Pamplin Park Museum of the Civil
War Soldier
Civil War Weekend - April 12 &
13, 2003
A curious crowd looks on as a gravely
wounded soldier is given alcohol to stiffen him against shock
prior to debridement of a shrapnel wound to his abdomen. Generally,
civil war surgeons would not undertake such an operation as it
would be mortal, but the wounded man's brother begs the surgeon
to do something to help . The steward on the right holds an ether
cone and ether can.
A sponge is used to soak up as much
blood as possible so that the surgeon can find the major source
of the hemorrhage.
The soldier's brother reacts as
a piece of the wounded man's severed stomach is removed.
The steward tries to clear the soldier's
clogged throat and revive him, but he has exsanguinated and died.
1st Sgt. Matt De Sessa is the hospital
steward. He is responsible for the apothecary, all hospital supplies
and for supervising the enlisted personnel.
A closeup of the items comprising
the field hospital apothecary. On the right are the scales, mortar
and pestle and measuring cups. Behind them is the medical pannier
containing the 64 medicines commonly issued to regimental field
hospitals. In the center is the steward's field kit. It contains
medicines and supplies for bandaging, setting fractures and treating
pain and battlefield injuries. It was carried by the steward as
he accompanied the assistant surgeon to the battlaion aid station.
Cpl. Paul Peeples of the ambulance
corps preparing coffee.
Ambulance Corps Pvt. Paul Sechrest
preparing to transport a wounded soldier. The red hat band identifies
him as a noncombatant so that he won't be shot at as he removes
the wounded from the field of battle.
Field hospital personnel awaiting
wounded from the defense of Petersburg.
A view of the field hospital showing
the steward's tent in the foreground, followed by the hospital.
The operating fly is obscured, but the surgeon's tent is visibile
on the left. The yellow flag is indicative of a field hospital.
Cpl. Peeples and Sgt. De Sessa awaiting
arrival of wounded in the operating theatre
The operating theatre - showing
the stretcher in the foreground, tables for anesthetics and surgical
instruments in the background. Stores of medicinal whiskey are
visible on the right.
Pvt. Sechrest displaying the contents
of the surgeon's field medical kit in front of the surgeon's tent.