Disease in the Civil War
by Dr. Bonnie Brice Dorwart
A variety of diseases afflicting Civil War soldiers caused significantly more casualties than battle.
Most readers of the American Civil War have the impression that soldiers of the time suffered chiefly from wounds, and amputations without anesthesia. Partly this reflects literature written for the public during the past fifty years in the pre-digital era when primary sources never contained an index and commonly had a scanty—if any—table of contents. Furthermore, pictures of amputations, wounds, and prosthetic devices are far more dramatic and capable of being photographed (cameras of the time required static images with long exposure times). There were no video cameras to record the much less interesting and mundane scenes of men passing diarrheal stools, vomiting, sweating with fever and delirium, coughing exhaustively with bronchitis, or bedridden with rheumatism or abscesses. Moreover, the role of surgery in the war, authored by surgeons, dominated medical writing available to the public.[1]
With digitization of primary sources, especially the massive 50 pound Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion in 1990-91, the “Sickness and Mortality Reports†recorded by the Union Army could finally and practically be analyzed. This record of 150 diagnoses of non-hospitalized patients contains only 14 related to wounds, and includes troop numbers at risk as well as outcome (death or recovery) for each illness of each month and year of the war. This material details the illnesses, their causes and treatment, and the rationale for such care. Its conclusion, illustrating medical knowledge of the time, allows the reader to see diseases through the eyes of the surgeons (all physicians were called surgeons during the war) who ministered to their men.[2]
Whether one reads surgeons’ personal journals from the period, official reports of the surgeons general or even generals of both armies, the refrain is the same: sickness is everywhere. This, from the U.S. Sanitary Commission, is typical, poetic, and sad: “Disease, insidious and inevitable, is now stealing through the camps…menacing our dearest treasure—the nation’s youth.â€[3]
More: https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/disease-in-the-civil-war.html
CIVIL WAR DISEASES FACTS
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR FACTS
Introduction - Disease during Civil War
American Civil War soldiers faced great dangers in battle; enemy artillery and gunfire, and often hand-to-hand combat wiped them out by the thousands. However, the greatest danger waited for them back at their camps; various diseases that spread like wild fire in their crowded camps took many more soldier's lives during the Civil War than did enemy fire. In fact it is estimated that nearly 400,000 Civil War soldiers died from disease compared to 200,000 from other causes. Unfortunate soldiers and civilians who caught one of the many deadly diseases prevalent during the war had little hope of survival due to the fact that nobody had any idea how to treat most of these diseases at that time.
On this page we list interesting facts about disease during the American Civil War. Information on this page includes what disease killed the most soldiers, how disease were able to spread so easily during the war, and what measures were taken to control the spread of disease.
Causes of Disease during the American Civil War
Read more at: http://www.civil-war-facts.com/Interesting-Civil-War-Facts/American-Civil-War-Diseases-Facts.html
You know, some parts of the country and some people have skepticism of whatever the Federal Government might tell us. That is understandable. I might recall this bit of history as well. It's something I can ponder on at least.
As most know, disease killed more soldiers than anything else.
