The Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine (review)

This ready-reference resource is a testimony to the tremendous growth in the history and historiography of Civil War medicine. Forty to fifty years ago such a work would have been extremely difficult to compile due to the sheer dearth of secondary resources. But the explosion of interest in this field since the centennial of that great American crucible in 1961 has made Schroeder-Lein’s work a resource-rich endeavor. The author is not new to her subject; readers of this journal will recognize the name from her Confederate Hospitals on the Move: Samuel H. Stout and the Army of Tennessee (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994). In fact, it was research on that project that impressed upon her a “need for basic, accurate, and understandable information about Civil War medicine” (xiii). The result is the present volume.

Careful not to stray from her intended purpose, the author reminds readers “that this is an encyclopedia of Civil War medicine, not Civil War generals or the Civil War generally. As a result,” she writes, “I give brief summaries of battles but focus on the medical reasons for which those battles are important. When discussing persons, I concentrate on the medically related reasons for their inclusion” (xv). The work is indeed encyclopedic, covering 212 subject entries arranged alphabetically from “Alcohol, Abuse of” to “Woolsey Sisters.” In addition a useful chronology of significant medical events is included along with an extensive bibliography.

Selection of topics for inclusion appears reasonably comprehensive even if some of the entries are noticeably brief. For example, the fifty-seven-word discussion of “Materia Medica” seems all too parsimonious for someone like myself with a keen interest in pharmacy, and one might have liked at least some mention of the ubiquitous Dover’s powder, a diaphoretic thought useful to sweat an illness out of patients, but it would be unfair to ask too much of this one-volume compendium. Every specialist is going to feel coverage of their area is inadequate; however, this book was not written for the specialist. It was written for students and generalists wanting reliable but succinct information on medical topics related to the war. With overall thorough coverage, Schroeder-Lein has achieved this goal admirably.

Nicely illustrated, those coming to this book will find interesting entries on wide-ranging subjects often little covered even in standard monographs on Civil War medicine, such as artificial limbs, chaplains, embalming, women physicians, and even a good serviceable review of the literature is provided under the heading, “Historiography, Medical” (129–33). One might question the inclusion of “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” a term wholly foreign to the Civil War health care provider, but the author points out immediately that the term was a product of the Vietnam War and “is roughly equivalent to the conditions described as ‘nostalgia’ or ‘homesickness’ during the Civil War, ‘shell shock’ during World War I, and ‘combat fatigue’ during World War II” (250). Those unfamiliar with Civil War terminology might likely search under the more current term, but even a neophyte stumbling upon the word nostalgia in some primary resource would be directed to the PTSD entry via the detailed index and be thereby enlightened.

I have long thought a work of this kind was overdue. Although seasoned medical historians will find little new here, Glenna Schroeder-Lein has done a great service to general instructors, students, reference librarians, and Civil War aficionados of all kinds in providing this handy and reliable one-stop guide to Civil War medicine. Students in particular will find the brief bibliographies following each subject entry valuable guides for further research. This book is highly recommended for all public and academic libraries. Even professional historians who appreciate the value of ready-reference sources will find that placing this volume next to their edition of Heidler and Heidler’s Encyclopedia of the American Civil War should reduce the need for time-consuming fishing expeditions in...