How detailed were American Civil War medical records of the types of diseases that various soldiers had?
score:3
Aggregate totals
I've done a search of the catalogue of the US National Archives, and as far as I can see, there were no collated statistics to indicate how many soldiers were suffering from particular conditions at a given time during the American Civil War.
That suggests that nobody saw any reason to collate those statistics (perhaps not surprising, given the contemporary understanding of the nature of diseases). The total number of soldiers on the sick list represented a reduction in effective military capacity, which was obviously important information.
They may simply not have realised the value of finding out how many soldiers contracted a particular condition at a particular time and place.
Also, as far as I can see, no modern researchers have attempted to compile aggregate statistics from the surviving records.
Records of diagnosis and treatment
As for the specific questions:
Would Northern doctors have kept detailed records on the specific diagnosis, or merely record the fact that they were sick?
Yes, the doctors kept 'detailed' records that included their medical diagnosis for individual personnel. These records were kept on Carded Medical Records.
Would they have kept records of which treatments they used on which individuals?
Sometimes.
Carded Medical Records
The US National Archives has several series of Carded Medical Records, including:
- Carded Medical Records, Regular Army, 1821-84 (RG94, Entry 529)
- Carded Medical Records, Volunteers: Mexican and Civil Wars, 1846-65 (RG94, Entry 534)
- Carded Medical Records of Officers, 1861–1865 (RG 94, Entry 533A)
- Carded Medical Records, Marine Corps, 1821-84 (RG94, Entry 533)
- Carded Medical Records, Gunboat and Naval Service, compiled 1861-65 (RG94, Entry 536)
- Carded Medical Records of Hospital Attendants, Matrons, and Nurses, 1861-65 (RG94, Entry 535)
When researching an individual soldier, the relevant Carded Medical Record card(s) would normally be traced from the Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR).
Not all cards survive. As with CMSRs, the Carded Medical Records are
... as complete as the surviving records of an individual soldier or his unit.
The Carded Medical Record cards will normally record the diagnosis. Details of treatment may be included as remarks on the card or, in the case of soldiers who were sent to a military hospital, in the linked hospital record.
For example, cards for regular army soldiers (RG94, Entry 529) should include:
- the soldier’s name;
- rank;
- organization;
- nature of complaint;
- date of admittance and name of military hospital;
- date returned to duty / deserted / discharged / sent to a general hospital / furloughed / died;
- remarks;
- references to the original hospital record.
The record description states:
The cards cover enlisted men and non-commissioned personnel; cards for commissioned officers are filed with their military service records. Cards are arranged by number of regiment, then type of unit, and initial letter of the soldier’s surname. Regimental designations are followed by Ordnance, Engineers, Signal Corps, Scouts, and miscellaneous personnel (including recruits, prisoners, service troops, and the General Mounted Service).
Example
I found images of some of these cards online. This shows the Carded Medical Record card of Samuel Jackson who was diagnosed with Febris Intermittens (intermittent fever) on 1 May 1863:
(Click to enlarge)
Samuel was returned to duty on 5 May 1863, but was back on the sick list suffering with diarrhoea a week later:
(Click to enlarge)
On neither occasion is there any record of the treatment that Samuel received (if any), and he wasn't sent to a hospital. From the examples of Civil War Carded Medical Record cards that I've been able to find online (which may not be a representative sample) that appears to be the rule, rather than the exception!
More post
- 📝 Why did Europe not see Roman-era numbers of men participating in battles until the 17th century?
- 📝 What was the primary source Brugsch used to argue for Egyptian monotheism?
- 📝 When and how did people begin to consider slavery immoral?
- 📝 How did they number the months when the year started on March 25th?
- 📝 Was the US close to running out of volunteer manpower during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars?
- 📝 Which was the first civilization to ban slavery?
- 📝 Did the US gov't pay the Cherokee for their lands in Georgia?
- 📝 Why did so many ruling European families hold on to Catholicism during the Reformation?
- 📝 What was the reaction to English monarchs using the title "King of France"?
- 📝 Why, in general, did the racist theories perceived Germanic as superior?
- 📝 What caused the shift from racially-motivated violence to segregation in the Reconstruction era?
- 📝 Army formation: veterans at the first line
- 📝 Where can I find a world map from the Victorian period?
- 📝 WWII boat-looking bus
- 📝 When has a sovereign state last given territory to another as a gift?
- 📝 Would Victorian era British soldiers wear their short sword bayonets while wearing uniform when off duty?
- 📝 What is the reason that not all roman emperors named a month after them?
- 📝 In this cartoon from Puck, what indicates the identities of France and Britain?
- 📝 Is it true the British heavily downplayed their defeat in Cartagena?
- 📝 Toyotomi Hideyoshi threatened to exterminate all Japanese foxes unless he heard from the god Inari. What was the aftermath (if any)?
- 📝 What would be the problem if Turkey admits Armenian Massacre?
- 📝 Why did it take so long to abandon sail after steamships were demonstrated?
- 📝 Why were the Yellow River dyke repairs delayed?
- 📝 Would League of Nations and U.S. sanctions/trade embargo against 1930's Germany had notable consequences in Germany?
- 📝 Was mortality higher on French slave ships and if so, why?
- 📝 What is the technical term for a head on head battle?
- 📝 Why weren't Germans acceptable as Roman Emperors?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence for asserting Huns were one and the same as Xiongnu?
- 📝 Did the USSR use trotskyism as a bogeyman in the post Stalin period?
- 📝 Chemical Evidence for Ancient Trans-Atlantic Trade
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How detailed were American Civil War medical records of the types of diseases that various soldiers had?
- 📝 How did the American Civil War help the U.S economy recover from the Panic of 1857 given that civil wars are extremely destructive?
- 📝 How did the English Civil War affect the American Colonies policy-wise?
- 📝 Were any of the historical figures of the American Civil War close at West Point?
- 📝 How beneficial were war bonds to the US during WWII
- 📝 Why were Civil War battle techniques so bloody, if the US had learned guerrilla fighting in the Revolutionary War?
- 📝 Was the American Civil War the “bloodiest civil war in history”?
- 📝 How heavily were the British taxing their American colonies?
- 📝 How accurate and detailed were geographical maps created and updated by the Romans?
- 📝 How were the Bulgarians regarded by the Nazis during World War II?
- 📝 How many pens were used by MacArthur to end the final chapter of World War II and where are they now?
- 📝 Founding Fathers and the American Civil War
- 📝 How did the Tutsis win the civil war in Rwanda after 70% of them had been killed?
- 📝 Why did the Union army favor a "western" route to approaching Richmond during the American Civil War
- 📝 How is it that King Philips War devastated the colonists so much, but the Colonists were not driven out?
- 📝 How many acres per person were needed for the early American settlers vs. the native Americans?
- 📝 How were the first American citizens granted citizenship?
- 📝 During the American Civil War, were cavalry units issued horses?
- 📝 Have American writing styles changed between the Civil War and Today?
- 📝 What uniforms did each of the American Civil War regiment wear during First Bull Run / First Manassas
- 📝 Was the American Civil War the first to include multiple multi-day battles?
- 📝 Why were cavalry raids so powerful during the American Civil War?
- 📝 How many British prisoners of war were taken by the Wehrmacht and how many died?
- 📝 Has the American Civil War led to any significant innovations in 19th-century warfare?
- 📝 What were conditions like for Chinese men subject to recruitment by the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War?
- 📝 Were there any abolitionists imprisoned for being critical of the Congress or the President during the American Civil War?
- 📝 How did life change for the average American as a result of the end of World War 1?
- 📝 How heavy were the heaviest war hammers actually used?
- 📝 How prevalent were American disinformation campaigns during the Cold War?
- 📝 Were officers allowed to resign during the American Civil War?