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National Museum of Civil War Medicine (Visit this link)

In October of 2000, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine completed a 3
million dollar renovation and complete redesign of the exhibits. With nearly
7,000 square feet of exhibit space on two floors, the expanded Museum can better
illustrate the medical story of the American Civil War. It is a story of care
and healing, courage and devotion amidst the death and destruction of war. It is
also a story of major advances that changed medicine forever. Through the
dedication, innovation and devotion of Civil War surgeons and medical support
staff on both sides of the conflict, the foundation for today's modern military
medicine was laid. Their tenacity and compassion to heal stemmed a death rate
that could have easily been twice the 620,000.



Throughout the exhibits are special blue panels that highlight the military
career of Union Private Peleg Bradford. In his own words, Bradford tells us his
thoughts on the war, the condition of his regiment and the effect his enlistment
had on the family he left behind.



As the Civil War began, the practice of medicine was emerging from the "heroic
era", with its theory of bringing a balance to the humors of the body. Medical
practitioners had no knowledge of germ theory or antiseptic practices. Both
discoveries were still years away. Over 40 medical schools existed in America
before the war, and apprenticeships with established physicians were also
common. The usual course of study in a medical school consisted of two terms of
six-month lectures, with the second term often being a repeat of the first.
Featured objects in this gallery include medical school documents, teaching
models, and mid-nineteenth century medical instruments.



All new recruits were supposed to receive a physical exam. Occasionallythe exam
was very superficial, allowing recruits to enter the army with chronic diseases
and physical defects that would affect their performance as a soldier. With the
number of men willing to enlist dwindling, both the North and South resorted to
instituting a draft to secure the large number of soldiers needed to fight. The
Recruiting & Enlisting scene depicts a regimental surgeon performing physical
exams on potential recruits. Featured objects in this gallery include a bass
drum from a regimental band and a handbook designed for regimental surgeons.



New recruits were sent to large camps to learn how to become soldiers. The first
enemy they faced was disease. Healthy recruits became victims of illnesses that
were easily spread due to the large number of people in the camps, the often
unsanitary conditions, and the poor diet of the soldiers. Childhood diseases
such as measles could devastate regiments and many men succumbed to diarrhea and
dysentery. Of the nearly 620,000 soldiers who died during the Civil War,
two-thirds died not of bullets and bayonets, but of disease. The Camp Life scene
depicts morning sick call, when regimental surgeons would treat men suffering
from illnesses. The scene includes the only known surviving surgeon' s tent from
the Civil War used by Surgeon John Wiley of the 6th New Jersey. Featured objects
in this gallery include a medical officer's frock coat and items from the
soldiers' everyday life.



At the beginning of the Civil War, there was no established system to transport
wounded soldiers from the front lines to the field hospitals in the rear. In
August of 1862, Jonathan Letterman, the Medical Director of the Army of the
Potomac, created a highly organized system of ambulances and trained stretcher
bearers designed to evacuate the wounded as quickly as possible. A similar plan
was adopted by the Confederate army. The Letterman plan remains the basis for
present military evacuation systems. Horses and mules were essential to the army
and veterinary medicine played an important role in the war. Large infirmaries
were developed to treat animals too sick or worn down to be of immediate use. An
estimated 1 million horses died during the Civil War. The Evacuation scene
depicts members of the ambulance corps loading the wounded into four-wheeled
ambulances. Featured objects in this gallery include Union and Confederate
stretchers and items pertaining to veterinary medicine.



The first level of care received by a wounded soldier was at a field dressing
station, located close to the fighting. Medical personnel bandaged wounds and
administered whiskey for shock and morphine for pain. If the soldier was unable
to return to battle, he was transported to a field hospital via ambulance or
stretcher. The Field Dressing Station scene depicts Union medical personnel
attending to a wounded Confederate soldier. The location is modeled after the
field dressing station of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry near the Wheat Field
at Gettysburg. It was common for medical personnel from both the North and South
to treat the wounded from the other side. Letterman said: "humanity teaches us
that a wounded and prostrate foe is not then our enemy." Featured objects in
this gallery include various field medical cases and their contents.



At a field hospital, usually located in a barn or tent to the rear of the
fighting, wounded soldiers were triaged into three categories: mortally wounded,
slightly wounded, and surgical cases. Most surgeries were amputations and took
place at the field hospitals. Of all the operations performed during the Civil
War, 95% were done with the patient under some form of anesthesia. Chloroform
and ether were the most common anesthetics. The large number of amputations
performed during the war were the result of the severe nature of the wounds
caused by the Minié ball, the number of wounded needing immediate treatment, and
the often poor condition of the patients. The Field Hospital scene depicts an
amputation taking place in a barn being used as a Confederate field hospital.
Featured objects in this gallery include an amputation kit and a Squibb medicine
chest.



Prior to the Civil War, any system of hospitalization was virtually unknown.
With the large number of wounded and sick needing long-term care, a network of
general hospitals was created in cities in both the North and the South. At
first existing buildings were used for hospitals, but soon both armies
constructed large pavilion-style hospitals that were clean, well ventilated, and
highly efficient. Surgeons, hospital stewards, male nurses, female nurses,
matrons, laundresses, and volunteers from civilian associations all contributed
to the care of the sick and wounded. The quality of care that the patients
received improved dramatically after the opening months of the war, and the
general hospitals had an 8% mortality rate for all patients. The Pavilion
Hospital scene depicts the Hammond Hospital (Union) in Point Lookout, St. Mary's
County, Maryland. Featured objects in this gallery include a Union hospital
garrison flag, a hospital drug chest, and prosthetic limbs.



This exhibit also includes informational panels on Nursing in the Civil War,
including female nurses, male nurses, the Sisters of religious orders who
offered their services, excerpts from nurses’ letters and diaries, and
re-creations of a Civil War nurse’s schedule. Seven Union and seven Confederate
nurses are highlighted on a flip-door panel, complete with photographs and
information on each nurse. A habit, identical to the type worn by the Daughters
of Charity during the Civil War, is on display in a custom exhibit case. The
habit is on loan from the Daughters of Charity, Emmitsburg, MD. In addition,
various items used by the nurses in the hospitals are on display throughout the
gallery.



The last exhibit area depicts a variety of subjects relating to Civil War
medicine, including dental care during the Civil War, Naval medicine, an
apothecary wagon, the issues of death and embalming, the hospitals in Frederick
after the battle of Antietam, and a look at military medicine in the past,
present and future. Periodically, temporary exhibits will be displayed in this
area.



Featured objects in this gallery include a nineteenth century dental chair, a
mortar and pestle from the hospital ship "Red Rover", and embalming equipment.



The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is home to a new permanent exhibit
entitled, The Art of Embalming the Dead During the American Civil War. This
exhibit was made possible, in part, with funds from the Maryland Humanities
Council, through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Other
businesses and individuals contributing to the exhibit include Mr. and Mrs.
Richard C. C. Basford, Frederick, Maryland, and New Windsor Bank of Carroll
County, Maryland, in honor of the Honorable Charles H. Smelser. The exhibit was
designed and fabricated by Dennis Kund, Kund & Associates, Lusby, Maryland.



Mortuary science was in its infancy in the United States when the Civil War
broke out. However, because of the desire of the family members of the soldiers
killed in battle or dying of disease to have their loved ones’ bodies returned
home for burial, the art of embalming flourished during the Civil War. Just
prior to the start of the Civil War, most embalming was related to the study of
pathology and of specimen preservation. Therefore, those possessing the
knowledge and skill to preserve a dead body were typically surgeons, physicians,
and pharmacists with knowledge of chemical compounds and anatomy. As such,
mortuary science of this period is an important component of the Museum’s
interpretation of Civil War medicine. Additionally, the building that houses the
Museum was used as an embalming station during the Civil War and this aspect of
the building’s history is discussed in the exhibit.



The exhibit consists of a partial reconstruction of an embalming tent, with a
museum-quality mannequin depicting an embalming surgeon standing behind a table
made of barrels and a door. A mannequin depicting a deceased soldier, being
embalmed using techniques used during the Civil War, is on the table. A partial
ground form was assembled to create an immersion experience similar to the other
exhibits throughout the Museum. Custom exhibit cases were constructed to house
the corresponding artifacts. Interpretative panels include: The Embalming
Process; Embalming Surgeons; Coffins, Cases and Transportation; and historical
facts about the building with emphasis on its use as an embalming station after
the battles of South Mountain and Antietam in September 1862.

http://www.civilwarmed.org