National Museum of Civil War Medicine - National Museum of Civil War Medicine

NMCWM Open Thursday - Sunday

The Museum is open for walk-ins Thursday - Sunday, and by appointment only Monday - Wednesday.

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The Barton Letter Fund

Help us expand our collection of artifacts from the world-famous humanitarian Clara Barton!

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Pry House Hours

The Pry House will be open on Saturdays from June 4 to November 5 and Fridays and Sundays by appointment.

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Weekend Walking Tours

Join Museum Docents for walking tours of Downtown Frederick every Saturday and Sunday April - October at 2:00 PM.

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Divided by Conflict.

Three sites, thousands of stories.

National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum

Pry House Field Hospital Museum

Upcoming Programs

One Vast Hospital – Civil War Walking Tour in Downtown Frederick

May 28 @ 2:00 pm

National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Walk in the footsteps of doctors, nurses, soldiers and civilians who cared for 8,000 wounded soldiers in Downtown Frederick

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Frederick MD 1862-Civil War Medicine & Clara Barton Museum

One Vast Hospital – Civil War Walking Tour in Downtown Frederick

May 29 @ 2:00 pm

National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Walk in the footsteps of doctors, nurses, and civilians who cared for 8,000 wounded soldiers in Downtown Frederick with Museum docents

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Field Hospital used by Hookers division at the Battle of Seven Pines. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

U.S. Medical Care at the Battle of Seven Pines

May 31 @ 1:00 pm

John Lustrea will present his research on Union medical care at the Battle of Seven Pines on the 160th anniversary of the battle.

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Discover History Firsthand

Take a closer look at artifacts that reveal how history was made.

From Our Blog

“Gunshot wound…fracturing the jaw…” A Rebel Artillerist During the Fall of Petersburg

May 11, 2022

Kyle Nappi relates the story of his ancestor who was wounded in the jaw at the Fall of Petersburg.

The Myth of Two Teeth

March 7, 2022

Kyle Dalton explores the myth that recruits of the Civil War were only required to have two opposing teeth.

civilwarmed

Dover Powder, named for its inventor Dr. Thomas Do

Dover Powder, named for its inventor Dr. Thomas Dover, was first revealed to the world in 1732 in his book "The Ancient Physician's Legacy to his Country."

A combination of opium and ipecac, Dover Powder induces sweating and was used to treat fevers, cold, and dysentery.

Image credit:
Dover powder bottle, prepared by Dr. Thomas Ritter, National Museum of Civil War Medicine collection.

Civil War medicine was not strictly limited to the

Civil War medicine was not strictly limited to the conventional warfare of the Eastern and Western theaters, nor did it abruptly end at Appomattox.

This photograph was taken by archaeologists excavating Fort Craig, New Mexico. In it we see the amputated limbs of soldiers garrisoned there in the immediate post-war years. These were the famous Buffalo Soldiers, many of whom remained in the army from the USCT regiments they were recruited to in the Civil War.

Long forgotten, their graves were occasionally pillaged through the years by souvenir hunters, until an effort was made to document, preserve, and protect their remains by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Image credit:
Fig 3.15 "Surgeon's Pit," in Jeff Hanson and David Greenwald, "Fort Craig Post Cemetery Report," U.S. Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, September 2004[?], accessed July 15, 2020, <https://www.usbr.gov/uc/albuq/envdocs/reports/ftCraig/Ft-CraigCemetery-FinalReport.pdf>.

In 1718, Jean-Louis Petit invented this tourniquet

In 1718, Jean-Louis Petit invented this tourniquet to stop the flow of blood prior to surgery and loss of blood for trauma victims. It was wildly successful. A century and a half later no surgeon in the Civil War would have dared attempt a surgical amputation without a Petit screw tourniquet on hand.

We have a few original Petit tourniquets in our collection, including this one generously donated in 2008.

In this possibly staged photograph, you can see the assisting surgeon tightening the Petit tourniquet while the operating surgeon prepares the first cut with his amputation knife.

Image credits:
Original 19th century brass Petit screw tourniquet, in the collection of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 2008.003.001 J.

Detail from "Hospital Scene," George Stacy, 1861, Library of Congress.

The Medical Minute: Quinine Quinine was the "ibup

The Medical Minute: Quinine

Quinine was the "ibuprofen of the Civil War."

William Proby Young, Jr. Confederate Surgeon Bor

William Proby Young, Jr.
Confederate Surgeon

Born: 1834, in Portsmouth, Virginia
Served: Private, 116th Virginia Infantry, 1861 to 1862, Assistant Surgeon, 4th Georgia 1862 to 1863, Surgeon 1863 to 1865
Died: 1912, in Washington, DC

Young first enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private. After his one year enlistment ended, he appeared before the Medical Examining Board and received a commission as an Assistant Surgeon. Young was wounded during the Antietam Campaign of 1862, but returned to Virginia with his regiment. On June 9, 1863, he was promoted to Surgeon and transferred to hospital service.

Image credit:
Courtesy of William A. Turner and F. Terry Hambrecht, M.D.

"May 22d [1862]…When we moved off, a long train

"May 22d [1862]…When we moved off, a long train of ambulances followed us, each having the red flag out, which indicated a battle-a long ordnance train followed us. The infirmary corps marched in the read of each regiment, bearing their white litters, which, perhaps, would soon be stained with human gore."

Source:
Jackman, John S., "Diary of a Confederate Soldier, William C. Davis editor," Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1990, page 37.

Image credit:
Detail from Plate 1 in Chisolm, John J., "A Manual of Military Surgery for the Use of Surgeons Confederate States Army," Columbia, Evans and Cogswell, 1864, 3rd edition.