Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion
Encyclopedia
The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65 (the MSHWR) was a U.S. Government Printing Office publication consisting of six volumes published between 1870 and 1888 and “prepared Under the Direction of Surgeon General United States Army, Joseph K. Barnes”. The history was divided into three parts, each consisting of a medical history volume and a surgical history volume. The works detail tens of thousands of surgical cases and diseases occurring during the American Civil War
(1861-65).
The MSHWR included numerous statistical summaries relating to diseases, wounds, and deaths in both the Union
and Confederate armies
, almost all of the material formed from the reports of U.S. medical directors, surgeons, doctors, and hospital staff. The accounts are a basic source for medical data on the War and also comprise an important source of information relating to individual soldiers. The names of the surgeons who submitted these case studies are almost always included, so the books can be helpful in tracking where an individual surgeon was at various times.
Hundreds of etching
s, wood engraving
s, charts, and tables, as well as many photographs and color plates (lithographs, chromolithographs, albumen photograph
s, heliotype
s, and woodburytype
s) accompany the approximately 3,000 pages of densely printed text. (Almost every reproductive process available at the time can be found somewhere within the six volumes.)
Publication of the MSHWR was preceded by publication of Reports on the Extent and Nature of the Materials Available for the Preparation of a Medical and Surgical History of the Rebellion (Surgeon General's Office; War Department, J.B. Lippincott, 1865).
The MSHWR was reprinted (1990-92) as The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War (Broadfoot Publishing Company; editor, James I. Robertson, Jr.
).
In addition to original printings and the reprinting, the MSHWR is also available on CD and on the internet (see External links).
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army, by J.J. Woodward
, Assistant Surgeon United States Army. Consists of a series of statistical tables summarizing the monthly reports made to the Surgeon General regarding the Sickness of the Army, Deaths, and Discharges and is arranged into two groups: Part I refers to "Sickness and Mortality of White Troops" and Part II to "Colored Troops."
Prepared, under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army, by George A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, United States Army. Covers wounds and injuries of the head, face, neck, spine, and chest. Includes a chronological summary of engagements and battles.
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army, by Joseph Janvier Woodward
, Surgeon, United States Army. Covers diarrhea and dysentery; Case studies and heliotype illustrations of diseases and sections of tissue, etc.
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army by George A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, United States Army. Covers injuries of the abdomen, pelvis, flesh wounds of the back, and wounds and injuries of the upper extremities.
Prepared under the direction of Surgeon General John Moore
, United States Army, by Charles Smart, Major and Surgeon, United States Army. Covers medical statistics; camp fevers [ typhus
, etc] and other miasmatic diseases
; scurvy
; diseases attributed to non-miasmatic exposure; and other diseases such as nostalgia
, army itch, poison
ing, alcoholism
, and venereal diseases; Includes one small folding map.
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army by George A. Otis and D.L. Huntington. Covers "Wounds and Injuries of the Lower Extremities," "Miscellaneous Injuries," "Wounds and Complications," "Anesthetics," "The Medical Staff and Materia Chirurgica," and "Transportation of the Wounded.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861-65).
The MSHWR included numerous statistical summaries relating to diseases, wounds, and deaths in both the Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
and Confederate armies
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, almost all of the material formed from the reports of U.S. medical directors, surgeons, doctors, and hospital staff. The accounts are a basic source for medical data on the War and also comprise an important source of information relating to individual soldiers. The names of the surgeons who submitted these case studies are almost always included, so the books can be helpful in tracking where an individual surgeon was at various times.
Hundreds of etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
s, wood engraving
Wood engraving
Wood engraving is a technique in printmaking where the "matrix" worked by the artist is a block of wood. It is a variety of woodcut and so a relief printing technique, where ink is applied to the face of the block and printed by using relatively low pressure. A normal engraving, like an etching,...
s, charts, and tables, as well as many photographs and color plates (lithographs, chromolithographs, albumen photograph
Albumen print
The albumen print, also called albumen silver print, was invented in 1850 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, and was the first commercially exploitable method of producing a photographic print on a paper base from a negative...
s, heliotype
Heliography
Heliography is the photographic process invented by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce around 1822, which he used to make the earliest known permanent photograph from nature, View from the Window at Le Gras . The process used bitumen , as a coating on glass or metal, which hardened in relation to exposure to...
s, and woodburytype
Woodburytype
The term Woodburytype refers to both a photomechanical process and the print produced by this process. The process produces continuous tone images in slight relief. A chromated gelatin film is exposed under a photographic negative, which hardens in proportion to the amount of light. Then it is...
s) accompany the approximately 3,000 pages of densely printed text. (Almost every reproductive process available at the time can be found somewhere within the six volumes.)
Publication of the MSHWR was preceded by publication of Reports on the Extent and Nature of the Materials Available for the Preparation of a Medical and Surgical History of the Rebellion (Surgeon General's Office; War Department, J.B. Lippincott, 1865).
The MSHWR was reprinted (1990-92) as The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War (Broadfoot Publishing Company; editor, James I. Robertson, Jr.
James I. Robertson, Jr.
Dr. James I. "Bud" Robertson, Jr., is a noted scholar on the American Civil War and a professor at Virginia Tech.-Early life and academic career:...
).
In addition to original printings and the reprinting, the MSHWR is also available on CD and on the internet (see External links).
The volumes
- Part I, Volume I: Medical History (1870)
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army, by J.J. Woodward
Joseph Janvier Woodward
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Janvier Woodward , commonly known as J. J. Woodward, served in the U.S. Civil War as Army Assistant Surgeon and produced several publications on war-related diseases. He was also a microscopist known worldwide and an instrumental pioneer in photo-microscopy...
, Assistant Surgeon United States Army. Consists of a series of statistical tables summarizing the monthly reports made to the Surgeon General regarding the Sickness of the Army, Deaths, and Discharges and is arranged into two groups: Part I refers to "Sickness and Mortality of White Troops" and Part II to "Colored Troops."
- Part I, Volume II: Surgical History (1870)
Prepared, under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army, by George A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, United States Army. Covers wounds and injuries of the head, face, neck, spine, and chest. Includes a chronological summary of engagements and battles.
- Part II, Volume I: Medical History (1879)
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army, by Joseph Janvier Woodward
Joseph Janvier Woodward
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Janvier Woodward , commonly known as J. J. Woodward, served in the U.S. Civil War as Army Assistant Surgeon and produced several publications on war-related diseases. He was also a microscopist known worldwide and an instrumental pioneer in photo-microscopy...
, Surgeon, United States Army. Covers diarrhea and dysentery; Case studies and heliotype illustrations of diseases and sections of tissue, etc.
- Part II, Volume II: Surgical History (1876)
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army by George A. Otis, Assistant Surgeon, United States Army. Covers injuries of the abdomen, pelvis, flesh wounds of the back, and wounds and injuries of the upper extremities.
- Part III, Volume I: Medical History (1888)
Prepared under the direction of Surgeon General John Moore
John Moore (physician)
John Moore, MD was a leading United States Army physician during the American Civil War who rose to become Surgeon General of the Army in the late 1880s.-Early life and medical training:...
, United States Army, by Charles Smart, Major and Surgeon, United States Army. Covers medical statistics; camp fevers [ typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
, etc] and other miasmatic diseases
Miasma theory of disease
The miasma theory held that diseases such as cholera, chlamydia or the Black Death were caused by a miasma , a noxious form of "bad air"....
; scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
; diseases attributed to non-miasmatic exposure; and other diseases such as nostalgia
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
, army itch, poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
ing, alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, and venereal diseases; Includes one small folding map.
- Part III, Volume II: Surgical History (1883)
Prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States Army by George A. Otis and D.L. Huntington. Covers "Wounds and Injuries of the Lower Extremities," "Miscellaneous Injuries," "Wounds and Complications," "Anesthetics," "The Medical Staff and Materia Chirurgica," and "Transportation of the Wounded.