Editing History of medicine (section)

===== American Civil War =====
[[File:Hospital Gettysburg.png|thumb|[[American Civil War]] hospital at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]], 1863]]

In the [[American Civil War]] (1861–65), as was typical of the 19th century, more soldiers died of disease than in battle, and even larger numbers were temporarily incapacitated by wounds, disease and accidents.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Adams GW, Wise CT | journal = Nursing History Review | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | doi = 10.1891/1062-8061.7.1.191 |title=Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War| year = 1999 | pages = 191–193 | s2cid = 154115154}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Schroeder-Lein GR |title=The encyclopedia of Civil War medicine |date=2008 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe, Inc |location=Armonk, N.Y. |isbn=978-1-317-45710-7 }}</ref> Conditions were poor in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], where doctors and medical supplies were in short supply.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Cunningham HH | title = Doctors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Service | date = November 2015 | publisher = Golden Springs Publishing | location = San Francisco | isbn = 978-1-78625-121-3 }}</ref> The war had a dramatic long-term impact on medicine in the U.S., from surgical technique to hospitals to nursing and to research facilities. Weapon development—particularly the appearance of [[rifles|Springfield Model 1861]], mass-produced and much more accurate than muskets—led to generals underestimating the risks of long range rifle fire; risks exemplified in the death of [[John Sedgwick]] and the disastrous [[George Pickett#Gettysburg and Pickett's Charge|Pickett's Charge]]. The rifles could shatter bone forcing amputation and longer ranges meant casualties were sometimes not quickly found. Evacuation of the wounded from [[Second Battle of Bull Run]] took a week.<ref name=johnk>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/6199297/The-American-Civil-War-the-gruesome-suffering-of-soldiers-exposed.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/6199297/The-American-Civil-War-the-gruesome-suffering-of-soldiers-exposed.html |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The American Civil War: the gruesome suffering of soldiers exposed| vauthors = Keegan J |work=Daily Telegraph|date=17 Sep 2009|access-date=4 March 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> As in earlier wars, untreated casualties sometimes survived unexpectedly due to maggots [[debridement|debriding]] the wound—an observation which led to the [[Maggot therapy#History|surgical use of maggots]]—still a useful method in the absence of effective antibiotics.

The hygiene of the training and field camps was poor, especially at the beginning of the war when men who had seldom been far from home were brought together for training with thousands of strangers. First came epidemics of the childhood diseases of chicken pox, mumps, whooping cough, and, especially, measles. Operations in the South meant a dangerous and new disease environment, bringing diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid fever, and malaria. There were no antibiotics, so the surgeons prescribed coffee, whiskey, and quinine. Harsh weather, bad water, inadequate shelter in winter quarters, poor policing of camps, and dirty camp hospitals took their toll.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Link K | title = Potomac fever: the hazards of camp life | journal = Vermont History | volume = 51 | issue = 2 | pages = 69–88 | year = 1983 | pmid = 11633534 | url = https://vermonthistory.org/journal/cw/Potomac_Fever_vol51.pdf | access-date = 2022-09-26 | archive-date = 2023-03-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230309054436/https://vermonthistory.org/journal/cw/Potomac_Fever_vol51.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

This was a common scenario in wars from time immemorial, and conditions faced by the Confederate army were even worse. The Union responded by building army hospitals in every state. What was different in the Union was the emergence of skilled, well-funded medical organizers who took proactive action, especially in the much enlarged United States Army Medical Department,<ref>{{cite report | vauthors = Gillett MC | title = The Army Medical Department, 1818–1865 | work = Center of Military History, US Army | date = 1987 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PG4RWb8b8CkC&pg=PA3 | access-date = 2022-09-26 | archive-date = 2022-09-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220926034524/https://books.google.com/books?id=PG4RWb8b8CkC&pg=PA3 | url-status = live }}</ref> and the [[United States Sanitary Commission]], a new private agency.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gates A | title = Lincoln's Fifth Wheel: The Political History of the US Sanitary Commission. | journal = Civil War History | date = February 1957 | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 97–98 | doi = 10.1353/cwh.1957.0048 | s2cid = 143955518 }}</ref> Numerous other new agencies also targeted the medical and morale needs of soldiers, including the [[United States Christian Commission]] as well as smaller private agencies.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Martin J | chapter = Heros Along with the Rest: Civil War Service, 1861–1863 | title = Genius of place: the life of Frederick Law Olmsted. | publisher = Da Capo Press | date = May 2011 | pages = 178–230 | isbn = 978-0-306-82148-6 }}</ref>

The U.S. Army learned many lessons and in August 1886, it established the Hospital Corps.