Instructions for Using a Field Tourniquet

Surgeons and medical officers of the Civil War began to develop systems for managing the initial treatment of the wounded. They also instructed troops in emergency first aid. Union surgeon Samuel D. Gross gave instruction on using tourniquets: "When the wound is severe, or involving a large artery or vein, the bleeding may prove fatal in a few minutes. Hundreds of persons die on the field of battle from this cause. They allow their life-current to tun out, as water pours from a hydrant, without an attempt to stop it by thrusting the finger in the wound, or compressing the main artery of the injured limb.They perish simply from their...

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Civil War Operating Tables

By Cassie NesporFrom: The Rose Melnick Medical Museum Operating tables of the early- and mid-1800s were very simple wooden planks that may have had restraints for the chest and extremities. These would have been necessary because surgery was done without anesthesia. These basic tables were made more for the surgeon’s comfort than for the patient. Operating tables or chairs would have placed the patient at a comfortable position for the surgeon to work. As the types of surgery increased due to the use of anesthesia and antiseptic practices, the operating tables and chairs were designed to offer a variety of surgical positions. The table...

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Civil War Bandages

 All over America, women gathered together to make bandages for the soldiers. Their table linens, bedsheets, clothing and even draperies served as coverings for wounds. Newspapers frequently printed directions.  The April 27, 1861 issue of the "Flushing Journal" of Long Island New York, published the following: "Bandages may be made from soft, pliable unglazed muslin. Unglazed muslin. Unbleached muslin of medium quality is as good as the more expensive bleached material. If bandages are made by sewing together firm old muslin the seams should be flat. The following table exhibits the length, breadth, and proportion in...

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A Confederate Hospital for Slaves

Transcribed by Thomas P. Lowry(From an advertising sheet inserted into the May 1861 issue of "The Southern Planter, Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture and the Household Arts" published in Richmond, Virginia)  This hospital is situated near the corner of Main and 26th streets, and is admirably adapted in airiness, privacy and healthiness of position, to the purposes for which it has been instituted, namely: For MEDICAL, SURGICAL, and OBSTETRICAL treatment of SLAVES. The rules and regulations government this institution have already been published. A circular containing all particulars will be furnished those who may desire...

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Satterlee U.S.A. General Hospital

First of the Federal government's new Pavilion Hospitals Satterlee Hospital, located in West Philadelphia, was one of the two largest military hospitals in the North, and the first of the Federal government's new pavilion hospitals. Author and artist Frank Taylor described it in 1913 in his book, "Philadelphia in the Civil War". "The site was then in the open country. The ground was about 90 feet above tide level, sloping into the valley of a small creek, thus receiving good drainage. The open portion along Baltimore Avenue was used as a parade, and after the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg was covered with tents...

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Contraband Hospital

From the U.S. National Library of Medicine Fugitive slaves, known as "contraband" worked for the Union Army as nurses, cooks, laundresses, and laborers. Contraband Hospital, in Washington, D.C., a black-only facility, treated thousands of former slaves and black soldiers. The hospital hired nurses primarily from within the population of fugitive slaves and employed the largest number of black surgeons among U.S. military hospitals.  Contraband Hospital was one of the few medical facilities in Washington, D.C. to treat African Americans and broke the color barrier when it appointed Alexander T. Augusta surgeon-in-charge in May 1863.  PHOTO:...

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Dr. Oriana Moon

Confederate Physician From: The Scottsville Museum Oriana Russell Moon was the second child in the family of seven children born to Anna Maria Barclay (1809-1870) and Edward Harris Moon (1805-1853).  Oriana, often called 'Orie' by her friends and family, was born in 1834 and lived with her family at Viewmont, a 1500-acre estate on Scottsville Road.  Edward Moon was a wealthy merchant with business interests in Scottsville and Memphis, and a store at Carters' Bridge.  His wife, Anna, was equally wealthy and had inherited Viewmont with all of its slaves and furniture from her stepfather, John HarrisTheir daughter, Orie, and her siblings...

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Alexander Thomas Augusta, M.D.

The first African American physician to receive a commission in the Union ArmyBy Robert G. Slawson, M.D., F.A.C.R. Reprinted from: The Journal of Civil War Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, April/May/June 2003 The first African American to receive a commission in the [Union] Army was Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta. Dr. Augusta was born free in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 8, 1825, and became interested in medicine. He actually journeyed to California searching for gold to finance his training. When he was unable to gain admittance to an American medical school, Augusta moved to Canada. In 1860 he was graduated from Trinity College of Medicine, of Toronto,...

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Phoebe Yates Levy Pember

FROM: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/phoebepember.htmlBorn on August 18, 1823, Phoebe Yates Levy grew up as the fourth of six daughters of a prosperous and cultured Jewish family in Charleston, South Carolina. Immediately after the outbreak of the Civil War, Phoebe's husband, Thomas Pember, died of tuberculosis. Moving from South Carolina to the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia, Phoebe received an offer to serve as matron of the Chimborazo Military Hospital from Mrs. George W. Randolph, wife of the Confederate Secretary of War. Phoebe reported for duty in December 1862.  The Chimborazo Hospital was...

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Mary Ann Bickerdyke

"Cyclone in Calico" FROM: http://historynet.com/civil-war-nurses While [Dorothea] Dix was gathering her forces in Washington, Mary Ann Bickerdyke was taking matters into her own equally dedicated hands in Galesburg, Ill. A 45-year-old juggernaut, Bickerdyke personified Dix’s ideal nurse. Before the war, she had received training in botanic and homeopathic medicine and had been engaged in private-duty nursing. Recently bereaved by the untimely death of both her husband and young daughter, she felt divinely called to spend her remaining life relieving human suffering.  On a Sunday in June 1861, Bickerdyke listened as...

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Dr. Alexander Henry Hoff

FROM: THE MILITARY SURGEON, VOLUME 31 (JULY 1912) Memoir of Alexander Henry Hoff 18 December 1822-19 August 1876     The following memoir of his father was read by Colonel John Van R. Hoff, U. S. A. (retired), at the graduating exercises of the Army Medical School, May 31st, 1912   Alexander Henry Hoff, Bvt. Col., U. S. Volunteers, Captain, Medical Corps, U. S. A., in whose memory the memorial medal was founded, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., December 18th, 1822.     The family of which he was scion settled in Somerset County, New Jersey, during the early Colonial period. His father was the Rev. Brogan Hoff,...

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