Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War

by George Worthington Adams

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.

Genres: Civil War, History, Nonfiction, Medicine, American History, War

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Research for a novel I'm writing.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today it's something of a classic (haven been first published in 1952), but, still, George Worthington Adams' "Doctors in Blue" should be in every serious Civil War book collection as it is still the best and most comprehensive medical history of the Union Army around. The American Civil War took place while medicine was approaching the end of its "medieval" period: the role of micro-organisms in the formation and spread of diseases was not known, all the conditions were septic because the importance of antiseptics was beyond science at the time (hence the frequency of infections), and many of the "cures" administered to sick and wounded men, such as alcohol, did more harm than good. Up until World War I, the majority of deaths in wartime were caused by diseases rather than combat, and the Civil War was no exception, with sickness accounting for 2/3 of the roughly 600,000 fatalities. All this being said, and taking into account the very rough life soldiers in the field led in the mid-19th century, the Union army's Medical Department organized an exceptionally large and effective organization to treat, evacuate and (hopefully) cure it's many sick and wounded, not the least of which as a network of newly-constructed hospitals with almost 125,000 beds. It should also be noted that, because of manpower shortages, women began working as nurses in these hospitals for the first time in America, in spite of the many constraints placed upon women in that era of Victorian propriety. For soldiers wounded in battle, the most important change was the adaptation of a well-equipped and trained "Ambulance Corps" to evacuate the wounded to field hospitals for treatment. As a medic in the IDF, I find the history of military medicine to be more than a little interesting, and this work is an excellent examination of how military medicine adapted to the needs of mass warfare spread out over half a continent. I would say that this book is a must-read for those with an interest in the American Civil War.

[Mark Blanchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work is adapted from the author’s dissertation and the reader can tell. On the positive side, this book is full of detailed research. It can serve as a great source of information and prompt further research on the part of the interested reader. But the challenge is a general flow in readability, with information at times being a bit disjointed and oft repeated.

If it was possible to do 3.5 stars, I would, but in this case I can’t round up. A good reference book to have on the shelf.

[Jason R. Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book talks about how unprepared about medicine in the civil war in the North and how the government didn't get it right until 1865 when it was a well oiled machine. I am glad that I was born in 1979 instead of 1860.

[Pad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but riddled with grammatical and spelling errors.

[William Pontarelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far I am impressed by the dedication and abilities of men and women who volunteered to help from sanitation to dressing war wounds. I thought a 2:1 death by disease to battle wound ratio was horrible until the same ratio from the Crimean War was mentioned (10 to 1). It wound have been worse without the US Sanitary Commision.