Civil War Medicine

I’ve added a new book to my library, Civil War Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott. I’ve also added a new virtual bookshelf titled “Civil War Medicine” which I looking for recommendations to fill.

The publication above, the Dover edition,  is a replication of a book published by James Redpath, Boston, 1863. Most of the content was published originally in The Commonwealth, a well known Boston newspaper. Alcott wrote under a pseudonym and the entries record experiences during a six week period of service as a nurse at Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C. This from the cover…

A fiery baptism in the practice of nursing awaited her at Washington Hospital, were she arrived immediately after the slaughter of the Army of the Potomac at the battle of Fredericksburg. Alcott’s rapidly paced prose graphically depicts the facts of hospital life, deftly balancing pathos with gentle humor. A vivid and truthful portrait of an often overlooked aspect of the Civil War, this book remains among the most illuminating reports of the era’s medical practices as well as a moving testimonial to the war’s human cost.

Louisa May Alcott

Miss Alcott left the hospital after falling ill to fever and was never again to regain full health.

Civil War Hospital Sketches
Dover Evergreen Classics

• ISBN: 978-0-486-44900-5
• Published on: 2006-02-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages