Medicine in the Revolutionary War
Being a soldier in the Revolutionary War was risky business, and not just because of the battles. If the war itself did not kill a soldier, seeking medical treatment for a wound or illness might. Statistics show that a soldier had a 98 percent chance of survival on the battlefield but only a 75 percent chance in a hospital. Thankfully, modern medicine has come a long way, but just what did soldiers during the Revolutionary War have to look forward to if they needed medical help?
Doctors and Hospitals
To practice medicine today, doctors undergo years of intense study and training. However, that was not the case in colonial America. People could call themselves doctors and begin practicing medicine after just a few years of apprenticing with another doctor. Medicine of the time was practiced based on theories rather than on real scientific knowledge. Many doctors believed that illness was caused by an imbalance of the humors, which were blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Because of this belief, doctors often prescribed bloodletting or medicine to induce vomiting or bowel movements to restore the balance.
http://www.dosespot.com/medicine-in-the-revolutionary-war
