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medical care
Published: 1/26/20
“What will not the human body endure?”
Read Union Corporal James K. Hosmer's detailed account of the harrowing seven days he spent on detached duty as a nurse.
Published: 9/23/19
A Triple Bereavement at Cairo
Learn about the valuable work of 40-year-old Civil War nurse Mary Livermore in a scene from her memoir of the conflict.
Published: 8/25/19
Extra Voices: Clara Barton, The Angel of the Battlefield
Read first person quotes by and about famed Civil War nurse Clara Barton.
Published: 2/2/18
A Story from the Trenches
Read Union surgeon John Gardner Perry's letter detailing a tragic incident involving a young lieutenant at Petersburg.
Published: 11/3/17
Then and Now: How Civil War-Era Doctors Responded to Their Own Opiate Epidemic
USAHEC Nurse Annie Bell tends to wounded soldiers after the Battle of Nashville. Many injured troops, North and South, would become addicted to opiates. Hidden among the many headlines about...
Published: 8/11/17
A Bad Day on the March
Wisconsin Historical Society Surgeon Alfred Lewis Castleman, 5th Wisconsin Infantry After it was thwarted in its attempt to capture Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign in the summer of 1862, the...
Published: 5/2/14
An Interview with Shauna Devine
Our conversation with Shauna Devine, Visiting Research Fellow in the department of the history of medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University and author of “Learning...
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Published: 10/9/13
Wounded Warriors: Civil War Amputation
Learn about the realities of Civil War amputation and the difficult decisions doctors faced on the battlefield.
Published: 10/9/13
Civil War Medical Remedies
While these nineteenth century remedies might not cure what ails you, they make an intriguing read. For Dysentery Dissolve as much table salt in pure vinegar as will ferment and...
Published: 10/9/13
Civil War Amputation…In Their Own Words.
Throughout the Civil War, surgeons performed approximately 60,000 amputations—the most common battlefield operation. Such drastic measures were a consequence of the damage caused by Minié balls, which often shattered and...
Published: 10/9/13
The Wound Dresser
During the Civil War, renowned poet Walt Whitman served as a nurse. His battlefield medical career began at Fredericksburg, where he tended to wounded soldiers—including his brother. Deeply moved by...
Published: 9/13/13
An Interview with Margaret Humphreys
Our conversation with Margaret Humphreys, the Josiah Charles Trent Professor in the History of Medicine at Duke University and author of Marrow of Tragedy: The Health Crisis of the American...
Published: 3/8/12
The Women Who Went to the Field
In honor of Women’s History Month, we are celebrating the work and poetry of famed Civil War nurse Clara Barton. Born Clarissa Harlowe Barton, Barton was a true patriot and...