BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed) -- Exhibit: Civil War

DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed) -- Exhibit: Civil War:

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[1] NMHMCW_110327_002.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[2] NMHMCW_110327_016.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[3] NMHMCW_110327_018.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[4] NMHMCW_110327_027.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[5] NMHMCW_110327_030.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[6] NMHMCW_110327_035.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $The Case of Major General Daniel E. Sickles: Major General Daniel E. Sickles, Union Third Army Corps commander, was struck by a cannonball during the battle of Gettysburg. Sickles was on horseback when the twelve-pound ball severely fractured his lower right leg. Sickles quieted his horse, dismounted and was taken to a shelter where Surgeon Thomas Sims amputated the leg just above the knee. Shortly after the operation, the Army Medical Museum received Sickles' leg in a small box bearing a visiting card with the message: "With the compliments of Major General D.E.S." The amputation healed rapidly and by September of 1863, Sickles returned to military service. For many years on the anniversary of the amputation, Sickles visited his leg at the museum. Sickles' exploits extended beyond the Civil War. He was the first defendant to successfully use the temporary insanity defense in the United States. In 1859, Sickles was found not guilty of the murder of his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key, the son of the composer of the national anthem. Sickles had shot Key in Lafayette Square in Washington in a jealous rage after learning of the affair. Sickles also served as a secret agent for President Lincoln and was appointed Ambassador to Spain by President Grant. Right lower leg bones of Major General Daniel E. Sickles showing the destruction cause by a cannonball.$
[7] NMHMCW_110327_043.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $Private J. Potter, Company H, 12th Illinois Cavalry, age 45, was injured at Cane River, Louisiana, on April 27th, 1864, when a ball entered the middle of the upper arm, traveled down the length of the bone and lodged near the elbow without fracturing the bone. The bone was removed on May 9th, but the wound became infected. The infection caused Potter great pain and the limb was amputated in early November of 1865. He was discharged in March of 1866.$	[8] NMHMCW_110327_049.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[9] NMHMCW_110327_058.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[10] NMHMCW_110327_061.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[11] NMHMCW_110327_066.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[12] NMHMCW_110327_073.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[13] NMHMCW_110327_080.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[14] NMHMCW_110327_088.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[15] NMHMCW_110327_092.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $The Case of Private Columbus Rush: Private Columbus Rush, Company C, 21st Georgia, age 22, was wounded during the assault on Fort Stedman, Virginia, on March 25th, 1865 by a shell fragment that fractured both the right leg below the knee and the left kneecap. Both limbs were amputated above the knees on the same day. He recovered quickly and was discharged from Lincoln Hospital in Washington on August 2nd, 1865. In 1866, while being treated at St. Luke's Hospital in new York City, he was outfitted with artificial limbs.$
[16] NMHMCW_110327_097.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $Tourniquet Amputation: Surgeons frequently treated arm and leg wounds by amputating. This grisly wounds caused by bullets and shrapnel were often contaminated by clothing and other debris. Cleaning such a wound was time consuming and often ineffective. However, amputation made a large complex wound simple. Surgical manuals taught that an amputation should be performed within two days following injury. The death rate from these so-called primary amputations was lower than the rate for amputations performed after the wound became infected. Union surgeons performed nearly 30,000 amputations. Patients undergoing amputation were first anesthetized. A tourniquet was applied above the site of the proposed amputation. The skin and muscle were then cut with amputation knives several inches above the fracture site. The muscles were pulled up to expose the bone. Once the cut was completed, large arteries were pulled out from the stump tissue with a tenaculum and tied off to prevent bleeding. The skin muscle was then released and the tissue sutured. Two types of amputation were commonly used. A circular amputation involved cutting straight through the skin to the bone and resulted in a stump that was circular in appearance. A flap amputation required the tissue to be cut leaving two flaps of skin that were used to create a stump. Fingers and other small bones were amputated using the smaller metacarpal saw.$	[17] NMHMCW_110327_108.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[18] NMHMCW_110327_111.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[19] NMHMCW_110327_115.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[20] NMHMCW_110327_119.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[21] NMHMCW_110327_122.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[22] NMHMCW_110327_123.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[23] NMHMCW_110327_128.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[24] NMHMCW_110327_135.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[25] NMHMCW_110327_141.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[26] NMHMCW_110327_148.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[27] NMHMCW_110327_154.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[28] NMHMCW_110327_162.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $Excision: Surgeons treated some shoulder wounds with a technique known as excision, also termed exsection or resection. The fractured bone section was removed, the tissues sutured, and the limb left to heal. Excision gave the patient limited use of the arm and usually full use of the hand. Prosthetic braces worn over the shoulder allowed nearly normal function of the limb for some patients. The flexible teeth of chain saw were passed under the tissue, the handles attached and the device was moved back and forth to saw through the bone.$	[29] NMHMCW_110327_168.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[30] NMHMCW_110327_177.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[31] NMHMCW_110327_180.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[32] NMHMCW_110327_187.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $To perform a trephination, the patient was first anesthetized. The tissue surrounding the trephination site was then pulled back and the trephine placed on the site. The trephine was turned in a circular motion to slowly cut through the bone. Care was taken not to cut the tissue surrounding the brain. An instrument called an elevator was used to raise sections of fractured bone away from the brain. A Heye's saw was used to remove protruding bone fragments.$	[33] NMHMCW_110327_188.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
[34] NMHMCW_110327_192.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[35] NMHMCW_110327_193.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[36] NMHMCW_110327_202.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. NMHMCW_110327_002.JPG: Tompkins Wheeled Stretcher, 1865 Although this stretcher was recommended for adoption by the Army, there is no evidence that a full scale version was ever built. General Charles H. Tompkins designed the stretcher to be adjustable to provide the maximum comfort for the wounded soldier. It has an elliptical spring suspension, an adjustable backrest with collapsible hood, and a blanket rolled on a spool at the foot of the stretcher. The wheels could be detached and the stretcher could be carried or supported on the folding legs.
2. NMHMCW_110327_035.JPG: The Case of Major General Daniel E. Sickles: Major General Daniel E. Sickles, Union Third Army Corps commander, was struck by a cannonball during the battle of Gettysburg. Sickles was on horseback when the twelve-pound ball severely fractured his lower right leg. Sickles quieted his horse, dismounted and was taken to a shelter where Surgeon Thomas Sims amputated the leg just above the knee. Shortly after the operation, the Army Medical Museum received Sickles' leg in a small box bearing a visiting card with the message: "With the compliments of Major General D.E.S." The amputation healed rapidly and by September of 1863, Sickles returned to military service. For many years on the anniversary of the amputation, Sickles visited his leg at the museum. Sickles' exploits extended beyond the Civil War. He was the first defendant to successfully use the temporary insanity defense in the United States. In 1859, Sickles was found not guilty of the murder of his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key, the son of the composer of the national anthem. Sickles had shot Key in Lafayette Square in Washington in a jealous rage after learning of the affair. Sickles also served as a secret agent for President Lincoln and was appointed Ambassador to Spain by President Grant. Right lower leg bones of Major General Daniel E. Sickles showing the destruction cause by a cannonball.
3. NMHMCW_110327_043.JPG: Private J. Potter, Company H, 12th Illinois Cavalry, age 45, was injured at Cane River, Louisiana, on April 27th, 1864, when a ball entered the middle of the upper arm, traveled down the length of the bone and lodged near the elbow without fracturing the bone. The bone was removed on May 9th, but the wound became infected. The infection caused Potter great pain and the limb was amputated in early November of 1865. He was discharged in March of 1866.
4. NMHMCW_110327_049.JPG: Corporal HL Pinney, Company H, 1st Missouri Light Artillery, was wounded in the left shoulder at the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, on April 6th, 1862. The round ball remained embedded in his shoulder for nearly nine months. A cavity formed around the ball and the shoulder blade became encrusted with bony growths due to the irritation of the ball. Corporal Pinney's health remained well until August 1st when a large abscess began to drain. His health declined until his death on December 26th, 1862. Although fortunate to be unconscious during surgery, soldiers who underwent the knife often received a nasty visitor a few days later -- infection. Any open would almost always became infected. The unwashed hands of the surgeon, the nonsterile surgical instruments used on a succession of men, and the dirty sponges used on an entire ward of wounded soldiers all introduced infectious bacteria into wounds. These infections often resulted in gangrene and death.
5. NMHMCW_110327_061.JPG: At the battle of Gettysburg, Private WF Faucett, flag bearer for Company F, 13th North Carolina, was shot in the left arm and dropped the flag. Faucett picked up the flag with his right hand and continued into battle. After being captured by Union troops, he received hospital care for his injury. The wounded became infected and his arm was amputated on September 22nd, 1863. On December 12th, he was transferred to a prisoner camp. He was exchanged on March 17th, 1864.
6. NMHMCW_110327_066.JPG: Private WS Williams, a Confederate soldier in Morgan's Cavalry, was wounded in the upper leg during a skirmish near Winchester, Virginia. Private Williams recovered and was transported back to South Carolina.
7. NMHMCW_110327_073.JPG: Confederate surgeon Julian Chisolm developed this anesthesia inhaler. His design allowed the administration of chloroform through the nostrils, reducing the amount of anesthesia needed to induce unconsciousness. Chloroform tin from a field medical case. Anesthesia was an important surgical advance introduced a few decades before the Civil War. Ether or chloroform was applied to a cloth cone that was placed over the mouth and nose of the patient. The patient became stuporous in a matter of minutes. This state lasted for more than enough time to perform an amputation, which took about six minutes to complete. Union surgeons used anesthesia in more than 80,000 operations. Since anesthesia was available, Civil War surgeons attempted new operative procedures to contend with some of the severe wounds they encountered. One such procedure, reconstructive surgery of the face, involved suturing together the soft tissues of the eyelids, nose, and mouth. Sometimes extensive rebuilding of the underlying bone with splints and surgical fixtures was required. Surgeons performed more than thirty of these operations.
8. NMHMCW_110327_080.JPG: The Case of Private Carleton Burgan: Private Carleton Burgan, Company B, Purnell's Maryland Legion, age 20, was admitted to the general hospital in Frederick, Maryland, on August 4th, 1862, with pneumonia. He was given calomel, a strong mercurial drug. On August 6th, doctors discovered that the calomel had caused an ulcer on Burgan's tongue. The ulcer soon spread to his cheek and the roof of his mouth. The ulcer became gangrenous. The gangrene disappeared on August 27th, but it had destroyed Burgan's upper mouth, palate, right cheek and right eye. The bone of his right cheek was removed to halt any further spread of the gangrene. Burgan's condition made him a candidate for reconstructive surgery. Dr. Gordon Buck of City Hospital in New York performed a series of operations to rebuild Burgan's face. Dental and facial fixtures were crafted to fill in the missing bone and support the skin. Burgan's case was the first involving total facial reconstructive surgery. He went on to live a normal life, with minimal visual and physical reminders of the damage.
9. NMHMCW_110327_092.JPG: The Case of Private Columbus Rush: Private Columbus Rush, Company C, 21st Georgia, age 22, was wounded during the assault on Fort Stedman, Virginia, on March 25th, 1865 by a shell fragment that fractured both the right leg below the knee and the left kneecap. Both limbs were amputated above the knees on the same day. He recovered quickly and was discharged from Lincoln Hospital in Washington on August 2nd, 1865. In 1866, while being treated at St. Luke's Hospital in new York City, he was outfitted with artificial limbs.
10. NMHMCW_110327_097.JPG: Tourniquet Amputation: Surgeons frequently treated arm and leg wounds by amputating. This grisly wounds caused by bullets and shrapnel were often contaminated by clothing and other debris. Cleaning such a wound was time consuming and often ineffective. However, amputation made a large complex wound simple. Surgical manuals taught that an amputation should be performed within two days following injury. The death rate from these so-called primary amputations was lower than the rate for amputations performed after the wound became infected. Union surgeons performed nearly 30,000 amputations. Patients undergoing amputation were first anesthetized. A tourniquet was applied above the site of the proposed amputation. The skin and muscle were then cut with amputation knives several inches above the fracture site. The muscles were pulled up to expose the bone. Once the cut was completed, large arteries were pulled out from the stump tissue with a tenaculum and tied off to prevent bleeding. The skin muscle was then released and the tissue sutured. Two types of amputation were commonly used. A circular amputation involved cutting straight through the skin to the bone and resulted in a stump that was circular in appearance. A flap amputation required the tissue to be cut leaving two flaps of skin that were used to create a stump. Fingers and other small bones were amputated using the smaller metacarpal saw.
11. NMHMCW_110327_108.JPG: Some conditions were treated by hypodermic injections of drugs
12. NMHMCW_110327_111.JPG: "Some on the bare ground, some on planks or stretchers." Evacuation and Hospitalization: The first battles revealed gaping holes in the capabilities of the medical commands to evacuate wounded men from the battlefield, render immediate care, and arrange long-term hospitalization. Outdated military regulations relied on regimental musicians to remove the wounded. Surgeons were required to treat only men from their assigned regiment, but even then they were soon overwhelmed by the chaos of battle. In some cases, days passed before men were removed from the battlefields. Townspeople became nurses, their carts and wagons served as ambulances, and their homes outfitted into makeshift hospitals. The public and military medical personnel grew outraged by these conditions. Their reactions forced significant changes in evacuation and hospital systems. Troops were organized and trained to recover and transport wounded men in ambulances. New types of ambulances were designed and built. Railcars and ships were outfitted to move the wounded from field hospitals to general hospitals. Large general hospitals holding thousands of patients and hospitals specializing in particular diseases and medical conditions were built. Surgeons planned the location of evacuation points and field hospitals before battles commenced. The procedures developed during the Civil War -- rapid evacuation, assessment in the field, and transportation to a hospital far from the battle lines -- are still in use by the American military.
13. NMHMCW_110327_115.JPG: Once evacuated from the battlefield, wounded soldiers were evaluated at the field hospital. Three categories were used -- the walking wounded, the wounded requiring immediate care, and the wounded beyond help. The walking wounded were given opium for pain and their woulds were cleaned and dressed. Immediate care usually involved amputation or bullet extraction. Morphine or opium were given to the fatally wounded. Once treated, the wounded were then evacuated to larger division and general hospitals. Field hospitals were established in tents, barns, houses, or other protected locations with access to water. Hastily erected rows of tents also served this purpose. The usual means of evacuation to a field hospital were stretchers, two-wheeled ambulances, or the shoulders of a fellow soldier.
14. NMHMCW_110327_119.JPG: With the influx of large numbers of sick and wounded soldiers, the cities of the eastern and southern coasts became centers for large general hospitals. New hospitals were designed and built. Others were created from existing buildings. A belief that "bad air" caused certain diseases suggested that increased airflow would reduce sickness. As a result, new hospitals maximized the ventilation of their wards. Some hospitals specialized in the care of certain injuries or medical conditions. For example, Turner's Lane Hospital in Philadelphia became the Union Army's hospital for the care of neurological disorders. The Confederate medical command favored the construction of very large hospitals. With 8,000 beds and 250 surgeons, Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond was one of the largest.
15. NMHMCW_110327_122.JPG: Two military physicians were largely responsible for the changes in evacuation procedures and the system of hospital care during the war. Union surgeon Jonathan Letterman, medical director for the Army of the Potomac, was instrumental in establishing regimental aid stations, field hospitals, and division level hospitals. He also authorized training for ambulance companies responsible for moving wounded men from the battlefield to the field hospital. Dr. Samuel Stout, of the Confederate medical service, established aid stations, devised mobile field and general hospitals (the origins of the MASH unit), and championed hospitals with large, open wards. He also organized effective evacuation systems for wounded Confederates. The changes instituted by Stout and Letterman -- rapid evacuation, assessment in the field, and transportation to a hospital far from the battle lines -- provided sick and wounded soldiers a process of care still used by the American military.
16. NMHMCW_110327_123.JPG: Urinals were commonplace in the wards
17. NMHMCW_110327_128.JPG: This field hospital was erected in the vicinity of Keedysville, Maryland, following the battle of Antietam on September 17th, 1862. The hospital, located near Smith's Barn, aided Confederate wounded and was attended by Dr. Anson Hurd of the 14th Indiana Volunteers.
18. NMHMCW_110327_135.JPG: Interior of a ward at Harewood with mosquito netting over the beds of patients.
19. NMHMCW_110327_141.JPG: Once evaluated and cared for at the field hospital, wounded me were transported to general hospitals in trains and hospital ships. Large numbers of wounded men could be loaded on these trains and ships, given care, and transported directly to general hospitals. Hospital trains could carry hundreds of patients. Many contained kitchens and well-spaced bunks to provide better patient care. Ships transported soldiers to general hospitals and also served as floating hospitals. Later in the war, Union ships stopped at Southern ports to pick up the wounded and transport them up the Atlantic coast to hospitals in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York.
20. NMHMCW_110327_154.JPG: The US Army Hospital Steamer DA January was a sidewheel steamer that served as a floating hospital. Outfitted to allow for the best in patient care, she contained a surgical suite, baths, a kitchen, nurses quarters, hot and cold running water and an ice water cooler. Windows circulated air through the wards, which held nearly 450 beds. During its four years of service, the DA January transported and cared for more than 23,000 wounded mem. It regularly visited the cities along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
21. NMHMCW_110327_162.JPG: Excision: Surgeons treated some shoulder wounds with a technique known as excision, also termed exsection or resection. The fractured bone section was removed, the tissues sutured, and the limb left to heal. Excision gave the patient limited use of the arm and usually full use of the hand. Prosthetic braces worn over the shoulder allowed nearly normal function of the limb for some patients. The flexible teeth of chain saw were passed under the tissue, the handles attached and the device was moved back and forth to saw through the bone.
22. NMHMCW_110327_168.JPG: Corporal GW Stone, Company A, 12th Massachusetts, was wounded at Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 13th, 1862, when a conoidal ball penetrated his right eye and lodged behind list left eye. His only exterior symptoms were a small wound to the lid of his right eye and the slight protuberance of his left eye. His left eye continued to function normally and Corporal Stone complained only of a slight headache. The wound to his right eye healed well and within three weeks, he was allowed to walk about the city with a hospital pass. Suddenly, on February 6th, 1863, he developed chills. Fever and delirium followed. He died at midnight on February 15th, 1863.
23. NMHMCW_110327_180.JPG: Private J. Luman, Company A, 122nd Ohio Volunteers was wounded at the battle of Mine Run, Virginia, on November 27th, 1863, when a minie ball passed through his skull. He was treated in the field hospital for several days before being evacuated to the 3rd division hospital in Alexandria. By December 8th, Private Luman was comatose and Surgeon E. Bentley applied a trephine and removed the splinters of bones associated with the wound. He [sic] condition failed to improve and he died five days later.
24. NMHMCW_110327_187.JPG: To perform a trephination, the patient was first anesthetized. The tissue surrounding the trephination site was then pulled back and the trephine placed on the site. The trephine was turned in a circular motion to slowly cut through the bone. Care was taken not to cut the tissue surrounding the brain. An instrument called an elevator was used to raise sections of fractured bone away from the brain. A Heye's saw was used to remove protruding bone fragments.
25. NMHMCW_110327_188.JPG: Head Wounds: Head wounds were not always fatal. A soldier's prognosis was best when bone splinters were removed and the wound was left to heal. For more severe wounds, trephination was used. Trephination involved drilling a circular hole into the skull to relieve pressure from bleeding or to remove fragments of bone pressing on the brain. Trephinations were fatal in over half of the 220 operations performed by Union surgeons.
26. NMHMCW_110327_192.JPG: Chest and Abdominal Wounds: Chest and abdominal wounds were nearly always fatal. Treatment of abdominal wounds often involved pushing in protruding organs and suturing the wound. Food was withheld because fecal material leaking from the intestines caused contamination. Opium was often administered to halt the action of the digestive system. Abdominal wounds were fatal in almost 90% of the cases reported by Union surgeons. Chest wounds were cleaned, and the wound was sutured.
27. NMHMCW_110327_193.JPG: Joseph K. Barnes, MD (1817-1883), Surgeon General: Joseph K. Barnes assumed the duties of Surgeon Genearl in 1864, after William Hammond was removed from the position. Enjoying the strong support of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Barnes completed the reforms begun by his predecessor. He oversaw the postwar demobilization of the Medical Department and its transition to providing care for veterans. He hired staff at the Army Medical Museum to produce illustrations for the Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. He also secured funding for the Surgeon General's Library, now the National Library of Medicine.
28. NMHMCW_110327_202.JPG: William Alexander Hammond, MD (1828-1900): William Hammond was appointed Surgeon General in 1862 and placed in charge of the Union Army's medical activities. He established the Army Medical Museum in May 1862 to conduct scientific research on military medicine. He also ordered Army Medical Corps officers to send specimens to the Museum. Hammond appointed Dr. John Brinton as curator and gave him the authority to organize the Museum. Relieved of duty in 1864 after being court-martialed on false charges, Hammond became a distinguished practitioner of neurology. In 1878, his name was cleared by the President.
29. NMHMCW_110327_213.JPG: As the war progressed, doctors on both sides quickly became aware of the scope of medical problems. They responded by creating medical evacuation systems, designing and building hospitals, and improving sanitary conditions in the camps. These responses reduced the rates of sickness and death among the troops over the course of the war.
30. NMHMCW_110327_215.JPG: In broad terms, the number of soldiers falling ill and dying from disease decreased over the course of the war. Improvements in sanitation and diet contributed to this decline. In addition, soldiers with inadequate immune systems were killed by disease in the early part of the war, leaving men who were less susceptible to illness. A reduction in the number of new recruits over the course of the war and the continued service of healthy veteran soldiers also reduced the rates of sickness and death.
31. NMHMCW_110327_216.JPG: As regiments and companies formed, soldiers brought with them their health histories as well as their rucksacks. Soldiers from rural areas who had not been exposed to childhood diseases like chicken pox, measles, and mumps readily contracted and died from these illnesses. As each new group of volunteers arrived in camp, the men with inadequate immune systems were weeded out by disease. Smallpox, another contagious disease, was often prevented through vaccination programs.
32. NMHMCW_110327_218.JPG: The most common diseases encountered during the war were dysentery, typhoid, pneumonia, and malaria. Dysentery, a form of diarrhea, was known as the "runs" or the "bloody flux." It reduced the body's intake of energy and minerals from food. In some cases, the disease quickly ran its courses, and the patient survived. When the disease lingered, however, death was more frequent. One-quarter of all sicknesses reported to Union surgeons were the result of dysentery. A variety of drugs were used to treat dysentery, and most were ineffective. Typhoid, caused by contaminated food and water, resulted in fever, diarrhea, and headache. Because these symptoms were similar to dysentery, the treatments were much the same. Pneumonia killed 20,000 Union troops. It was treated with expectorants and cough-promoting drugs. Malaria, a disease carried by the Anopheles mosquito, was prevalent in the south. Quinine was particularly effective in reducing the fever and other symptoms of this disease.
33. NMHMCW_110327_220.JPG: Quinine was successfully used for the treatment of malaria and was part of the standard medical kit issued to Union surgeons.
34. NMHMCW_110327_227.JPG: Volunteer organizations in the North and South improved the soldiers' quality of life. One prominent group was the US Sanitary Commission (USSC). The USSC worked to reform the US Army Medical Department and provided private funds dedicated for the care of the sick and wounded. They convinced the Union medical command to issue orders requiring better sanitation, hygiene, and food for Union troops. The USSC and other groups funded hospital trains and ships, provided doctors and nurses to help wounded soldiers, and held "sanitary fairs" to raise money for medical supplies and equipment.
35. NMHMCW_110327_228.JPG: The acceptance of female nurses significantly changed Civil War medical care. Army physicians initially feared that women would be unable to work amid the difficult conditions of field and general hospitals. Nurses like Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton persuaded the public and the medical command that they were able to provide effective and compassionate care. Many African American women like Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman also served as nurses. In June of 1861, Dorothea Dix was appointed the "Superintendent of Female Nurses." Soon after, Congress legislated that nurses be paid forty cents per day. To reduce problems while caring for patients, Dix required her nurses to be over thirty years of age, healthy, and "plain almost to repulsion in dress, and devoid of personal attractions."
36. NMHMCW_110327_231.JPG: The role of women sometimes extended beyond nursing. Mary Walker was the first woman to serve the US Army as a contract physician. Contract physicians, also called Acting Assistant Surgeons, were civilian doctors who were contracted by the medical commands to supplement the work of military physicians. Many years after the war, Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor for her Civil War service.
37. NMHMCW_110327_234.JPG: The United States Army Regimental pocket surgical kit used by Dr. Mary Walker.
38. NMHMCW_110327_241.JPG: Badge, Sanitary Commission
39. NMHMCW_110327_249.JPG: Token, Sanitary Commission Badges and tokens sold by the United States Sanitary Commission to raise funds in support of the medical needs of Union troops.
40. NMHMCW_110327_265.JPG: Gunshot wounds to the skull were fatal in more than 80% of cases reported by Union surgeons. This skull, retrieved in 1866 from the Confederate trenches at Wilderness, Virginia, shows a gunshot wound.
41. NMHMCW_110327_275.JPG: Infection of the bone following a gunshot wound was a near certainty. Private Sullivan Sager, Company K, 5th Vermont, was shot in the lower leg by a minie ball near Richmond, Virginia, on June 29th, 1862. He entered the hospital on August 13th with pus draining from the wound. His leg was amputated on October 6th, 1862, but he succumbed to a blood infection and died three days later.
42. NMHMCW_110327_282.JPG: "I saw 200 six-mule army wagons in a line, ranged down the street to headquarters, and reaching so far out on the Wilderness Road that I n ever found the end of it; every wagon crowded with wounded men, stopped, standing in the rain and mud, wrenched back and forth by the restless, hungry animals all night." -- Clara Barton, Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, May 1864
43. NMHMCW_110327_283.JPG: Accidental injuries were not uncommon during the war. Private John Brown, age 19, Company I, 109th New York, was accidentally shot in the left foot with a minie ball at Mason's Island, Virginia, on November 3rd, 1863. He entered Armory Square hospital on the same day. His limb was amputated three days later and he was discharged from service on march 22nd, 1864.
44. NMHMCW_110327_292.JPG: Rucker Ambulance, 1865: This ambulance, designed by Brigadier General D.H. Rucker based on lessons learned in the field, was intended to minimize discomfort of wounded soldiers. Since the ambulance operated on rough ground, the ride was cushioned by a triple-spring suspension. Springs attached to the harnesses of the horses minimized jolting. The two tiered layout of the stretchers, based on a design by Augustus Sus, allowed the ambulance to carry either four patients on stretchers or eight seated.
45. NMHMCW_110403_02.JPG: Certain medical devices, such as this electromagnetic machine for nerve stimulation, were used in specialized care hospitals.
46. NMHMCW_110403_09.JPG: Jonathan Letterman and several officers were photographed in the field at Warrenton, Virginia, in November of 1862. Letterman is second from the left, seated.
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed) -- Exhibit: Civil War) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2009_DC_NMHMDC_CW: DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed) -- Exhibit: Civil War (29 photos from 2009)
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2011 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs camera as well as two Nikon models -- the D90 and the new D7000. Mostly a toy, I also purchased a Fuji Real 3-D W3 camera, to try out 3-D photographs. I found it interesting although I don't see any real use for 3-D stills now. Given that many of the photos from the 1860s were in 3-D (including some of the more famous Civil War shots), it's odd to see it coming back. Trips this year: Civil War Trust conferences (Savannah, GA, Chattanooga, TN), New Jersey over Memorial Day for my birthday (people never seem to visit New Jersey -- it's always just a pit stop on the way to New York. I thought I might as well spend a few days there. Despite some nice places, it still ended up a pit stop for me -- New York City was infinitely more interesting), my 6th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco). Ego strokes: Author photos that I took were used on two book jackets this year: Jason Emerson's book "The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln's Widow As Revealed by Her Own Letters" and Dennis L. Noble's "The U.S. Coast Guard's War on Human Smuggling." I also had a photo of Jason Stelter published in the Washington Examiner and a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. Number of photos taken this year: just over 390,000.
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