Aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg

From Gettysburg Foundation   Throughout July 2 and July 3, the Confederate army occupied buildings in the town. During the battle, virtually every building in downtown Gettysburg became field hospitals, as doctors and surgeons struggled to treat thousands of Union and Confederate wounded at Gettysburg   While the Battle of Gettysburg lasted three days, a second battle at Gettysburg began on July 4, 1863. The conflict that followed was the dilemma of what to do with the scores of dead soldiers and horses that littered the battlefield. Roughly 21,000 men from the two armies lay wounded at Gettysburg. The responsibility of caring for the wounded from both armies rested in the hands of a few Army surgeons, aides and the residents of Gettysburg and Adams County. Volunteers began arriving soon after the fighting ended. Four months later, efforts to help the wounded at Gettysburg were still in progress. One field hospital, located at the George Spangler farm, treated more than 1,400 wounded soldiers on both sides until mid-August 1863.

Posted in: Civil War Hospitals,Gettysburg