Introduction
Here two doctors care for a wounded soldier. Well trained medical professionals were scarce during the Civil War. At the start of the war the United States Army medical staff was comprised of the surgeon general, thirty surgeons, and eighty-three assistant surgeons; not nearly enough to tend to all the needs of both armies.[1] Many of the "doctors" that were recruited were introduced to the medical field on the battlefield. One doctor even claimed that the Civil War was at the end of the medical middle ages. There was very liitle known to about diseases, least of all how to keep them from spreading. Despite their lack of knowledge about the medical field, and their being nicknamed butchers, they managed to treat over 10 million injuries and illness to the best of their ability in just 2 years. [2]
[1] Caring for the Men, The History of Civil War Medicine. [Internet] The National Historical Society's The Image of War: 1861-1865 Volume IV "Fighting for Time" http://www.civilwarhome.com/medicinehistory.htm [October 31, 2004]
[2] Medical Care, Battle Wounds, and Disease. [Internet] The Civil War Society's "Encyclopedia of the Civil War" http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarmedicine.htm [October 31, 2004]
