Nursing and Medicine of the Civil War
Nursing and Medicine
Of the American Civil War
Kristy Michelle Pickard-4756
History 2111 – Fall 2009
On April 12, 1861 in Fort Sumter, SC Confederate troops fired the first shots of the Four Year American Civil War. After the first few battles were fought, both sides faced the realization of how they desperately needed doctors and nurses to care for the injured soldiers. (1) The first nurses were recuperating soldiers (rebel) however; their own illnesses prevented them from providing proper care or returning to full military duties. These soldiers resented being appointed hospital duty. (2)
Within thirty days after the call of 75,000 men by President Abraham Lincoln, the Women’s Central Association of New York chose 100 women to be trained by surgeons and physicians of New York as nurses in an army hospital. (3) In the South, women organized volunteer groups such as the Ladies Soldiers Relief Society and the Association for Relief of Maimed Soldiers. (2) The Union organized official Women’s Nursing Bureau. This agency attempted to organize numerous unpaid nursing volunteers and after much effort obtain regular salary for these women. In the South, organizations assisted soldiers of their communities such as the Ladies Aid Society of Montgomery which later became the Ladies Aid Society of Alabama which provided aid to the Alabama Division of the Chimborazo Hospital. (L)
At the outbreak of the war, the nursing profession was in its infancy. Men dominated over women as females were usually “too frail to cope with rigors of sick. Military and societal protocol banned women from field hospitals so duties were assigned to men. However due to increasing casualties the gender wall was soon broke down.
Many field hospitals were not available in some cities therefore; women volunteers took soldiers into their homes. As these women set up these hospitals in their homes, they cleaned wounds, performed minor surgeries, administered treatment and performed
Of the American Civil War
Kristy Michelle Pickard-4756
History 2111 – Fall 2009
On April 12, 1861 in Fort Sumter, SC Confederate troops fired the first shots of the Four Year American Civil War. After the first few battles were fought, both sides faced the realization of how they desperately needed doctors and nurses to care for the injured soldiers. (1) The first nurses were recuperating soldiers (rebel) however; their own illnesses prevented them from providing proper care or returning to full military duties. These soldiers resented being appointed hospital duty. (2)
Within thirty days after the call of 75,000 men by President Abraham Lincoln, the Women’s Central Association of New York chose 100 women to be trained by surgeons and physicians of New York as nurses in an army hospital. (3) In the South, women organized volunteer groups such as the Ladies Soldiers Relief Society and the Association for Relief of Maimed Soldiers. (2) The Union organized official Women’s Nursing Bureau. This agency attempted to organize numerous unpaid nursing volunteers and after much effort obtain regular salary for these women. In the South, organizations assisted soldiers of their communities such as the Ladies Aid Society of Montgomery which later became the Ladies Aid Society of Alabama which provided aid to the Alabama Division of the Chimborazo Hospital. (L)
At the outbreak of the war, the nursing profession was in its infancy. Men dominated over women as females were usually “too frail to cope with rigors of sick. Military and societal protocol banned women from field hospitals so duties were assigned to men. However due to increasing casualties the gender wall was soon broke down.
Many field hospitals were not available in some cities therefore; women volunteers took soldiers into their homes. As these women set up these hospitals in their homes, they cleaned wounds, performed minor surgeries, administered treatment and performed