Hospital for Special Surgery

From: hss.edu In 1863, New York was a burgeoning city of 800,000. Then as now, its diverse population was marked by extremes of wealth and poverty. With little access to life-sustaining work and medical care, growing numbers of poor New Yorkers, especially the lame and deformed, had little hope of improving their lot in life. With the philanthropic efforts of Robert M. Hartley, Dr. James A. Knight, a general practitioner from Maryland, founded a new institution to meet the needs of this unfortunate group of patients. On April 13, 1863, the Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled was incorporated in the State of New York. The Hospital,...

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Study: Mental Trauma Led to Illness in Civil War Troops

From: npr.org Mental trauma led to physical disease among American Civil War veterans, according to a study appearing in the current issue of the "Archives of General Psychiatry" magazine. Scientists found that younger and more traumatized soldiers had much higher rates of illness later in life. Michelle Trudeau reports on the study, and how the findings could apply to today's veterans. ALEX CHADWICK, host: This is DAY TO DAY. Now a story that never ends, that of the American Civil War. There's a new study about it appearing in the current issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. It finds that the Civil War had affects on the physical...

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Remembering the Women Who Served in the Civil War

By Sandra Scott The American Civil War was the bloodiest war in American history, resulting in more than 600,000 deaths. While most people are familiar with the military leaders, they know little or nothing about the women who did their part during the fighting. All of the women of that era served on the home front, but some chose to put their lives on the line in actual battle. A good way to commemorate this year's 150th anniversary of the Civil War is by visiting one of the many sites and museums to learn about the women who answered the call of duty on both sides of the conflict. WOMEN HEROES OF TENNESSEE On Nov. 30, 1864, Carrie McGavock,...

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Suffering in Silence: Psychological Disorders and Soldiers in the American Civil War

By Sarah A.M. Ford Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Did soldiers of the American Civil War suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological disorders? It has only been several decades since mental illness attributed to war conditions was clinically recognized. Recent research has shown a strong positive correlation between war time events such as witnessing the death of comrades, friendly fire or IED explosions and post-traumatic stress disorder. With a conflict as devastating as the American Civil War, it would be logical to hypothesize that Civil War soldiers were subjected to events that put them at risk similar to...

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Female Surgeons – Defiance in the Face of Adversity

From: comestepbackintime.wordpress.com ‘A few words upon a very important aspect of this question – the right of women to compete with men in any occupation by which they can earn a livelihood. A woman has to pay like a man, she has neither mercy nor favour shown her because she is a woman, therefore she should have the same chance as a man, and the same pay if she can render as good work.  Why should not women enter the legal and medical profession…..During a four years’ sojourn in America I had the pleasure of knowing Dr Mary Walker, Dr Elizabeth Blackwell and hundreds of others who are doing the noblest work that is being done in the...

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Civil War Laxatives

By T.A. Wheat Excerpted from: encyclopediavirginia.org At the time of the Civil War, most medical treatment was not only unhelpful but could actually be harmful. Harsh laxatives, sometimes called "drastics," were often used and included heavy-metal salts such as mercury chloride (calomel and "Blue Mass"). Ironically, an effective treatment for chronic diarrhea—consisting of a diet limited to clear liquids and the use of opiates to slow intestinal contractions—was available and sometimes used in conjunction with other, inappropriate measures. Some surgeons appear to have learned from personal experience and gradually shifted to regimens favoring...

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Six Feet Under: Body Bags and Burial Cases

By James M. Schmidt, The Civil War News, July 2011 “In the present condition of the country, when the fatal calamities of war render it a duty incumbent on fathers, mothers, wives, sisters and brothers to seek their dead upon the battlefield and to bring home for burial the remains of their kindred, any invention which will tend to ameliorate these afflictions and assist in the performance of this sad duty is worthy of special notice.” – Scientific American, February 28, 1863 The Civil War proved to be a camp-to-grave proposition for more than 600,000 soldiers and sailors, North and South. Though the mission of military surgeons was to heal...

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Huge Pewter Irrigator Syringe

From: joshuasattic.com This is an extremely large irrigator made out of pewter and marked on the rim "HD/US" meaning "Hospital Department/ United States." Internal leather plungers seal off the inner cavity so that liquids and gels could be forced out tip by ramming down on the wooden plunger. This was used for larger body cavities and could even have been employed in the Veterinary Care of the Cavalry's horses (hopefully not on two species in the same day!)... Without an effective use of electricity yet during the American Civil War, equipment was literally hand-driven with elbow-grease. Thus, both suction effects and washing procedures...

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Osteomyelitis (Bone Infection)

by Janet King, RN, BSN, CCRN This acute inflammation and infection of a bone or bones was usually the result of some type of surgical procedure. Without aseptic and sterile techniques, cutting into the bone almost assured such a disease. In some cases this infection would become chronic with the wound "spitting out" bits of diseased bone for decades, causing much pain and suffering for the soldier - long after the war ended. At first, the wounded soldier would complain of chills, high fever and severe pain, tenderness, swelling and redness of the skin over the affected bone(s). Eventually the condition would progress and if the patient survived...

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Ivory and Brass Civil War Period Stomach/Cavity Pump

From: joshuasattic.com A very interesting set of old Medical equipment, contemporary to the Civil War. A brass hand-pump, connected by a weaved tubing to various custom-made ivory tips. Physicians would use this apparatus to pump out various body cavities. I suppose that most soldiers would rather face deadly double-cannister on the battlefield than to take on one of these nasty babies!!! Contrary to our impressions, doctors were quite well-trained and sophisticated in the 1860's, going to formal Medical Schools in the east to study anatomy, physiology, pharmaceuticals, and natural curatives. They were at a crossroads between the old and...

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Andersonville Prison, Andersonville, Georgia

Andersonville, or Camp Sumter as it was known officially, held more prisoners at any given time than any of the other Confederate military prisons. It was built in early 1864 after Confederate officials decided to move the large number of Federal prisoners in and around Richmond to a place of greater security and more abundant food. During the 14 months it existed, more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined here. Of these, almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements. The prison pen was surrounded by a stockade of hewed pine logs that varied in height from 15 to 17 feet. The...

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