Bleeding+Blue+and+Gray+-+9th


 * = **Day of Discussion** ||= **Date to complete reading:** ||= **Read the following pages:** ||
 * = Friday ||= 11/19 ||= 3-39 ||
 * = Tuesday ||= 11/23 ||= 40-65 ||
 * = Thursday ||= 12/2 ||= 66-115 ||
 * = Friday ||= 12/10 ||= 116-184 ||
 * = Friday ||= 12/17 ||= 185-240 ||
 * = Friday ||= 1/7 ||= 241-323 ||

Discussion Questions:
Kate Foster, Week 1: 1. Do you think it is fair for the author to focus on medicine in the North (pg. XIII)? Why or why not? 2. Why does the author focus so much on Bull Run? Why did he explain this battle first? 3. What injury, in the first chapter, was most disturbing to you? 4. On pages 10-11, the author presents what qualified as a physical examination, as well as what an actually happened. Why do you think doctors allowed so many sick and injured into service? 5. What factors contributed to the disorganization of medical treatment at the First Battle of Bull Run? Discussion Notes: 1. We thought it is fair, because, as the author explains in the preface, there was a fire that destroyed most of the Confederate medical documents. He also said that medicine in the north is essentially the same as medicine in the south. 2. On page 5, it says that Bull Run “served as a harbinger of medical misery,” meaning that Bull Run was the precursor for more injury and illness in the Civil War. Also, it says on page 6 that after Bull Run, many physicians called for an organizational reform among medical recruits. Overall, the first Battle of Bull Run was destructive, bloody, and medically important, which is why the author put in at the beginning of the book. 3. Most of us were very grossed out by the unsanitary conditions of the camps, and the contaminated tools doctors operated with (example: pus-filled sponges – EW!) Some of the amputations were hard for us to read, including a shoulder amputation (which would have ended badly, had an actual doctor not intervened), as well as a leg amputation, which ended very badly. 4. Most of us agreed that both sides of the Civil War lacked man-power. The confederacy especially needed more recruits, which is why doctors ignored injuries and illnesses of those entering the war. 5. Many factors contributed to disorganization, but a big one is that most of the doctors were unprepared for what they would face in the war. Many of the serving doctors were medical students, or simply family physicians who had never dealt with treatment and surgery on such a big scale. Also, they didn’t have any of the supplies they needed, such as water.

Key Word Choice and Vocabulary:

Brynn Schiele Group member #2 week #1

Because this is a nonfiction book on the Civil War, the diction might take awhile to get used to. Because this book is about the medical treatments at the time, there are many words that could be troubling to understand. Also, with all the different places of battles and ‘hospitals’, there comes more vocabulary from that. The author is trying to say that all of this could have been handled better if only there was a little more effort and money put on the medical treatment of soldiers. His tone is almost disappointing at the tragedies that took place.


 * **__Word/Phrase__** || **__Page#, Paragraph#, Line#__** || **__Analysis__** ||
 * Harbinger || Pg.5, Par. 1, Line 1 || Something that signals the approach of another.(This is mentioned when the author was talking about the first battle of Bull Run.) ||
 * Internecine || Pg.6, Par.2, Line 4 || Destructive to both sides in a conflict. (The author writes that the physicians on both sides asked the president to help improve medical treatments.) ||
 * Derelict || Pg.10, Par.2, Line 7 || In bad condition as a result of neglect (The author uses this word to prove his point that the weakness was a result of skipping the physical exams.) ||
 * Abscess || Pg. 26, Par. 2, Line 12 || A swollen area of body tissue that contains pus (This is describing side effects of some of the bacterial infections that men got at the time, that today could be cured.) ||
 * Convoy || Pg.36, Par. 1, Line 4 || A group of ships traveling together with armed troops for protection (The context is that after the Union lost at Bull Run, they wandered around Virginia because the Confederates rejected entry to retrieve fallen soldiers.) ||

**Summary of Chapter 1:**
Blair Goldman, Week 1

In this chapter, Rutkow sets the scene for the rest of the book by painting a picture of crude surgery, impromptu hospitals, and unsanitized instruments. The First Battle of Bull Run, which occured in July of 1861, was the main battle that Ira focused on. More than 3 times the number of people killed were injured. While this sounds like an ideal situation, (given the circumstances, of course,) the records do not take into account the number of people who died of infection or on the operating table. Doctors were volunteers, and the most skilled physicians on the field were students in medical school. Rutkow describes the neglectful conditions that wounded soldiers faced, saying that "many received neither medical attention nor so much as a mouthful of water" (Rutkow, 6). Treatment for even the most rudimentary diseases and infections that soldiers attained everyday were not in existence yet. Even the ones that were, like the vaccine for smallpox, was vile and most likely caused more damage than without it: "The vaccine, consisting of unadulterated pus from an active smallpox scab, was introduced into another individual's system by scratching the skin with a needing dipped in the putrid mix." (16). But more than anything mentioned in the chapter is the horrible circumstances and environment that the soldiers were in. Amputations were performed for unnecessary wounds, and there was usually a place designated for those who were dead or dying. Overall, the first chapter illustrates a savage, even vulgar, story, though I feel as if it will pale in comparison as to what's to come.

Brett Barich Week#1 Group #4

Essential Quote: "During the early years of war, camp sanitation was so poor that diseases quickly outnumbered injuries and wounds as a cause of disability and death." page 14 paragraph 2. This quote shows the importance of doctors in the Civil War. Since the medical treatment wasn't as good as our current day treatment, doctors had to use their limited knowlege to help out the soliders on the battlefeild. This quote helps show the struggles of being a doctor in the Civil War times and how far we have progressed in the feild of medicine.

**Kate Foster, week #2**
Brett Barich Questions - not really. Medical understanding wasn't verry high back then. - potentialy - success caused good reputations - maybe, but people wouldn't want to risk their health - yes, it was also an important milestone in medical history - yes, now doctors have to go through years of college Brynn Schiele Week #2 Group member #3 **Summary Week #2** In Chapter 2, the author chooses to focus on the different forms of practices and the treatments that groups of doctors used. The first practice that was introduced was Benjamin Rush’s “Bleeding, Blistering, and Purging”. Rush believed that this method was to be used for every disease or ailment, however, this concept-in-action lead to multiple thousands of deaths. Regardless of the deaths, this major break in discovery of modern medicine gave Rush the title of the father of American medicine and his techniques set the standard for almost a century. At this point in time, medical practices were becoming very important, with colleges popping up everywhere. Because of methods like Rush’s, the medical standards decreased and it was very easy to be a certified doctor, even paying to go to class could earn you a diploma and a degree to practice medicine whenever and wherever you chose. In 1847, the American Medical Association tried to raise standards of getting into colleges by requiring prerequisites of English, philosophy, math, and Greek and Latin, However this was ignored for the most part. After the bloodletting treatment disappeared, 3 new methods emerged: Botanical or Thomsonism, Homeopathy, and Allopathy. Thomsonism used natural herbs to treat patients and all practitioners had to reject the bloodletting treatment. Many colleges that taught Thomsonism opened in the South and Midwest before a less harsh way of approaching medicine came about called Homeopathy. Homeopathy derived from a German physician named Samuel Hahnemann, who believed that small doses of a drug that aggravated symptoms diluted in the body could help fight against the illness. Though, some people felt that the doses prescribed were too small to have much effectiveness. Many Homeopath practitioners attended the same schools as Orthodox or allopath doctors, but were not afraid to insult the Orthodox doctors’ ways. In fact, the 2 methods of treatment took separate sides in the war, the homeopathy siding with the Confederacy and the allopathy helping the Union. Some Homeopaths helped the Union soldiers and abided by Orthodox rules, or practicing their own in private, Homeopathy was the “don’t ask, don't tell” policy in the Civil War. One thing both groups agreed on was surgery, where the discovery of anesthesia greatly advanced the method. Nevertheless, hygiene was still horrendous and post- surgery infection was still too common. Surgeons could see what they were working on, but physicians had to guess at the unknown illness, making it much harder. Allopathy would become the basis of modern medicine but not before the scientific principles of bacteriology, immunology, pathology, physiology, and other ideas.
 * Word/Phrase || Page #, Paragraph #, Line # || Analysis of Word/Phrase ||
 * Homeopathy || Page 57, Paragraph 2, line 8 || A method of disease prevention by giving drugs that would produce similar symptoms of the disease. The author defines this word in more detail, but I decided to identify it again here because, according to the author, it was pivotal to medicine at the time of the Civil War. ||
 * Proselytizer || Page 46, Paragraph 2, line 10 || Someone who attempts to recruit or convert opinion. This is used when describing Dr. Rush and his ideas, making the authors tone almost upset or disturbed because Rush's radical ideas of treatment caused more harm than good. The author views him more as a salesperson than a doctor. ||
 * Pedagogue || Page 51, Paragraph 3, line 10 || Someone who is arrogant, dogmatic, and formal. Earlier in the sentence, the author says that these people were often "preceptors" before becoming "pedagogues," meaning that they were instructors or tutors before they became started lecturing at these universities and became pedagogues. The authors tone in this passage is mocking of these doctors. ||
 * Coalesce || Page 54, Paragraph 4, Line 1 || To unite or grow into one body. This is used to show that Rush's theories were growing into a huge movement socially and economically. This is important to the authors argument because it shows how Civil War medicine was affected by Rush's theories. ||
 * Was it suprising that so many medicines were poisonous?
 * In your opinion do you think that our modern day medicines that have a side effect of death can be viewed as poisonous?
 * Do you think Civil War doctors valued reputation over success?
 * Do you think homeopathy could work today?
 * Do you think homeopathy was the beggining of vacines?
 * Do you think that doctors should have more requirements before becoming doctors?

Kate and Brynn Week 3 Discussion Notes

1. Do you think the Sanitary Comission and Medical Department should have merged? -Yes, because the Medical Department was new and naive. The author favors the comission because the Medical Department was inept. 2. Why were there disagreements within the Department and Comission? -There were arguments over individual wants versus group wants (102) -There was division over the bill for medical reforms - Some people favored allopathy over homeopathy, and vice versa. -The most important point was a serious lack of structure within both groups. They needed more standards. 3. Does the author have a bias? -The author favors the Sanitary Comission over the Medical Department, because they attempted to make more changes to the medical system. They asked for more supplies and water to be sent to troops.

Brett Barich Week 3 Vocab

Paragraph Line || Deffinition || Pg. 2 Line 4 ||  a person who purveys, provides, or supplies || Pg. 2 Line 9 || unnecessary or needless || Pg. 1 Line 7 ||  affectedly grand or important || Pg. 1 Line 8 || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static;"> characterized <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static;">by <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; cursor: default; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static;">philanthropy;benevolent ||
 * Vocab || Page
 * Purveyor || P. 68
 * Superfluous || P. 68
 * Grandiose || P. 72
 * Philanthropic || P. 74


 * Kate Foster**
 * Week #3**
 * Group Member #3**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">In chapters 3 and 4, Rutkow explains the formation and struggles of The United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. He also talks about issues within the Medical Department. Although the Sanitary Commission was establish months before Bull Run by Henry Whitney Bellows and Elisha Harris, after the Union’s disasterous defeat at Bull Run the commission stepped up its efforts. Before, the Commission started a “preventative system” to help it’s 75,000 soldiers stay healthy and disease free, sending in more supplies and encouraging cleanliness among troops. A series of medical reforms was also made to the Medical Department, including recruitment of more volunteers and appointing Clement Alexander Findley as the surgeon general. Fredrick Law Olmstead, the committed “workaholic,” was named executive secretary of the Sanitary Commission. Shocked by what had happened at Bull Run, Olmsted begged for more supplies and volunteers to be sent to soldiers. Alexander Hammond is another physician that is introduced in this section. He was an acclaimed doctor that joined Northern forces in the Civil War and had the responsibility of organizing several hospitals for the Union’s use. His great managing skills were recognized by the Sanitary Commission. After much conflict within the commission, Finley stepped down from his position as Surgeon General, and Lincoln appointed Hammond to take his place. Much of the Medical Department was reformed under Findley’s departure, including a debate ensuing among allopaths versus homeopaths. Allopaths remained in control of the Department.

For week 3, we chose the essential quote for the assigned section to be “Bellows and the other civilian members of the Sanitation Commission were more convinced than ever that government agencies in charge of caring for the sick and wounded were lacking any sense of structure and function. The army’s Medical Department was considered particularly inept.” (Pg. 80). The author is saying this after the government would not let a revealing //Report on the demoralization of the volunteers// at Bull Run. Be released to the public. The author makes it clear that the Medical Department was playing a political game with the Sanitation Commission using the volunteer soldiers as pawns. The Congress wouldn't give any supplies to the commission because they were “offensive” to the Medical Department. This passage gives a sneak at the politics involved.
 * Brynn Schiele**
 * Week 3**
 * Group Member #4**

Kate Foster Week 4 Group member #4 "The sick troops were getting worse, according to Hammond, owing to 'utmost confusion' in the hospitals, daily management, inadequate nutrition, and what he termed a 'most distusting want of cleanliness'" (pg. 154, paragraph 1). The main idea from these two chapters is the worsening conditions of the troops and the reforms the Sanitary Commission made to try and improve it. This quote shows the serious deterioration of camps and hospitals and the start of the civil war. The author is trying to show how bad medical care was before explaining why the reforms, so the reader can see how important they were.

Brynn Schiele Group Member #1 Week #4 Would you rather get an amputation or a bone exsection surgery performed? Consider the procedure and the outcome?

Smells seem to be a big issue in the complaint department, what are some ideas on how to fix this?

Do you think operations like Fisk’s should have been performed in front of the other ailing soldiers?

Do you believe that Dorothea Dix overstepped her boundaries?

Do you think it was right for women to be in the hospitals or were they a distraction?

Why do you think Stanton stalled inspection of medical areas?

Why do you think there was such a turn around when it came to rebuilding the hospitals?

Why don’t you think boats are used as ambulances today?

Do you think you should be qualified to drive an ambulance?

Kate Foster Group Member #1 Week #5

What is the purpose of the story at the beginning of chapter seven? Is there a bias in this story?

Why were Stanton and Halleck so set against getting more ambulances?

Did the increased amount of ambulances help at the Battle of Antietam?

What effect did lack of transportation have on the distribution of medical supplies? Why was this so embarrassing to the Medical Department?

What changes did Letterman make to the Medical Department and what was the effect of those changes?

Do you think Lincoln was too critical of the Medical Department? Why or why not?

What was different about the fighting at the Battle of Fredericksburg?

Brynn Schiele Group Member#2 Week #5 Par #2 Last line || The area near or surrounding a place || Par#1 First line || Spread or disperse widely || Par #3 Line 23 || Hostility or ill feeling || Par #3 Line 31 || A low or hollow place || Par #2 Line 23 || A rank of officer in the army above colonel but below major general ||
 * purlieus || Pg. 186
 * disseminate || Pg.188
 * animus || Pg.189
 * swale || Pg. 211
 * brigadier || Pg. 214