Civil War medicine

Library Journal

Denney, author of The Civil War Years: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of the Life of a Nation (Sterling, 1992), presents a similar overview of the war's medical history. A brief prolog and epilog complement a virtual day-by-day collection of short excerpts or paraphrases from original sources. Unfortunately, the chronological organization imposes a bland sameness on the narrative, and, with few editorial comments provided, the reader is left mystified by the overall significance of the sources selected. Although a three-page bibliography is appended, the author has omitted citations for the individual narratives. The heroic efforts of doctors and nurses to transform battlefield medicine and the misery and privations of soldiers on both sides of the conflict should be honored by a far better book. A more successful compilation of original sources is In Hospital and Camp: The Civil War Through the Eyes of Its Doctors and Nurses (LJ 2/15/93), edited by Harold E. Straubing, and two classics-Horace H. Cunningham's Doctors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Service (1958) and George W. Adams's Doctors in Blue (1952)-remain professional and readable histories.-Kathy Arsenault, Univ. of South Florida Lib., St. Petersburg

Booknews

Denney explores the history of medical treatment during the Civil War, using firsthand accounts from letters, journals, reports, and diaries from both sides of the conflict, arranged chronologically from January 1862 to October 1865. Includes b&w photos. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

William Beatty

Denney affords an excellent panorama of what military and civilian medical and sanitary efforts meant to soldiers on both sides of the Civil War. His chronological presentation shows how lessons were learned--or not--and how the procedures of individuals and groups and the treatment of individual patients developed. Most of the text consists of the words of those involved, which gives a feeling of personal participation; Denney provides brief, necessary introductions to set events in context and in which he describes planning for upcoming battles by surgeons stationed at every level of command, from that of an entire army down to that of the unit. Denney shows thereby the often laborious provision and arrangement of needed personnel, facilities, and supplies. Among particular workers' efforts, the efficient but often excruciating labors of litter bearers and ambulance drivers are graphically presented. The account of how hospital boats and trains were used--an aspect of the medical effort that is not widely known--is another of the best aspects of an informative and fascinating book.