Gangrene and glory
Subtitle: medical care during the American Civil War
By: Frank R. Freemon.
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; Associated University Presses
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Madison [N.J.]; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 254
Subjects: Medicine, Military -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Military Medicine -- history.; War -- history -- United States.; History of Medicine, 19th Cent. -- United States.; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care.
Description: This study delivers its message a hundred times: the American Civil War involved suffering. The degree of suffering overwhelmed all military glory. The exhilaration of battle dissipated under the load of fever, diarrhea, maggots, blood, dysentery, pain, pus, and putrefaction. It is the story of imperfect human beings, struggling to save lives and support their armies, fighting the enemy, fighting their superiors, and fighting against strange afflictions that defied their understanding.

The book offers the hypothesis that Northern medicine was superior to Southern, that medical care made a difference in the outcome of some battles and campaigns, and that the Northern military medical system played a role in the ultimate Northern victory. If this book fulfills its mission, the reader will see the same gore and smell the same putrefaction as did the doctors in blue and gray.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-246) and indexes..