| Because the Civil War was fought on a scale unprecedented in American history, the techniques of medicine that are taken for granted today had not yet been developed. This problem, coupled with the fact that knowledge of the proper treatment of such diseases as dysentery, typhoid, measles, and other communicable diseases at that time was limited at best, made the prospect of getting wounded or sick a hazard the average soldier greatly feared. Numerous local soldiers contracted such diseases. Salem township farmer Aaron Morgan (shown at right) of the 118th Ohio died of typhoid. | 
Aaron Morgan |
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as a result of sleeping outside with little protection from the elements, Sgt. Dwight
became seriously ill. It was a problem many men experienced. The most common affliction
was named 'camp fever' by the men. With the rivers and ground polluted by constant use by
armies of 100,000 men and thousands of horses, cleanliness was next to impossible.
Pemberton resident Jeremiah Ray perished from it while with the 134th Ohio in August,
1864. Dr. Albert Wilson of Sidney reported on this problem in a letter home on December
21, 1861: "Our troops have been rather sickly and many of them have died. In our
hospital most of the cases are a form of fever we have named camp fever because of its
great prevalence in our camps." When a soldier became sick, the prevailing notion was that his 'fluids were out of balance.' The practice of cutting into the affected area and allowing it to bleed was commonplace. A doctor would lance the man's vein with a device called a 'fleam' and drain off a pint or two of blood. Leaches were also commonly used. Sanitary conditions in the camps were intolerable by today's standards, thus further complicating the healing process. An unfortunate example of this was 99th Ohio soldier Joseph Delap, a carpenter by trade and resident of Clinton township before the war. He died from drinking contaminated tap water in camp. Battlefield wounds, unless they were very minor, brought the soldier face to face with the dreaded surgeon. (Even minor wounds were often fatal. Swanders resident John Swander was shot in the wrist at Stones River, dying later of the wound.) The large size of the projectiles fired by the guns used in the war commonly shattered bones after entering the flesh of the victim. After a typical battle, an average staff of 8 to 10 doctors had to operate on anywhere between 200 and 2,000 wounded men. Amputation was usually the answer. The operation (with little anesthetic) would take between 4 and 10 minutes. |
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At left is a three-blade fleam owned by
Eldred Kipp, Sr., of Botkins, Ohio. Fleams were also made with spring devices that
automatically thrust the knife into the vein upon release. [Back] [Next] [Up]
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