Civil War Medicine
There were many medical advances made during the American Civil War. When the Civil War began in April 1861, medicine was approaching what Surgeon General William Hammond called "the end of the medical Middle Ages." American physicians had little knowledge of the cause and prevention of disease and infection. (Maher, pg. 1) The Army Medical Department, which was responsible for the care of the sick and wounded in the North, was unprepared. The staff of 90 doctors was experienced in dealing with the health problems of small military outposts, but had no idea of how to deal with large scale medical and logistical problems. Unfortunately, the war occurred just a few years before Louis Pasteur discovered the role of germs in infection; doctors dug bullet fragments out with unwashed fingers and operated with bloodyinstruments for lack of clean water (Thomas, pg92). A surgeon recalled: "We operated in old blood-stained and often pus-stained coats, we used undisinfected instruments from undisinfected plush lined cases. If a sponge (if they had sponges) or instrument fell on the floor it was washed and squeezed in a basin of water and used as if it was clean." Civil War surgeons actually thought pus in a wound was good (Maher
Preaching the virtues of clean water, good food, and fresh air, the commission pressured the Army Medical Department to improve sanitation, build large well-ventilated hospitals, and encourage women to join the newly-created nursing corps. But the largest medical achievements of the Civil War were in the areas of field hospital organization and personnel. Soldiers from small rural areas suffered from childhood diseases such as measles and mumps because they lacked immunity. Wounds of head, chest and abdomen weren't treated; they were given painkillers and most died there. From here, they were evacuated, usually by train, to fixed hospitals. From there, they went back into battle or to a field hospital, maybe in a barn or church three or four miles behind the lines. Military hospital staffs became more permanent. Doctors treating hundreds of thousands of cases of dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid, malaria and gunshot wounds compiled copious notes that would aid researchers after the war. These case studies were later published between 1870 and 1888 under the title Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. First aid was done here,tourniquets and splinting, but they had trouble stopping hemorrhage on the battlefield (Steiner, pg. The overwhelming number of wounded created problems in removing them from the battlefield. But it is comforting to know that there were advances made medically for the better of mankind during this otherwise bleak era.
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Acceptance Essays
