Valley of war hospital3/13/2023 ![]() Blankets and straw were laid down on the church floor for bedding. The pulpit was turned into an operating table and pews removed to make room for the wounded. The experiences for many soldiers in field hospitals were chaotic and frightening, like after the first major engagement at First Manassas or after battles with large amounts of wounded like Gettysburg or Antietam.ĭuring the First Battle of Manassas, Sudley Church was converted by Union forces into a field hospital. Surgeons often had limited amounts of supplies and had to try to treat as many patients as possible. Often in homes, churches, barns, and other local buildings that were taken over to be converted into rudimentary hospitals, surgeries took place on dining tables or doors removed from hinges. Photo of soldiers convalescing outside a hospital in Fredericksburg, VA in May 1864.įield hospitals were located near the front lines and served as an initial treatment center for those soldiers evacuated from the battlefield. In 1861, there were two types of hospitals that surgeons operated in: field hospitals and general hospitals. At the beginning of the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederate Medical Departments were unprepared for the number of causalities unleashed. Soldiers’ experiences in a Civil War hospital varied depending on its location and what kind of hospital they were treated in. While the traditional focus has often been about the battles, often overlooked is the daily life in hospitals where soldiers spent weeks, and sometimes even months, recovering. The vast majority of these men were treated in hospitals scattered throughout both sections of the country. Over the course of the Civil War, at least 600,000 soldiers died from wounds or sickness. Saved Land Browse Interactive Map View active campaigns.Protect Virginia Battlefields from Massive Data Centers.New Battlefield State Park Coming to Virginia.Speak Out to Protect Wyse Fork Battlefield.Save 45 Historic Acres at the Battle of Chancellorsville.Help Restore Three Sites to Their Wartime Appearance.Save 170 Threatened Acres at Lookout Mountain, Mill Springs and Fort DeRussy.Help Save 52 Hallowed Acres at Three Virginia Battlefields.Help Preserve 177 Acres at Buffington Island.Help Protect 52 Threatened Acres in Virginia, Georgia and Mississippi.Virtual Tours View All See Antietam now!.National Teacher Institute July 21 - 24, 2022 Learn More.USS Constitution In 4 Minutes Watch Video.African Americans During the Revolutionary War.The First American President: Setting the Precedent.During this afternoon I attended single handed to the wounds and wants of 74 helpless men. Until some hours after the arrival of the men there were neither stores, attendants nor the necessary refreshments on the spot. ‘The poor fellows endured their sufferings with heroic fortitude amounting in appearance to indifference to their fate… There has been somehow unaccountable neglect in the arrangements for this hospital. Several were more or less severely wounded and others were completely prostrated by fever and dysentery. Many were grimed with mud, dirt, blood etc and gunpowder stains. were swarming with vermin, huge lice crawling all about their persons and clothes. On being brought inside the hospital several were found to be dead, many were at their last gasp, and others it was evident had but a short time to live. ‘They were with few exceptions in a truly pitiable state of filth and utterly helpless from wounds and debility. Letter by Sergeant Frederick Newman, 97th Regiment, who died of fever two weeks after posting it, I am rather loose in my bowels, but take as much care of myself as possible.' I have just commenced to write again and there are now six poor fellows lying dead. being satisfied with enough to drink without washing my face and as for a clean shirt I think when I can find it convenient to wash one then I will put one on. I have not washed my face nor yet shaved since I landed here. 'Water is very scarce and extremely muddy. We manage it somehow, by grinding it in a broken bombshell with a round shot to crush it. Just like our government, the idea of sending coffee here not roasted. We get biscuits salt pork or beef and one gill of rum with some sugar rice and unroasted coffee. Cholera has broke out amongst the poor fellows who are exposed in the trenches day and night with nothing but their big coats to shelter them from the rain or cold. 'We are now about three miles from Sebastopol and under canvas tents, the rain pouring in torrents and all around miserable.
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