Death and Disease in the Civil War

At the beginning of the Civil War, Wisconsin was still a semi-frontier. Political and social control was largely determined by New Yorkers and New Englanders, although Germans and Scandinavians were beginning to make an impact. The pine forests were intact, there was little manufacturing or dairying, fishing was minimal and mining was on the decline. Looking back, it would seem as if Wisconsin had little to offer the war effort, but as Reuben Gold Thwaites wrote in 1905, "No northern state has as credible a record in the Civil War as Wisconsin."  Wisconsin and New York were #1 and #2, respectively, in supplying men for the war.

When the war was over, of the 408 men from Kewaunee County who had served, 65 - or 13% - were dead. Almost twice as many died of disease as were killed in battle. In a county with a population of 7,039, 1 in 17 was sent, willingly and unwillingly. The struggling pioneers of 1861-1865 raised $20,692.87 in taxes for war at a time when a private's pay was $13.00 per month. County citizens invested in 2 1/2 million dollars worth of Liberty and Victory bonds paying 4 - 4 1/2% interest.

In total, Wisconsin saw 3,794 of its men killed in action or mortally wounded. Disease that was rampant took 8,022 and accidents of all kinds took another 400. One in 13 veterans was an amputee. Louisa May Alcott later wrote that men went to war prepared to die for the cause. But, were they prepared to kill? Was anybody prepared for the number of casualties and the horrific wounds? Who would have thought disease could have taken such a toll?

Early muskets that took minutes to send off a shot, often caused injury to the soldier himself. Initially some of the cavalry had sabres. It was thought inhuman to sharpen the entire thing so only about 6" was sharp. The blunt end was used for breaking arms and injuring; the sharp end was for stabbing.

Wounds, other injuries and disease were unimaginable. Seventy-five percent of surgeries were amputations and 26% of the amputees died. Infected flesh wounds led to amputation by the surgeons who cut the flesh and sawed off the bone with a hack saw before tying off the limb with silk thread. Chloroform was the anesthetic if it was available. Alcohol was used to numb the pain, and to help anesthetize when the chloroform ran out, but often the surgeons drank it. Ambulance drivers also had alcohol for the wounded, but they were known to drink it too. At the second Bull Run,there were ambulance drivers who left with the alcohol. As many as 7,000 were unattended for three days. At five days, there were still 600 left without food and water.

Hospitals were worse than battlefields and hastened deaths. Tents, churches, homes and other buildings served as such facilities. Sanitation was an issue. There was malnutrition, but it was surely a step above the rats that helped Confederates survive at Vicksburg. Disease was spread by feces and the piles of rotting limbs, and typhoid that came from contaminated water. Bacteria had yet to be understood and surgeons used spit to moisten thread. They sharpened knives on the bottoms of their boots. Sterilization was unheard of and little soap and water was available for operations. Doctors went from patient to patient without washing their hands. Doctors had two years of school and surely no experience in the kinds of treatment necessary. Maybe that was why some men preformed amputations on themselves

Is it any wonder there are stories of the men who shot off their trigger fingers so they could go home?

Henry Baumann arrived in Wolf River in the mid-1850s. Magnus Haucke joined his family there after the war. Magnus married Henry's daughter Amelia years later. Both were robust, healthy German immigrants when they entered service, Magnus as a volunteer in Co. E, 4th Wisconsin Cavalry and Henry as a draftee in Co. E, 17th Wisconsin Infantry. Both were in military hospitals and both lived to tell about it, but both died too young. Ezra B. Austin, Co. E, 14th Wisconsin, was wounded at Shiloh and then pinned to the ground by a fallen tree. A Confederate officer lifted the tree and gave Austin water, but he died a few days later on April 12, 1862. Park Elliott, Co. C, 10th Wisconsin, was shot in the head at Chaplin Hills and was buried on the battlefield. His brother David died of typhoid at Nashville and Mark Fay, also of Co. E, 14th Wisconsin, died of disease at Memphis. Samuel Gokie was wounded. Though he survived physically, his emotional health was questionable. Within two years of his return to Kewaunee, he died in a jail fire that he set. Gokie was also a member of Co. E, 14th Wisconsin.

Captains Charley Ross and John McDonald both left the sea to farm sometime before the war began. By a strange coincidence both men left their farms and went to Chicago to join the 88th Illinois, also known as the Board of Trade Regiment. Capt. John, a hero at Mission Ridge, lost his "good" right arm there. Capt. Charley lost his "good" left arm at Stone River. Both men survived and went on to productive lives. Leopold Meyer was a Corporal in Co. H, 24th WI. He was shot through the right side and thru the right arm. He too survived and became a tinsmith.

Joseph Bunder and Charles Clark died of malaria in Arkansas. William Doyle never made it home from Arkansas after being discharged for permanent disability. He died of malaria on the way. All three were from Co. A, 27th Wisconsin. John Metzner, of the 9th Infantry, died of disease at Little Rock. Doctors of the era felt disease fed on what was in the body, therefore it had to be emptied. It was felt that the liver was the source of disease and a mercury compound called calomel was a great healer. Mercury poisoning is recognized today, however the effects of the poisoning was thought to be healing even while patients were dying. It was said that to have disease was a death sentence in itself. How much calomel Bunder, Clark and Doyle might have had is any one's guess.

Homer Bacon, Co. K, 21st Wisconsin was wounded at Perryville and crippled for life at Chicamaugua. Conrad Arnold and Conrad Plinke were wounded at Jenkins Ferry. Both were from Co. A, 27th Wisconsin, and both died. John Henry, another from the 27th, was wounded there but he lived. John Baumgartner of the 14th Wisconsin never made it home. Conrad Martin and Edward O'Hara were members of Co. A 27th Wisconsin who might have been lucky: they were reported to be mortally wounded at Jenkins Ferry but were taken prisoner and remained at a Rebel prison camp until the the war's end. Comrade Robert Dalziel's wife learned he had died when a letter came back with the note, "Your husband is dead." Dalziel died of disease.

Peter Simon, who fought with Co. K, 21st Wisconsin, was wounded at Perryville on October 8, 1862 and taken prisoner. After a 113 day imprisonment, he rejoined the Army at Murfeesboro, Tennessee in March 1863. From there he went to Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and was on the campaign from Atlanta to the sea. He went through South Carolina swamps to North Carolina and participated in the last battle of Bentonville. Simon went on to be truant officer in Green Bay. Simon must have been a man of iron.

*The Ahnapee Record, 9/3/1885 says, "The pension laws provide that soldiers who have lost a leg at the hip joint or an arm at the shoulder joint in the service of the country, shall be entitled to pensions at the rate of $37.00 per month. It has been the custom of the pension department to construe this law strictly. There are less than a dozen cases on the pension rolls where the amputation has taken place exactly through the joints as mentioned." After test cases it was ruled that if the amputation was so near the hip or shoulder so as to "render the stumps unserviceable," the pensioner would be allowed the higher rate.