Civil War Medicine

[LadyDoc]

For you medics out there, I'm reading a really interesting book right now, and thought I'd share.

Civil War Medicine: Challenges and Triumphs by Alfred Jay Bollet, MD

Well-researched and fascinating - it wasn't all amputations - and some of it was ground-breaking.

One interesting factoid for your next round of Trivial Pursuit -- recruits were rejected for service if they didn't have their 4 Front teeth. Those teeth were required to bite off the end of the paper cartridges when loading a rifle. The lack of the 4 Front teeth was abbreviated "4F" -- thus the origin of the term that eventually came to mean rejection for any health reason.

Yeah, I know I'm a geek, but I get excited about these things. :-)

[GERONIMO]

GOOD post DOC. However I believe that only applied only to Union troops. AIRBORNE! GERONIMO!!

[Ops NCO]

GOOD post DOC. However I believe that only applied only to Union troops. AIRBORNE! GERONIMO!!

You're still mad you didn't get the 4F exemption...

[LadyDoc]

Geronimo - you're right. The book includes Confederate data where available, but apparently many of those records were lost ( in a fire?).

[P-Chop]

Two teeth up top....two teeth on the bottom...lined up on another so you can tear a cartridge! Recruiter's nightmare in South Carolina and West By Gawd.....

We have a pretty good exhibit on Civil War Medicine at my work and even do some amputation demos during Civil War Adventure Camps.......however, there is a pretty good museum on Civil War Medicine up near you, Doc.

[LadyDoc]

however, there is a pretty good museum on Civil War Medicine up near you, Doc.

Indeed. I bought the book at the Pry House at Antietam, but haven't gotten to the main museum at Frederick yet. It's on my list.

[Gato Rojo]

Civil War medicine must have been more advanced that the record would otherwise indicate. My Great-great-grandfather was born too late to participate in the fun, but three of his older brothers did participate.

Since they all lived on the family plantation outside Calvert, Tx, they joined Capt Townsend's Company, Hood's Brigade, Longstreet's Division, for the duration.

The oldest, Frank, missed Antietem because he was in hospital from wounds received at the Battle of Gaines Mill just before, however both of his brothers lost their Right arms at Antietam, and he later took a mini-ball in the knee in the second days fighting at Chickamauga.

What's amazing is that all three lived to be old men, and all died peacefully at the plantation, years after the war's end. In 1954, when we moved from San Antonio to Augusta, we stopped and spent the night with my (distant) cousins at the plantation house. Both of these elderly ladies (I'm guessing that they were in their 70's at the time) were very active (which is amazing since their father was that same Frank,) and the older of two is the author of a Family history that is widely used in genealogical research of the Barton family line.

[Jeff82]

Amazing stuff.

[LadyDoc]

Civil War medicine must have been more advanced that the record would otherwise indicate. My Great-great-grandfather was born too late to participate in the fun, but three of his older brothers did participate.

Since they all lived on the family plantation outside Calvert, Tx, they joined Capt Townsend's Company, Hood's Brigade, Longstreet's Division, for the duration.

The oldest, Frank, missed Antietem because he was in hospital from wounds received at the Battle of Gaines Mill just before, however both of his brothers lost their Right arms at Antietam, and he later took a mini-ball in the knee in the second days fighting at Chickamauga.

What's amazing is that all three lived to be old men, and all died peacefully at the plantation, years after the war's end. In 1954, when we moved from San Antonio to Augusta, we stopped and spent the night with my (distant) cousins at the plantation house. Both of these elderly ladies (I'm guessing that they were in their 70's at the time) were very active (which is amazing since their father was that same Frank,) and the older of two is the author of a Family history that is widely used in genealogical research of the Barton family line.

Very Cool that you have all that family history.
The more I read, the more I'm figuring that the only reason that my great-great grandfather "kept" his arm ( even though he lost the use of his elbow) was that the wound was attributed to cannister/grape shot rather than minie ball, and thus was a rather "clean" wound. The minie apparently caused devastating tissue and bone damage, thus the need for so many amputations - they simply didn't have the resources at the time to repair so much vascular damage either. The survival rates post-amputation were actually quite good, considering they didn't know anything about germ theory yet.

Another thing that was interesting to me was how many deaths from Measles there were.

[david1833]

My son has a book, "Amazing facts about the civil war" I keep in the john library.

Here's a quote from it.




During the Civil War, glasses with colored lenses were used to treat disorders and illnesses. Yellow-trimmed glasses were used to treat syphilis, blue for insanity, and pink for depression. Thus we get the term, To see the world through rose-colored glasses.

[zanshin]

We have a pretty good exhibit on Civil War Medicine at my work and even do some amputation demos during Civil War Adventure Camps...

"Your attention, please. Will Lorena Bobbit and Ranger P-Chop please report to the Adventure Camp area for the demonstration..."

.. ..





.. ..


..

[P-Chop]

"Your attention, please. Will Lorena Bobbit and Ranger P-Chop please report to the Adventure Camp area for the demonstration..."

.. ..





.. ..


..

We have a group of 23 College kids from Calgary, Alberta in Civil War Adventure Camp tonight. Some real hotties....but, I'm not working this one. I'm still on restriction from the last time I was told to "take 'em out to the field and drill 'em".

Sheesh! Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

[LadyDoc]

My son has a book, "Amazing facts about the civil war" I keep in the john library.

Here's a quote from it.




During the Civil War, glasses with colored lenses were used to treat disorders and illnesses. Yellow-trimmed glasses were used to treat syphilis, blue for insanity, and pink for depression. Thus we get the term, To see the world through rose-colored glasses.

Speaking of syphilis, there were also more than a few men who were inadvertently given syphilis with their smallpox inoculation. Apparently, they inoculated using material from active pustules of men who were themselves recently vaccinated. Some of those "donor" guys also had syphilis, so when they put that pus in your arm, guess what? Try explaining that to your wife when you got home. And you thought you hated all "your" shots in Basic.

[NinjaKiwi]

All interesting posts, makes you realize that Civil War Medicine wasn't just Laudinum and Amputations!

[LadyDoc]

Just finished the chapter on rations and nutritional problems.

Apparently a huge number of troops - especially during the Peninsula Campaign - had Scurvy. Funny, you learn about scurvy with the old British Navy, but you don't think about it with land troops. In those days, doctors called scurvy, "scorbutus" or the "scorbutic taint" (yeah, I laughed). At the time, they didn't know about Vitamin C - they just knew that fresh fruits and vegetables kept scurvy at bay (not just citrus). Where the troops could forage and scavenge farms and fields, they did ok, (The Western Campaign apparently didn't have so many problems). But in the East, where the same ground was travelled and fought for over and over, there wasn't anything left to forage. The Sanitary Commission was so concerned, that it launched drives at home to collect potatoes and onions and turnips and such for the troops.

Maybe you got the same MRE's over and over, but at least they didn't give you scurvy!

Fascinating stuff. I love this book.