Civil War Selfies?

     People who lived during the time of the Civil War may not have had cell phones and digital cameras, but they still had photographs taken of themselves.  The most popular images were not called selfies, but carte de visites (CDVs).  These were small albumen prints which were mounted on cards measuring about 2 1/2 inches by 4 inches.  They were easy to make, inexpensive, and easy to mail.  Soldiers had CDVs taken to send back home to their families and friends, wives sent CDVs of themselves or their children, and girlfriends and fiancées sent CDVs to their sweethearts at war. 

This is a nice carte de visite of Union Surgeon Elias Marsh wearing his uniform, taken about 1865.

  

This is a copy of a famous image titled, "The Soldier's Children."  The original image was an ambrotype, and it was found in the hands of a dead Union soldier after the Battle of Gettysburg.  People were so touched by the image of the children and the story of how the picture was found that CDV copies like this one were made and distributed.  It was hoped that these images would aid in identifying the soldier and letting his family know of his fate.  Through these CDVs he was finally identified as Sgt. Amos Humiston of the 154th New York Volunteers, and the children were identified as Frank, Frederick, and Alice.

  

     It appears that things haven’t changed all that much!  Today we still use photographs as a way to remember loved ones, and to help find or identify missing persons.  So, when the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area came up with an idea for creating opportunities for "Civil War selfies" at several of the area’s Civil War sites, we were glad to participate!  See more information about their program here.  

     We had to find a spot for our visitors to take these pictures, so we rearranged the lobby just a bit to add a mannequin of a Civil War surgeon which people could stand beside to take their selfies.  

We just had to move the Dr. Letterman welcome banner to make a place for the mannequin.  This was also determined to be a good spot since it is directly across from our admissions desk.  Our wonderful guest services staff members are there to assist in taking the photos if needed.

Kyle and I had to repurpose a mannequin from our old Recruiting Gallery scene, where he had been dressed as a civilian.  I’ll go on record here to say that it’s not easy to undress or redress a mannequin!

Kyle and Cooper put the finishing touches on the uniform of our new surgeon, who has been dubbed, Bartholomew.  You can see the metal stand at his feet which was fastened to the floor to stabilize him.  I also attached his belt to the wall, to ensure that he doesn’t fall down on the job!

Kyle got the honor of taking the first selfie with Bartholomew.

He thought there was something missing though, so a flag was hung behind the mannequin.  It looks like a good spot to take a selfie!

Our museum’s founder, Dr. Gordon Dammann, seems to think so too!

     If you get a chance to visit the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, please join in the fun!  Be sure to stop by and take a picture with our Surgeon Bartholomew, then post it and tag it #CivilWarSelfies.

Photos courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

What's in the Box?

     Last week I posted about my trip to North Carolina to pick up an artifact for my museum.  This week I’ll finally tell you about the artifact! 

No, this isn’t the artifact!  It was made by the artifact’s owner to protect and store it.  You can probably guess that it belonged to a Civil War soldier named Mason Myers.  Do you have any ideas about what could be in this box?  Maybe a little more information will help…. 

     Private Mason Myers was a Union soldier from Orwell, New York.  He enlisted in September of 1861 at the age of 19 years.  His enlistment papers list him as being a farmer.  He was 5’8” tall, with a light complexion, dark eyes, and light hair.  He served with the 24^th New York Infantry, and later with the 76^th New York Infantry.  He was wounded in action during the Battle of Bull Run in 1862 and also during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.  He was discharged for disability in September 1864.

This undated photo shows a uniformed Mason Myers (right) with his brother-in-law Robert Armstrong.  I can say for certain that this image was taken before he was  wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg though.    Image from the “76th NY Roster” at http://www.bpmlegal.com/76NY/roster-m.html

     By now, you probably have a good idea about what is contained in the box.  Private Myers was shot in the right leg on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, and his leg subsequently had to be amputated.  Afterwards, he needed a prosthetic leg.  

This is the wooden peg leg which is said to have belonged to Mason Myers.

     The U.S. government did have a program which supplied the Union veterans with prosthetic legs.  Mason Myers received an articulated prosthetic leg, which would have looked more like a real leg, through this program in 1864.  He may have used this peg leg before he was fitted for his government leg, or he could have simply preferred using a peg leg.  There were some Civil War veterans who were not satisfied with the articulated legs and chose to use peg legs instead.

A slightly closer view of the peg leg shows the leather straps which held it in place.  These could have attached to a shoulder strap or belt to keep it in place.  You can also see a bit of the edge of the cloth padding for the interior at the very top of the leg. 

  

     There’s an interesting story about how Mason Myers coped with one aspect of being an amputee:

This image shows Mason Myers (left) and his brother-in-law (right) in 1910.  You can see that they are both wearing peg legs.  This isn’t the same peg leg though.  The caption with the photo reads, “Syracuse New York, June 21, 1910 – Three comrades from Orwell, Oswego County, here in the G.A.R. encampment are M.S. Myers, A.J. Potter, and Robert Armstrong, life-long friends and members of Post No. 387.  Comrades Myers and Armstrong are brothers-in-law and both were wounded in the battle of Gettysburg.  The former lost his right leg and the latter his left leg.  They are neighbors and wear shoes of the same size.  Now, when their footwear gives out, they buy one pair of shoes between them and Mr. Myers wears the right and Mr. Armstrong the left.”    Photo taken from the 1962 edition of the Oswego County Historical Society Journal.

     This peg leg is on loan to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine from Gene and Carol Carmney of Marion, North Carolina.  We are grateful to them for the opportunity to study and display it.  We are working on an arrangement to eventually purchase this peg leg, so that it will become a part of the NMCWM’s permanent collection.  Watch for it to be put out on display in the very near future! 

Thank you Gene & Carol – you’ve helped to share the story of Mason Myers and his peg leg!

         

Photos courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, except where otherwise noted.

Faces of the Wounded

     The mission statement for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine states that we are the premier center for the preservation and research of the legacy of Civil War medical innovation.  It should be no surprise then that our displays deal with subjects such as the medicines used during the Civil War, the equipment and instruments used, and the medical practices of the time.  While all of this information is quite valuable, it is the personal stories which have the greatest impact though.  So, today I thought I’d share just a few of the stories of some wounded Civil War soldiers.

 

A photo of Private T.W. Pease of Company H, 19^th Indiana, which shows the wounds to his leg.  Also notice his orthopedic shoe.  Image courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine.     

     Private Pease was wounded on July 1, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg.  He was struck in the right leg by a Minié ball which entered the back of his thigh, fractured the upper portion of his femur, and lodged inside his leg.  While at Gettysburg, he had three surgeries in which the bullet and three inches of his femur were removed.  By the time Pease was mustered out of the army in 1864, he was able to walk using crutches.  However, after returning home to Indiana, he experienced problems with his wounds.  After three additional surgeries it was discovered that there were still fragments of the Minié ball in his leg.  They were finally removed thirteen years after his original injury!  He was eventually able to walk with the assistance of a cane and a six-inch lift in his boot. 

 

 

A photo of Private Lewis Martin, of Company E, 29th United States Colored Troops, which shows the stumps from two amputations.  Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

 

     Private Lewis Martin enlisted in Illinois in February of 1864.  A muster roll record lists his place of birth as Arkansas, his age as 24 years, his height as 6 feet, 2 inches, and his occupation as a farmer.  A few months later he took part in a battle at Petersburg, Virginia and was wounded in the arm and the leg, resulting in the amputation of both limbs.  His wounds were described in his discharge form:  “Loss of right-arm and left-leg by amputation for shell and gunshot wounds received in battle at Petersburg on July 30, 1864 in charging the enemies works.  In consequence of which is totally disabled for military service and civil occupation wholly.”  Unfortunately, not much is known of Martin's life after the war.     

We do know that after being wounded, Private Martin was a patient here at Harewood Hospital in Washington, D.C.  Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

 

A photo of Private John F. Reardon, of Company C, 6^th New York Cavalry, which shows his arm after a bone resection.  Image courtesy of Dr. Gordon Dammann.

 

     Private Reardon was wounded by a shell fragment in the right arm on October 11, 1863 at Culpepper, Virginia.  An account of his treatment can be found in Images of Civil War Medicine by Gordon Dammann and Alfred J. Bollet.  “Private Reardon....was admitted to the Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C. only one day following his injury.  Surgeon D.W. Bliss....found that Reardon's right humerus was shattered by a fragment of shell, which was removed....  The fragment was four inches long, one inch broad, and weighed nine ounces.  Surgeon Bliss excised the head and six inches of the shaft of the humerus through a straight incision on the outside of the limb.  His case was written up as illustrating retained mobility of the arm after excision.  The arm was three inches shorter than the other, but muscle development was comparable.  Reardon was able to move the arm in all directions except abduction (i.e. movement laterally, away from the body)....

After recovering in March 1866, Reardon was reenlisted and assigned to duty as an orderly in the Army Medical Museum.... he served....suffering very little inconvenience "from the mutilation he has undergone." The record of his case....went on to state that "Without difficulty he can place his right hand on the top of his head; he can lift a weight of two hundred pounds or more with the injured limb without pain.  The movements of the forearm and hand are not in the least impaired, and there is great freedom of all the movements except abduction."

This photo from the Harvard Medical Library is captioned:  Photograph of John F. Reardon, showing the scar on his right upper arm as published in "Photographs of surgical cases and specimens / prepared by direction of the Surgeon General by George A. Otis."

 

 

     These men are certainly quite the testament to the medical innovation of the time! 

A Hospital at Gettysburg

     The past couple of years we’ve seen sesquicentennial observances of many of the Civil War battles. Last year the biggest one was for the Battle of Antietam. This year July 1 will mark 150 years since the start of the Battle of Gettysburg. Any museum which deals with the Civil War is probably going to have an exhibit or special event to mark the occasion. Last week though, I was able to visit an entire museum which is opening for the occasion!

 

The Seminary Ridge Museum in Gettysburg will be officially opening on July 1. The historic building was the part of the Lutheran Theological Seminary campus, but was used during the Civil War as an observation point and a field hospital.

 

     Their exhibits are titled, “Voices of Duties and Devotion” and they cover three main areas, the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg on Seminary Ridge, the use of the building as field hospital, and some of the moral and spiritual debates of the time. The description from their website summarizes it well:

“The new Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum….will allow visitors to walk the halls of a building where wounded soldiers suffered, hear voices of duty and devotion and stand in the spot in the Seminary cupola where Union Gen. Buford observed approaching Confederate forces.”

I must admit that I was most eager to see the view from their famed cupola!

 

Here’s a view of Gettysburg from the cupola. The red flag you see on the rail was used to designate this building as a field hospital.

 

Though it was raining and misty on the day I visited, and the parking lot would not have been there in 1863, you can still the tactical advantage which General Buford and his signal officer, Aaron Jerome, had from this spot. From here, they were able to observe the Confederate troop strength and movements.

 

     Back inside the museum, I was impressed to discover three full floors of exhibits and interactive displays, which I thought were very well done. Of course, I was most interested in the displays which dealt with the building’s use as a field hospital.

 

I was intrigued by this prosthetic arm made of leather and metal, which had hook, brush and knife attachments. This arm belonged to Private Levi Sorrells, Company B, 10th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, who was wounded July 27, 1864 at Atlanta GA.

 

A hospital scene depicts the crowded conditions for patients at the field hospital.

 

They included many interesting details and even added flies to patients!

 

Of course, no Civil War hospital scene would be complete without an amputation! Notice that anesthesia is being administered to the patient here.

 

These artifacts look familiar! The surgical kit, Grey’s Anatomy book from 1859, capital saw, and surgical needles and suture are here on loan from my museum, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

 

Here are more familiar artifacts; an embalming kit and peppermint bottle. You can read more about this bottle in one of my previous posts: http://guardianoftheartifacts.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-favorite-things.html

 

     I was glad I had the opportunity for a “sneak peek” at this new exhibit. If you’re in the Gettysburg area, you should go for a visit!

Photos courtesy of the Seminary Ridge Museum, http://www.seminaryridgemuseum.org/.