his way out. Along with bullet wounds, Sam broke many bones during battles.

Worst of all, he caught malaria, a sickness that would bother him for years after the war ended.

Banking Success and a Confederate Bride

After the war, Sam moved south to Huntsville, Alabama. There he started a bank called “Fordyce & Rison” with William Richard Rison.

The bank helped rebuild northern Alabama’s economy after the war.

In a twist of post-war healing, Sam fell in love with Susan Elizabeth Chadick, daughter of Confederate Colonel William Chadick.

The former Union captain married the Southern belle on May 1, 1866. His business did so well that by 1874, Sam joined Alabama’s Democratic State Central Committee.

Old War Wounds Bring Him to Death’s Door

Fall of 1872 brought bad news for Sam. His old war injuries flared up, causing constant, awful pain throughout his body.

The once-strong banker watched helplessly as his weight dropped to just 120 pounds. Doctor after doctor checked him, all reaching the same grim answer.

Medical experts told Sam he had about six months to live. His family and business partners worried as his health got worse each week.

The good life he built seemed to be ending.

The Last-Chance Journey to Arkansas

In April 1873, Sam left Alabama for Hot Springs, Arkansas on doctors’ advice. He felt so sick that he traveled lying on a mat in the train car.

When the railroad tracks ended, Sam endured the final 25 miles to Hot Springs by wagon over rough mountain roads.

He got to the small Arkansas town barely alive. The locals hardly noticed the sickly newcomer. They had seen many dying people come to the springs before.

The Healing Waters Work Their Magic

Sam started taking daily baths in the natural hot springs that bubbled up from Hot Springs Mountain. Unlike many thermal springs, Hot Springs’ 47 natural springs didn’t smell like rotten eggs.

The waters stayed at 143 degrees year-round and held minerals said to heal the body. Slowly, Sam noticed his pain levels dropping.

His strength began coming back bit by bit.

Other Civil War veterans bathing in the springs told similar stories of getting better, giving Sam hope that his own healing wasn’t just in his head.

From Death’s Door to New Life

The thermal waters fixed Sam’s broken body. Over months of treatment, he gained back his lost weight.

The constant pain from his war injuries faded, and the effects of malaria went away. With new energy, Sam returned to Alabama a changed man.

He talked non-stop about the amazing springs that had saved his life. Sam talked his wife Susan into moving to Arkansas.

In January 1876, the Fordyce family packed up and moved to Hot Springs, the place that had given Sam a second chance at life.

The Former Patient Transforms a Backwater Town

Sam saw what Hot Springs could become. The tiny village had healing waters but not much else for visitors.

Using his banking skills, Sam put money into changing the town. He paid for the big Arlington and Eastman hotels.

He built an opera house, water systems, gas and electric utilities, and a street railway to move visitors around town.

Sam built several bathhouses for the growing crowds.

He even worked with Senator John Logan to build the Army and Navy Hospital so wounded soldiers could use the same waters that healed him.

His Masterpiece Rises on Bathhouse Row

In 1914, Sam decided to build the ultimate tribute to the waters that saved him.

He hired Little Rock architects Mann and Stern to design the Fordyce Bathhouse in Renaissance Revival style.

His son John, an engineer, watched over the building work. It became the largest and fanciest bathhouse on Hot Springs’ famous Bathhouse Row.

The massive 28,000-square-foot building cost over $212,000 to build and furnish. Sam spared no expense.

The Fordyce Bathhouse featured stained glass ceilings, marble floors, and statues celebrating water’s healing powers.

The Man Who Outlived His Death Sentence by 40 Years

The Fordyce Bathhouse opened on March 1, 1915, as the crown jewel of America’s spa movement. It stood as living proof of the healing Sam experienced 42 years earlier.

Under his leadership, Hot Springs grew from a tiny village into America’s premier health resort. Thousands came seeking the same miracle Sam found.

The man doctors gave six months to live in 1872 died on August 3, 1919, having outlived that grim prediction by more than four decades.

The bathhouse he built still stands today as part of Hot Springs National Park, preserving the story of a remarkable second chance.

Visiting Fordyce Bathhouse, Arkansas

The Fordyce Bathhouse at 369 Central Avenue tells Colonel Samuel Fordyce’s amazing recovery story.

This Union cavalry officer came to Hot Springs in 1873 weighing just 120 pounds after Civil War injuries and malaria left him with six months to live.

You can tour three floors plus basement for free from 9am to 5pm. See the original bath halls, gymnasium, and Otis elevator that made this America’s premier health resort.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• How de Soto’s visit to Arkansas triggered the collapse of Nodena civilization
• The Corrupt Mayor Who Made Al Capone Feel Welcome in Arkansas
• The tiny tugboat that saved Pearl Harbor’s biggest ships during Japan’s surprise attack