Poor diet was also an issue in the camps. Drugs such as blue mass used for a variety of ailments and calomel and tartar emetic for GI purging had high amounts of mercury. They had smallpox vaccines and quinine for the malaria. Although they understood that unsanitary conditions and filth contributed to disease, they did not understand the role germs play in causing infectious diseases. Sanitary Commission and others, many diseases were caused by the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions of the camps and hospitals especially in the early years of the war. These new breed of doctors emphasized listening to the patient's complaints and letting nature take its course. By the 1840s, these practices were being criticized by other doctors including the Surgeon General William Hammond. Often these treatments were more harmful than the disease. Many doctors still used the old bleeding, purging, and blistering treating method for most diseases. Medicine was still in the pre-modern age. The war took a great toll on the medical resources available. Three surgeons from the New York Hospital died of disease. More than 300 military surgeons serving with the U.S. More than 11,000 doctors served in the Civil War as regiment, military, or contract surgeons. These staggering figures are more than the combined statistics of all major wars that Americans participated in through the Korean War. About 500,000 died of infectious diseases such as dysentery/intestinal diseases, malaria, continual fevers, measles, mumps, yellow fever, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, venereal diseases, and cholera. Wood Library Staff PublicationsĪpproximately 750,000 Americans whether Union or Confederate died in the Civil War. Internet Access and Computer Use Policy.Affiliated Institutions and Departments.News and Announcements Toggle News and Announcements menu options.Donate to the Library - the Honor with Books Program.

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Civil war hospital records