Civil War Surgeons Research Paper

The knowledge we have of surgery in the Civil war is filled with gruesome and haunting experiences soldiers had to face. The surgeons were the onsite hospital staff that carried a wooden case to perform their duties anywhere at any time. This specific case in the __ museum belonged to a gentleman named Dr. W.P. Gunnell who “was educated in the best school of Virginia and graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. When the war began he was on a visit in the North, and while trying to get back to his home in Virginia he was arrested, and, through discretion, was forced to become a surgeon in a Union army hospital. He served to the best of his ability until he had an opportunity to escape through the lines to the South, and then he enlisted as a surgeon in the Confederate army” (). He experienced both sides of serving in the hospital departments during the Civil War.

Some of the kits were Army-issued surgical sets that “included a brass plate, plaque, or cartouche on top of the case, usually engraved with “U.S.A Hosp’l Dept.” (Cheng) or “U.S.A. Medical Department” (Cheng) which I noticed that Dr. Gunnell’s case did not have. His case also included older tools which you could tell because of the crisscross pattern on the handles. The tools were changed when it was later found that “sterilization techniques developed in the mid-19th century deemed smooth handles to be healthier”