Civil War Medicine             For the Unfortunate Civil War soldier, whether he came from the North or from the South, not only got into the army just when the killing power of weapons was being brought to a brand-new peak of efficiency; he enlisted in the closing years of an era when the science of medicine was woefully, incredibly imperfect, so that he go the worst of it in two ways. When he fought, he was likely to be hurt pretty badly; when he stayed in camp, he lived under conditions that were very likely to make him sick; and in either case he had almost no chance to get the kind of medical treatment which a generation or so later would be routine.        Both the Federal and Confederate governments did their best to provide proper medical care for their soldiers, but even the best was not very good. This was nobody's fault. There simply was no such thing as good medical care in that age -- at least as the modern era understands the expression.        This portion of the "Home of the American Civil War" website attempts to put into perspective some of the medical aspects of the war.

 

Caring For The Men	An excellent little history of Civil War Medicine.
Civil War Nurses	Truly the "Angels of the Battlefield!"
Confederate Medical Department	It shouldn't suprise you to know that the Confederate's Medical Department wasn't that much different than the Unions'.
Hospitals, Nurses, and Surgeons	Lots of information here. Very descriptive. May not be for everyone.
Medical Care, Battle Wounds, and Disease	A little more about battle field medicine during the Civil War. It fills in some of the blanks that "Caring For The Men" might have left.
Medical Director's Reports	Official Reports of Medical Directors of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia for various times in the war.
Sanitary Commission	The history of the Sanitary Commission. An organization that was to do what the Government could not.
Union Army Ambulance Corps	Ever thought about how the wounded got off the battlefield? Might want to take a look at this page.
The Civil War Army Surgeon	Just a little something on what the Army Surgeon went through during the war.