Research Library
The NMCWM has a small research library that is available to the public by appointment only.  Library hours are Monday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm.  Please call (301) 695-1864 to make an appointment to use the library.

Research Requests
The NMCWM accepts research requests for an initial fee of $10.  The fee covers up to 1 hour of research--if more is necessary, an additonal fee will be charged.  Please send research requests, and a check for $10 made out to the NMCWM, to:

Director of Research
NMCWM
P.O. Box 470
Frederick, MD 21705

Be sure to include your mailing address and email address.  The Museum does not accept phone requests. Please do not ask for general information-- there is so much available that we cannot comply with such a request.

Civil War Medicine: General Information
For a brief overview of the various aspects of Civil War medicine, please visit the Exhibits section of our website. If you are doing research for a school project, or are simply interested in the subject, we recommend that you start with one or two of the books listed below. These books are general overviews of Civil War medicine; books on specific subjects are listed in subsequent sections.

There are numerous books available on the subject of Civil War medicine. Medical Practices in the Civil War is designed for all audiences, including younger students; Civil War Medicine: An Illustrated History and Gangrene and Glory: Medical Care During the American Civil War are good general overviews of the subject; the three volumes of Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment contain numerous photographs of medical items; and the books Doctors in Blue and Doctors in Gray detail the surgeons and medical departments of the Union and the Confederacy. Most of the following books, plus many others, can be purchased online through the Museum Store of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Some may be currently unavailable if they are out of print. Students working on school projects should use the Student Resources section of the online Museum Store.

Civil War Medicine: 1861-1865; C. Keith Wilbur, M.D., 1998

Civil War Medicine: An Illustrated History; Mark J. Schaadt, M.D., 1998

Civil War Medicine: Untold History of the Civil War; Douglas J. Savage, 2000

Divided Waters: A Naval History of the Civil War; Ivan Musicant, 2000

Doctors in Blue, The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War; George W. Adams, 1985 (first printing 1952)

Doctors in Gray, The Confederate Medical Service; H. H. Cunningham, 1993 (first printing 1958)

Gangrene and Glory: Medical Care During the American Civil War; Frank R. Freemon, 1998

Medical Practices in the Civil War; Susan Beller, 1992

Orthopaedic Injuries of the Civil War; Bradley P. Bengtson, 1996

Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment, Volumes I, II, and III; Gordon E. Dammann, D.D.S., 1983, 1988, and 1998

 Trials and Triumphs: the Women of the American Civil War; Marilyn Mayer Culpepper, 1991

Surgeons
Thousands of men served as surgeons and assistant surgeons on both sides of the struggle. All were officers; surgeons were equivalent to a major and assistant surgeons were equivalent to a captain or first lieutenant. In addition to the army surgeons, many civilian doctors served in the hospitals or with a regiment on a contract basis. They were called contract surgeons and were listed as acting assistant surgeons in the official records. For general information on surgeons and the Medical Departments, the books Doctors in Blue and Doctors in Gray are the best introduction.

If you are searching for information on a specific surgeon, start with the records of the National Archives  and Records Administration in Washington, DC. The National Archives has service and pension records for members of the Union Army, plus a special set of records called "Personal Papers of Medical Officers and Physicians" for Union surgeons and contract surgeons. The "Personal Papers" file contains official papers and correspondence for individual medical officers, not personal letters. Information on Confederate medical officers is contained in a set of records on microfilm called "Compiled Service Records of Confederate General and Staff Officers and Non-regimental Enlisted Men." For information on these records, call the Old Military and Civil Records Division of the National Archives at (202) 501-5390 or go to www.archives.gov.

Two books are also helpful in researching individual surgeons. The List of Battles and Roster of Regimental Surgeons was originally published in 1882 and lists all of the medical officers who served with regiments in the Union Army. Please note that there were thousands of additional surgeons who were not specifically assigned to a regiment and who are not listed in this book. The information in the Roster includes a notation of where the doctors lived after the war, since its original purpose was to help soldiers contact the surgeons who treated them in order to apply for pensions. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War is a multi-volume set originally published after the war detailing surgical cases and diseases. The names of the surgeons who submitted these case studies are almost always included, so this set can be helpful in tracking where an individual surgeon was at various times. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War is a very useful resource; check your local libraries for a copy. The Museum Store  also offers a variety of books containing the letters and personal memoirs of individual medical officers.

If you are interested in learning more about surgical procedures and the regulations of the medical departments, there are numerous reprints of Civil War-era manuals available. A Manual of Military Surgery for the Use of Surgeons in the Confederate States Army and Handbook for the Military Surgeon (Union) are the most comprehensive. A list of reprints of original manuals is included below.

If you have a specific question regarding a surgeon or surgical procedure, the NMCWM accepts research requests for an initial fee of $10.  The fee covers up to 1 hour of research--if more is necessary, an additonal fee will be charged.  Please send research requests, and a check for $10 made out to the NMCWM, to:

Director of Research
NMCWM
P.O. Box 470
Frederick, MD 21705

Be sure to include your mailing address and email address.  The Museum does not accept phone requests. Please do not ask for general information-- there is so much available that we cannot comply with such a request.

Most of the following books, plus many others, can be purchased online through the Museum Store  of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

Confederate Commander and Fleet Surgeon: Dr. Daniel Burr Conrad; John Worth Lynn, 2001

Doctors in Blue, The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War; George W. Adams, 1985 (first printing 1952)

Doctors in Gray, The Confederate Medical Service; H. H. Cunningham, 1993 (first printing 1958)

Hunter Holmes McGuire: Stonewall Jackson’s Doctor; John W. Schildt, White Main Books, 2002

List of Battles and Roster of Regimental Surgeons, 1990; originally published as Roster of Regimental Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons in the U.S. Army Medical Department During the Civil War, 1882

Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War, prepared by Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, 1870 (originally titled Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865)

Medical Department of the United States Army During the Civil War; Capt. Louis C. Duncan, Medical Corps, U.S. Army, c.1900

Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton, Civil War Surgeon, 1861-1865; Foreword by John Y. Simon, 1996, originally published 1914

Tarnished Scalpels: The Court-Martials of Fifty Union Surgeons; Thomas P. Lowry, M.D., and Jack D. Welsh, M.D., 2000

Wounded River: the Civil War Letters of John Vance Lauderdale; edited by Peter Joseph, 1993

Original Manuals
A Manual of Military Surgery for the use of Surgeons in the Confederate States Army, with Explanatory Plates of all Useful Operations; J. Julian Chisolm, M.D., 1864; reprinted 1983

Regulations for the Army of the Confederate States; Samuel Preston Moore, 1862; reprinted 1992

The 1865 Customs of Service for Officers of the Army; August V. Kautz, 1865; reprinted 2002, Stackpole Books

A Manual of Minor Surgery; John Hooker Packard, 1863; reprinted 1990

An Epitome of Practical Surgery; Edward Warren, 1863; reprinted 1989

A Practical Treatise on Military Surgery; Frank Hastings Hamilton, 1861; reprinted 1989

Hand-Book of Surgical Operations; Stephen Smith, 1862; reprinted 1990

Illustrated Manual of Operative Surgery and Surgical Anatomy; Claude Bernard and Charles Huette, 1861; reprinted 1991

A Manual of Military Surgery; Samuel David Gross, 1861; reprinted 1988

 Notes and Observations on Army Surgery; F. Formento; bound with A Treatise on Gun-Shot Wounds; Moritz Schuppert, 1863 (Confederate); reprinted 1990

Gunshot Wounds and Other Injuries of Nerves; Silas Weir Mitchell, George Read Morehouse, and William Williams Keen, 1864; reprinted 1989 with an introduction by Ira M. Rutkow

A Practical Treatise on Fractures and Dislocations; Frank Hastings Hamilton, 1860; reprinted 1991

Handbook for the Military Surgeon; Charles S. Tripler and George Custis Blackman, 1861; reprinted 1989

A Manual for the Medical Officers of the United States Army; Charles R. Greenleaf, 1864; reprinted 1992

The Army Surgeon’s Manual; William Grace, 1864; reprinted 1992

A Manual of Instructions for Enlisting and Discharging Soldiers; Roberts Bartholow, 1863; reprinted 1991

A Treatise on Hygiene; William Alexander Hammond, 1863; reprinted 1991

Hints on the Preservation of Health in Armies; John Ordronaux, 1863; reprinted 1990

Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests; Francis Peyre Porcher, 1863; reprinted 1991

Nurses & Women
Many women served as paid and volunteer nurses during the Civil War, and many others contributed their service through civilian organizations. There are a large number of books pertaining to women' s roles during the war. Some are listed below, more can be found online in the Museum Store. The Museum Store  also offers a variety of books containing the letters and personal memoirs of individual women.

If you are searching for information on a specific nurse, start with the records of the National Archives  and Records Administration in Washington, DC. The National Archives has pension records for many Union nurses, starting after 1898. Other groups of records also contain information on individual nurses, and hospital employee lists often contain the names of female nurses. For information on these records, call the Old Military and Civil Records Division of the National Archives at (202) 501-5390 or go to www.archives.gov.

If you have a specific question about a particular nurse,the NMCWM accepts research requests for an initial fee of $10.  The fee covers up to 1 hour of research--if more is necessary, an additonal fee will be charged.  Please send research requests, and a check for $10 made out to the NMCWM, to:

Director of Research
NMCWM
P.O. Box 470
Frederick, MD 21705

Be sure to include your mailing address and email address.  The Museum does not accept phone requests. Please do not ask for general information-- there is so much available that we cannot comply with such a request.

Most of the following books, plus many others, can be purchased online through the Museum Store of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

A Manual of Directions Prepared for the Use of the Nurses in the Army Hospitals by a Committee of Hospital Physicians of the City of New York; published by the Woman’s Central Association of Relief to the Army, New York, 1861

Angels of Mercy: An Eyewitness Account of the Civil War and Yellow Fever; A Primary Source by Sister Ignatius Sumner, R.S.M.; author/ editor Sister Mary Paulinus Oakes, R.S.M., 1998

A Vast Army of Women: Maine’s Unaccounted Forces in the American Civil War; Lynda L. Sudlow, 2000

A Woman of Honor: Dr. Mary E. Walker and the Civil War; Mercedes Graf, 2001

A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton and the Civil War; Stephen B. Oates, 1994

Confederate Ladies of Richmond; Susan Provost Beller, 1999

Heart' s Work: Civil War Heroine and Champion of the Mentally Ill, Dorothea Lynde Dix; Charles Schlaifer and Lucy Freeman, 1991

Hospital Days: Reminiscence of a Civil War Nurse; Jane Staurt Woolsey, reprinted 1996

Hospital Sketches; Louisa May Alcott, 1988 (first printing 1863)

Journal of Women' s Civil War History, Volume I; edited by Eileen Conklin, 2001

Our Army Nurses: Stories from Women in the Civil War; Mary Gardner Holland, originally published 1895, reprinted 1998

The Other Side of War: On the Hospital Transports with the Army of the Potomac; Katharine Prescott Wormeley, 1899; reprinted 1998

To Bind up the Wounds: Catholic Sister Nurses in the U.S. Civil War; Sister Mary Dennis Maher, Louisiana State University Press, 1989

Trials and Triumphs: the Women of the American Civil War; Marilyn Mayer Culpepper, 1991

Valor and Lace: The Roles of Confederate Women 1861-1865; Edited by Mauriel Phillips Joslyn, Journal of Confederate History Series, Volume XV, 1996

White Roses; Rebecca D. Larson, 1997

Women in the Civil War; Douglas J. Savage, 2000

Women in the Civil War : Warriors, Patriots, Nurses and Spies; Phyllis Raybin Emert; 1995

Soldiers
If you are searching for information on a specific soldier, start with the records of the National Archives  and Records Administration in Washington, DC. The National Archives has service records for Union and Confederate soldiers, and pension records for Union soldiers only. These records can be requested by mail using specific forms supplied by the Archives. There is also a set of records for Union soldiers called "Carded Medical Records" which can be requested by mail (there is no special form).  More information on these records can be found at www.archives.gov.

If you are looking for information on a soldier wounded during the battles of South Mountain or Antietam, a book just published by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine may be of help.  One Vast Hospital: The Civil War Hospital Sites in Frederick, Maryland after Antietam covers the hospital sites in Frederick, Maryland after these battles, and includes a detailed hospital patient list with nearly 10,000 names.  Many of the men wounded at Antietam were treated in the Frederick hospitals.   The list includes:  name, rank, regiment, company, complaint, date of admission, date of release, outcome (returned to unit, discharged, furloughed, transferred, died, deserted) and comments.  It is a great source for genealogists and historians.  See bibliography below.

A few books can also be helpful in finding information on the wounds and diseases suffered by individual soldiers. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War is a twelve volume set originally published after the war detailing surgical cases and diseases. Thousands of soldiers, both Union and Confederate, are listed in this set. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War is a very useful resource; check your local libraries for a copy. The Photographic Atlas of Civil War Injuries contains photographs of surgical cases and specimens from the Otis Historical Archives. The Museum Store  also offers a variety of books containing the letters and personal memoirs of individual soldiers.

If you have a specific question about the medical history of a particular soldier, the NMCWM accepts research requests for an initial fee of $10.  The fee covers up to 1 hour of research--if more is necessary, an additonal fee will be charged.  Please send research requests, and a check for $10 made out to the NMCWM, to:

Director of Research
NMCWM
P.O. Box 470
Frederick, MD 21705

Be sure to include your mailing address and email address.  The Museum does not accept phone requests. Please do not ask for general information-- there is so much available that we cannot comply with such a request.

Most of the following books, plus many others, can be purchased online through the Museum Store of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

1865 Customs of Service for Non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers; August V. Kantz, 1865; reprinted 2001, Stackpole Books

A Seneca in the Union Army: The Civil War Letters of Sergeant Isaac Newton Parker, 1861-1865; Laurence M. Hauptman, 1995

Bivouacs of the Dead: the Story of those who Died at South Mountain and Antietam; Steven R. Stotelmyer, 1992

Black Union Soldiers in the Civil War; Hondon B. Hargrove, 1988

Civil War Soldier: A Photographic Journey; Ray M. Carson, 2000

Confederate Cherokees: John Drew' s Regiment of Mounted Rifles; W. Craig Gaines, 1989

Hardtack and Coffee: the Unwritten Story of Army Life 1861-1865; John D. Billings, 10^th Massachusetts Battery, 1996

Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War, prepared by Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, 1870 (reprinted 1991; originally titled Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865)

One Vast Hospital: The Civil War Hospital Sites in Frederick, Maryland after Antietam; Terry Reimer, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Inc., 2001

Photographic Atlas of Civil War Injuries; Edited by Bradley P. Bengtson, M.D., and Julian E. Kuz, M.D., 1996

Soldier’s National Cemetery, Gettysburg; Singerly & Myers, 1865; reprinted 1988

Too Young to Die: Boy Soldiers of the Union Army 1861-1865; Dennis M. Keesee, 2001

Writing and Fighting the Civil War: Soldiers Correspondence to the New York Sunday Mercury; ed. William B. Styple, 2000

Diseases & Drugs
For information on the diseases and drugs of the Civil War, the best sources are the books Outlines of the Chief Camp Diseases of the United States Armies and A Primer of Civil War Medicine: Non Surgical Medical Practices During the Civil War. Outlines of the Chief Camp Diseases is a Civil War-era manual which details the most common diseases encountered by the surgeons. It is especially helpful in gaining insight into how the diseases were understood at the time of the war. A Primer of Civil War Medicine explains the types of disease and the drugs used to treat each one. Other books, including the ones listed below, explain the production and supply of army medicines, the use of herbal medicines, and specific diseases. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War contains case studies for many diseases plus statistical analysis for many of the common diseases. The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War is a very useful resource; check your local libraries for a copy.

A list of the medicinal contents of  the Squibb pannier (medical chest) can be found in our Collections section.

Modern medical dictionaries can be helpful in defining Civil War medical terms, especially if the dictionaries include archaic words and usages. A short list of  terms is included in the next section, Medical Definitions .

If you have a specific question about a particular disease or drug, the NMCWM accepts research requests for an initial fee of $10.  The fee covers up to 1 hour of research--if more is necessary, an additonal fee will be charged.  Please send research requests, and a check for $10 made out to the NMCWM, to:

Director of Research
NMCWM
P.O. Box 470
Frederick, MD 21705

Be sure to include your mailing address and email address.  The Museum does not accept phone requests. Please do not ask for general information-- there is so much available that we cannot comply with such a request.

Most of the following books, plus many others, can be purchased online through the Museum Store of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

A Primer of Civil War Medicine: Non Surgical Medical Practices During the Civil War; Bruce A. Evans, M.D., 1996

Disease in the Civil War: Natural Biological Warfare in 1861-1865; Paul E. Steiner, Ph.D., M.D., 1968

Historic Uses of Herbs in the Mid Nineteenth Century; Virginia Mescher, 1993

Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War, prepared by Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, 1870 (reprinted 1991; originally titled Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865)

Medicines for the Union Army: The United States Army Laboratories During the Civil War; George Winston Smith, 2001

One Vast Hospital: The Civil War Hospital Sites in Frederick, Maryland after Antietam; Terry Reimer, 2001, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Inc.

Outlines of the Chief Camp Diseases of the United States Armies; Joseph Janvier Woodward, M.D., U.S. Army Medical Department 1863; reprinted 1992

Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica; William Boericke, M.D., 1927

The Story the Soldiers Wouldn' t Tell: Sex in the Civil War; Thomas P. Lowry, M.D., 1994

Medical Definitions
AGUE: Chills associated with fever; archaic term for malarial fever.

ANASARCA: A generalized infiltration of edema fluid into subcutaneous connective tissue.

ANTHRAX: A disease caused by infection of cutaneous anthrax characterized by hemorrhage in various organs and body cavities, with symptoms of severe prostration.

APOPLEXY: Obsolete term for cerebral stroke, most often due to hemorrhage.

ASTHENIA: Weakness or debility.

BILIOUS REMITTENT FEVER: Archaic term for relapsing fever characterized by bilious vomiting and diarrhea.

BUBOE/ BUBO: Inflammatory swelling of one or more lymph nodes, usually in the groin, usually suppurating.

CAMP FEVER: This term was used for all of the continuing fevers experienced by the army: Typhoid Fever, Malarial Remittent Fever, and Typho-malarial Fever. The last named is a combination of elements from the first two diseases. This combination, Typho-malarial Fever, was the characteristic "camp fever" during the Civil War. Symptoms included: a pronounced chill followed by an intermittent fever, abdominal tenderness and nausea, general debility, diarrhea, retention of urine, and furring of the tongue.

CARDITIS: Inflammation of the heart.

CATARRH: Inflammation of the mucous membranes with increased flow of mucous.

CEPHALALGIA: Headache.

CICATRIZED/ CICATRIX: Healed, formation of scar.

COMMINUTED: Broken into several pieces.

CONSUMPTION: Tuberculosis (also called Phthisis).

CONTINUED FEVER: Obsolete term for fever without the intermittency of malaria; many cases were likely typhoid fever.

CORYZA: Inflammation of the nasal mucous membranes in an allergic individual; common cold.

DELIRIUM TREMENS: A severe and sometimes fatal form of delirium, due to alcoholic withdrawal following a period of sustained intoxication.

DIPHTHERIA: Acute bacterial illness characterized by sore throat and fever; serious and even fatal complications can occur.

DROPSY: Archaic word for edema; abnormal accumulation of fluid in cells, tissues, or cavities of the body.

DYSENTERY: Various intestinal diseases with inflammation of the bowels, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea.

EDEMA: An accumulation of an excessive amount of watery fluid in cells, tissues, or cavities.

ENDOCARDITIS: Inflammation of the heart.

ERYSIPELAS: Acute inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by streptococcus bacteria; characterized by reddening and severe inflammation, can lead to pustules. Usually accompanied by severe constitutional symptoms.

FISTULA: Forming an abnormal hollow passage from an abscess or cavity to the skin or an organ.

GANGRENE: Necrosis due to lack of blood supply.

GRANULATIONS: The formation of a small granular mass on a wound that is healing.

HEMIPLEGIA: Paralysis of one side of the body.

HEMOPTYSIS: The spitting of blood derived from the lungs or bronchial tubes as a result of pulmonary or bronchial hemorrhage.

HYDROCELE: A collection of serous fluid in the testes.

HYPERTROPHY: Enlargement.

HYPOSTASIS: Settling of blood in the lower portion of the body due to decreased blood flow.

INTERMITTENT FEVER: A fever that has intervals of complete cessation of symptoms between periods of activity. Often intermittent malarial fever. QUATERNARY: Symptoms recur every 72 hours. TERTIARY: Symptoms recur every 48 hours.

IPECACUANHA: Ipecac, dried root of plant, has expectorant, emetic, and anti-dysenteric properties.

LAUDANUM: Tincture of opium.

MALARIA: Disease characterized by cycles of chills and high fever, headache; spread by mosquitoes.

NECROSIS: The death of tissue cells.

NEPHRITIS: Inflammation of the kidneys.

NEURALGIA: Pain in nerves; generalized pain.

NOSTALGIA: Longing to return home or to another time in one' s life.

OPHTHALMIA: Severe, often purulent, inflammation of the deep structures of the eye.

ORCHITIS: Inflammation of the testicles.

OTORRHOEA/ OTORRHEA: Drainage from the ear.

OZENA: Disease characterized by intra-nasal crusting, atrophy, and fetid odor.

PAROTITIS: Inflammation of the salivary glands near the ear.

PERICARDITIS: Inflammation of the sac enclosing the heart.

PERNICIOUS FEVER: A fever of unknown origin.

PERIOSTITIS: Inflammation of the membrane covering the bones.

PERITONITIS: Inflammation of the membrane lining the abdominal cavity.

PHTHISIS: Tuberculosis (also called Consumption).

PILES: Hemorrhoids.

PLEURITIS (PLEURISY): Inflammation of the membrane enveloping the lungs.

PYEMIA: Infection of the blood causing pus-producing abscesses.

REMITTENT FEVER: A fever where the temperature varies during each 24 hour period but is never normal. Not truly characteristic of any one disease, but used as a diagnosis in the nineteenth century.

RESECTION: Removal of part of the bone, usually the articular end of one or both bones forming a joint.

RHEUMATIC FEVER: Infectious disease causing fever, pain, swelling of the joints, and inflammation of the valves of the heart.

RHEUMATISM: Chronic inflammation of the joints; also an obsolete term for rheumatic fever.

RUBEOLA: Measles.

ST. VITAS DANCE: Disorder of the central nervous system characterized by involuntary jerky movements, usually follows an attack of rheumatic fever; now called Sydenham' s Chorea.

SCORBUTIC ULCERS: Ulcers caused by scurvy.

SCROFULA: Tuberculosis of the lymphatic glands especially of the neck, characterized by the enlargement and degeneration of the glands.

SCURVY: A disease marked by debility, anemia, edema, and ulceration of the gums, due to a lack of Vitamin C.

SLOUGHING: Dead tissue separating from the surrounding tissue.

SMALLPOX: An acute, eruptive, contagious disease caused by a virus and marked by an onset of chills, high fever, backache and headache. Skin eruptions appear in two to five days.

STRICTURE: The abnormal narrowing of a canal, duct, or passage.

SUPPURATING/ SUPPURATIVE: To form or discharge pus.

SYPHILIS: A venereal disease caused by a spirochete which consists of three phases. PRIMARY: Characterized by a hard chancre on the genitals; SECONDARY: Characterized by eruptions on the skin and mucous membranes and the generalized enlargement of the lymph nodes; TERTIARY: Characterized by the infection and disablement of bones , muscles, and nerve tissue.

TETANUS: An acute infectious disease caused by the toxins of a bacillus which usually enters the body through wounds. Characterized by spasmodic contractions and rigidity of the voluntary muscles. Often fatal.

TUBERCULOSIS: Infectious disease causing tubercles in the lungs, characterized by fever, weakness, and emaciation.

TYPHOID FEVER: Acute infectious disease characterized by continued rising fever, physical and mental depression, rose-colored spots, loss of appetite, and dry mouth with furred tongue.

TYPHOID PNEUMONIA: Pneumonia as a complication of typhoid fever.

TYPHUS: A group of acute infectious diseases characterized by severe fever, chills, weakness, joint ache and headache. Similar to Typhoid Fever. See Camp Fever.

VARICOCELE: Cystic enlargement of the veins of the spermatic cord.

VARIOLA: Smallpox.

VERATRUM VIRIDE: Medicine derived from the hellebore, a member of the lily family with poisonous root stocks.

VUL. SCLOPETICUM: Latin; gunshot wound.

Hospitals & Prisons
During the Civil War, hundreds of hospitals were established in cities and towns in both the North and the South. Some were specifically designed and built for that purpose, but some were in existing buildings taken over for hospital use. There are at present only a few books that cover the subject of hospitals, but more are being written. One book published by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, One Vast Hospital: The Civil War Hospital Sites in Frederick, Maryland after Antietam, covers the hospital sites in Frederick, Maryland, after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. This book includes a patient list for these hospitals which contains nearly 10,000 names. 

 The most comprehensive descriptions of individual hospitals is in The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War, a twelve volume set originally published after the war detailing surgical cases and diseases. Volume VI includes detailed descriptions of many of the larger Union hospitals. The three volumes of the Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment contain a few photographs and drawings of hospitals, mainly in Washington, DC. Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War offers a wealth of information on prisons.

The National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC, has some additional information on hospitals, mainly in the form of patient lists for each hospital. For information on these records, call the Old Military and Civil Records Division of the National Archives at (202) 501-5390 or go to www.archives.gov.

If you have a specific question about a hospital or prison, the NMCWM accepts research requests for an initial fee of $10.  The fee covers up to 1 hour of research--if more is necessary, an additonal fee will be charged.  Please send research requests, and a check for $10 made out to the NMCWM, to:

Director of Research
NMCWM
P.O. Box 470
Frederick, MD 21705

Be sure to include your mailing address and email address.  The Museum does not accept phone requests. Please do not ask for general information-- there is so much available that we cannot comply with such a request.

Most of the following books, plus many others, can be purchased online through the Museum Store of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

Cahaba Prison and the Sultana Disaster; William O. Bryant, 1990

Camp Letterman: the Lost Legacy of Gettysburg' s Hospital Woods July-November 1863; 1993

A Captive of War: Solon Hyde, Hospital Steward, 17 OH, Libby, Pemberton, Danville, Andersonville; Introduction by Neil Thompson, 1997

Civil War Hospitals: Cumberland - Clarysville, Maryland; Harold L. Scott, Sr., 1995

Confederate Hospitals on the Move: Samuel H. Stout and the Army of Tennessee; Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein, 1994

Elmira: Death Camp of the North; Michael Horigan, 2002

Every Kind of... Wound and Disease: Hospital Life in the Confederate Medical Department, 1997, The Museum of the Confederacy Journal, No.75

Grappling With Death: The Union Second Corps Hospital at Gettysburg; Roland R. Maust, 2001

History of the United States Sanitary Commission in the War of the Rebellion; Charles J. Stille,1866, reprinted 1997

The Hospital on Seminary Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg; Michael A. Dreese, 2002

Hospital Stewards Manual, U.S. Army Medical Department; Joseph Janvier Woodward, M.D., 1862; reprinted 1991

Indiana in the Civil War: Doctors, Hospitals and Medical Care; Nancy Pippen Eckerman, 2001

Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War, prepared by Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, 1870 (reprinted 1991; originally titled Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865)

Montgomery White Sulfur Springs; Dorothy H. Bodell, 1993

One Vast Hospital: The Civil War Hospital Sites in Frederick, Maryland after Antietam; Terry Reimer, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Inc., 2001

Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment, Volumes I, II, and III; Gordon E. Dammann, D.D.S.,1983, 1988, and 1998

Point Lookout Prison Camp for Confederates; Edwin W. Beitzell, 1983

Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War; Lonnie R. Speer, 1997

 A Prototype of a Confederate Hospital Center in Lynchburg, Virginia; Peter W. Houck, M.D., 1986

To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-1865; George Levy, 1999

A Vast Sea Of Misery: A History and Guide to the Union and Confederate Field Hospitals at Gettysburg; Gregory A. Coco, 1988

Medical & Surgical Equipment
The following books can help in the identification of medical and surgical equipment. The three volumes of the Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment contain many photographs and descriptions of Civil War medical equipment, including surgical instruments, stretchers, drug kits, prosthetic limbs, medical officers' uniforms and equipment, and many other items. American Surgical Instruments covers the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and contains a list of American manufacturers of surgical instruments.

If you have a specific question about medical or surgical equipment, the NMCWM accepts research requests for an initial fee of $10.  The fee covers up to 1 hour of research--if more is necessary, an additonal fee will be charged.  Please send research requests, and a check for $10 made out to the NMCWM, to:

Director of Research
NMCWM
P.O. Box 470
Frederick, MD 21705

Be sure to include your mailing address and email address.  The Museum does not accept phone requests. Please do not ask for general information-- there is so much available that we cannot comply with such a request.  Also, the Museum does not do appraisals.

Most of the following books, plus many others, can be purchased online through the Museum Store of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

The Ambulance; Katherine Traver Barkley, 1978, reprinted 1990

American Surgical Instruments: An Illustrated History of Their Manufacture and Directory of Instrument Makers to 1900; James M. Edmonson, 1997

Farmcarts to Fords: A History of the Military Ambulance 1790-1925; John S. Haller, Jr., 1992

Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment, Volumes I, II, and III; Gordon E. Dammann, D.D.S.,1983, 1988, and 1998

The NMCWM is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation