Chronicles of Civil War Medicine: Sacrifice and Survival

1. Civil War Medicine

2. At the beginning…….. • At the beginning of the Civil War, the U.S. Army had a medical corps consisting of all of 98 surgeons and assistant surgeons

3. Equipment: • The Corps had about 20 clinical thermometers, and didn't have a "modern" microscope until 1863. 

4. What really killed them? • Gangrene, blood poison, was the number one killer during the Civil War • A soldier’s chance of survival was only one in four

5. What killed people? • Of the 618,000 fatalities of the Civil War, some 2/3 (approximately 414,000) were the result of disease. Typhoid, dysentery or diarrhea, malaria, measles, sexually-transmitted diseases, pnuemonia, scurvy and other ailments killed more soldiers, North and South, then musket, cannon or saber.

6. Everyone was called a surgeon, nobody was consider to be a physician

7. Great Idea! • Medical personnel could not be taken prisoner, fired upon, and were considered neutrals during the war

8. This scares me……. • Doctors only attended 3 semesters or 13 weeks of medical school. Medical schools were all over during the Civil War period.

9. The Mini Ball • Bacteria was usually carried into the wound, making it worse. After an operation, they thought it good if pus formed. They called it "laudable pus," when really the pus was a sign of massive bacterial infection.

10. Minnie Ball and Muskets

11. Embalming • Embalming became a science during the Civil War, as many families wanted their dead relatives' body brought back from the war.

13. Amputations • Most common surgery, 3 of 4 surgeries were amputations • Amputations, cutting off a limb • Only option if injured on a limb

14. The process… • Performed on an old door • Rag with chloroform to sedate the patient • Myth that most surgeries were performed without anesthesia

15. Steps: • Blood supply cut off with a tourniquet • Hacksaw like took called a capital saw, bonesaw “Sawbones” • Curved needles and silk sutures in the North • Cotton sutures in the South

16. 15 minutes….. • Limbs were piled up and emptied at the end of the day • Entire process took no more than 15 minutes • Term “Bite the Bullet” coined during the Civil War

18. Pain Killers • Morphine was the most widely used pain killer • Very addictive, many soldiers returned home addicted to opium

19. Three categories of wounds… • Mortally wounded • Slightly wounded • Surgical cases

20. Different Bullet Wounds accompanied by Flies and Maggots

21. Everyone wasn’t treated…. • Soldiers wounded through the head, belly, or chest were left to one side because they would most likely die.

22. Ambulance • Patients were transported to nearby hospitals if possible

23. Jonathan Letterman • Developer of the ambulance that was primarily a covered wagon

24. Medical Facilities • Usually in a barn or tent • Close to the fighting

25. Red Cross • Founder was Clara Barton • Concerned about the welfare of all soldiers

26. Elizabeth Blackwell • First woman doctor in this country

27. Medical Kit • Very basic, Only had a few instruments and tools