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"What a Medical Mess"

(Surgeons of 4th Division, 9th Army Corps. This photo was taken during the Petersburg, Virginia campaign of 1864.)

Civil War Medicine

The state of medical knowledge at the time of the Civil War was extremely primitive. Doctors did not understand infection and did little to prevent it. There was no attempt to maintain sterility during surgery. No antibiotics or antiseptics were available, resulting in minor wounds easily becoming infected and, hence, fatal.

Soldiers faced great peril in battle. The Civil War was a very bloody affair. More men were killed in the Civil War than in all previous American Wars combined! More men died at the Battle of Antietam than any other day in American history. The casualties at Antietam were twice the casualties suffered at D-Day. Part of the reason for these horrific casualty statistics is that the Civil War was the first American war in which rifled barrels were extensively used. The rifled barrel significantly increased the range at which you could accurately hit a target. Despite this fact, the armies, particularly the Union army, continued to use Napoleonic battle tactics. These tactics would send large forces of infantry against entrenched opponents. When an entrenched opponent was armed with smoothbore muskets, these Napoleonic tactics could work. The relative inaccuracy of the smoothbore muskets gave the advancing infantry a fair shot at actually reaching the enemies' trenches and then engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The pinpoint accuracy of the new rifled muskets, however, would allow the entrenched combatants to begin to thin the ranks of the advancing infantry at a very great range and effectively decimate them before they could reach the entrenchments. The failure of the commanders to realize this fact, combined with similar advances in artillery, led to untold casualties and carnage in the war.

While the typical soldier was at very high risk of being shot and killed in combat, he faced an even greater risk of dying from disease. Twice as many men died of disease than of gunshot wounds in the Civil War. Dysentery, measles, small pox, pneumonia, and malaria were the soldier's greatest enemy. The overall poor hygiene in camp, the lack of adequate sanitation facilities, the cold, and lack of shelter and suitable clothing, the poor quality of food and water, and the crowded condition of the camps made the typical camp a literal breeding ground for disease. Conditions were even worse for Civil War prisoners, who were held in the most miserable of conditions, which resulted in disease

In order to try and curb these appalling conditions in camp and the resulting rampant disease, the Sanitary Commission was formed. The Sanitary Commission tried to educate the army on proper sanitation techniques to help stem the spread of disease by issuing a report in 1861. It was widely disseminated and included many guidelines to improve sanitation and reduce disease.

"What a Medical Mess" Today

Typically, we recreate the type of medical care provided to soldiers in camp and in the immediate battlefield area - the type of activities that are both more common to the experiences of the actual Civil War soldier and more authentically within the parameters of most tactical events today.

Above anything else, our group is a social organization which serves its members by providing a means of sharing their common interest in American Civil War medicine through research, discussion, and living history interpretation. Each member is recognized as being unique and possessing individual skills and talents. These personal contributions are what make an organization strong and are always appreciated.

Field Dressing Station

Following Army regulations and protocol of the time, a team of medical personnel would establish a field dressing depot behind where their respective Regiment/Battalion was deployed in line of battle, just out of reach of the enemy's musketry fire. The team was usually led by the Surgeon* or Assistant Surgeon and staffed with Orderlies**, sometimes a Hospital Steward. Most Brigades would consolidate their resources and, establish a depot by Brigade.

* During an engagement, the Regimental Surgeon, if not detailed on the operating staff at the hospital, would report with his Assistant Surgeon(s) and Attendants to the Field Dressing Depot.

** An Orderly is a male Nurse: which was usually a Private or low ranking NCO detailed by the Commanding Officer of the Regiment/Battalion to the Regimental Surgeon.

Each medical officer should be accompanied upon the field by an Orderly, who carries the hospital knapsack, in which is placed a supply of instruments, dressings, &c. for immediate use. When the Surgeon stops to render aid to a wounded man, the Orderly at once un-slings his knapsack and opens it to hand out to the Surgeon the articles needed in dressing the patient. The medical officer should also be accompanied by two intelligent attendants, one of them a hospital steward where possible, to assist him in any operation he may perform upon the field.

As a body of men would sustain injuries in battle, the wounded would be taken to the Field Dressing Station by the stretcher bearers or, if they could walk they would make their way back to the depot. Upon arriving, the Doctor would determine the condition of the injured and attempt to stabilize their conditions. Those wounds not too grave were evacuated first. Those deemed "mortal", were made as comfortable as possible, given pain relief and water, and made to wait. In the first year of the War, a wounded man had to get his self off of the field. Late 1862 and after-wards, the "mortally wounded" were the last to be evacuated (if they had not succumbed to their wounds by that time).

A Regimental Surgeon Describes a Field Hospital and Field Depot

Surgeon Albert G. Hart, 41st Ohio Infantry describes the following:

When a battle was expected, the general location of the hospital was made by the military department or by the corps surgeons. It was intended to be in the rear of the ground on which the division was expected to fight, and beyond the enemy's artillery fire, one and a half or two miles in the rear of our lines of battle; if possible a good supply of water must be at hand. All the tents were set up, dressings, instruments, and tables for dressing and operating prepared, and everything made ready for our work.

Three assistant surgeons and one surgeon were detailed to follow each brigade. They established a temporary depot just out of reach of the enemy's musketry fire. Here the ambulances stopped. The detailed nurses with stretchers followed immediately behind the line of battle. The wounded men, if able to walk, with the permission of their company officers hurried back to the temporary depot. Those unable to walk were carried by the nurses on the stretchers. No soldier was permitted to leave the ranks to assist the wounded, unless to carry the dead and wounded back a few yards. Temporary dressings were applied. Serious operations only were performed in extreme cases at the temporary depot. Those unable to walk were taken in ambulances to the division hospital. There the serious work began, and was continued until the best thing possible in our surroundings was carried out for every man."

Disclaimer

Please be advised, if you're looking for a "title" (be it mainstream, hard core, or whatever), you will not find it in this group. We are a group of like-minded individuals that take our impressions serious. If you cannot adhere to our standards, please do not bother. Regardless of your kit, you "WILL NOT" be ridiculed. If someone does, they will be dealt with accordingly. Not one of us in this hobby will ever be 100% accurate in our impressions. Those that are 100% accurate, have long been gone. It is their service and legacy that we must honor. Honor them by bringing history alive through the most accurate costumed interpretation possible.

"What a Medical Mess" makes up the Hospital Department of the Western Federal Blues. You must be willing to adhere to their standards as well (which are similar to ours).

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