Doctors In Gray The Confederate Medical Service

“H. H. Cunningham’s Doctors in Gray, first published more than thirty years ago, remains the definitive work on the medical history of the Confederate army. Drawing on a prodigious array of sources, Cunningham paints as complete a picture as possible of the daunting task facing those charged with caring for the war’s wounded and sick. Of the estimated 600,000 Confederate troops, Cunningham claims the 200,000 died either from battle wounds of from illness—the majority, surprisingly, from illness. Despite these grim statistics, Confederate medical personnel frequently performed heroically under the most primitive of circumstances and made imaginative use of limited resources. Cunningham provides detailed information on the administration of the Confederate Medical Department, the establishment and organization of Confederate hospitals, the experiences of medical officers in the field, the manufacture and procurement of supplies, the causes and treatment of diseases, and the beginning of modern surgical practices.” - Print ed.

Dealing with the civil war, this title takes a close look at the battlefield doctors in whose hands rested the lives of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers. It also examines the impact on major campaigns - Manassas, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Shiloh, Atlanta - of ignorance, understaffing, inexperience, and overcrowded hospitals.

Similar in scope to H. H. Cunningham's Doctors in Gray, George Worthington Adams' Doctors in Blue, originally published more than forty years ago and now available for the first time in paperback, remains the definitive work on the medical history of the Union army. Adams calculates that 300,000 Union soldiers lost their lives during the war. Confederate attacks account for only a third of these deaths, disease for the rest. In addition, there were a startling 400,000 wounded or injured and almost 6,000,000 cases of illness.

"The American negroes are the only people in the history of the world. . . . that ever became free without any effort on their own." W. E. Woodward stated this in his biography of General Ulysses S. Grant. Nothing could be farther from the truth as will be seen in this history which will show that the African Americans fighting in the Civil War may have been the deciding factor in determining the outcome.

The opening months of the Civil War went on in the midst of confusion and improvisation. This was especially true of the field medical services of both armies which were disorganized and understaffed-and hence not in position to cope with the vast number of wounded soldiers nor treat them properly. Moreover, the ambulance services were woefully inadequate, and the wounded men had to find their way back to the hospitals where overworked surgeons operated around the clock under extraordinarily trying conditions. After the first battle of Bull Run both sides made attempts to reorganize their medical staffs, and after the second battle at Manassas it was obvious that further improvements were necessary. The Union army set about creating a medical service which could cope with a long war, but the Confederacy failed to foresee a similar need, having just won a major victory. In comparing the efforts of both armies to establish efficient medical services, Horace C. Cunningham brings to light an important aspect of this war of attrition.

True stories of Southern women in the Civil War for “any reader with an interest in women’s history . . . An eye-opening experience.” —ForeWord The women featured in this anthology refute the common belief that Southern women were delicate and fragile. These Confederate women started relief organizations and militia companies, learned how to fire a musket, and even worked as spies. One courageous woman disguised herself as a male officer and recruited troops from around the South. Confederate Women includes ten essays about the crucial role Southern women played during and after the Civil War, believing that the war was “certainly ours as well as that of the men.” Excerpts from correspondence with their sons, fathers, husbands, and other women shed light on their unique position in America’s past. Often women are left out of history books, only to fade into the shadows of time. Thanks to Mauriel Phillips Joslyn and her contributing authors, these women will remain a part of history, never to be forgotten. “An affecting reminder that Southern women faced the challenges of the wartime era with courage and determination.” —Civil War News Previously published as Valor and Lace: The Roles of Confederate Women 1861–1865