casualties on the march?

[Epaphroditus]

I read account after account of soldiers dying by the roadside of heatstroke as the Army of the Potomac raced to catch up with General Lee and his army.

Does anyone know just how many men died? It strikes me that these poor souls should also be considered casualties of battle.

Eph

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by Epaphroditus

I read account after account of soldiers dying by the roadside of heatstroke as the Army of the Potomac raced to catch up with General Lee and his army.

Does anyone know just how many men died? It strikes me that these poor souls should also be considered casualties of battle.

Eph

My great grandfather spoke several times of sunstroke while marching. Here at Vicksburg in 1863 he writes.

June 29th.
Reveille at 4:30AM. At 5:30 marched to the trenches and were soon at work. Soon came orders to return to camp. At 10 AM came orders to pack and march. Marched near 16 miles towards the Big Black River and camped near Me. Calles estate so called. A severe day for marching. Dust and heat almost unendurable. Some cases of sun stroke. Our route interspersed with sharp hills-water scarce making the heat still more intolerable. Cut my blanket and threw away a part of it thus lightening my load. Got through the march well. Ought to be more thankful for the good health and strength God is giving me.

July 20th.
Routed at 3 AM ready to march at 4 AM, but after several short hitches got under way at 6 AM. Our whole Corps, wagons, artilleries, ambulances with the wounded etc. on the move together in one column bound back to Milldale. Our column made a fine show to an outsider, but it was anything but pleasant marching being very warm and dusty. Made about 20 miles during the day not getting into camp until 10 PM. Many “fell out” both of officers and men in fact more were left straggling by the way then went into the camp. But 10 of our company got into camp with the regiment officers. Many were sun struck, both officers and men. Had dinner of fresh meat and roast green corn and coffee. The meat distributed to us soon as killed.
www.civilwardiary.net

[M E Wolf]

Dear Epaphroditus,

It would be really difficult to narrow to a specific search about medical treatments of one specific battle; I am going to return to searching the Medical Section of my CD-ROM (part of the Official Records of the Rebellion)-

However, this may be interesting as it relates to Sunstroke--
Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume I
Chap. IX.--On Diseases Attributed To Non-Miasmatic Exposures.
IV.--Other Diseases Attributed To Exposure.
III.--Sunstroke.
Sunstroke is charged by the Monthly Reports with having occasioned 6,617 cases of sickness among the white troops during the five and one-sixth years; this is equal to an average annual rate of 3 per thousand of strength. Four per cent. of the cases were fatal, the deaths having numbered 261. Among the colored troops, 583 cases with 58 deaths were reported. The average annual rate was, as among the white troops, 3 per thousand; but 10 per cent. of the cases ended fatally. Had there been similar exposures on the part of the white and colored troops the statistics would have indicated an equal susceptibility to the causes of sunstroke, but the numerical records give no information concerning the conditions associated with their facts. There appears to have been no recorded instance of the same march made by white and colored commands under the same dangerous conditions quoad sunstroke. Hence the inferences from the statistics are not precise. But the evidence establishes the liability of the colored man to suffer from the causes of sunstroke, and his greater tendency to death when prostrated by this as by most other serious maladies.
The causes of sunstroke operated chiefly during the months of May, June, July and August. These months were credited with 92 per cent. of the whole number of cases, the <ms_p3v1_854>proportion of each in the order named having been, respectively, 17.2, 21.4, 31.4 and 22.0 per cent. of the total. But these results depended less upon the temperature of the months than upon other circumstances. The temperature of September, during the yearn of the war, was considerably higher than that of May and nearly as high as that of June, yet its proportion of cases of sunstroke was small. The temperature of August was somewhat higher than that of July, but its proportion of cases was much smaller.(*)
Some of our armies suffered more from sunstroke than others. The Army of the Potomac was specially subject: In June, 1863, although constituting only 18.2 per cent. of the strength of the commands that rendered the reports, it furnished 58 per cent. of the cases; in May, 1864, when its ranks contained 18.0 per cent. of the strength of our armies, it furnished 54 per cent. of the cases; in June of the same year, with 16.0 per cent. of the strength, it yielded 38 per cent. of the cases, and in August, with only 9.9 per cent. of the strength, it gave a little over one-third, 33.4 per cent. of the cases. In contrast with this the troops operating in the Department of the Cumberland and Tennessee had these percentages reversed: In June, 1863, they furnished only 17.5 per cent. of the cases while constituting 43 per cent. of the military strength; in May, 1864, they reported 14.9 per cent. of the cases from 33.3 per cent. of the strength, and in August 11.6 from 39.1 per cent.
Sunstroke seldom visited our camps; it seized on its victims while on the march or engaged in laborious field work. Occasionally nine-tenths of the monthly aggregate of cases that occurred in a command were the result of one day's long or forced march. Fatigue was as much an element in the causation of these cases as exposure to the sun. In fact, the majority of the cases reported as sunstroke were the result of heat, over-exertion and an insufficient water-supply. They were a combination of exhaustion with its syncopic tendency, and of an abnormal quality of the blood, manifesting itself by a tendency to stasis, particularly in the lungs or brain. Clinically this was shown by the syncopic character of the attack and the non-suppression of the heat-reducing function of the skin, as manifested by the moisture which bedewed its surface. Recovery in these cases was speedy and complete when the conditions were favorable. The removal of the belts and burdens of the soldier, rest in the recumbent position, protection from the heat and stimulants and water as required, generally sufficed to re-establish his natural powers.
Nevertheless, in most of these cases of exhaustion there existed to some extent a superheating of the blood which rendered them proportionately dangerous. In hot weather the extra heat developed within the system by the toilsome efforts of a hurried march requires to be dissipated to preserve the normal temperature of the body. Harm will ensue if any cause disturb the equilibrium between the production and dissipation of the animal heat. Nature preserves the normal, when the tendency is to an increase, by an increased activity of cutaneous and pulmonary exhalation. Any interference with these cooling processes induces a superheating of the system, which, on reaching a certain degree, becomes mani-
rested by urgent symptoms, as a thermic fever or sunstroke. Free play for the lungs and a light body-covering are necessary to the perfect operation of the heat-dissipating processes. Unfortunately the load carried by the soldier during the marches of the civil war not only interfered with pulmonary expansion, but so covered the surface of his body as to prevent its participation in the process of evaporation. His blanket, rolled into a long cylinder, was slung from one shoulder to the opposite hip; his canteen and haversack were similarly suspended by straps from the opposite shoulder, while a waist-belt kept the cartridge-box in position on his loins and the bayonet-scabbard by his side. Not a cooling evaporation, but a profuse loss of water in bulk from the system was the result of exercise under this heavy accoutrement, even though the air might be greedy of moisture. While perspiring profusely on a hot march the laboring foot soldier instinctively bared his breast to the atmosphere and exposed his arms to increase the small extent of evaporating surface. Many medical observers have noted the prevalence of sunstroke in a warm moist atmosphere, which interferes with evaporation from the surface and permits a loss of water from the system without a commensurate dissipation of heat. But even in a dry atmosphere the accoutrements of our troops prevented evaporation by keeping their body-covering in close contact with the skin. Again, the equilibrium between the production and dissipation of heat may be destroyed by a want of water in the system. When the water-supply at the command of the soldier was adequate, the superheating of the blood was so delayed that before it reached a dangerous point a temporary halt for rest, or perhaps the close of the day's march, enabled the system of a threatened subject to recover its normal condition and energies; but in the absence of a constant supply to replace that lost by excessive perspiration the skin speedily became dry. Promptly on the cessation of the cooling influence of evaporation from the surface the temperature of the body rose, and when the point was reached at which normal action ceased, the individual became sunstruck. The following extract from a paper by tl,e writer describes the onset in a case of this kind*)
The symptoms of the attack appear to depend on loss of water from the blood beyond the limit consistent with functional activities, and on the increased heat consequent on the suppression of evaporation. This indicates, as measures of prevention, free supplies of water and rest to lessen the production of heat and to afford opportunity to relieve the body from its impediments to cooling evaporation. Cold affusion or immersion in water fulfills the indications for treatment.(*) The first case in which water was used by the writer as the remedial agent was one of many that occurred, Sept. 12, 1863, near Rappahannock station, Va.
But sunstruck cases did not always trove so favorable an issue under this plan of treatment; for, if during the unconsciousness and convulsions of the primary attack the pathogenic conditions led to an injury of the brain, apoplectic coma, with speedy death or a prolonged illness, was the consequence. Headache, nausea, vomiting, faintness, quickly followed by unconsciousness and convulsions, characterized these cases; but until the development of the comatose state there was always a hope of prompt recovery. When coma supervened treatment consisted of cold to the head, cups and active purgation. General bleeding was seldom attempted, and perhaps fortunately so, as British military experience does not countenance its use.(*) There is usually so much associated exhaustion in the cakes of sunstruck soldiers, even when seemingly in the main apoplectic, that the patient is liable to die from syncope during the operation. Happily, however, the comatose state was developed only in a few deadly cases. The experience of civil life gives a fifty per cent. rate of fatality to sunstroke; but this high rate depends upon individual peculiarities:
The cases occur chiefly in those who have reached that stage of life when the conditions favorable to the supervention of apoplexy and paralysis are fully matured, while our soldiers were young men with all their tissues sound and free from the degenerations of advancing years.
Nor was the recovery of consciousness always followed by immediate convalescence. In some cases more or less febrile action was associated with local inflammatory processes of the brain, spinal cord, lungs or other organs. Untoward sequela were, however, of more frequent occurrence when the incidence of the morbific influences was mainly in the brain. The following cases have been collected from the records:
(Goes on citing cases and autopsy findings).

Just some thoughts.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf

[Epaphroditus]

Freddy:

How very fortunate you are to have access to your great-grandfather's thoughts and experiences during the war. Thank you for the link. I have bookmarked and plan to read through it in full. I have never been to Mississippi, but imagine the heat there is somewhat similar to the hot, humid, muggy, enervating heat that blankets the Mid-Atlantic in the summertime.

The saintly woman who raised my grandmother had possession of her father's diary, but no-one knows now what happened to it. A terrible loss.

Eph


M. E. Wolf:

Thank you for taking the trouble to post this excerpt from the OR. I do not own the OR, partly for sanity's sake, and for my family's sake. (I am afraid I might never re-emerge.)

About sunstroke, I was especially struck by the following:

The experience of civil life gives a fifty per cent. rate of fatality to sunstroke; but this high rate depends upon individual peculiarities:

The cases occur chiefly in those who have reached that stage of life when the conditions favorable to the supervention of apoplexy and paralysis are fully matured, while our soldiers were young men with all their tissues sound and free from the degenerations of advancing years.

This confirms what common sense would suggest -- that it was the older men, those with high blood pressure, most especially, who were likely to die from sunstroke.

I also found the following most pertinent:

Sunstroke seldom visited our camps; it seized on its victims while on the march or engaged in laborious field work. Occasionally nine-tenths of the monthly aggregate of cases that occurred in a command were the result of one day's long or forced march. Fatigue was as much an element in the causation of these cases as exposure to the sun. In fact, the majority of the cases reported as sunstroke were the result of heat, over-exertion and an insufficient water-supply.

This makes me wonder how William Oates's Alabamians came as close as they did to seizing Little Round Top, having already made a march that day of some twenty-eight miles in eleven hours. And that was before all the marching and counter-marching to get into possession. Plus Oates had sent a detail to the rear with all their canteens, which had not yet returned at the time he was ordered to attack. His brother, John, suffered acutely from rheumatism and must have been in terrible pain on July 2nd; still he insisted on participating in the attack and was killed.

Joshua Chamberlain's bout with sunstroke is more famously documented, both in the book, Killer Angels, and briefly alluded to in the movie.

But these are the cases we know about. What about all the others who died, heroically, or so it seems to me, wanting to keep up despite their extreme fatigue, the awful heat and humidity, and the treacheries of their own bodies? As someone who now has high blood pressure and very little tolerance for the heat/humidity, it makes me wonder whether I would have ever reached the battlefield.

Humbly submitted for consideration,

Eph

[richard]

You mentioned Oates. Wasn't his regiment about wiped out with measles before they even fired a shot? Or am I thinking of another regiment.

Sunstroke also was a major problem in Kentucky in 1862. Lack of rain and good water in an around Frankfort running back to Louisville combined with heat and dust caused many men to suffer from it.

[M E Wolf]

Dear Epaphroditus and List Members;

In one Medical Report; they had a chart to which in 1861 the Atlantic 'battle theater' there were 65 reported cases of sunstroke with one fatality.

In addition, people were dressed in wool all year round. This could not have been helpful during the summer months. During Gettysburg, it was around 90 degrees. But, in more mountain regions the humidity is less; whereas near Washington, DC its rather high. This is why many from the city had summer houses in West Virginia or the Shenandoah. It is 10 degrees less and; if they had caves --the temperature is constant.

That said, in reading The 1862 Pocket Companion -Manual for Staff Officers on the Field and the 1861-Revised Regulations for the Army of the United States; the rules and regulations of the march; it is written in both places that in marches the columns will have ambulances placed in various positions for those who become ill or pain prevents them from continuing the march. The other ambulances are toward the rear as to pick up those who fell out and give medical care. Then these individuals were transported to either a field hospital, a hospital train or a hospital ship; which transported them to Military Hospitals, such as in DC; there were (if memory serves me correctly) 52 hospitals and about as many in Alexandria and New York; Annapolis, MD was also a huge hospital and distributed cases from there.

I also notice in these books, concerning marches -- that canteens were filled before the march. Assembly was at 5 AM and departure on a march would be at 6 AM; to be at a designated place by 11 o'clock in the forenoon. They were given rest periods throughout the march as well. I further noticed; they ate soup before leaving on the march and carried their breakfast meat for the longer halt to be eaten there. Stretching meals out as not to march on too full of a stomach was apparently the strategy.

So, in summary--the Army did do all it could to make marches as humane as possible.



Just some thoughts.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf

[J_Man0507]

Epaphroditus,

If you want to be able to search the OR, here is a link to it online:

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/b...aphs/waro.html

As to heat stroke, it isn't a surprise that men would be falling with it on the march to Gettysburg. It was extremely hot and dusty, and if you have ever put on one of the period uniforms in the midst of summer, you can understand why. These were heavy wool uniforms, not very conducive to letting the air in. And being pushed to march up to twenty miles a day in the dust and with minimal stops for water and such, men were bound to fall out.