Medical Care in the Civil War
By: Codey-Noel
In 1861 the Civil War started mainly due to the issue of
slavery. The United Sates was split into two. The North and
South were in battle. Solders were seriously injured or
killed. Many injured solders were in need of medical care.
In addition to trains and ambulances, the armies used
riverboats to transport wounded and sick men. The fiftyseven New York ambulance corps practiced gathering wounded
soldiers close to Culpeper, Virginia, in 1863 (Bolotin &
Herb). Most surgical procedures were performed after a
retreat, when the wounded soldiers could be pulled from the
battle ground, loaded onto horse drawn ambulances, and
rushed to a surgical field station. Wounded soldiers were
removed from field ambulance and given a strong drink of
whiskey (Rosenhouse 29).
This treatment was done with little or no anesthesia
(Olson 24). Many surgeons feared that anesthetics were
dangerous for patients, in performing amputations (Bolotin &
Herb). Doctors got the nickname sawbones, because of
amputating limbs (Olson 24). They usually sawed off a limb
to save the patient (“Civil War”). The surgeon’s medical kit
held a saw for amputating limbs and a set of plier like
instrument for removing bullets (Bolotin & Herb 52). Doctors
could not mend the bone injuries (“Civil War”). Whiskey and
Chloroform were the only painkillers available for
amputation surgery.
More soldiers died from camp sicknesses than by battle
wounds. If wounds became infected hospital workers
encouraged flies to lay their eggs in it. The maggots would
eat the diseased flesh. No one knew about germs yet. There
were no medicines to cure infections in the 1860’s (“Civil
War”).
In 1861 a volunteer organization was provided. The
organization provided the soldiers health info, medical
supplies, and encouragement (Bolotin & Herb 54). People on
the home front made socks, clothes, and many bandages for
the soldiers. Clara Barton was the most famous “Angel”
(Youhn). She was a government clerk. Clara organized her own
nursing and supply operation to care for the wounded
soldiers (Bolotin & Herb). She lived and worked in
Washington D.C. when the war started. Clara Barton visited
the first battlefield in August 1862 (Youhn). Louisa May
Alcott volunteered as a wartime nurse in Washington D.C,
later she became a successful writer. Her best known novel
is Little Woman. Little Woman is a story of four northern
sisters during the war. Many adults and teens sent packages
to the soldiers they were called “Comfort bags”, they would
have short notes on them to encourage the soldiers. Dorthea
Dix was a reformer of mental hospitals. She worked
tirelessly as superintendent of the Union nursing corps
during the war (Bolotin & Herb). While assisting during the
war Confederate nurse Juliet Ann Opie Hopkins was injured in
battle (Youhn).
There were many important people that helped as nurses.
Without these amputators, Doctors, and, nurses many more
soldiers would have died.
Works Cited
Bolotin, Norman and, Angela Herb. For Home and Country. New
York: Scholastic, 1995. Print
Olson, Kay M. The Terrible Awful Civil War. Mankato:
Capstone. Print
Rosenhouse Leo. “Civil War Surgeons”. Child Life. May-June
2003 28-30. Primary Search. Web. 23 Apr 2013. Print
“The Sick and Wounded”. Civil War. London: Dorling
Kindersley, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23
Apr. 2013. Print
Youhn, Susan. “Angels of the Battle Field. Cobblestone. Feb.
2005: 8-13. Primary Search. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Print