Medical Department #28 - Disease and Death in Northern Civil War Prisons

THE SECRETS OF MY PRISON-HOUSE
By James M. Schmidt
The Civil War News – “Medical Department” – September 2009

And not a man of them that we shall take Shall taste our mercy

- Henry V, Act IV, Scene 7

Such was Henry V’s violent threat regarding the fate of prisoners in his hands after finding that England’s “boys of the luggage” had been mercilessly slain by his French enemy at Agincourt. Henry’s anger - born of Shakespeare’s hand – was echoed after the American Civil War as both sides pointed fingers at the other regarding the treatment of captured soldiers in the other’s hands. Names such as Andersonville, Belle Isle, and Henry Wirz resonated with Union veterans; likewise, the prisons at Rock Island and Elmira and officials such as William Hoffman elicited anger from Confederate veterans.

Given that atmosphere, the literature on Civil War prisons – memoirs, popular histories, and even scholarly work – has sometimes been high on polemics and light on analysis. Entering that fray – with more analysis and less rhetoric - is Dr. James M. Gillispie and his recent book, Andersonvilles of the North: The Myths and Realities of Northern Treatment of Civil War Confederate Prisoners (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2008).

In Andersonvilles of the North, Dr. Gillispie provides a summary of the Northern version of their POW experience, the Southern version (especially as part of the Lost Cause Tradition), modern historiography on Civil War prisons, and an examination of the exchange system. In the main, Dr. Gillispie analyzes the conditions at nine major Union POW camps in detail to compile compare disease and mortality rates to similar rates in the Confederacy. A final chapter gives an overview of the state of knowledge about the causes of diseases in the Civil War era. Dr. Gillispie was kind enough to answer my questions about his interest in the Civil War and his research and conclusions about prison conditions.

Dr. Gillispie earned a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Mississippi - under the tutelage of Charles Reagan Wilson - and has taught history at Sampson Community College in Clinton, North Carolina, since 1999. He is the author of numerous articles and reviews on Civil War prison scholarship. He is also on the Board of the Averasboro Museum and is currently working on other projects, including a biography of Col. Thomas Purdie of the 18th North Carolina, which will also tell the story of Eastern Carolinians during the war. He is also co-editing a series of essays examining major Lost Cause myths and how some of the major ones have exerted a powerful influence on popular understanding of the Civil War.

Dr. Gillespie traces his interest in the Civil War back to his youth. “Having grown up in Virginia, it just seemed to me the Civil War was always around me,” he said, adding, “I suppose you could say the bug bit me early and never let go.” As a child, the Lost Cause image of plumed cavaliers and hard-hitting generals with names like “Stonewall” grabbed him and he imagined his 19th century ancestors as knight. In college, he became a History major with the idea of studying the Civil War more objectively to find out what it had really all been about and what it all meant, and realized it was as much a cultural event as it was a political or military one.

“My interest in Civil War prisons was sparked by pure necessity to be perfectly honest,” Dr. Gilliespie told me. “I was looking for a thesis topic and had to come up with something original to work on. It was then that I discovered that this area had been virtually ignored. Fortunately for me it was a topic that I really enjoyed researching,” he added. That research paid off – in my opinion – in an absorbing study that fulfilled his mission: using an evidence-based approach to dispassionately put to rest the myth that there was systematic starvation and poor medical care at Northern prisons as a matter of policy, without “whitewashing” what were certainly uncomfortable (and sometimes inexcusably deplorable) conditions.

Of special interest to readers of this column is that Dr. Gillispie approaches the topic primarily from a medical perspective. Indeed, he made extensive use of the Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion to compile disease and mortality statistics among the prisons and compare them to similar rates at the Confederacy’s premier Chimborazo hospital in Richmond. He also consulted dozens of archival sources containing wartime prisoner accounts as well as the best in secondary literature on Civil War prisons, including one of my favorites: Rebels at Rock Island (2000), written by my good friend and mentor, the late Benton McAdams.

Among Dr. Gilliespie’s most interesting – and important - resources are camp inspection reports by Union officials found in the Official Records (especially “Series II,” which contains correspondence, orders, reports, and returns relating to prisoners of war). It is especially in these reports that the myth of a systematic policy of starvation rations, inadequate shelter, and lackluster medical conditions is dispelled. Dr. Augustus M. Clark - Union Commissary-General William Hoffman’s prison inspector – made detailed reports on conditions at the various Union prisons throughout the war and had no qualms about recommending immediate changes to diet, sanitation, housing, or hospital conditions.

While Henry Wirz met the gallows after a post-surrender investigation and trial (such as it was) of his treatment of Union prisoners at Andersonville, Confederate veterans and historians alike decried the lack of accountability of Union “villains,” such as the (purportedly) tightfisted Hoffman, or Elmira’s post surgeon, Dr. E. F. Sanger. While Hoffman escaped any official censure, Dr. Gillispie describes in great detail how incompetent commandants and surgeons were quickly removed or reassigned based on unacceptable conditions at prison camps under their watch.

Regarding the health of Confederate prisoners, Dr. Gillispie makes the important point that they often arrived in Union prisons ill, wounded, exhausted, and/or malnourished, such that one Union surgeon declared that the inability of the South to adequately feed its soldiers “was the prime source of disease” among prisoners under Union watch. He also points to research in the modern field of “psychoneuroimmunology” which demonstrates that physical and psychological stress can also compromise health. Dr. Gillispie (and other modern writers) suggests that prolonged exposure to the elements, marches, and battles compromised the ability of soldiers on both sides to combat infection.

Although it is not a focus of his study, Dr. Gillispie reminds readers that Union prison camps could also be dangerous places for the guards. “Individual camp records on disease and mortality statistics make distinctions between guards and prisoners,” he told me. While guards probably enjoyed better health because of less-crowded quarters and less direct contact with contaminated prisoners, they “also ran a risk of getting ill and dying from things like pneumonia and smallpox just as the prisoners did,” Dr. Gillispie told me, adding, “the most dangerous place you could find yourself during the 1860s was a stationary military camp of any variety.”

I had some minor complaints after reading the book, including Dr. Gillispie’s use of some persistent myths, including the misleading statement that “Harvard’s medical school did not own a single stethescope,” which has since – like other such myths - been dispelled in modern studies, including Dr. Alfred Jay Bollet’s Civil War Medicine: Challenges and Triumphs (which Dr. Gilliespie did not appear to consult). These minor complaints do not detract from my high opinion of the book, and - to his credit - Dr. Gillispie does attribute disease and death in Civil War camps, hospitals, and prisons more to “tragic inevitability” (due to the state of knowledge at that time) rather than to incompetence on the parts of surgeons on both sides.

Finally, Dr. Gillespie acknowledges that his study is not the last word on Northern prison conditions; it intends to show that there is compelling evidence refuting the notion that Union prisons were purposely designed as death traps and that Northern prison officials were actually more humane than they’ve been given credit. “There were, no doubt, things I missed or overlooked,” Dr. Gillispie told me, adding that he hopes “others will take the book as something of a jumping off point to more completely examine places like Elmira, Camp Chase, and Johnson’s Island,” so that we have a much fuller view of what life was like in Union prisons during the war.

First Bull Run Medical Accounts - Letters to American Medical Times - #1

Harry Smeltzer over at the excellent website and digital history project, Bull Runnings, does us all a favor with his growing archive of documents related to the First Battle of Bull Run, especially when he shares previously unpublished material, as he did recently with the report of Col. George S. Burnham, of the First Connecticut Volunteers.

Recently, Harry put out a call for contributions, and I'm happy to oblige in my own area of interest: Civil War medicine.

To be sure, a lot of medical material can be garnered from official documents such as the Official Records or the landmark Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Another great source is period medical journals. They often re-printed official reports, but - more important - they also published letters from readers. Such is the case with the American Medical Times, a kind of weekly "reader's digest" for the New York Journal of Medicine.

I've culled the 1861 issues (some in my collection but also available online through Google Books and archive.org) for Bull Run medical material, and will start with a July 26, 1861 letter ("special to the American Medical Times) written by Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, Surgeon, 31st Regiment NYSV (with more to come!):

BATTLE OF BULL RUN
ONE DAY'S EXPERIENCE ON THE BATTLE-FIELD

Camp Pratt, near Alexandria, Va.

July 26, 1861.

[Special Correspondence of the American Medical Times ]

I have had no time to write to you before, and I have scarcely the time now, but I have seized a few moments of leisure to give you a brief account of one day's experience upon the field of battle.

At half past two, Sunday morning, I was in my saddle, with my assistants by my side, and my ambulance was ready for the march. The column began to move at this early hour, but our Division, under General Miles, did not leave the encampment until after six o'clock A. M. We then followed the long train which had preceded us, and after a march of about three miles took up our position where the battle of the preceding Thursday was fought, upon the brow of a hill commanding a view of the whole valley in which lay the forces of the enemy. The 32d and the 16th New York Volunteers were ordered to support Lieut. Pratt's battery, Col. Pratt, of the 31st, acting as Brigadier- Gen, or commanding officer, while Lieut.-Col. Brown took charge of our own regiment, the 31st; subsequently Col. Pratt took charge of his own regiment and was ordered to support Major Hunt's battery.

As soon as the troops were fairly in position the batteries opened upon the enemy with shell, solid shot, grape, and canister. Their fire was very effective, but it was not answered until late in the afternoon. In the meantime my assistants aided me in selecting a place along the wood, in our rear, where a pretty deep cut or gorge, leading a little off from the main road, would enable us to dress the wounded without exposure. We all went to work with a will, with the help of the drummer boys, and had soon cleared the gorge of stones and bushes. Here we proposed to have the wounded brought on stretchers by the drummers and a few volunteer aids, who together composed my ambulance corps. We then placed our ambulance above and beyond the gorge, in the direction towards a log-house, which was situated one-quarter of a mile further off in the rear. We took down the fences to let the ambulance pass, and planted our red flags at the temporary depot, and at the log-house. We were all ready when we received notice of an expected charge of cavalry upon that road, and were requested to select a building on the opposite side of the road, as the enemy's batteries would range across the old log-house. Accordingly we hastened to make the change, and in a few minutes we had everything as well arranged in a snug wooden house, occupied by negroes, as if we were in Bellevue. The operating table was ready, the bed arranged, and the instruments, sponges, bandages, cordials, &c., in order.

I now rode back to the field, and found we had had one slight skirmish, in which one man of the 16th had been wounded in the head, which Dr. Crandell, of the 16th, had already dressed. It was past mid-day and we were all tired, hungry, and thirsty. Exploring a garden in front and to the right of the batteries I found cabbages, beets, parsley, onions, sage, and potatoes; near by were chickens, and smoked hams in a deserted lodge. Water we found one-quarter of a mile to the left on the borders of the woods, within which lay the enemy, but the drummers brought water, and with the help of Mr. Nourse, Dr. Marvin, and my son, we soon made about four gallons of the best soup I have ever eaten. We had salt and pepper to season it, and good appetites to welcome it. We made also a large coffee-pot full of coffee, and found sugar to sweeten it. This we carried to the rear and fed out first to the Col. and his staff, and then to the line officers and men, as far as it would go, not forgetting ourselves and the drummer boy.

After this precious repast we carried whiskey to those soldiers who had been skirmishing, or who seemed especially to need it; for they were without shelter, under a sky of brass. To those who called for it also we sent or carried water in pails—such water as we could get The men never left their lines, except when ordered to act as skirmishers, and must have perished except for some such refreshments.

At about four or five p. m. a message was sent to us that the enemy were retreating, and that the day was ours, and I immediately returned to my hospital to order, of the black inmates of the South, supper for the Colonel's staff and my own. I was standing at the door, looking out towards the road, when I saw the regiments approaching in order, but rather rapidly; at the same moment came an order from Dr. Woodward, the intelligent and faithful medical director of our division, for me to fall back with my hospital to Centreville, about one mile further back, as the enemy were making an attempt to flank us on the left, in the direction of our division. I immediately had every thing replaced in the ambulance, and having paid Maria, the black woman, whose dinner we did not eat, we started for Centreville. We went along the same road with the troops, who were moving in good order, and without any appearance of alarm. At Centreville I took out my amputating case, general operating case, and medicine chest, and finding a large number of wounded already here, proceeded at once to dress their wounds, extract the bullets, etc. We were occupied for an hour or more in an old tavern. My assistants here were Dr. Lucien Damainville (first Assistant), Dr. — Brown, Mr. Marvine, medical student, Mr. Nourse, and my son Frank, who had been acting most of the day as the Colonel's aid. I think Dr. Arnt, of one of the Michigan regiments, was with us at this time. We had no bandages, no lint, no sponges, no cerate, and but very little water, and I think only one basin. Our first attention was directed to those already in the house. Stooping down as they lay crowded upon the floor, we inquired, "Where is your wound, my poor fellow ?" for they seldom called us until we came to their relief, nor did many of them utter a moan. There they lay silent, waiting their turn. Most of the wounds were made by spherical balls—some had gone through entirely, without breaking a bone or severing an artery—and to them we said, " Bravo, my boy, a noble wound, but no harm done. Mr. Nourse, apply a cloth, wet with cool water." Not a few, encouraged and strengthened by these words, got up, and came on foot to Alexandria and Washington. I saw several at Fort Runyon, from whom I had extracted balls from the neck, arms, and legs, the next morning when I arrived there, and they had walked the whole distance. Three or four had balls through their bodies, and had walked two or three miles to the village ; one was brought up with a wound in his thigh, who had lain on the field since the Thursday preceding. He will recover, I think.

From this building we went to a private house, which was also lull, and then to the old stone church. Here I met Dr. Taylor, of the 1st New Jersey Regiment, who was laboring most industriously, and Dr. _____ , a private, a very intelligent man, belonging, I think, to the 2d Michigan, and who, for his- extraordinary zeal and attention, deserves great credit.

In the old stone church the men were "lying upon every seat, between all the seats, and on every foot of the floor; a few on stretchers, perhaps three or four; a dozen or more on blankets—occasionally upon a litter, hay or straw, but mostly on the boards.

The scene here was a little different; it was dark; we had but two or three tallow-candles. The men had been waiting longer, and were in general more severely wounded; and, although now and then a man asked us to pass him, and to look first after some one lying near who was suffering more, yet from all sides we were constantly begged and implored to do something for them. After a little we concluded to take them in order as they lay, since to do otherwise rendered it necessary to consume time in going backwards and forwards, and we were constantly in danger of treading upon the wounded; indeed, it was impossible to avoid doing so. By this time we had found a hospital knapsack, and were pretty well supplied with bandages; but the time did not allow us to do much more at first, than to extract the bullets, and apply cool water dressings, with lint.

Only two amputations were made by myself; one below the knee, and one above the elbow-joint. Both of them, I confess, were done very badly, but I could, at the time, and under the circumstances, do no better. My back seemed broken, and my hands were stiff with blood. We still had no sponges, and scarcely more water than was necessary to quench the thirst of the wounded men. My assistants were equally worn out—Dr. Taylor alone seemed vigorous and ready for more toil.

At half-past twelve, or about that time, we went out to get a candle, to enable Dr. Taylor to amputate a man's arm at the shoulder-joint. Just then a regiment came up, and the Colonel was challenged by the picket. This reminded me that if we were to stay all night, as we had mutually agreed to do, we should need the countersign; but although we told him we were medical men, in charge of the wounded, and intended to stay, this was refused to us. The colonel told us that his was the last regiment covering the retreat.

We obtained a candle and went to the house where lay Dr. Taylor's patient, with his arm terribly shattered with a cannon ball or fragment of a shell. It was nearly torn off near the shoulder-joint, but the haemorrhage was trivial, he was dying of the shock. We gave him whiskey, the only stimulant we had, with water, dressed the wound slightly, and left him to his fate.

Dr. Damainville and I now lay down upon our backs upon the floor beside the wounded—we could do no more—our last candle was burning. Some of us had seen all the wounded, probably 250 in number, and done for them all that lay in our power. I had drunk some buttermilk and eaten a sandwich that Adjutant Washburn had held to my mouth once in the evening, but none of us had had any other food. I had sent Adjutant Washburn to overtake Gen. McDowell early in the evening, and to represent our condition, but he could not find him, and returned without help. The two bottles of whiskey taken by my son from the ambulance when we first came were already nearly distributed to the wounded. They had not a morsel to eat, the ambulances were all gone and had been for several hours. As we went into the street again, we found it was silent as the grave—the pickets even were gone, and except a few men so soundly asleep under the trees that we could not awaken them, there was no one left in the road. After a second consultation we determined to go also. My assistants and myself soon found our horses, but the servant was gone, and with him the bridles, nor could we after much search and loud and long shouting find him. I went back to the old stone church, and found one soldier just brought in, whose wounds I dressed, and then said aloud to the poor fellows within: " Thank God, my boys, none of you are very seriously injured; you will probably all get well." To which I heard one or two feeble responses: " Thank you, Doctor, thank you." I could not tell them I was about to leave them, and I trust in leaving them so I did them no wrong. I could be of no more service to them until morning, and then I presumed they would be in the hands of a civilized and humane enemy who would care for them better than we could. As I passed along out of the village I requested one gentleman who lived there to look after them, and also a family composed of a man and wife with two daughters. They all promised to do what they could.

Our instruments we could not take. There were five of us and two horses, and my son had sprained his ankle and could scarcely walk, so we went on towards Fairfax Court-House, and in half an hour we began to overtake the rear regiments, and soon I saw Dr. Woodward's cheerful face begrimed with dirt like our own. I told him how we had left the wounded. There was no remedy, said he. They must be left. We hurried on and at Fairfax Court-House overtook Gen. McDowell, to whom I at once reported the condition and number of the wounded, and requested to be sent back if he thought it best. He replied, " You have done right, keep on to Washington." As I was leaving the gate he sent a messenger to call me back, and to ask me if I were walking. I replied that I was. "Gen. McDowell has here ten or twelve ambulances," said he, "for the wounded, which he obtained by a dispatch to Washington. He wishes you to ride." From Fairfax I rode until our ambulance broke down, filled with wounded. The wounded were transferred to another ambulance, and I again took to my feet and occasionally to my horse. I reached Fort Runyon, opposite Washington, at about 10 A.m., and here washed my bloody hands and arms, for here I found the first water.

The wounded were scattered the whole distance from Centreville to Washington, not in large numbers, but here and there one could be seen walking by the aid of one or two associates. In reference to the ambulances, the occasion of their absence from Centreville was simply, that the drivers became frightened, and to turn them back would have been impossible. Nor do I think it would have been possible for Gen. McDowell to have sent one vehicle back beyond Fairfax at the time I saw him.

It is remarkable that most of the wounds seen by me were not of a character which would be likely to prove fatal. Perhaps the men most severely wounded were left upon the field, or were dressed by those noble surgeons who were near them, and some of whom lost their lives, while others gave themselves up as prisoners.

In no case did a wound seen by me require the use of a tourniquet, although some soldiers had their limbs tightly girded so as to have already occasioned great swelling and pain.

Most of the balls extracted were spherical; and of those which I removed, the majority were removed through counter openings, the balls lying close against the skin.

Nearly all the soldiers that I have seen since the battle, in Washington and Alexandria, are doing well.

I must not omit to state that after I had left, and when I supposed our whole party were in front of me, Mr. Nourse, acting assistant apothecary in our regiment, went back with three horses, and placing three wounded officers upon them, sent them off, for which he would accept of no compensation. He then walked himself the whole distance to Alexandria. This, with many other signal instances of this young man's courage, endurance, and humanity, deserves an especial notice.

My own regiment having, under its excellent commander, Col. Calvin E. Pratt, of Brooklyn, N. Y., covered the retreat of most of the forces, and especially of Hunt's Battery, which took up a new position near Centreville early in the evening, left the ground at 11 P.m, and returned in perfect order to its old encampment near Alexandria. Before they left they received five successive volleys from the enemy s infantry, but not allowing their own fire to be drawn they saved themselves and their battery from being overwhelmed and taken. I must regard the coolness and discretion of Col. Pratt under these circumstances, as the highest evidence of his capacity as a military commander.

Frank H. Hamilton. Surgeon 31st, Regiment, N. Y. St. V.

Medical Department #28 - Scratching Your Civil War Itch

Here's an older "Medical Department" column from The Civil War News to add to the archives here on the blog!

THE FOUR YEAR ITCH
By James M. Schmidt
The Civil War News – “Medical Department” – October 2006

“There were two things that stuck closer than a brother; that was the itch and body lice or greyback as they were politely called…I had a bad case of the itch… it became very bad; so much that my hands were swollen and my fingers stood apart. Sores and yellow blisters came between them and they ran corruption. I could scarcely touch anything, my hands were so sore.”-Pvt. Milton Asbury Ryan, Co. B, 14th Mississippi, CSA

In his recent article, “The ‘Army Itch’: A Dermatological Mystery of the American Civil War” (Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, August 2006, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 302-8), Thomas G. Cropley, M.D., provides an excellent review of this chronic, painful, and epidemic skin condition that plagued Private Ryan and thousands of other soldiers, North and South. The article includes a chronology of the disease, extensive excerpts from the writings of period physicians who saw and treated the disease, and a description of the treatments used.

[Note that since the time this article first appeared in The Civil War News in October 2006, Dr. Cropley has authored another interesting article: "Dermatology and skin disease in the American Civil War," Dermatol Nurs, 2008 Feb;20(1):29-33.]

Dr. Cropley received his M.D. from the University of Virginia and completed his residency at Harvard University. (At this writing) he is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and director of the school’s Dermatology Residency Program. In addition to his own clinical and teaching work, Dr. Cropley is also deputy editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Earlier this year at their annual meeting, the History of Dermatology Society awarded him its Samuel J. Zakon Award (First Prize) for his research and paper on army itch.

Dr. Cropley (who is named “Thomas” after Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson) has been interested in the Civil War for a long time and his interest in Civil War medicine is an outgrowth of his interest in medical history in general. “I grew up in West Virginia, very close to the battlefields of the 1861 Kanawha Valley campaign,” he told me. “My grandfather, an unreconstructed ‘Reb,’ used to take me out hunting for artifacts like Minie balls and the like.” Dr. Cropley also speaks a number of foreign languages (including Gaelic!) and plays the bagpipe competitively.

Army itch, referred to as “camp itch” in the Confederate army, was a disorder that baffled military physicians of the day. The “mystery” is that medical opinion at the time was divided over the true nature of the disease: some thought it to be epidemic scabies, others thought it a unique malady, and still others considered it to be a mix of the many skin conditions that plagued the armies due to poor hygiene. There was no dispute over the seriousness of the itch: at best it was a nuisance, but Cropley notes that it often reduced the effectiveness and morale of afflicted troops to a dangerous degree.

In the main, Dr. Cropley’s paper includes accounts on army itch drawn from the writings of nearly twenty army surgeons and civilian physicians. The excerpts are drawn from period publications such as Medical and Surgical Reporter and the Confederate States Medical and Surgical Journal. Reading the accounts gives witness to several important characteristics of the disease: first, the itch was debilitating – in addition to painful lacerations, the incessant itching was exhausting in itself; second, many of the physicians noted that the disease spread to the local population after an army passed through; third, most soldiers waited too late to approach their medical team about the disease.

“We see this nowadays, too,” Dr. Cropley told me. “Scabies is insidious. The itching is tolerable at first, and patients generally do not seek medical attention. Later, the itch becomes maddening, and it is at that point that patient seeks care.” He suspects that many soldiers with itch did not report for surgeon's call, as they were unlikely to be relieved from duty or treated in many cases.

In the article, Dr. Cropley notes some of the treatments for the itch, including sulphur-based alkaline ointments or washes, to which were added cooling or astringent compounds. Arsenicals and mercury were also used, and while effective were almost certainly toxic. Short on sulphur due to its use in the manufacture of gunpowder, the Confederates established an interesting clinical experiment at Richmond’s Chimborazo Hospital to evaluate alternative treatments. Topical application of strong decoctions of native plants such as poke root, broom straw, and slippery elm were found to be helpful.

Dr. Cropley also told me that the military’s itchy encounters did not end with the Civil War. “Epidemic scabies always follows the population disruptions of wartime,” he said. “The United States Army has had an ongoing scabies eradication program in Kosovo and Bosnia for the last 10 years or so. I have heard from colleagues that Afghanistan and Iraq have significant scabies as well.” Dr. Cropley added that these modern outbreaks are mostly in the local population and not in military personnel, but they still require the attention of Army dermatologists attending to civilians.

Dr. Cropley told me there are many other interesting dermatological mysteries to be found in studying the Civil War. To him, one of the more interesting stories regards General Henry W. Halleck's itchy elbows. “Halleck apparently had the disconcerting habit of rubbing his elbows, especially when under stress,” he told me. “Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles in particular found this annoying and even commented on it in his diary.”

So why did Halleck rub his elbows? “Itchy elbows can be due to a number of causes, and the scratching behavior can be a habit rather than a response to an actual itch,” Dr. Cropley told me. He added: “Halleck's medical record is pretty short, but the thing that caught my eye was his statement in a fall 1864 letter that he was having his annual trouble with itchy, watery eyes.”

Dr. Cropley believes that Halleck might have been suffering from seasonal allergic keratoconjunctivitis (“hay fever”). “Hay fever is an atopic disease and is frequently accompanied by atopic dermatitis,” he told me. “Atopic diseases often worsen under stress, so I think, but I can't prove, that Halleck had atopic dermatitis as the cause of his itchy elbows.”

Learning more about Halleck’s mysterious condition sounds like a historical itch that Dr. Cropley is destined to scratch, and I’m predicting another award-winning paper about a Civil War-related dermatological story in his future.

[Many thanks are due to Mr. Michael Gay, Ann Arbor, Michigan, for kindly granting permission to use the opening quote, which appears in his great grandfather’s unpublished memoir, “Experience of a Confederate Soldier in Camp and Prison in the Civil War, 1861-1865.”]

Civil War Times Magazine Reviews "Lincoln's Labels"!

It's hard to put into words how gratifying (and humbling) it was to see that Civil War Times magazine - the "grand-daddy" of all Civil War enthusiast publications - published a review of my first book, Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War, in their October 2009 issue, which is in subscriber's hands now and should be on newsstands soon.

It's all the more gratifying because the review was written by Jason Emerson, an author/historian whose work I really admire. His books include The Madness of Mary Lincoln and Lincoln: The Inventor (which I reviewed several months ago in a blog post). Jason has several other works in progress, including a biography of Robert Lincoln. You can learn more about him at his website, here.

Excerpts:

"[The] business end of the war and its personal ramifications - previously overlooked in the vast literature - is now the subject of an utterly original and fascinating book, Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War, by James M. Schmidt...

"Schmidt's book is a combination of military and business history that examines the war from a refreshing perspective...As such it opens up history to readers and enthusiasts of topics beyond the battles and personalities of the war..."

Needless to say, I appreciate Jason Emerson's positive assessment of the book, and also appreciate the fact that Civil War Times saw fit to publish the review.

It makes the hard work - such as it is - worthwhile, and inspires me to work harder still, all the while enjoying reading, researching, writing, and speaking about the Civil War and understanding fully that it is a privilege to see my work in print.

Read more reviews of Lincoln's Labels here:

Brett Schulte - TOCWOC
James Durney (also at TOCWOC!)
Rea Andrew Redd - The Civil War Librarian
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Andrew Wagenhoffer - Civil War Books and Authors
Michael Aubrecht - Pinstripe Press
Reader TestimonialAdvance Praise/Blurbs

The Rubber Chicken Circuit!

Over the past ten years I have had the great pleasure and privilege of giving presentations to Civil War Round Tables and other organizations. Over the years I've learned a lot of lessons, have hopefully improved as a speaker, and still get a great amount of joy at being invited and even more pleasure from meeting new people.

My very first lecture was almost ten years ago. I gave a talk to my local group - the McHenry County (IL) Civil War Round Table in the far NW Chicago 'burbs - about the Battle of Wilson's Creek.

This retrospective look at my time on the "rubber chicken circuit" is prompted by an invitation that I am very excited about and that has me coming "full circle":

I will be talking to my old friends at the McHenry County Civil War Round Table at their annual Fall Symposium this year, on November 14th. It will have been more than 5 years since I moved from Chicagoland to Houston, and at least that long since I've seen many of my fellow members, although I have tried to keep in touch. I am looking forward to it very much.

I followed that first lecture a few years later with a presentation to the same group on the interesting and important role played by the University of Notre Dame in the Civil War. That lecture started the next part of my "speaking career": being invited to speak to other local groups, and so I had the great privilege of giving the same talk to other groups in the Chicagoland area over the next few years, including the Lake County and Northern Illinois CWRTs.

In the meantime, I began to write my medical column for The Civil War News, which led to some invitations from around the Midwest, including the terrific folks at the St. Louis (MO) and Mahoning Valley (OH) CWRTs, who also heard my Notre Dame presentation.

A few years elapsed before I began speaking again in earnest, but the publication of my first book - Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War (Edinborough Press, 2008) - afforded an excellent opportunity to hit the road again.

Indeed, there's only thing more pleasing (and humbling) than being invited to speak: being invited back to speak again! So, with the publication of Lincoln's Labels, I had the great pleasure of revisiting my friends at the Northern Illinois Civil War Round Table and meeting new friends across Texas in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Waco.

Readers of this blog know that one of my passions is Civil War medicine, and I've had the great pleasure of attending - and speaking at - the 2007 (St. Louis) and 2009 (Chattanooga, TN) annual meetings of the Society of Civil War Surgeons.

Here is what I have scheduled so far for the remainder of this year and the beginning of next:

• October 2-4, 2009 - Towson, MD - 17th Annual Conference - National Museum of Civil War Medicine
• November 14, 2009 - Huntley, IL - McHenry County Civil War Round Table (CWRT) Fall Symposium
• December 10, 2009 - Austin (TX) CWRT
• December 14, 2009 - Youngstown, OH - Mahoning Valley (OH) CWRT
• January 19, 2010 - Minneapolis, MN - Twin Cities CWRT

If you follow this blog, read my column in The Civil War News, want to learn more about Lincoln's Labels, or just want to have a (guaranteed!) enjoyable evening, please mark those dates on your calendar and make sure you introduce yourself!

Likewise, if you are making speaker plans for your own organization in the coming year, please keep me in mind, and feel free to contact me (jschmidt at lexpharma dot com) if you have any questions.

Brett Schulte at TOCWOC Reviews Lincoln's Labels!

I want to thank Brett Schulte for posting a very kind review of my first book, Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War, on his very popular TOCWOC blog today!

Excerpts:

"With Lincoln’s Labels, Jim Schmidt has created a fascinating look into what some famous companies of today were up to during the Civil War, one which will appeal to a much wider audience than most Civil War books could ever hope for...

"There were some truly engaging stories told in Lincoln’s Labels...As a result, this book will surely appeal to a much wider audience than your typical battle or campaign study...In fact, I encourage readers who are looking to get friends and family into the study of the Civil War to introduce them to Lincoln’s Labels. Who knows what might happen as a result?"

I couldn't ask for more in the way of an endorsement...Thanks, Brett! And keep up the GREAT work at TOCWOC!

For more reviews of Lincoln's Labels, please see:

James Durney (also at TOCWOC!)
Rea Andrew Redd - The Civil War Librarian
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Andrew Wagenhoffer - Civil War Books and Authors
Michael Aubrecht - Pinstripe Press
Reader Testimonial
Advance Praise/Blurbs