Civil War Surgical Manuals and Medical
Textbooks
Civil War
Medical Books
Regulations of Army
Medical Department for Surgeons
Topics: Medical textbooks, Civil War medical
books, antique medical books, and rare medical books which were used during the
Civil War by surgeons both in the Union and Confederate Armies.
U. S. Army &
Confederate Army Medical Department Publications
U.S. Army Hospital and Medical Departments
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Medical and Hospital Dept. logos
During the Civil War, it
was essential surgical manuals were published because most physicians who
enlisted or volunteered during the war had little or no surgical experience.
Medical colleges typically offered two year courses to grant a medical degree and the
medical
textbooks they used are represented in this collection.
The medical textbooks were produced for or used by both contract and military
surgeons during
the Civil War. In the latter pages of this collection are medical and
surgical textbooks which would have been used in medical college just prior to or during the Civil War.
Those designated by the Medical or Hospital Departments were government
issue for the U. S. Army.
The basis of this
medical book collection is the presence of these medical textbooks in the Surgeon
General's Office Library Catalogue as published in
1840, 1864, and
1865. The edition and year of publication is representative of those listed in the printed
Catalogue in 1864 and 1865. These
books were chosen by the surgeons who ran the Union Army medical services prior
to and during the Civil War. The Confederate Army staff surgeons used
many of the same textbooks as the majority of those surgeons were in the Union
Army prior to the War and most were educated at northern medical colleges.
The assembly of the
Echols collection is also
cross-referenced to the
Arnold G. Diethelm collection at the
Reynolds Historical Library collection
of Civil War Medicine, but the Reynolds collection is not based on the
Surgeon General's Office Library.
Authors of some of the surgery manuals: Smith, Hamilton, Blackman, and Tripler, are the surgeons who
were assigned the responsibility of selecting the instruments to be placed in
Civil War surgical sets at the inception of the War. These sets were
then made
by contractors like George Tiemann Co., Kolbe', Hernstein, Kern, and others.
It's all inter-connected.
The manuals and textbooks on these pages are not reproductions, they are
originals and may have been
used prior to or during the Civil War by the medical staff surgeons on
either side. Some of these books are not visually pretty due to their
age and use by the doctors who owned the books. They were actively
used to learn and in some cases carried to war. They are intended to
represent a 'working' condition collection. In many cases the texts
are signed by their doctor owners.
 In some cases, these
textbooks were issued to surgeons in the Army of the United States by the
U.S. Army Surgeon General, Clement Alexander Finley, before the beginning of the
Civil War. The National Library of Medicine states in an
article
by
Wyndam
Miles, how many of various medical text books were
published during the early years of the War, and that information is shown
via the Wyndam Miles article.
Subsequent
published Catalogues of the Surgeon General's Office Library list the books
in that library in 1840,
1864, and
1865. See a
list of all catalogues.
Above is a period image
of the Surgeon-General's Office Library in 1861. See information on the Surgeon General's
Office Library by
Wyndam Miles.
Also, see an article on
early American Medical Libraries.
U. S. Army Surgical Manuals and
Medical Books
The Civil War Era Medical Textbook Collection of Dr. Michael Echols
Authors:
S. Smith, W.
Grace, Gray, J. Janvier
Woodward, Medical Regulations U.S. Army, Revised U.S. Army Regulation, Wells, Strait
Click on any photo to enlarge
The Army Surgeon's Manual,
for the use of Medical Officers, Cadets, Chaplains, and Hospital Stewards,
(1861 to 1864, published 1864), by William Grace with permission of the
Surgeon-General
A copy of this text book is
listed in the Surgeon
General's Office Library Catalogues or the list of medical
textbooks which were published during the Civil War by the Army
Medical Department. The rare text contains all regulations from
January 1861 to July 1, 1864. 200 pages.
List of U. S. Army Medical
Department Surgeon's in 1864
   
Below: Recent publications for
surgeon's,1864 by Bailliere Bros., N.Y.
   
Hand-book of surgical operations,
(1863) by Stephen Smith, M.D.
A copy of this text book is listed in
the Surgeon General's Office Library
Catalogues or the list of medical textbooks which were published during
the Civil War by the Army Medical Department.
Additional information on:
Stephen Smith, M.D.
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Title: Hand Book of Surgical Operations
Author: Stephen Smith, M.D.
Published: Bailliere Bros., N. Y. (1863) Hard bound
6 7/8 x 4 3/4 x 7/8 in., 261 pages
Multiple drawings
Signed: (sp.?) Dr. J. Eleophlaine,
Round Hill, Loudoun Co, Virginia
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Stephen Smith lecture card:
Bellevue Hospital |
Surgical drawings from Smith's manual of surgery
Gray's
Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical, (1862, second edition) U. S. Army Hospital Department
Issue
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Discussion of this text by the publisher
Blanchard and Lea, 1863
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Marked: U. S.
A. Hospital Department
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_small.jpg)
The book is marked:
'U. S.
A. Hospital Department' on the spine. This copy is also pen
marked: "Hospital 10th Ill (Illinois) Vol (Voluntary) Infantry
on the title page.
The 10th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
was the only regiment from the state of Illinois to be mustered
into service while in the field, under orders. They were sworn
into service in Cairo, Illinois on 29 April 1861 for three
months.
In July 1861, the regiment enlisted for
three years. In January 1862, they moved with Grant's forces
toward Paducah, KY. The unit intercepted the rebels in their
retreat from Island #10, which led to the surrender of almost
6,000 Confederate troops at Tiptonville, TN.
In 1864, the 10th Illinois reenlisted
as a Veteran regiment and participated in Sherman's March to the
Sea as well as the Battle of Bentonville and other battles
toward the end of the war. The 10th Regiment mustered out of
service on 4 July 1865.
Hospital Steward's Manual, (1862) by
Joseph Janvier Woodward, M.D., Asst. Surgeon U.S.A., U. S. Army Hospital
Department Issue
The Hospital Steward's Manual,
for the instruction of hospital stewards, ward-masters, and
attendants, in their several duties.
A copy of this text book is
listed in the Surgeon
General's Office Library Catalogues or the list of medical
textbooks which were published during the Civil War by the Army
Medical Department.
Additional information on:
Woodward, Joseph Janvier, surgeon
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Printed label in the
book
Name: Benjamin Williams
Death date: Nov 27, 1910
Place of death: Prospect Harbor, Maine
Birth date: 1835
Type of practice: Allopath
Practice speciality: GS General Surgery
States and years of licenses:
Maine
Medical school(s): Bowdoin Medical School, Brunswick-Portland:
Medical School of Maine, 1864
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Signature of Ben. Williams
Signed in the front page and
dated 1863:
"B. Williams, A. H. S. 26th Me. Vols.
Port-Hudson, June 1863 (Army Hospital Steward, 26th Maine
Volunteers), later Benj. Williams was listed an Assistant-Surgeon in
the 8th Infantry, Maine. until August 31, 1864."
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Steward and later, Assistant-Surgeon
B. Williams: The inside cover is written
on and signed by steward Ben. Williams while at the battle of Port Hudson,
La.. (See history of
26th Regiment
Maine, Vol. )
Above is a paper label with William's name printed and the page is also signed by: Ben. Williams, 2d, on
the backside of the front board with the Port Hudson information.
Benj. Williams is listed as a
H. Stew. (Hospital Steward) from Rockland, Me, in the Roster of
Surgeons on page 141 under the 26th Regiment Maine, they mustered
out in August 17, 1863.
Benj. Williams, Rockland, Me,
is later listed as an Assistant-Surgeon on page 138 of the Roster of
Surgeons from August,1864. Apparently Benjamin was promoted to
an assistant surgeon between 1863 and 64.
Regulations for the Medical Department of the Army of the United
States, War Department, Adj. General's Office, Washington, D.C. 1861
This small
booklet (5 x 8 in.) approximately 60 pages, contains extracts from
the General Regulations of the Medical Department of the Army which
were published by order of Sec. of War, L. Thomas, Adj. Gen.
The book is more of a pamphlet, being bound with hard paper boards and
the spine hinged with typical period black cloth and sewn pages.
It was published for issue to the Army Medical Officers and Stewards.
Of
considerable importance to this collection is the subject of 'contract' physicians and
the Form 18, which the Army was required to fill out when hiring a
physician for the Army. The significance of this form today is
it proves a given
doctor served during the War as a contract physician. The full
text
is provided below, but not the charts and tables in the balance of the book.
It spells out the duties and expectations for Union medical officers.
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Form 18
Used
by the U. S. Army to subscribe contract surgeons during
the Civil War. This type of form would be hard evidence a
doctor served as a physician during the War |
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Roster of Civil War
Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons,
(1883) by J.W. Wells and N.A. Strait
Note: Regarding signatures of doctors in
the front of medical and surgical texts. Just because a given doctor cannot be
found in the Roster of Surgeon's does not mean they did not serve in the Civil
War. Only regular Army Surgeons or Assistant Surgeons are listed in the
Roster. The Roster list does not include any Confederate Surgeons, nor does it
included any of the thousands of contract surgeons who served. Tracking down
who was and was not a 'surgeon' during the War is a major undertaking and
requires hours of detailed work, luck, and persistence.
Among the contract surgeons, there
were both homeopathic and allopathic physicians and their training varied
greatly. The Union Army went to great lengths to weed out those 'surgeons'
who may not have been adequately trained, but that information is difficult
to find or verify.
Additional information on this Roster and it's history.
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By J.W.
Wells and N.A. Strait
The original
alphabetical list of the Battles of the War of the Rebellion
with dates and a Roster of all the Regimental Surgeons and
Assistant Surgeons in the hospital service of the Union Army
during the Civil War including Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons
assigned to the U.S. Colored Troops. The soft-cover book is 331
pages in length and measures 5 3/4" x 9". It was compiled after
the War by J.W. Wells and N.A. Strait and published in
Washington, D.C. in 1883. It is the definitive resource for
identification of Union doctors who were in the Union Army. It does
not list contract doctors, who may have served part-time or
Confederate medical personnel.
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Revised
Regulations for the Army of the United States, (1861)
Rare original fully indexed copy of
the 1861 Army Regulations, including the Medical Department, by authority of
the War Department, published by J. G. L. Brown, Philadelphia.
Book is 559 pages. Foreword by Simon Cameron, Secretary of War,
August 10,1861.
| Signature is that of George Barton
(Inscribed in front and back of book) who was a 2nd.Lieut in the
81st. Pennsylvania Infantry. Barton was severely wounded in
December of 1862 at Fredericksburg, Va., resulting in the
Amputation of his right leg. He was discharged in April of 1863
for the wounds he received.
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Listing of Lt. Barton in the
Medical & Surgical History |
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See information on
Medical education and lecture cards
during and before the Civil War
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