Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2300

UNITED STATES. SURGEON-GENERAL'S OFFICE The medical and surgical history of the war of the rebellion (1861-65). Government Printing Office 1870-1888 Second issue. Plates (part col. and mounted), illus., maps, diagrs., tables. 29.2 cm.

A decision had been made as early as 1862 by the then surgeon-general of the United States Army, Hammond (see No. 1941 ff.), to eventually publish a medical and surgical history of the Civil War and steps were taken to gather more detailed reports of the sick and wounded. The history took years to compile and was eighteen years in publication. It was prepared under the direction of Joseph K. Barnes (1817-1883) who succeeded Hammond as surgeon-general in 1864. The work consists of two volumes, the medical history and the surgical history, and each is divided into three parts. Part I of Volume I of the medical history, published in 1870, was prepared by Woodward (see No. 1985). This part included a consolidation of the reports of sick and wounded of the various military organizations and an appendix containing extracts from special reports of medical officers on medical aspects of the conflict. Part II, published in 1879, was also prepared by Woodward. It is devoted to a thorough discussion of the various gastrointestinal disorders, such as diarrhea and dysentery, that afflicted the combatants. Part III on camp fevers was published in 1888. It was completed by Charles Smart (1841-1905) who was assigned the task when Woodward died in 1884. Smart, a native of Scotland, came to the United States in 1862 and immediately became an assistant surgeon with the Union forces, eventually becoming an assistant surgeon-general. Part I of Volume II of the surgical history, published in 1870, was prepared by George Alexander Otis (1830-1881), an army surgeon and curator of the Army Medical Museum. This part contains a summary of losses in battles and engagements, as well as statistics and detailed reports of wounds and injuries of the head, face, neck, spine, and chest. Part II, published in 1876, was also prepared by Otis. Further details regarding the injuries in Part I is completed here as are cases and data on wounds of the abdomen, pelvis, and upper extremities. Part III, published in 1883, was completed by David Lowe Huntington (1834-1899) when Otis died in 1881. Huntington served in the surgeon-general's office from 1880 to 1887 and was in charge of the Army Medical Museum and Library late in his career. This part contains data and case histories on injuries of the lower extremities, as well as burns, scalds, and frostbite. Information is also included on amputations, the use of anesthetics, organization of medical services, the materia chirurgica, artificial limbs and prosthetic devices, and on the transportation of the wounded. Part I of Volume I and Part III of Volume II of the University of Iowa Libraries' copy are second issues, the former being published in 1875 and the latter a reissue of 1883.

See Related Record(s): 1941 1985

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 2171 (1870-1888 ed.); Cushing U25 (Surgical only, 1870-1883)