BEHIND THE BLUE AND THE GRAY

CHAPTER 4: PATRIOTS AND PRISONERS

Oh, what stories I shall have to tell you one of these days, a young woman
named Katharine Wormeley wrote to her mother in 1862. or three months,
Wormeley wor!ed as a nurse a"oard steam"oats that sailed u# and down the
$ast %oast, &arrying wounded ederal soldiers from "attlefields to hos#itals.
'ost of her stories a"out life on these floating &lini&s were heart"rea!ing. (fter
ea&h "attle, "leeding men filled the de&!s, stairs, and #assageways of the relief
"oats. )tret&her after stret&her arrived until there was "arely enough room for
the nurses to ste# as they #i&!ed their way through the "odies, #assing out
"randy and "read.
When the steamers were not &rowded with the wounded, they were filled with the
si&!. (s Wormeley o"served, It is not a "attle whi&h destroys so many lives as it
is the terri"le diseases "rought on "y e*#osure and hardshi#s. +y the time they
were laid u#on the de&!s, some soldiers were so wea! with fever and hunger
that they were &om#letely hel#less. ,he nurses set to wor! feeding these
#atients, one "y one, s#oonful "y s#oonful. ,hen they "rought "u&!ets of soa#
and water to wash away wee!s of filth. (s Katharine Wormeley set a"out this
&hore, she fre-uently em#tied her dirty water and re#la&ed it with fresh. +ut one
old soldier sna##ed at her, )to#, marm. he &ried, ,hat water will do for several
of us yet. +less you. I ma!e my &offee if worse that that.
/i!e others, the soldier had no idea that drin!ing dirty water was #ro"a"ly the
e*a&t reason for his illness. $ven most do&tors during the %ivil War did not !now
what &aused the diseases that #lagued thousands of soldiers. ,his la&! of
medi&al !nowledge had deadly effe&ts. In the 0nion (rmy, four men died of
si&!ness for every one !illed in "attle. In the %onfederate (rmy, death from
disease was even more &ommon.
+oth sides were totally un#re#ared to ta!e &are of the ever1growing num"er of
si&! soldiers. 'edi&al efforts were hindered not only "y s&ientifi& ignoran&e, "ut
also "y a severe shortage of hos#itals, do&tors, and su##lies. (t the "eginning of
the war, the 0.). 'edi&al 2e#artment owned 3ust twenty thermometers and no
more than si* stethos&o#es. 4either side had guessed that their worst enemy
would "e invisi"le. 4ow the armies had "itter lessons to learn in the war against
mysterious germs.
,he army medi&al de#artments made their first mista!e "efore the earliest
volunteers had even "een sworn into the servi&e. ,o enlist, ea&h man had to
#ass a #hysi&al e*amination. ,here were stri&t guidelines for ins#e&ting re&ruits.
+ut in their eagerness to sign u# as many soldiers as #ossi"le, offi&ials often
ignored the rules and a##roved nonhealthy men for duty. )ome #hysi&ians gave
medi&al e*ams so -ui&!ly that the soldiers never reali5ed they were "eing
e*amined. ( surgeon in %hi&ago a##roved an entire regiment after having the
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1,=== men trot #ast him on the run. Other do&tors were a "it more thorough. (s
one volunteer des&ri"ed the ins#e&tion his regiment re&eived, ,he do&tor would
give us a thum# on the &hest, and if we were not floored nor showed any other
signs of in&onvenien&e, we were #ronoun&ed in good &ondition.
On&e the soldiers had #assed their medi&al e*ams and made it to &am#, they
often found that the si5e of their regiments dro##ed drasti&ally within the first few
months. ,he rough living &onditions -ui&!ly weeded out those that were too old,
too young, or too si&!ly for servi&e. +ut army life also stru&! down strong, hardy
re&ruits111even in &am#s that were &lean and well1sto&!ed. ( large num"er of
soldiers were farmers who &ame from isolated areas and had never e*#osed to
diseases su&h as measles, mumps, or c!c"e# po$. In the &rowded living
-uarters of &am#, &ontagious diseases s#read ra#idly. 'en who had "een
healthy their whole lives dro##ed li!e a line of falling dominoes.
4o sooner had soldiers re&overed from their first "outs of illness than they were
stru&! down "y a new round of more deadly infe&tions1111diseases that lived in
the filth of the &am#s. In the unsettled days of war, most re&ruits did not give
mu&h thought to &leanliness. (lthough army regulations re&ommended "aths
every three or four days, some men went for wee!s without washing themselves
or their &lothing. 0nder the &ommand of lenient offi&ers, &am#s grew 3ust as dirty
as the soldiers. ,he troo#s left gar"age and hea#s of animal manure along the
#athways. ,hey dug latrines within ste#s of their living -uarters. On the mar&h,
the men often #it&hed their tents near stagnant swam#s where millions of
disease1&arrying mos-uitoes swarmed.
(long with mos-uitoes, hordes of li&e and fleas infested the slovenly &am#s.
When soldiers first dis&overed these inse&ts &ree#ing over their "odies, they
were alarmed and disgusted. )ome men &re#t away to s&ru" themselves in
near"y streams or franti&ally sha!e out their &lothing. +ut soon ea&h soldier
reali5ed that his tentmates were also s&rat&hing more than usual. It "e&ame
&lear that the #ests were everywhere 111 and ines&a#a"le. ,here is not a man in
the army, offi&er or #rivate, that does not have from a +atallion to a +rigade of
+ody li&e on him, &on&luded a soldier from (la"ama. I &ould soon get rid of
them, he went on, "ut there is always some filthy man in &am# that #er#etuates
the ra&e.
(lthough the soldiers &ould not identify the e*a&t &auses of their ailments, they
gradually learned that there was a definite lin! "etween dirt and disease. In the
last two years of the war, sanitation im#roved. +ut not "efore thousands of men
dran! &ontaminated water and died of %&po!' (e)er. ,housands more were
"itten "y infe&ted mos-uitoes and stri&!en with malar!a. Of all wartime diseases,
the most &ommon was '&se#%er&, an intestinal disorder &ausing severe
diarrhea. In 1862, the (rmy of the <otoma& re#orted that >>? out of every 1,===
men suffered from diarrhea and dysentery. While these ailments were far less
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fatal than some of the other &onditions, they left vi&tims wea! and sus&e#ti"le to
other more serious diseases.
4aturally, many soldiers "egan to "elieve that the "attle against disease was
ho#eless. @ohn 6aley, a volunteer from 'aine s&ri""led angrily in his 3ournal,
)hort rations, "og water to drin!, malaria inhaled with every "reath,
homesi&!ness, and added to all this an in&om#etent surgeon. Is it any wonder
that we are "eing swe#t off at the rate of two #er dayA
6aleyBs &riti&ism of his regimentBs surgeon was ty#i&al. With more and more
friends dying every day, the soldiers &ould not hel# "ut sear&h for someone to
"lame. 2o&tors were a natural target. In many &ases, however, there were good
reasons for the soldiers to -uestion their do&torsB a"ilities. )ome surgeons had
learned their trade merely "y wat&hing #ra&ti&ing #hysi&ians at wor!. ,he
ma3ority of %ivil War surgeons had earned a medi&al degree, "ut this
a&hievement did not ne&essarily re#resent a long or &hallenging #eriod of
training. ,o -ualify for medi&al s&hool, an a##li&ant needed only to "e the #ro#er
age and "e a"le to #ay the tuition. )&hooling lasted only two years, and the
se&ond year of study was nothing more than a re#eat of the first.
2o&tors graduated from the "rief training #rogram !nowing very little a"out the
treatment of disease. What they did learn from their instru&tors was often
&om#letely wrong. or e*am#le, some #hysi&ians "elieved that they &ould draw
out si&!ness "y ma!ing their #atients sweat or "leed. ,o treat #neumonia, they
ru""ed "urning al&ohol on a si&! soldierBs &hest, a##lied hot "ri&!s to his feet, or
even &ut his wrists. or stoma&h &om#laints, do&tors fre-uently re&ommended
that their #atients wear flannel "ody "andages or strange inventions !nown as
stoma&h "elts.
,he medi&ations that many do&tors #res&ri"ed were not mu&h more effe&tive.
2ysentery vi&tims were given everything from whis!ey and "la&!"erry 3ui&e to
tur#entine and stry&hnine Ca su"stan&e used for rat #oison todayD. ,he standard
treatment for malaria was a dose of whis!ey and a drug &alled -uinine. +ut
medi&al re&ords also show that #hysi&ians also e*#erimented with an unusual
assortments of remedies, in&luding &od1liver oil, ammonia, a syru# of wild &herry,
&ream of tartar, and &innamon. Whatever the remedy, do&tors usually #res&ri"ed
enormous doses of it. )ometimes #atients suffered more from the treatment
than the illness itself.
,hese unrelia"le remedies did not hel# to im#rove the re#utation of do&tors
within the regiments. 'any soldiers &hose to treat themselves rather than
de#end on the servi&es of their #hysi&ians. If a fellow has to go to the hos#ital,
de&lared one 0nion soldier, you might as well say good1"ye. )u&h statements
were rarely true. 'ost army #hysi&ians genuinely &ared a"out their #atients and
saved lives daily des#ite the #oor medi&al !nowledge of the time. (s volunteer
Katharine Wormeley revealed, I am astonished at the &heerful devotion111whole1
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souled and whole1"odied devotion111 of the surgeon and medi&al students
atta&hed to this "oat. ,hese young men toil day and night at the severest wor!,
-ui&!, intelligent, and tender.
,he true test of the %ivil War surgeonBs a"ilities &ame after ea&h "attle, when
hundreds of wounded soldiers were dragged into the &rude, outdoor field
hos#itals for treatment. 6ere "ehind the "loody lines of the "attlefield, the
soldiers suffered the most. )ome had "een hit "y the rifle "ullets &alled m!#!e
*alls, whi&h s#lintered the "ones of arms and legs li!e driftwood. Others had
"een &aught in the #ath of &annon shells, and their wounds were dee# and
3agged. ,ortured with #ain, the soldiers often had to wait hours "efore a tired,
overwor!ed surgeon loo!ed at their in3uries. +y this time, the dirty wounds had
a&tually "e&ome infe&ted.
,he wait was even longer for wounded soldiers who had "een &a#tured "y the
enemy. $a&h army &ared for its own in3ured troo#s "efore tending to its
#risoners. @ohn 2ooley, the %onfederate soldier who was shot through "oth
thighs at 7ettys"urg, lay on the ground in agony for five days "efore his wounds
were washed and "andaged "y a 0nion do&tor.
or many in3ured men, the nightmare "egan on the way to the outdoor hos#itals
lo&ated several miles from the "attlefield. When the war o#ened, neither side
had an effi&ient system for moving the wounded to the rear. ,he armies used
stret&her "earers and "um#y two1wheeled &arts !nown as ho#s, s!i#s, and
3um#s or avalan&hes. 7radually, the 0nion (rmy esta"lished an am*ula#ce
corps of horse1drawn wagons. +ut even these vehi&les were not a great
im#rovement. When 2ooley rode to the hos#ital, his wagon "oun&ed and
swayed over the rutted roads, 3olting the wounded #assengers inside.
,hroughout the entire tri#, one soldier ne*t to 2ooley s&reamed in #ain ea&h time
the am"ulan&e "um#ed over a stone or dit&h.
'any soldiers suffered more from thirst than the #ain of their wounds.
)ometimes water was so s&ar&e in the ma!eshift hos#ital that the surgeons
&ould not wash after ea&h o#eration. Without reali5ing they were s#reading
infe&tion, the do&tors ru""ed their "loody hands on their a#rons and wi#ed their
instruments on the nearest rag. 4ear"y #atients &alled out wea!ly for water,
trying to "e heard from their #la&es on the ground. When a nurse finally "rought
2ooley some water, he refused to drin!. It was warm and muddy, and ree!ed of
rotten &or#ses. 8ather than swallow this foul li-uid, 2ooley waited four days until
someone was !ind enough to "ring him a &u# of fresh s#ring water.
,he wounded endured more misery as they wat&hed what ha##ened to those
who rea&hed the o#erating ta"le "efore them. ,he surgeons wor!ed in #lain
view 1111 on front #or&hes, under trees, or in o#en tents. ,wo1thirds of their &ases
were #atients whose arms or legs were so "adly mangled that they had to "e
removed. 0sing an old door or wagon "oards for an o#erating #latform, the
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surgeons #erformed these grisly am#utations with fa&tory1line s#eed. irst, they
held a &loth soa!ed with an anestheti& &alled cloro(orm over the #atientBs nose
and mouth. +ut sometimes the drug was unavaila"le or sim#ly not strong
enough to #ut the #atient to slee#. On these o&&asions, the surgeon ordered his
assistants to hold down the s-uirming soldier while he #ushed ahead with the
o#eration.
)hrie!s of #ain rang through the woods around the outdoor hos#itals. <assing
soldiers who wandered over to the surgeonBs tent to investigate stum"led u#on a
gruesome s&ene. (s one #rivate des&ri"ed, ( large hole was dug in the yard
a"out the si5e of a small &ellar, and into this the legs and arms were thrown as
they were lo##ed off "y the surgeonsF.,he day was hot and sultry, and the
odorF.was si&!ening in the e*treme.

While ampu%a%!o#s were the most feared #ro&edure, any surgery during the %ivil
War was a horri"le ordeal. )ome do&tors "elieved &hloroform was unne&essary
for soldiers who re-uired no more than a "ullet removed. Instead, they gave
their #atients a shot of whis!ey and set to wor!. (lthough ea&h surgeonBs !it
in&luded s#e&ial instruments for o#erating on gunshot wounds, the #hysi&ians
#referred the faster te&hni-ue of using their fingers to #ro"e for "ullets. (s @ohn
2ooley learned, the &onse-uen&es of this hurried method were dangerous.
)everal wee!s after his o#eration, 2ooley found fragments of &loth in his wound
and still "urned with fever from his infe&tion.
/i!e 2ooley, most of those who survived their treatment in the field still fa&ed a
long and ris!y #eriod of re&overy. ,o "egin the #ro&ess, the in3ured men were
-ui&!ly moved to a +e#eral osp!%al lo&ated in the nearest &ity. ,he soldiers
who arrived at these hos#itals e*#e&ting to find &omforta"le and orderly
surroundings were usually disa##ointed. In one of the largest %onfederate
hos#itals, whitewashed sheds served as the wards. (t night the #atients &ould
see the stars and wat&h the falling snow through the wide &ra&!s in the roof.
,he shelter was lu*urious &om#ared to the -uarters where many wounded
#risoners were housed. (lthough 2ooleyBs in3uries left him una"le to wal! for
several wee!s, he was not allowed to move into a hos#ital after his treatment in
the field. Instead, the 0nion (rmy sent 2ooley, along with other &a#tured
%onfederates, dire&tly to a #rison at ,or% -cHe#r& in +altimore, 'aryland. ,o
inmates, ort '&6enry was !nown as the +la&! 6ole. In his 3ournal, 2ooley
des&ri"ed his first sight of this misera"le guardhouse. Our am"ulan&es halt
"efore a row of low "uildings whi&h a##eared somewhat li!e those in whi&h I
have seen &attle -uarteredFOur settling down &onsists in s#reading our "lan!ets
on the filthy floor, and although many of us are wounded severely enough to
merit "eds, "ut one or two are given even "un!s, and those are glad enough to
leave them to their former o&&u#ants111 the vermin.
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When the war "egan, neither side had any intention of treating its #risoners so
&ruelly. ,he huge num"er of &a#tives, li!e the high rate of si&! and wounded,
sur#rised and overwhelmed the o##osing governments. 2es#erate for s#a&e,
they s&ram"led to &onvert whatever large "uildings they &ould find into #risons111
fa&tories, warehouses, military "arra&!s, 3ails, even s&hools. inding food for the
inmates was another grave #ro"lem. ,he armies, es#e&ially in the )outh, &ould
not always feed their soldiers, mu&h less s&ores of enemy #risoners. +efore
ea&h side determined how to su#ervise the monstrous holding #ens they had
&reated, ./,000 !#ma%es '!e' o( s%ar)a%!o# a#' '!sease.
,hirteen thousand of these deaths o&&urred in an infamous 7eorgia #rison &alled
A#'erso#)!lle. ederal &a#tives "egan arriving at (ndersonville in e"ruary,
186:, while the high wall of #ine logs surrounding the &am# was still under
&onstru&tion. (t first, the #risoners were relieved to find that this sto&!ade would
"e their only "arrier at (ndersonville. Instead of dar! and stifling guardhouses,
there were twenty1five a&res of o#en field. ,hose who did not have tents &ould
"uild huts out of s&ra#s of wood and &anvas, vines, and #ine "oughs. (nd there
was still #lenty of room to move around, even as the num"er of inmates rea&hed
G,?== in 'ar&h.
+ut only five months later, the #o#ulation of the &am# lea#ed to EE,===. ,he
wood for shelter and &oo!ing fires had long sin&e disa##eared. ,he sun "eat
down and "listered the men in their tattered &lothing. (ndersonville had "e&ome
disastrously over&rowded. ,here was hardly room for all to lie down at night,
wrote &avalryman @ohn '&$lroy from Illinois, and to wal! a few hundred feet in
any dire&tion would re-uire an hourBs #atient threading through the mass of men
and tents.
$verywhere that #rivate '&$lroy loo!ed, there was suffering. 2uring the last
sweltering wee!s of @uly, the s&ene around his tent was unforgetta"le. 2ire&tly in
front of '&$lroy, two "rothers lay side "y side, dying of scur)&. ,his disease,
"rought on "y months without fruits and vegeta"les, had &aused the "rothers to
lose their teeth and hair. ,he "ones of their fa&e, arms, ri"s, and thighs 3utted out
, ma!ing them loo! more li!e s!eletons than human "eings. ,o the right of
'&$lroy, a young sergeant #a&ed "a&! and forth, holding the un"andaged stum#
of his am#utated arm. ,o his left, a #risoner who had "een driven insane "y the
tortures at (ndersonville #layed a flute day and night. $ven when the other
e*as#erated soldiers shouted insults and threw stones at the &ra5y man, he still
would not sto# #laying his mournful tunes.
With su&h un"eara"le surroundings, many #risoners &ould thin! of nothing "ut
es&a#e. In the seven months that '&$lroy was lo&!ed in (ndersonville, he and a
se&ret so&iety of fellow inmates made five attem#ts to snea! "eyond the well1
guarded sto&!ade walls. $a&h of these efforts failed, mainly "e&ause mem"ers
of the grou# turned into traitors and e*#osed the es&a#e #lots to the %onfederate
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guards. +y serving as s#ies, these inmates &ould gain favor with the 8e"els and
re&eive &lothes, e*tra rations, or heavy1duty tents.
4ot all es&a#e #lans were unsu&&essful. On e"ruary :, 186:, a grou# of
e*hausted &a#tives finished digging a tunnel to freedom underneath 8i&hmondBs
L!**& Pr!so# for ederal offi&ers. or wee!s, Colo#el Tomas E1 Rose of the
GG
th
<ennsylvania had su#ervised the tedious wor!. (t first glan&e, the s&heme
seemed im#ossi"le. ,o rea&h freedom, the inmates needed to dig a #assageway
from the "asement of the #rison to the other side of a fen&e fifty feet away 111 all
without "eing dete&ted. ,he tunnel needed to "e large and sta"le enough for a
man to &rawl through on his stoma&h. 9et the #risonersB only tools were a ta"le1
!nife, an old &hisel, a wooden "o*, some string, and a few &andles.
In the fren5y to "e free, the #risoners found ways to over&ome these tremendous
o"sta&les. ,hey too! turns "urrowing through the tunnel with two men wor!ing at
a time. While one man entered the hole with the tools and s&oo#ed dirt into the
"o*, another man fanned air into the #assageway with his hat and #ulled out
"o*loads of earth with the string. (fter &ountless hours of digging night and day,
8ose finally announ&ed that the "rea!out was ready to "egin.
,o &on&eal the es&a#e, the inmates held a loud and rowdy musi&al show. While
guards listened to the "oisterous songs u#stairs, one #risoner after another
s-uee5ed into the &ram#ed #assageway in the "asement and gro#ed toward the
tunnel o#ening. rom the u#stairs windows, the inmates &ould see 8ose and the
other inmates emerge on the 8i&hmond streets. ( wave of #ani&!y e*&itement
swe#t through the #rison. 2o5ens of offi&ers s&ram"led to the "asement to 3oin
the "rea!out. (ma5ingly, it was not until morning roll1&all that the guards
dis&overed 1=> men were missing.
Within minutes, the %onfederates were ringing &hur&h "ells, forming sear&h
#arties, and sending out #a&!s of dogs. Of the offi&ers who es&a#ed, forty1eight
were re&a#tured and two drowned trying to swim to safety. %olonel ,homas
8ose was among the unfortunate men dragged "a&! to /i""y <rison and #la&ed
in solitary &onfinement.
/ess than one year later, %olonel ,homas 8ose again left /i""y <rison, "ut this
time no one &hallenged his right to freedom. In early 186?, the 4orth and )outh
signed a #risoner e*&hange agreement. ,his &ontra&t allowed the armies to
trade enlisted men and offi&ers of e-ual ran! on a one1to1one "asis. 6owever,
"y 186?, an agreement was not even ne&essary to free #risoners. <ea&e was on
the way. 4either side fought to hold their &a#tives any longer. (ll a&ross the
4orth and the )outh, guards stood "a&! while lines of inmates 3oyfully filed out of
o#en #rison gates. On e"ruary 2G, %onfederate @ohn 2ooley wrote this
trium#hant entry in his diary; ,wo hundred #risoners leave and one hundred
more to go today and I am among the num"er1117/O89 (//$/0I(.
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or many #risoners, freedom &ame too late. (s 2ooley sailed to his home state
of Hirginia after nearly two years in &a#tivity, his steamer glided along side of
another "oat loaded with %onfederate e*1#risoners. On the de&!s, 2ooley &ould
see the &overed "odies of twenty men who had died during the voyage to
8i&hmond. ,he remaining #assengers, with their sun!en eyes and stoo#ed
shoulders, were suffering from months of starvation and negle&t. ,hey "arely
had enough strength to ste# out onto the #ier; <oor fellows. 2ooley wrote,
6ow an*ious they are to rea&h on&e more southern soil. )ee. ,he most
ema&iated among them s#ring forward with a light ste# as if they &ould wal! for
miles in su&h a &ause, "ut e*hausted "y their efforts they fall and have to "e
&onveyed in an am"ulan&e. 'any of these men had survived the horrors of
#rison &am#s only to die on their two1day 3ourney "a&! home.
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