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National Museum of Civil War Medicine
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    NMCWM Open Friday - Sunday



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



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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.



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    Missing Soldiers Office Open For Appointments Starting February 15



    The Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office is open by appointment only. Click for details.



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Divided by Conflict. United by compassion.

Three sites, thousands of stories.

National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum

Pry House Field Hospital Museum

Upcoming Programs

View from Clayton General Hospital at Harpers Ferry
On Tour with the National Museum of Civil War Medicine at Harpers Ferry
April 14 @ 10:00 am

Get ready to go “On Tour” with the National Museum of Civil War Medicine as they virtually take viewers to sites of medical importance at Harpers Ferry.

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Frederick MD 1862-Civil War Medicine & Clara Barton Museum
One Vast Hospital – Civil War Walking Tour in Downtown Frederick
April 17 @ 2:00 pm

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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Frederick MD 1862-Civil War Medicine & Clara Barton Museum
One Vast Hospital – Civil War Walking Tour in Downtown Frederick
April 18 @ 2:00 pm

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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View Full Calendar
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Visit with a Group

Whether students or seniors, our unique group tour experiences are for you.

Tour Online

Can't make it to the Museum?
Bring the Museum to you.

Discover History Firsthand

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

From Our Blog

Senna – A Sensational Laxative and Purgative
April 1, 2021

Discover how senna was used as a remedy during the Civil War era. It served as a more gentle laxative and purgative for Civil War soldiers.

[More]

Civil War Medicinal Herb Garden – How Mint Was Used As A Remedy
February 16, 2021

Discover how mint was used as a remedy during the Civil War era. From its leaves, its oil, and the tinctures and lozenges they made, mint is a helpful plant.

[More]

civilwarmed

"[Surgeon Heichhold, 8th United States Colored Inf "[Surgeon Heichhold, 8th United States Colored Infantry] was particular in collecting the colored troops who were wounded, and placed them in his ambulances and pushed on for a place of safety. Some one thought the white troops should be brought away also; but Dr. H. said: 'I know what will become of the white troops who fall into the enemy's possession, but I am not certain as to the fate of the colored troops.'"

Source:
Letter from Sgt. Rufus S. Johns of the 8th U.S. Colored Troops to The Christian Recorder, quoted in "A Grand Army of Black Men: Letters from African-American Soldiers in the Union Army 1861-1865," New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992, page 42.

Image credit:
Detail from "The war in Tennessee--Confederate massacre of federal troops after the surrender at Fort Pillow, April 12th, 1864," New York Public Library.

#AmericanCivilWar #CivilWar #Medicine #MedicalHistory #HistMed #MilitaryMedicine #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #MilitaryHistory #CivilWarMedicine #MedicineMuseum #MedicalMuseum #Museum #Museums #NonProfit
"Wounds do not grow less grievous by lapse of time "Wounds do not grow less grievous by lapse of time. Arms and legs lost in service do not sprout from the stump.

Disabilities from disease are likely to grow worse as time rolls on. Rheumatism of fifteen years' standing remains, as a rule, incurable. Consumption (tuberculosis) and other kindred diseases never grow better, but generally proceed from one stage of decay to another." 

- "The National Tribune, December 1, 1877

This clever and insightful passage came from a newspaper for Union veterans that advocated against a pension reform bill that would have drastically altered the way pensions were managed by the Federal government. 

The bill raised fears that pensioners who continued to suffer from war-time disability would lose their pensions if their conditions were deemed not severe enough to warrant continued payments. The advocacy of the paper and Union veterans appears to have changed key parts of the bill before it passed in 1878. 

When the amended bill passed, one disabled Union veteran wrote a poem in celebration:

"'Tis good to be merry and wise,
'Til good to be honest and true.
Our Congress has passed a good pension law,
Huzza for the Red, White and Blue."

(Photograph: Two amputees outside the US Christian Commission office in Washington, DC, April 1865 (LOC))

#AmericanCivilWar #CivilWar #Medicine #MedicalHistory #HistMed #MilitaryMedicine #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #MilitaryHistory #CivilWarMedicine #MedicineMuseum #MedicalMuseum #Museum #Museums #NonProfit
Hannah Reynolds was enslaved when she was mortally Hannah Reynolds was enslaved when she was mortally wounded on the morning of April 9 but was a free women before the sun set on the same day.
 
Reynolds became one of the last civilian casualties of the Civil War when she was struck by a shell at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Medical personnel from the US Army administered medical care, but she passed away on April 12, 1865 from her wounds.

Read more about Hannah Reynolds: 
https://www.nps.gov/apco/learn/historyculture/hannah-reynolds.htm

(Photograph: The McLean House at Appomattox Court House, Virginia)

#AmericanCivilWar #CivilWar #Medicine #MedicalHistory #HistMed #MilitaryMedicine #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #MilitaryHistory #CivilWarMedicine #MedicineMuseum #MedicalMuseum #Museum #Museums #NonProfit
"The Drum corps and the Regimental Band, if there "The Drum corps and the Regimental Band, if there is one, are always on the eve of a battle ordered to report to the Surgeon for duty, but the less he calculates on aid from them the better. With a few exceptions they are generally worthless as stretcher bearers, many of them being young lads physically incapable of such fatiguing duty."

Source:
Vickery, Dr. Richard Swanton, "On the Duties of the Surgeon in Action," transcribed on the Mid-Missouri Civil War Roundtable website, 2004, now defunct, via The Wayback Machine, accessed September 20, 2019, <https://web.archive.org/web/20081007160733/http://mmcwrt.missouri.org/2004/default0406.htm>.

Image credit:
"The Surgeon at Work at the Rear During an Engagement" (from Harper's Weekly, Vol. VII), Winslow Homer, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

#AmericanCivilWar #CivilWar #Medicine #MedicalHistory #HistMed #MilitaryMedicine #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #MilitaryHistory #CivilWarMedicine #MedicineMuseum #MedicalMuseum #Museum #Museums #NonProfit
The unfortunate Private Williams. There are cases The unfortunate Private Williams.

There are cases like his in every war. Someone who almost makes it through the thing unscathed, but at the last moment, disaster strikes. The last day of the war against the Confederates in Virginia was also the day Williams became a casualty of it.

Private Hiram Williams of the 198th Pennsylvania lost his left foot and all the toes on his right when an artillery shell exploded beneath him during the Union army's advance on Appomattox Court House, Virginia on April 9, 1865.

He was one of the last casualties of the Civil War's eastern theater, being struck down mere moments before a cease fire was called by commanding generals Grant and Lee. The killing was soon over. For the soldiers of both armies, it would soon be time to recover from the war's grisly toll on mind and body.

(Photograph: National Museum of Health and Medicine)

#AmericanCivilWar #CivilWar #Medicine #MedicalHistory #HistMed #MilitaryMedicine #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #MilitaryHistory #CivilWarMedicine #MedicineMuseum #MedicalMuseum #Museum #Museums #NonProfit
We're hiring! The National Museum of Civil War M We're hiring! 

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is looking for a part-time Sales Associate staff member, to work 8 – 24hrs a week. 

Applicants must be able to work weekends 10:00am – 5:00pm and have retail sales experience.  We are looking for a friendly, detail-oriented person who is exceptional dealing with the public, able to use a variety of computer software and experienced using social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). 

Love of history optional, love of Frederick mandatory.  An ideal position for college students, seniors someone trying to earn additional income.  Additional hours and responsibilities are available.  Please send resumes to Joanna.Jennings@CivilWarMed.org or call 301-695-1864, ext. 1002.

#FrederickMD #DowntownFrederick #FrederickMaryland #AmericanCivilWar #CivilWar #Medicine #MedicalHistory #HistMed #MilitaryMedicine #AmericanHistory #USHistory #History #MilitaryHistory #CivilWarMedicine #MedicineMuseum #MedicalMuseum #Museum #Museums #NonProfit
National Museum of
Civil War Medicine
48 East Patrick Street
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 695-1864
Regular Hours
Friday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday - Thursday By Appointment
Last admittance to the galleries at 4:15 pm
Closed on New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and at 2 pm on New Year's Eve.
Clara Barton
Missing Soldiers Office
437 7th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 824-0613
The Museum will be open for reservations only beginning on February 15
Last admission at 4:30 pm
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. Closing early on New Year's Eve.
Pry House Field
Hospital Museum
18906 Shepherdstown Pike
Keedysville, MD 21756
(301) 432-6352
Regular Hours
11:00am - 5:00pm
The Pry House is closed for the 2020 season due to NPS guidelines
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American Alliance of Museums (AAM) National Parks Service (NPS) General Services Administration (GSA) City of Frederick MD U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Visit Frederick Maryland
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