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Hospitals in Frederick
Caring for the Wounded
In this building, soldiers who died in one of the many area hospitals following the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Gettysburg, and Monocacy were embalmed and prepared for interment at nearby Mount Olivet Cemetery or for shipment home. James Whitehall, the owner of the building, was both a furniture maker and undertaker, as were many furniture makers then. Dr. Richard Burr, a contractor with the U.S. Army, embalmed the bodies of officers and soldiers in this building. He gave public demonstrations of the new embalming process here on Sunday afternoons.
The Hessian Barracks at the south end of Frederick served as a U.S. general hospital throughout the entire Civil War. Following nearby battles, makeshift hospitals were established in virtually every large structure, from barns in the surrounding countryside to churches downtown. After the Battle of Antietam, some 8,000 wounded soldiers recuperated in Frederick at a time when the town's population was 8,000. Dr. Jonathan Letterman's revolutionary triage system for sorting and treating the wounded based on the severity of their wounds was first used here after the Battles of South Mountains and Antietam. His system is still in use today.
The stories of the care of the wounded, both Union and Confederate, and of the countless advances in medicine developed in time of need during the Civil War are told here today in the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.
Frederick's Courthouse Square also contains a number of Civil War stories. Follow Patrick Street west to Court Street, then turn right and travel one block north. |