Please note: this information is part of my personal notes and is
used for research purposes only. The quotes from various sources are those
books used to determine who was and wasn't a surgeon during the War.
It is by no means a complete list of references or all the resources available
to determine provenance of a given surgical set or doctor. Documenting
provenance and determining who was or wasn't a surgeon is extremely difficult
and can take hundreds of hours of research.
I'm sorry,
but I cannot do this research for you and everything I know is on this web
site. Please don't ask for me to do your research.
Resources I use to
research surgeons:
First, I look in the
List of Battles and Roster of Regimental Surgeons to see if the name is
in the list of Surgeons. This is good most of the time for regimental
U.S. Army surgeons, but does not list all surgeons and assistant surgeons
and none of the contract surgeons during the War. It also does not
list any CSA surgeons.
Second, I look in a CD
which contains the AMA list of Deceased Physicians prior to 1904 to see if
the doctor's name is listed. Again, not all physicians are listed, but
frequently I can find contract surgeon's names in this list with graduation
dates which are consistent with a doctor being available during the War
years.
Third and finally, I look
in a CD with all the records of the Medical and Surgical History of the War
of the Rebellion. You can obtain this CD from Philip Oliver at the
Guild Press of Indiana for about $165. Just Google the name.
It's worth ten times that amount if you are a researcher or serious
collector.
Note: (June
2007) If you want to research individual names of surgeons, I also suggest you
check the web site run by Cornell Library MOA at:
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html This site will
let you search the Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.
NO, I CANNOT DO IT FOR YOU!
Note: (July
2007) If you want to own a full set of the data from the Medical and
Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, you can purchase an
unbelievable DVD from Philip Oliver at the Guild Press of Indiana for about
$165. Just Google the name. It's worth ten times that amount if
you are a researcher or serious collector.
When confronted with a
surgical set or other item which one wishes to identify and link with a given
surgeon be prepared for a daunting task. There is no single source which
gives you 'the' answer. There are a multitude of reasons for the
difficulty in identifying a given doctor as having been a "Civil War" doctor.
When the Civil War
began, the Army Medical Department had a standing corps of medical officers,
but no where near the number needed for the demand generated by the early
battles of the War. As volunteers were processed and accepted for duty,
the number of doctors increased greatly, but not all were accepted as Army
Regulars, some were hired as contract doctors. Few were experienced
surgeons.
As quoted from the
republished book by Wells and Strait "List of Battles and Roster of
Regimental Surgeons", Edited by Ira M. Rutkow, M.D., ( Google Norman
Publishing for a copy of this information)
preface, Vl:
The Northern medical services were organized into seven
categories:
1. Surgeons and
Assistant Surgeons of the United States Army. This was the regular
Medical Corps and consisted of men in the service when the war began.
The War began with only 90 medical officers.
2. Surgeons and
Assistant Surgeons of Volunteers. These were former "brigade surgeons"
created by Congress to supplement the work of the regular staff surgeons.
A total of 547 commissions were issued.
3. Regimental Surgeons
and Assistant Surgeons, commissioned by state governors rather than congress
or the President. There were 2,109 Surgeons and 3,882 Assistant
Surgeons. (Note: these are the best documented surgeons and a list of
their names is found in the "List of Battles and Roster of Regimental
Surgeons")
4. Acting Assistant
Surgeons, United States Army. These physicians were known as the
'contract' surgeons. They held no commission but received pay as first
lieutenants. There were a total of 5,532 Acting Assistant Surgeons; most
of which worked in the general hospitals in the North. They also
continued their civilian practice at the same time. (Note: of all the so
called "Civil War" surgeons, this group is the most difficult to identify.
Without personal correspondence or other documents, it is very difficult to
pinpoint any contract surgeon as being a 'Civil War' surgeon. Ownership
of a given surgery set can help by dating that set via the makers address
during the War.)
5. Medical officers of
the Veterans Corps.
6. Acting Staff
Surgeons.
7. Surgeons and
Assistant Surgeons of the Colored Troops, who received presidential
commissions. They were assigned to the Black troops
The Medical Service of
the Confederate States Army (CSA) is documented in Cunningham's Doctors in
Gray. It is reported the Army and Navy of the CSA had 3,237 surgeons
or assistant surgeons. These figures exclude contract physicians
who were paid on a part-time basis while still in private practice.
Unfortunately all official records of the Confederate
States Army (CSA) Medical Corp were destroyed at the end of the War.
However there are references to various CSA surgeons in the twelve volume:
Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.
The following account
(quotes) of Civil War surgeons is from the very fine book: American Surgery:
An Illustrated History by Ira M. Rutkow, M.D. page 125 (again, available from
Norman Publishing):
"Competent or
incompetent, surgically skilled or not, vast numbers of doctors were needed
to treat the army of injured. So great was the demand that more than
12,500 physicians from the North and 3,000 for the South, not including
unknown numbers of volunteers, were called into service in either field or
civilian hospitals.
Most of the men who
served as regimental surgeons and assistant surgeons were commissioned by
state governors rather than by the Congress or President Lincoln. Full
surgeons served as captains or first lieutenants and were paid $155 and $105
per month, respectively.
These "surgeons" were
usually only capable of general medical practice. Being surgically
inept, they frequently botched the simplest of surgical operations and often
caused wounded solders more harm than good.
One particular aspect
of the Civil War was the untold numbers of civilian medical volunteers who
flocked down South after any engagement, supposed to lend a hand with the
operative workload."
The following is a list
of sites, books, or organizations where one can search for names and try to
verify if a given doctor was or was not a surgeon or assistant surgeon during
the War. Union records are more complete, but Confederate names are
archived in various areas, but not to the same extent as the Northern
surgeons. If you have a surgical set you suspect belonged to a Civil War
surgeon it is extremely difficult research and very time consuming to do.
Unless you can provide documentation of who owned a given set, it is highly
unlikely you will be able to make positive identification.
Research Links:
-
Civil War medical research: a list of references on books and resources
to search for surgeons and other topics
-
U. of South Dakota Civil War
information
on medical and other topics
-
Anesthesia during the Civil War: http://archsurg.ama-assn.org/issues/v134n6/ffull/ssh0699-1.html
-
Research for
Civil War surgeons,
museum links
-
A book listing regimental surgeons and assistant surgeons by
Wells and Strait, from
Norman publishing.
-
AMA records for deceased physicians from 1804 to 1929,
see AMA records
a CD resource: Vital Records: Directory of Deceased American Physicians,
1804–1929
Army
Surgeons from Yale Medical School c. 1864
Union Army surgeons:
A History of the Army Medical Department:
Civil War Medicine 1861-1865 by Mary C. Gilletty 1. (Available directly from the
U.S. Government Printing Office, Dept. of Medical History)
"The quality of the Army's
contract physicians was important, since during the course of the war more
than 5,500 civilian doctors assisted the Medical Department. Many routinely
staffed general hospitals while others provided help only in emergencies when
it was necessary to locate more physicians quickly. In the last group were
some of the nation's most prominent doctors. When a battle resulted in
overwhelming numbers of casualties, those who flocked to the scene might
include quacks, cultists, and practitioners of questionable ethics, men who
were not under military discipline and who could, therefore, come and go as
they liked, taking assignments that pleased them and rejecting all others.
They often performed unnecessary operations or wrought havoc as they dug about
for bullets. As a result of the problems experienced with doctors so casually
assembled, the Medical Department decided to call only upon members of a
reserve surgeons corps formed by the governors of various states. These
gentlemen were paid the salary of contract surgeons and came in if called.
They served under Medical Department orders and were required to remain at
their assigned posts at least fifteen days, unless officially released sooner." 1
Examples of a contract doctor pay
documents from the medical department:
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge
Field Surgeons: From the National Archives
"The Medical Department had
intended that its detailed and copious records concerning the Union's sick and
wounded guarantee the emergence of something of value to medical science as
well as to the Army from the most frightful conflict that the nation had ever
faced. During the struggle and the months immediately following it, more than
12,000 medical officers- regulars, volunteers, and contract- examined over
250,000 wounds and treated more than 7 million cases of disease. In the course
of their duties, more than 300 Army surgeons died from wounds, disease, or
accidents."1
"Almost 6,000 regimental medical
officers, whose qualifications were initially ascertained at the state level,
also served at one time or another in the Union Army. An equivalent number of
civilian doctors unwilling or unable to join the Army worked as contract
surgeons, either for short periods when necessity dictated or in general
hospitals in the cities where they lived."1
Field Surgeons: From the National Archives
I'm sorry,
but I cannot do your research for you.
Click here for notes on
Confederate medical services
Click here for notes on
Army Medical Officers and the
Civil War
Be sure to read this short
article on the Truth about Civil War Surgeons by Dr. Jay Bollet
