The Civil War: Medicine Then And Now

The most destructive and deadly disease that they had the largest problem with was smallpox, “ The disorder continued to take hold of our people till there were more than twenty sick with it.” (219). Smallpox travelled feverishly through both sides of the armies fighting in the war back and forth, killing countless number of soldiers. They also didn’t have proper hospitals for all of the soldiers who were getting sick. “We lay on sacks filled with straw, and our beds mostly upon the floor, in a rank on each side of the room, with an alley between.” (221). Due to the lack of hospitals and adequate medical care, the sick could not be cared for. They became sicker and eventually died. The only thing that the soldiers could do that might prevent them from catching this deadly disease was to inoculate themselves by catching a weaker strain of smallpox. There were almost more soldiers on the American side who died from smallpox than those that were killed during the

Medicine played and still plays a major part in the world. However, modern medicine did not prosper until long after the civil war, which we can assure are some of the reasons many soldiers and residents lives were compromised. From amputations, sanitation, a lack of surgeons and supplies with, contagious fevers and diseases a great deal of people went long winters and summers suffering from things that doctors were incapable of curing solely based on the fact medicine had not reached the level of quality and quantity it needed to be at the time.

Have you ever needed to have surgery? Have you or anyone you known needed an ambulance? Have you ever heard of a life saving blood transfusion? Have you ever gotten an X-Ray for a broken bone? If you answered yes to any of these then you have the Civil War and WWl to thank for creating these medical advances.

Even though there was not any sanitation the chance of survival for stretched then pervious wars. Doctors had medical kits, which included different tool for cutting such as knives, scalpels, bone saws, chain saw, suture and bandages. Thermometers were rarely used. Doctors did have some painkillers, but they were not always given to all soldiers. The most effective were morphine and opium. What happened after the surgery? Soldiers were transported to a hospital by ambulance. Soldiers were normally in horrible pain making the trip almost unbearable to deal with. The greatest risks for soldiers were now infection.

The Civil War had a tremendous death toll. In fact, it had more deaths than any of the previous wars combined. At the time, it was thought that the soldiers in battle died from the wounds or amputations they received. The true cause of death came from disease. These harsh conditions were contributed by unqualified doctors and non-sterile equipment. During the Civil War, the true issue was not only the wounds received in battle but the infectious diseases that ultimately led to the soldier’s death. When this was discovered, doctors knew some action needed to take place. Hospitals and sanitation standards were improved. The Civil War contributed to an evolution of medicine and how to combat victims plagued with disease.

The medicines and medical techniques used during the Civil War were very primitive for their time. Extremely little was known about germs and the dangers of infections. In Recovery, it is stated that, “Treating wounds and illnesses with medication had become common—opiates, stimulants, sedatives, diuretics, purgatives, and more were widely available and used. The first pills had been made in the early 1800s. The stethoscope and the

During the Civil War, medicine was an important aspect for every soldier due to the fact that many soldiers had to fight and ended up with injuries also there were many types of illnesses. In this essay, I will focus on the advance of medicine during the Civil War. Also how the soldiers and civilians were treated as well as how sanitize their location was, are questions I will try to answer. Also, I will like to include some of most known causes of deaths during the Civil War and the types of diseases that soldiers would come in contact with. Include who was in charge of the hospitals during the war. I will also include information from letters and documents that the nurse and doctors wrote while the Civil War was going one and what kind of establishments were created and the kind of equipment they used in the hospital. Since the period of the Civil War was and is consider to be the start and growth of the medical industry it is important for me to find out why.

During the Civil War, they had to have many medicines, operations, and surgeries done to themselves or others in order to survive (Jenny Goellnitz, Paragraph 1). Some of these medicines we still use today. Medical technology and scientific knowledge have changed dramatically since the Civil War, but the basic principles of military health care remain the same. The deadliest thing that faced the Civil War soldier was disease. For every soldier who died in battle, two died from disease.

At the time, medicine in both countries (truthfully worldwide) was still very primitive. There were surgeons who were part of the military, and medics were very sought after. There was little they could do to help, however. According to the Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, “the great majority of wounds and of sickness should be treated by the regimental surgeon,” (Sherman 393). The treatment given back then to a wound from a gunshot wound was amputation without anesthesia- as it would not be invented yet for about a century- and after surgery, doctors did not wash their hands or instruments, exponentially increasing the likelihood of infection of a wound and lowering the likelihood of survival. The Union had an advantage in this, though not due to superior doctors or medicine. The Union had roughly four and a half times as many citizens as the

     When Walt Whitman wrote that he believed the “real war” would never get into the books, this is the side he was talking about (Belferman 1996). Yet, it is important that we remember and recall the medical side of the conflict too, as horrible and terrifying as it was (Adams 1952). Long before doctors and people knew anything about bacteria and what caused disease was the time of Civil War medicine. Doctors during the Civil War (always referred to as “surgeons”) were incredibly unprepared. Most surgeons had as little as two years of medical school because very few pursued further education. At that time, Harvard Medical School did not even own a single stethoscope or

The medical staff were big heroes in the war. Amputation was the most common type of surgery during the civil war. The surgeons were known as “butchers.” Over the course of the war, the federal army did about 30,000 amputations. However if soldiers were shot in the head, chest, or stomach, the surgeons didn't even bother with them because it was very likely they would die.

Medicine during the Civil War may not have been perfect; however, it is from all these flaws that certain medical practices involving the military have been established today. Many soldiers’ lives were lost due to these flaws involving staffing and sanitation on both sides. Without the mistakes that both sides made, advancements to fix those mistakes would have never been established. The Civil War might have been a horrible war, but without it the medical practices used today may have never come to

In the Civil War most of the people didn’t always get treated right. This war was from 1861-1865. In the war when people came home some people didn’t have health insurance when injured. Others had post traumatic stress disorder and could have led to suicide. Another thing is during the war some of the soldiers were left to starve and horseless and desperate. (“Cross-Dressers of the CIVIL WAR.”) Around 85% of civil war soldiers suffered from illnesses (“Civil war had a major impact on lifetime health”). There were less killings from bullets then diseases. Twice as many people were killed from the diseases then bullet deaths. One of the illnesses that people died from was called nostalgia.(“The civil war’s Hidden Legacy.) The war wasn’t easy

There would’ve been many more deaths in the Civil War if it wasn’t for the medicine. Many people’s arms or legs were shot or injured in war. If soldiers didn’t take care of the wound, it would most likely get infected, which happened to most people who were shot. Doctors in the war used amputation, which is when you cut off an arm or a leg. It was an extremely painful, quick, and easy process, but it saved many lives. Awhile after the Civil War started, doctors discovered a new way to make amputation hurt less; the Anesthesia inhaler. The Anesthesia inhaler was an inhaler that used chloroform to knock patients out. While the patient was passed out, the doctors and nurses would amputate the person’s arm or leg. After that, doctors usually put a prosthetic arm or leg on the patient. Prosthetic arms and legs were great, but they were usually hard to deal with. During the Civil War, people discovered that if you added different joints, ball bearings, and other tools to replace ligaments and tendons, it was easier to deal

There were many different ways that soldiers died during the Civil War. One of the most common ways to die is a disease. Since the medicine during the Civil War wasn’t advanced,