“Bitten” Bullets

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org A common myth from the Civil War is that bullets were used for patients to bite during surgery. On the contrary, both chloroform and ether were available for administration before surgery. These bullets clearly show indications of teeth marks; however, the marks were made by hogs foraging for food on a field after a battle. The location where they were recovered is unknown. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31207 ...

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Amputation Kit

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org During major engagements in the Civil War the flood of wounded became overwhelming. Surgeons could afford to spend only a few minutes with each of the wounded, and the Minie bullet caused a terrific amount of damage to bones. As a result, amputation became the treatment of choice for gunshot wounds to arms and legs. Due to the large number of wounded, surgeons became proficient at performing amputations; in many cases an amputation could be performed in ten minutes. The number of wounded needing attention and the lack of water in many cases meant there was no attempt to wash hands or instruments between procedures....

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Bleeding & Blistering Cups

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org Examples of a metal bleeding cup used to withdraw blood from patients for various ailments and a glass cupping device used to raise a blister on the skin to lance for bleeding. A small incision was made in the patient and a piece of lint placed in the cup and ignited; the open end of the cup was placed over the incision or wound creating a vacuum which drew the desired amount of blood out. Bleeding was an ancient method of treating patients that was still in use during the Civil War, but the practice became increasingly unpopular as the war progressed. Images Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR...

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Dental Tools

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org The tooth key was first mentioned in literature in 1742; the first examples were made of iron with a handle shaped like a turnkey. As improvements were made over the years the handle was made of horn, ivory and different types of wood. They were also made in different sizes, with the smaller sizes and shapes being made for children. In the second half of the Eighteenth century the tooth key became the most popular instrument for tooth extractions. Leading up to the Civil War, tooth care was generally poor, dentists few and dental care expensive. Despite poor dental care, a soldier’s teeth were important on...

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Ether Bottle

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org This bottle contained ether, which was used as an anesthetic during surgery. Ether was one of two anesthetics used during the Civil War; the other was chloroform, which was preferred by the majority of field surgeons, since ether was highly flammable and could not be used around open flames. A mixture of ether/chloroform was also used. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 304...

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'Unsung Heroines' Offered Care, Compassion after Battle of Antietam

By Janet Heim, September 12, 2012 SHARPSBURG — While Clara Barton’s care of the wounded and dying during the Civil War is the stuff of legend, it took the hands of just about every area woman and girl over the age of 13 to tend to the thousands of patients from the Sept. 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam, according to Susan Rosenvold, superintendent of Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office. The efforts, from the Hagerstown-based Ladies Aid Society to local families whose homes were forcibly converted to hospitals, helped save lives and offered compassion and care both to those who would live and to the dying, Rosenvold said. The Clara Barton’s...

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Field Medicine Case

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org This leather field medicine kit with compartments contained glass bottles for various medicines. The leather field kit was designed to carry smaller bottles of medicine into the field, making it easier for surgeons to move and have medicines readily available. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30634 ...

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A Dose of History

By Julie E. Greene, June 09, 2005 The mahogany case has a red velvet lining. The instrument handles are ebony and one has a split handle with a fishtail design. The kit maker's mark is etched in the metal. Pretty attractive tools for such a gruesome job - the amputation of Union soldiers' limbs during the Civil War. "One of the marks of a true craftsman, in the sense of European craftsmen, is not only how useful the tool, ... but to a certain sense the aesthetic of the tool. (It) showed skill and precision with which the tool was made," said George C. Wunderlich, executive director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick,...

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Fleams

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org These are examples of lancets and scarificator used to puncture veins to promote bleeding; once the desired amount of blood was drawn, the incision was closed with a suture of wire or silk. Images Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30572, 30575, & 3060...

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Civil War's Carnage Led to Medical Advances

By Dan Dearth, April 09, 2011 The carnage that was caused by weapons introduced during the American Civil War forced doctors to make advances in medicine that might have taken another 25 years to develop had the conflict not been fought. "In many ways, the battlefield was the birthplace of modern emergency medicine," said George Wunderlich, executive director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., who also oversees the Pry House Field Hospital Museum on Antietam National Battlefield. The 600,000 deaths attributed to the Civil War likely would have paled in comparison to the millions of people who would have died...

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Irrigation Syringe

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org This metal irrigation syringe was used to cleanse penetrating wounds and aspirate wounds. Irrigation syringes were also made of blown glass and hard rubber; blown glass syringes were not practical for battlefield use as they could break. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30581 ...

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Dr. Caleb Winfrey

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org Dr. Caleb Winfrey graduated from the Medical Department of St. Louis University in 1847 and settled in Lone Jack, Missouri, where he set up his medical practice. In 1861 he enlisted as a surgeon in the Missouri State Guard, and accompanied Colonel Gideon Thompson to Cowskin Prairie. He was present at the battles of Wilson’s Creek and Lexington. Returning to Lone Jack in 1862, he helped organize a Confederate company and commanded it at the Battle of Lone Jack, quite literally fighting in his own backyard. After Lone Jack he was the senior surgeon for Joseph Shelby’s Brigade, and was present at the battles of...

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Ferdinand Brother Frock Coat

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org This surgeon’s frock coat was worn by Lieutenant Ferdinand Brother, 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and is complete with belt, buckle, shoulder straps and sash. The green sash indicates that the wearer was an officer in the medical department. A red sash was worn by company and field grade officers of the Union infantry, cavalry and artillery branches, and a buff sash designated general officers. Brother, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1833, graduated from McDowell Medical College in St. Louis in 1862. He was mustered into the regiment as an assistant surgeon in May 1862. He was the post surgeon...

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Women's Changing Roles During the Civil War

By Kate Coleman, September 16, 2002 There were 23,110 casualties at the battle of Antietam. The Civil War - skirmishes, battles and disease - took the lives of more than 610,000 Union and Confederate soldiers. Beyond the mind-numbing numbers are the personal stories of families and communities affected by the fighting. What effect did the war have on women - the wives, the mothers, the sisters, the friends of those soldiers? The war's impact on some women of the period is well-known. Clara Barton was called the "angel of the battlefield" by a surgeon at Antietam. The Massachusetts native had become a teacher at the age of 18, in an era...

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Medical Hat and Shoulder Straps

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org This medical hat and shoulder straps are identified as belonging to Lieutenant Henry Augustus Dubois. The hat is a forage cap with a “McDowell” brim; the inside of the shoulder straps are green, denoting the medical department, and trimmed in gold piping with gold lieutenant’s bars and “M S” in the center. Officers assigned to the medical service often wore green shoulder straps and sashes, while enlisted men wore green chevrons to denote the medical service. Henry Augustus Dubois served with the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, but was transferred to the District of New Mexico, Department of the...

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Medical Saddle Bags

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org Medical saddle bags were carried by surgeons in the field to hold a variety of medicines for the treatment of the sick and wounded. The saddle bags were made of leather and designed to carry smaller quantities than apothecary chests, making it easier for the surgeons to move about. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30614 Learn more about Civil War medical instruments and supplies at www.CivilWarRx.c...

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Pocket Surgical Kit

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org This is an example of a double-fold, leather-wrapped pocket surgical kit carried by surgeons during the Civil War. Generally, each surgeon’s kit contained items the individual surgeon found most useful based on his experience in the field. A standard issue kit usually contained 1 scalpel, 3 bistouries (long narrow knives for minor incisions), 1 tenotome, 1 gum lancet, 2 thumb lancets, 1 razor (small), 1 artery forceps, 1 dressing catheter, 6 yards of suture wire, ¼ ounce of ligature silk, ½ ounce of wax, and small scissors. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 3044...

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Splint

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org Wooden leg splints like this one were used to set fractured legs; carved out of wood, the splint contained padding and an opening to protect the knee and knee cap to make the leg more stable. A variety of splints were also designed for use on arms. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 305...

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Surgeon Bowie Knife

From: nps.gov This Bowie knife with ivory handle and handmade leather scabbard belonged to Surgeon F. G. Porter. The typical Bowie knife was 9-10 inches long, made from high carbon steel and extremely flexible, strong and razor sharp, the result of a tempering process developed by New Orleans blacksmiths in the early 1800s. Dr. Frank Gibson Porter of St. Louis was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1829. He graduated from the Cleveland (OH) Medical College (Hudson University) in 1851, and moved to St. Louis in 1854. When the Civil War began, Porter served as a volunteer surgeon, then was in charge of the U.S. Marine Hospital in St. Louis....

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Surgeon's Chest

From: nps.gov This wooden surgeon’s chest, complete with lock, was used to transport supplies, including medicines and surgical instruments. This chest contained a removable tray with several compartments for smaller items. Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30...

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Trepanning

By Dr. Michael Echols Trepanning is the medical process of drilling or cutting a hole into the skull in order to relieve pressure on the brain tissue, lift a compression fracture of the skull, or remove a blood clot on the brain.  If a person had a concussion with depression of the skull bone, that depressed area would need to be lifted or removed and then the clot under the concussion removed to alleviate trauma induced symptoms. The process is documented to have been performed as far back as 4000 years ago by the Inca Indians of Peru.  If you would like more information on this procedure and the history, please do a search for...

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Civil War Ambulance

From: nps.gov A recent exhibit addition at Fort Scott National Historic Site is truly one of a kind and will enhance visitor understanding of Fort Scott's role in the Civil War. In April 2012, the Fort received a hand crafted reproduction ambulance wagon which historically was used to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals. The ambulance, designed by Charles Tripler, who became the first medical director for the Army of the Potomac, accommodates four patients on stretchers and up to six seated in front and back. On exhibit alongside a reproduction freight wagon in one of FOSC's stone carriage houses, an informational sign will provide visitors...

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The Army of the Potomac's Ambulance Corp Organization Order of 1862

General Orders 147 - Organization of the Ambulance Corps GENERAL ORDERS No. 147. HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC; Camp near Harrison's Landing, Va., August 2,1862. The following regulations for the organization of the ambulance corps and the management of ambulance trains are published for the information and government of all concerned. Commanders of army corps will see that they are carried into effect without delay: 1. The ambulance corps will be organized on the basis of a captain to each army corps as the commandant of the ambulance corps, a first lieutenant for a division, second lieutenant for a brigade, and a sergeant for each...

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American Civil War Ambulances

From: replications.com Immediately prior to the break out of hostilities between the National Government and the Confederate States, the U.S. Army had developed and built a quantity of ambulances.  Up to that time, there was no purpose built ambulance in government service.  In previous wars, various wagons were pressed into service for the transporting the sick and wounded.  Most were found unsuitable.  The commission that developed the specifications for the first U.S. Army ambulances examined European designs and those submitted by American sources.  It was decided that a light, single horse, two-wheeled cart and...

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Ambulance

From: civilwarvirtualmuseum.org This photograph depicts an ambulance and medical orderlies removing causalities from the battlefield to a field hospital; similar ambulances were used throughout the war. Ambulance wagons or wagons especially designed for the transport of the sick or wounded had not been in use in the armies of the United States until just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Common wagons contained seats for eighteen persons, fourteen inside and four on the front seat. By raising the flaps of the inside seats and removing the cushions a bed for two persons or, in case of an emergency three could be arranged inside the wagon. Image:...

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Civil War Helped Shape Today's Medical Practices

By Body and Mind Staff, November 13, 2012 The words "butcher" and "barbaric" may often be used to describe medical practices during the Civil War, but today's soldiers owe a lot to the forefathers who tended to the sick and wounded in Gettysburg and elsewhere. "There were definitely medical advances that came out of the Civil War that are benefiting soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan today," said Peter J. D'Onofrio, president of the Society of Civil War Surgeons, based in Ohio. "When I give talks, I say 'if you get nothing else out of tonight's talk, remember we can't look back at the surgeons of the Civil War and judge them in the context...

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Civil War Surgeon Set The Standard For Battlefield Medicine

NPR Staff, July 7, 2013 July 1 marked 150 years since the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg, a crucial victory for the Union and a turning point in the Civil War. But it came at an enormous cost to both sides — thousands of soldiers were killed and tens of thousands more were wounded. However, it might have been even worse had it not been for a surgeon named Jonathan Letterman, who served as the chief medical officer of the Union's Army of the Potomac. He presided over some of the bloodiest battles in U.S. history and, over the course of a single year, revolutionized military medicine. Scott McGaugh has just released his biography of...

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Jennie Wade

From: totalgettysburg.com Jennie Wade holds the unfortunate distinction of being the only civilian killed during the Battle at Gettysburg. Known as Ginnie or Gin to friends, her name was reported incorrectly in the newspapers following her death and she would thereafter be known as Jennie. She is sometimes thought to be named Jenny Wade, but that spelling of her name is incorrect. Wade was born May 21, 1843 and shared a home with her family in the town of Gettysburg PA. She worked as a seamstress with her mother to make enough money to live after her father was committed to a mental asylum. On the morning of July 1, 1863, the first day of...

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Civil War Food

From: totalgettysburg.com There is much curiosity about Civil War food - in particular what the soldiers consumed each day as part of their rations. Both armies struggled to keep their armies fed over the course of the war as supply lines were stretched thin with tens of thousands of men needing nourishment. The Confederates in particular were hit hard by the Union naval blockade and general lack of resources for a constant supply of food. Considering the amount of marching by both armies, and the daily rigors of living out in the elements, the average Civil War soldier was malnourished and at times close to starvation. The Civil War quartermaster...

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Civil War Casualties

From: totalgettysburg.com One must look hard at Civil War casualties to get the full realization of the devastating loss of human life over the course of the 4-year conflict. There were over 1,000,000. casualties (dead, wounded, missing) on both sides and this represented 8% of the population at the time. Of the 620,000 men who perished in the war, more than two-thirds were by disease. The number of Civil War dead amounted to more American deaths than in all other American conflicts combined. Roughly 8% of the white population aged 13-43 died in the war. Disease It is hard to believe but over 400,000 men died in the war from disease alone....

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Gettysburg Casualties

From: totalgettysburg.com The Gettysburg casualties over 3 days made it the bloodiest battle in the American Civil War. The two armies suffered combined casualties of between 45,000 and 51,000. Union casualties numbered 23,040 (3,155 killed, 14,530 wounded and 5,365 missing). Confederate casualties are tougher to measure and estimates have ranged as high as 28,000. However recent studies have the number at 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 missing). Union casualties can be broken down by Corps as follows: I Corps = 6,060 (666 killed, 3,231 wounded, 2,162 missing) II Corps = 4,369 (797 killed, 3,194 wounded, 378 missing) III...

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Civil War Doctors

From: totalgettysburg.com. Civil War doctors did the best they could with the knowledge, medicines and training available to them but nothing could prepare them for the horrors of the American Civil War. It was generally required that a doctor have at least 2 years experience before being accepted into service yet many had less. The Battle of Gettysburg in particular was the bloodiest conflict of the war and doctors were simply overwhelmed by the 51,000 casualties from the 3 days of fighting. There were over 14,000 doctors total who served in the Civil War, 10,000 for the Union and 4,000 for the Confederates. Often referred to as “butchers”...

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Civil War Hospitals

From: totalgettysburg.com Civil War Hospitals were typically requisitioned homes, barns and any serviceable buildings on battlefields. Tents were also used as Civil War field hospitals on rural battlefields or when all other available buildings were being used. Of the roughly 620,000 killed in the American Civil War, 240,000 died of disease. It was a soldiers worst enemy and even when the fighting subsided, you could find Civil War doctors tending to scores of men fighting deadly diseases that would rapidly spread through the ranks if untreated. Civil War hospitals, particularly those in the field were anything but sanitary. Not much was...

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