Historical Background

When most people think of Civil War medical care, they think of soldiers who have been wounded on the battlefield. However, dis-ease was the number-one killer of soldiers during the war; while about 200,000 men died from battle wounds, more than 400,000 perished from disease. When the war broke out, scientists were still developing the germ theory of disease, so poor sanitation was the rule in army camps and hospitals, although improvements were made over the course of the war. Crowded camps included many soldiers from rural areas who had not been exposed to common childhood diseases. North and South, soldiers suffered from a range of illnesses, including dysentery (a form of diarrhea), typhoid, malaria, pneumonia, mumps, measles, and whooping cough.

Civil War battlefield wounds, whether from cannon balls or the re-cently developed minie ball, were horrific. Surgeons had very little experience with gunshot wounds and had to learn on the spot. Doc-tors did not know how to do blood transfusions, and, of course, anti-biotics had not yet been developed to treat infections. However, the idea that Civil War surgeons were butchers who operated on patients without giving them any anesthesia is largely a myth. Surgeons used ether or chloroform and could complete amputations quickly before these drugs’ effects wore off. Surgeons learned that if they amputated wounded limbs promptly, they could save lives. Wounds to the chest and abdomen were highly likely to be fatal.

A major challenge during the war was to get sick and wounded men the care they needed as quickly as possible. After the first major bat-tles of the war, both armies were overwhelmed by the number of sick and wounded; neither had a system in place to care for so many in-jured and ill men. Civilians stepped in to assist through such organi-zations as the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Women gradually received acceptance as nurses; among the most famous are Clara Barton and “Mother” Mary Ann Bickerdyke. Over the course of the war, mili-tary doctors, especially Union surgeon Jonathan Letterman and Con-federate doctor Samuel Stout, made major strides in developing sys-tems to evacuate the wounded, treat them on site, and transport them as painlessly as possible to general military hospitals.

From the Library of Congress:

Revising Himself: Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass: Wound Dresser (Exhibition)

Civil War Photographs (search on “medical,” “hospital”). See also Exterior and interior views of hospitals, ambulance trains and medi-cal corps.

Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865 (search on “hospital”)

Voices of the Civil War Blog (search on “medical,” “hospital”)

Also See:

Help is on the Way: Civil War Women and Relief Work (Lesson Plan from TPS-MTSU)

Medical Mix-Up (Activity from the TN Civil War National Heritage Area (TCWNHA))

Occupied Home Front; Witnesses to Battle: Part I (Lesson Idea from TCWNHA)

Soldiers Life: Medical Care

To Bind Up the Nation’s Wounds (Exhibition, National Museum of Health and Medicine)

Walt Whitman and the Civil War (Lesson Plan from TPS-MTSU)

Teaching with Primary Sources — MTSU

PRIMARY SOURCE SET:

CIVIL WAR MEDICAL CARE

Metropolitan fair, for the relief of sick and wounded sol-

diers ... 1864 [Pg. 1; detail]

Wounded escaping from the burning woods of the

Wilderness [1864 May 5-7; detail]

Sick and Wounded Soldiers

Joseph J. Dimock, 82nd N.Y. Inf.

Died of disease, June 22, 1862

Texts

Robert King Stone, Notes for a lecture, 1865. [Report on Lincoln’s Death and Autopsy.]

Barton, Clara. War Lecture. [Ca. 1866].

Burton, Margaret Davis. The woman who battled for the boys in blue. Mother Bickerdyke; Her life and labors for the relief of our soldiers. Sketches of battle scenes and incidents of the sanitary service. San Francisco, CA: A.T. Dewey, 1886.

Suggestions for Teachers

It’s not difficult to get kids interested in Civil War medical care, which has a definite “gross” factor. Ask students what they know about the topic and try to separate myth from reality (this Web page will help).

Review with students all of the sources relat-ed to people who took care of sick and injured soldiers. List the different types of caregivers, both military and civilian. Have students choose the source that most surprises them. Compose an exchange of letters between a soldier and a caregiver.

Ask students to choose an image of a field hospital and an image of a general hospital. What were the benefits of each? What were the drawbacks?

Disease was the primary killer of Civil War soldiers. Examine the sources. Are there more sources related to disease or to battle-field wounds? Why?

Improvements in sanitation and medical care took place during and after the war. Ask stu-dents to do some research to determine at least three medical advances that occurred.

Seeking for

the wounded,

by torch-light,

after the bat-

tle [1862

March 8]

The hospital at Fredericksburg, Va., May 1864.

[Stereograph]

[Keedysville, Md.,

vicinity. Confed-

erate wounded at

Smith’s Barn, with

Dr. Anson Hurd,

14th Indiana Vol-

unteers, in attend-

ance] [1862 Sep-

tember]

Sick and Wounded Soldiers

[Savage Station, Va. Field hospital after

the battle of June 27] [30 June 1862]

Walt Whitman, Hospital note-book “At Antie-tam” [See partial transcription].

Gen. S.P.

Heintzel-

man and

group,

convales-

cent camp,

near Alex-

andria, Va.

[Between

1861 and

1865]

Hospital ship, Nashville [Between 1861 & 1865]

A Ward in Armory Square Hospital, Wash-

ington, D.C. [Between 1861 & 1865]

Print #18,

Smuggling

medicines

into the

south

[Etching]

[1863; de-

tail]

Caregivers

[Unidentified soldier in Union assistant

surgeon uniform with Ames medical

sword] [Between 1861 and 1865]

Mary E. Walker [Civil War surgeon; be-

tween 1860 and 1870]

I have no one to

send. [Pictorial

envelope]

[Undated; de-

tail]

Hospital Slip-

pers for the Sick

and Wounded

Soldiers of the

Union. [1861]

[Washing-

ton, D.C.

Field relief

wagons and

workers of

U.S. Sani-

tary Com-

mission]

[1865 April]

Clara Barton. [Ca. 1862]

[Uniden-

tified

officer in

the Con-

federate

Medical

Corps]

[between

1861 and

1865]

Caregivers

The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. Volume 3, January 1, 1864-May 30, 1865. May 24, 1865 [description of Clara Barton; see final para-graph of May 24 entry]

Major General Rosecrans on con-

tributions for the sick and wound-

ed. Headquarters Department of

the Cumberland. Murfreesboro,

February 2, 1863.

[Fredericksburg,

Va. Nurses and

officers of the

U.S. Sanitary

Commission]

[1864 May [20]]

Our lady of the hospital [Sheet music] [1864; de-

tail]

Caregivers

Death and Mourning

George W.

Demers to

Abraham Lin-

coln, Friday,

August 14,

1863 (Requests

permission for

his father to visit

his wounded

brother) [Pg. 2;

transcription]

The soldiers funeral. By John Ross Dix. [1864]

Freder-

icksburg,

Virginia.

Burial of

Federal

dead

[1864

May [19

or 20];

detail]

Lincoln’s

last hour.

[c. 1865]

Citations

Teachers: Providing these primary source replicas without source clues may enhance the inquiry experience for students. This list of citations (Chicago Manual of Style) is supplied for reference purposes to you and your students.

Waud, Alfred R. “Wounded escaping from the burning woods of the Wilderness.” Drawing. [1964 May 5-7]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004660365/

Metropolitan fair, for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers---I present to you the claims of the Metropolitan fair for the bene-fit of the U.S. Sanitary commission…New York, Feb. 25, 1864.” Form. 1864. From Library of Congress, An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/rbpebib:@field(NUMBER+@band(rbpe+1250040d))

“Seeking for the wounded, by torch-light, after the battle.” Wood engraving. 1862 March 8. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://loc.gov/pictures/item/2004669212/

“The hospital at Fredericksburg, Va., May, 1864. [Stereograph].” Stereograph. May, 1864. From Library of Congress, Civil War Treasures from the New-York Historical Society. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(ad38007))

Gardner, Alexander. “[Keedysbille, Md., vicinity. Confederate wounded at Smith’s Barn, with Dr. Anson Hurd, 14th Indiana Volunteers, in attendance].” Photograph. 1862 September. From Library of Congress, Selected Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003000135/PP/

“Joseph J. Dimock, 82nd N.Y. Inf. Died of disease, June 22, 1862.” Photograph. [Between 1860 and 1870]. From Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/item/cwp2003001796/PP/

Stone, Robert King. Notes for a lecture, 1865. Maunscript. 1865. On loan from the Benjamin Shapell Family Manuscript Founda-tion. From Library of Congress, With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition “Now He Belongs to the Ages.” http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lincoln/now-he-belongs-to-the-ages.html#obj4

Barton, Clara. War Lecture. Manuscript. Ca. 1866. From Library of Congress, American Women: A Gateway to Library of Congress Resources for the Study of Women’s History and Culture in the United States. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/awhbib:@field(DOCID+@lit(awh0016))

Burton, Margaret Davis. The woman who battled for the boys in blue. Mother Bickerdyke; her life and labors for the relief of our soldiers. Sketches of battle scenes and incidents of the sanitary service. Book. San Francisco, CA: A.T. Dewey, 1886. From Library of Congress. http://lccn.loc.gov/07008628

Gibson, James F. “[Savage Station, Va. Field hospital after the battle of June 27].” Photograph. 1862 June 30. From Library of Congress, Selected Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003000090/PP/

Walt Whitman, “At Antietam.” Hospital notebook. [1862]. From Library of Congress, Exhibitions, American Treasures, “Revising Himself: Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass.” http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/whitman-wounddresser.html

“Hospital ship, Nashville.” Photograph. Between 1861 and 1865. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013645504/

“Gen. S.P. Heintzelman and group, convalescent camp, near Alexandria, Va.” Photograph. Between 1861 and 1865. From Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013647703/

“A Ward in Armory Square Hospital, Washington, D.C.” Photograph. Between 1861 and 1865. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013645505/

Blada, V. “Print # 18, Smuggling medicines into the south [Etching].” Etching. Baltimore, 1863. From Library of Congress, Civil War Treasures from the New-York Historical Society. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(ab01020))

“[Unidentified soldier in Union assistant surgeon uniform with Ames medical sword].” Photograph. Between 1861 and 1865. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lilj/item/2012649100/

“I have no one to send. [Pictorial envelope].” Pictorial Envelope. Undated. From Library of Congress, Civil War Treasures from the New-York Historical Society. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(aj88004))

Hospital Slippers for the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the Union. Printed Broadside. 1861. From Library of Congress, Ameri-can Treasures of the Library of Congress: Memory Gallery B. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr11b.html#obj41

Holyland, J. “Mary E. Walker.” Photograph. Between 1860 and 1870. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Divi-sion. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009632140/

Gardner, James. “[Washington, D.C. Field relief wagons and workers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission].” Photograph. 1865 April. From Library of Congress, Selected Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003000991/PP/

“Clara Barton, Carte-de-visite album, Tintype, Ca., 1862.” Photograph. Ca. 1862. From Library of Congress, American Treas-ures of the Library of Congress: Memory. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm072.html

“The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. Volume 3, January 1, 1864-May 30, 1865. May 24, 1865.” Diary entry. May 24, 1865. From Library of Congress, Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865. http://www.loc.gov/item/mtaft000003/

“[Unidentified officer in the Confederate Medical Corps].” Photograph. Between 1861 and 1865. From Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lilj/item/2012648270/

United States Sanitary Commission. “Major General Rosecrans on contributions for the sick and wounded. Headquarters De-partment of the Cumberland. Murfreesboro, February 2, 1863.” Broadside. Murfreesboro, 1863. From Library of Congress:

An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/rbpebib:@field(NUMBER+@band(rbpe+17502500))

Gardner, James. “[Fredericksburg, Va. Nurses and officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission].” Photograph. 1864 May [20]. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003000469/PP/

“George W. Demers to Abraham Lincoln, Friday, August 14, 1863 (Requests permission for his father to visit his wounded brother).” Letter. August 14, 1863. From Library of Congress, The Abraham Lincoln Papers. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/256/2560300/malpage.db&recNum=0

Millard, H. (composer), Miles O’Reilly (lyricist), and Wm. Hall & Son (publisher). “Our lady of the hospital [sheet music].” Sheet Music. 1864. From Library of Congress, Performing Arts Encyclopedia. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200001684/default.html

“Fredericksburg, Virginia. Burial of Federal dead.” Photograph. 1864 May [19 or 20]. From Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints, Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003004858/PP/

Dix, John Ross (lyricist), and Charles Magnus (publisher). “The soldiers funeral. By John Ross Dix.” Song sheet. New York, 1864. From Library of Congress, America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/amss:@field(DOCID+@lit(hc00013b))

“Lincoln’s last hour.” Broadside. C. 1865. From Library of Congress, The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana. http://www.loc.gov/item/scsm000355/