What Medicines Were Used?
Medical and surgical material available on the firing line was practically carried by the surgeon in his case known as the “surgeons field companion”, and by his orderly in the “hospital knapsack”, a bulky bag weighing about twenty pounds when filled.
Medicines were carried in pill form, often insoluable with results uncertain. The liquid form was difficult to carry and often lost. Soluble tablets were unknown. In the event of a battle, the assistant surgeon and one or more detailed men, supplied with lint, bandages, opium pills, some morphine, whiskey and brandy, would establish an “advance” or dressing station just beyond musket fire.
Civil War surgeons not only had iodine but also carbolic acid, and a long list of “disinfectants” such as bichloride of mercury, sodium hypochlorite, and other agents.
Anesthetics were almost always used in operations or the dressing of painful wounds. It was practically universal in the Union, and very seldom unavailable in the Confederacy. However, there are reports of operations performed without any anesthetic at all. The favorite anesthetic was chloroform, probably because ether had explosive properties. This made it dangerous at a field hospital where there was always the possibility of gunfire.
A common medication given to soldiers was a mercury and chalk compound called blue mass. It was supposed to be good for anything ranging from toothaches to constipation. Quinine was effective as a treatment for malaria and several other complaints. It was one of the most valuable medicines.
More Civil War soldiers died from diarrhea than were killed in battle. More that twice as many soldiers died from illnesses than were killed as a result of battle. The soldiers lived in unhealthful conditions. They were often not fed well and were crowded in unsanitary conditions. Most diseases were not understood and very often the treatment did more harm than good.
The most commonly prescribed medication, North or South, was alcohol, usually in the forms of whiskey and brandy. It was thought to be beneficial for the widest variety of ailments.

How Did The Medicine Make People Feel Better?
The medications helped a man through the pain of surgery or the dressing of painful wounds. The repair of a wound was always expected to be a slow, painful and exhausting ordeal. Antiseptics, in any form, were not provided. Cleanliness of wounds had little importance. Those who survived their wounds and surgeries had to battle the high risk of infection. The trouble was that the wound was allowed to get very bad before disinfectants were tried.
As stated before, quite often the treatment to the sick soldiers did more harm than good because the doctors did not always understand the illness.

What Operations Were Performed?
A bullet or piece of shell often had to be removed with the doctor using his fingers as a probe. However, the most frequent operation was amputation. The bullets fired were pieces of lead larger than 1/2 inch in diameter and weighing several ounces. The large bullet size with its slow speed would shatter bones immediately. The minnie ball was the most common Civil War small arms ammunition. It tore an enormous wound on impact. It was so heavy that a head or abdominal wound was almost always fatal. Also, the bullet carried dirt and germs into the wound that often caused infection. A shattered bone could not be healed so the only option to save the wounded man’s life was to amputate the limb. Amputation accounted for 75% of all operations performed by Civil War doctors.

One witness described a common surgeon's tent this way: “Tables about breast high had been erected upon which the screaming victims were having legs and arms cut off. The surgeons and their assistants, stripped to the waist and bespattered with blood, stood around, some holding the poor fellows while others, armed with long, bloody knives and saws, cut and sawed away with frightful rapidity, throwing the mangled limbs on a pile near by as soon as removed.”

What Tools Were Used?
Surgical instruments were furnished by the Government to each medical officer who receipted for and was responsible for them. They were contained in four cases, one for major operations, one for minor operations, one a pocket- case, and one a field-case to be carried by the surgeon with him into action. The instruments were well assorted, but they were used randomly and were not cleaned after their use.
The majority of the instruments used were saws (which looked like todays hack saw), knives and scalpels, probes ( long thin wands with curved ends ), cups and bowls, forceps, needles for suturing, and tourniquets.

Who There Nurses?
At first nursing was filled by women in religious orders. The female nurses were very much liked by the patients. They came from the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Sisters of the Holy Cross. Most were teachers and lacked previous hospital experience. The surgeons liked them because they were very disciplined. The patients also liked them and called them all Sisters of Charity. “Mother” Mary Ann Bickerdyke was called “The Soldier’s Friend.” She was so popular that in 1864 she was officially appointed to General W. T. Sherman’s own corps hospital.
Clara Barton was another famous nurse. She was a schoolteacher who cared for the wounded soldiers that returned to Washington. She had financial support and was determined to help at the front line. “I went in as the battle raged,” she wrote. Because of her fame it was thought that women worked in the field hospitals. This was seldom true. Miss Barton later helped found the American Red Cross.
The work of Florence Nightingale was so widely known that it was decided that a corps of female nurses should be added to the army. Dorthea Dix was the superintendent of the nurses. She was not a trained nurse but could organize well. She was allowed to choose the nurses and set the rules. She recruited two thousand woman. Her nurses had to be at least 30 years old, plain looking, wear plain dresses with no ruffles or bows, and they could not curl their hair. Miss Dix also insisted that her nurses insist upon their rights as the senior attendants in the wards. Her recruits called her “Dragon Dix.”
It was not long before angry surgeons went to war with Miss Dix’s nurses. These women were strong minded, middle-class American women. They were used to ruling within their home and receiving respect from their husbands. Mostly they had no medical training. The surgeons complained that they used their own antidotes over prescribed medications. They sometimes were loud and interfered with amputations. In September of 1863, the War Department approved a new nurse policy. Under this policy hospital commanders could send away Dix-appointed nurses but were forced to accept Dix appointed replacements unless the surgeon general authorized a nurse the surgeon in charge preferred. The surgeon
general was always willing to do this. Even though this seemed like a victory for Miss Dix, it actually defeated her.
Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was one of her nurses. She, along with a few other women wrote down their exeriences. Most, however, left little record of the wartime efforts.

How did they help?
The “Sisters of Charity” were more like mother substitutes than nurses. They wrote letters for their “boys,” read to them, decorated the wards, and sometimes sang.
Hospital food improved greatly once the women matrons took over the supervision of the kitchens. These women came from different places but many were supplied by the United States Christian Commision. It was a large organization that donated delicacies to hospitals but its real mission was to “save souls.”
Miss Dix’s nurses mainly dressed wounds, gave out medicine, and oversaw the food preparation. They saw firsthand the results of war - amputated limbs, disease and death. They gave invaluable aid to the sick and wounded. These women had a great impact on the men the took care of and the men they served under. They also took on a responsible role in a male military enviornment.