Frostbite during campaigning

Worlad

Cadet
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Location
wyoming
I have read many civil war related books on battles, generals, soldier's point of view, etc and there are quite a few quotes from Southern Generals, letters home, etc of Confederate soldiers without shoes marching over frozen roads, and through snow leaving blood trails and the like. Does anyone know of a source that speaks to the issue of frostbite, amputation, numbers etc. In that time period it is possible that no one was keeping these type of stats.
 
Dear Worlad;

I believe this may be of assistance:
Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume I
Chapter IV.--On The Continued Fevers.
II.--Clinical Records Of The Continued Fevers.
III.--Symptomatology Of The Continued Fevers.
II.--Typhoid Fever.
[excerpt]
Irrespective of the direct influence of the typhoid poison on the blood a morbid quality of this fluid necessarily resulted from the continuance of the febrile condition by its interference with the healthy action of the blood-forming and blood-purifying organs. This deterioration was occasionally manifested at a late period of the typhoid attack by the development of petechial spots and even of larger extravasations. Abscesses were formed in various situations, and sometimes these became gangrenous in character. Gangrene of the toes and feet, simulating that from frostbite and necessitating amputation, was recorded as a consequence of the typhoid affection.
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Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume I
Chapter IV.--On The Continued Fevers.
II.--Clinical Records Of The Continued Fevers.
V.--On The Pathological Anatomy And Pathology Of The Continued Fevers.
I.--The Cases And Their Analysis.
[excerpt]
GANGRENE OF THE FEET is recorded in six of the cases: 278, a malarial case in which amputation was performed at the metatarso-phalangeal articulations; 112, typho-malarial, in which amputation was effected by the circular method above the ankle, and 138, 143, 163 and 164 of the mixed series. In all the cases both feet were affected; in the three first mentioned the condition was attributed to frostbite.
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Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume I
Chapter IV.--On The Continued Fevers.
II.--Clinical Records Of The Continued Fevers.
V.--On The Pathological Anatomy And Pathology Of The Continued Fevers.
III.--The Organs Of Respiration And Circulation.
An impoverished condition of the blood, resulting from a deficiency of food, and the other co-operating influences to which a poverty-stricken people are subject have been so generally present not only in epidemics but in individual cases of fever characterized by gangrenous tendencies, that the appearance of the latter warrants a strong belief in the preexistence of the former. The deprivations and exposures to which our soldiers were liable, together with the prostration incident to repeated attacks of antecedent diarrhoea or other lowering diseases, render it probable that in occasional febrile seizures the specific cause of the fever found the patient in a condition as favorable for the development of spontaneous gangrene.as if he had undergone the preliminary course of starvation so common in Ireland during the years of famine and fever. On this view of the conditions associated with gangrene Dr. KEEN'S summary of the causes may be accepted as accurate. He attributed it to an altered blood, a weakened heart and the mechanical difficulties in carrying on the circulation, especially in distant parts; but in view of the usual seat of the affection in the lower extremities he concluded that the last two causes were the more immediately determining factors.(*) To these, perhaps, should be added exposure to cold, as the six reported cases occurred during months when frostbite from exposure on active field service was not uncommon, although unknown amid the comparative comforts of camp and hospital life. A degree of coldness of the feet resulting from displaced blankets, which, under ordinary conditions, would have been immediately succeeded by healthy reaction, may in these devitalized cases have sufficed to determine the development of gangrenous phenomena.(+)
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Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume II
Chapter XI.--Miscellaneous Injuries.
Section II.--Operations For Miscellaneous Injuries.
4, 5 Bates, C., Corp'l, E, 20th Maine, age 31. Jan. --, 1865. Frostbite and gangrene in both feet, contracted in rebel prison. April 25, 1865. Amp. both legs, lower thirds, antero-posterior flap. A.A. Surg. A. J. Smith. Discharged Oct. 21, 1865; sound stumps.

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Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume II
Chapter XI.--Miscellaneous Injuries.
Section II.--Operations For Miscellaneous Injuries.
18 Brown, C. E., Pt., G, 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, age 22. Jan. 3, 1865. Frostbite of left foot followed by ulceration. Mar. 15, 1865. Amp. left leg, lateral skin flaps and circular section muscles. A.A. Surg. B. B. Miles. Discharged May 16, 1865.
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27 Clark, C. O. F., Pt., G, 1st Oregon. Dec. 17, 1865. Frostbite of both feet. Jan. 17, 1866. Amp. left leg, mid- third, and right foot. A.A. Surg. M.V.Aman. Nov. 9, 1868, re-amp. in upper third. Disch'd April 14, 1866. 1870, sound stumps. Specs. 4128 and 4191, A. M. M.
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5, 36 Dougherty, B.T., Pt., K, 31st Illinois, age 22. Gangrene of both feet following frostbite while prisoner of war. April 17, 1865. Amp. both legs, lower thirds, circular. A. A. Surg. F. E. Martindale. Discharged October 13,
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38, 39 Dees, G. W., Pt., E, 13th Missouri Cavalry, age 23. Dec. 13, 1865. Frostbite of both legs. Dec. 16, 18, 1865. Amp. both legs, lower thirds. ***'t Surg. D. G. Wilson, 1st Michigan Cavalry. Discharged June 2, 1866.
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46, 47 Douglas, S., Governm't employé, age 33. Dec. 20, 1863. Frostbite of both feet. Feb. --, 1864. Circular amput'n of both limbs 1 inch above ankle joint. Recovery slow.
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57 Fitzgerald, W., Pt., A, 103d Illinois, age 29. ---- 1865. Frostbite of left leg in rebel prison. ---- 1865. Amputation of leg at middle third. Mustered out August 15, 1865.
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58 Fitzmier, F., Pt., D, 3d New Jersey Cavalry. Dec. 13, 1864. Frostbite of both feet. Amputation of right leg, lower third, after discharge. Amp. of right foot at met. phal. art., and great toe, left foot, Dec. 20, 1864. Disch'd July 5, 1865.
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84, 85 Huyard, A., Pt., C, 122d Pennsylvania. Feb. 10, 1863. Frostbite of both feet Mar. 10, 1863. Amp. of both legs, mid. third. A. Surg. E. Marshall. 124th New York. Discharged August 11, 1863.
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93 Keller, J. C., Pt., I, 49th Pennsylvania. Mar. --, 1864. Frostbite toes of left foot; gangrene. Nov. --, 1864. Flap amput'n leg, lower third. Dr. B. F. Wagonseller, Selin's Grove, Pennsylvania. Discharged May 15, 1865.
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16, 117 Miller, D. W., Pt., A, 13th Kentucky Cavalry, age 18. Dec. --, 1864. Loss of both feet from frostbite. May 13, 1865, Feb. 1, 1866. Amp. left leg at junct. mid. and lower thirds; amp. right leg at junct. of middle and lower thirds. Dr. H. Owens. Discharged January 14, 1865.
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118, 119 Morgan, M., Pt., H, 3d Colored H'vy Art., age 19. Jan. 1, 1864. Frostbite of both feet. Jan. 25, 29, '64. Amput'n of left and right legs at middle thirds. Surg. H. H. Hood, 3d Colored H'vy Art. Discharged May 9, 1865.
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136 Redfoot, G., Corp'l, K, 106th Pennsylvania. age 29. Feb. 20, 1865. Frostbite of left foot in rebel prison. Aug. 11, 1865. Circular amp. of leg, low. third. A. A. Surg. E. DeWitt. Discharged December 12, 1865.
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139, 140 Robinson, A., Pt., I, 8th Colored Troops, age 26. Dec. 18, 1864. Frostbite of both limbs. Feb. --, 1865. Amput'n of both legs in lower third. Discharged June 7, 1865; sound stumps.
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169 Watkins, E. D., Pt., H, 5th Kentucky Cavalry, age 30. Feb. 21, 1864. Frostbite of both feet: amput'n both feet April, 1865. Mar. 18, 1866. Amputation right leg 6 inches below knee. Recovered.
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84, 185 Black, J., Pt., I, 16th Conn., age 33. Frostbite of both feet while in captivity. April 24, 1865. Circular amp. both legs, lower third. A. A. Surg. E. DeWitt. Died April 27, 1865. of exhaust'n.
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89, 190 Coleman, R., Pt., B, 83d Pennsylvania. Nov --, 1864. Frostbite of both feet; mortification. Amputation of both legs below knee. Died January 2, 1865.
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13, 214 Ivory, J., Pt., D, 2d Tenn. Cavalry. Frostbite of both feet; gangrene. April 2, 1864. Flap amp. both legs, low. third. A. A. Surg. E. Herwig. Died April 30, 1864, of congestive fever.
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CONTINUED
 
Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume II
Chapter XI.--Miscellaneous Injuries.
Section II.--Operations For Miscellaneous Injuries.
221 Kries, F., Pt., H, 1st Missouri State Militia, age 41. Jan. 6, 1864. Frostbite of left foot. Jan. 12, 1864. Circ. amp. leg 4 inches above ankle. A.A. Surg. L. H. Callaway. Died January 18, 1864, of tetanus.
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232 Meador, F., Pt., K, 26th Colored Troops, age 40. Mar. 18, 1864. Frostbite left foot and two mid-die toes right foot. April 16, 1864. Amp. left leg, junct. up. thirds. and 2d middle toes, right foot. A. A. Surg. E. DeWitt. Died June 23. 1864, of pyaemia.
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246 Smith. W. W., Pt., I, 17th Alabama, age 19. Dec. 1, 1865. Frostbite of toes of both feet; mortification of parts. Mar. 9, 1865. Flap amputation right leg in middle third. ***'t Surg. J. C. Thorpe, U. S. V. (Feb. 11, 1865, 1st 4 toes right foot and 1st 3 toes left foot amput'd.)
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248 Thirlway, J., Pt., I, 69th N. York, age 18. Dec. 26, 1864. Frostbite of right foot; gang. Feb. 17, 1865. Circ. amp. of leg, lower third. A. A. Surg. C. F. Trautman. Died February 25, 1865, of exhaustion.
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249 Thompson, J.W., Pt., A, 5th Colored Troops, age 22. Jan. --, 1864. Frostbite of feet; gangrene. Feb. 17, 1864. Amp. left leg, lower third, semi-circ. method above, flap from below. A. A. Surg. B. T. Crooker. Died February 20, 1864, of exhaustion.
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251, 252 Weber, J., Pt., E, 7th New York, age 60. Jan. --, 1865. Frostbite of both feet; tetanus. Feb. 10, 1865. Amp. both legs, lower third, with lateral closure of stumps. ***'t Surg. H. Allen, U. S. A. Died February 11, 1865.
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Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume II
Chapter XI.--Miscellaneous Injuries.
Section II.--Operations For Miscellaneous Injuries.
CASE 1005.--Amputation of toes.--Hospital Steward R. Schofield, 69th Pennsylvania, aged 49 years, had both his feet frost-bitten while with his regiment in the field near Stevensburg, January 1, 1864. Surgeon R. B. Bontecou, U. S. V., in charge of Harewood Hospital, Washington, gives the following history: "The patient was a man of temperate habits and of good constitution. The tent in which he was sleeping in the field was blown down during the night, when his feet became exposed, the other parts of his body remaining well protected. Although the weather was intensely cold, he slept well during the night, and on waking up in the morning found the forepart of both his feet frozen. He received no treatment until admitted to this hospital on February 1st. At the time of his admission the patient was found to be suffering from dry gangrene of the toes of both feet, resulting from the freezing, and extending to the metatarsal bones of the left foot, with destruction of the soft parts. The patient was in good spirits, and although he was doing well it was deemed advisable to disarticulate the toes. Nourishing diet and stimulants were administered and simple dressings were used." The amputated tots, contributed to the Museum with the description of the case by Surgeon Boutecou. constitute specimen 2163 of the Surgical Section. and a representation of the diseased feet appears in the adjoining wood-cut (FIG. 372). The patient was discharged from service for disability January 27, 1865, and pensioned. The Philadelphia Examining Board on November 7, 1877, certified to the pensioner's condition as follows: "He has had all the toes of the right foot amputated through the metatarso-phalangeal articulation except the little toe, which is drawn into the cicatrix. The foot is defective in circulation and there are chronic ulcers of the leg extending from the ankle to within four and a half inches below the knee, being very offensive and requiring constant care and attention. This condition no doubt is due to anaesthesia of the foot and leg. The cicatrices extend around the leg and are constantly scaling. There is also varix above to a slight extent. The toes of the left foot were amputated at the tarso-metatarsal articulation, the stump showing a good ***** cicatrix; hyperaesthesia of foot or stump; atrophy of leg; stump alleged to be painful during changes of weather," etc. The pensioner was paid September 4, 1881.
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FIG. 372.--Dry gangrene of both feet after frostbite. Spec. 2163.
LIGATIONS.--Eighteen instances of ligations of the larger vessels were reported. The injuries in eight cases were incised wounds, in two punctured wounds, and in five aneurisms; in three cases the nature of the injury was not specified. Four of the operations were on arteries of the neck and trunk, four on vessels of the upper and ten on arteries of the lower extremities. Seven were fatal, viz. a ligation of the primitive carotid, of the external and common carotids, of a branch of the mesenteric, of the radial, two of the femoral with subsequent ligations of the external iliac, and one of an artery of the dorsum of the toot. Ten of the cases are here detailed:
CASE 1006.--Amputation in the arm. Ligation of the axillary and subsequently of the subclavian artery.--Private H. Rieman, Co. A, 12th Maine, aged 21 years, had his left arm crushed by a railroad accident near New Orleans, January 16, 1864, and suffered amputation at the middle third of the humerus. Surgeon J. B. G. Baxter, U. S. V., reported that the man was conveyed to Barracks General Hospital, where "the axillery artery was ligated, by reason of secondary haemorrhage from the brachial artery, on January 31st. On February 7th another haemorrhage supervened and the subclavian was ligated in the third portion, at its point of exit from behind the scalenus anticus muscle. The probable loss of blood amounted to two quarts. The subsequent treatment included tonics, stimulants, and diet as nourishing as possible. Some pyaemia did supervene, but haemorrhage did not again recur. By February 29th the ligature had come away and the wounds were healing rapidly, the patient's appetite being good and his condition presenting every prospect of recovery. The operations were performed by Surgeon O. M. Humphrey, U. S. V." The patient was subsequently admitted to Central Park Hospital, New York City, where he was discharged from service July 31, 1865, and pensioned. Several months after receiving his discharge he was furnished with an artificial arm by the firm of M. Lincoln, of Boston. The pensioner was paid September 4, 1881. Stump in good condition.
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CASE 1007.--Ligation of primitive carotid for aneurismal tumor.--Acting Assistant Surgeon W. P. Moon reports the following history of "Private H. Cater, Co. C, 106th New York, aged 37 years, who was admitted to Mower Hospital, Philadelphia, September 12, 1864, on account of a tumor of the neck, situated in the upper portion of the right great anterior triangle and being about an inch and a quarter in diameter. The tumor had first been noticed about a year before, growing slowly, and for two or three months the patient was subject to paroxysms resembling asthma, relief being obtained by inhalations of ether. His general health was good, but the mass was evidently encroaching upon the larynx and œsophagus latterly, and after consultation it was decided to attempt the removal of the tumor. The patient was first allowed a furlough to go home and consult his friends, after which, finding his case growing rapidly worse, he finally consented to submit to an operation. Accordingly, on December 13th, he was thoroughly etherized, and I made an incision over the centre of the tumor down to the cyst. The enveloping membrane was found to be very vascular and the tumor had the feeling of the fibroid class. While we were examining the mass, having partly enucleated it and getting down to its attachment, the patient was seized with vomiting and two superficial veins were ruptured by the retching. As soon as these were tied another seemed to give way, the retching increased, and the haemorrhage became so profuse that we were compelled to desist from all further efforts for the time being and decided to close up the wound after ligating the open vein, hoping for a favorable termination by suppuration. For some days the case did so well that we had strong hopes of a favorable result, Drs. D. H. Agnew, E. R. Fell, and others were present at the operation, and the patient was carefully attended by Dr. Fell. Two days afterwards the case had become complicated by erysipelas, involving the chest and right side of neck, but being readily controlled by tincture of iodine externally, and tincture of chloride of iron, Dover's powder, etc., internally. On December 18th the wound had closed except at the upper and lower points of the incision, from which openings healthy pus was discharged; but there was an unpleasant odor which excited suspicion; patient's tongue white in centre, but moist. No untoward symptoms exhibited themselves until December 26th, when secondary haemorrhage suddenly set in to the amount of some thirty ounces, being arrested by charpie and compress. After the wound was opened and a careful examination had been made by Dr. T. G. Morton and myself, we could not determine distinctly from what vessel the haemorrhage came, owing to the altered condition of the tissues, and therefore concluded to ligate the right primitive carotid as the most likely means to prevent a recurrence of the haemorrhage. The ligature was applied about an inch and a quarter above its origin from the innominata. The tumor was found to have nearly disappeared, and what remained consisted of a calcareous deposit attached to the thyroid cartilage--the veins covering it, with the entire cyst, having sloughed away. On the next day the patient was apparently doing well; wound dry but disposed to slough; very little pus forming. The parts were dressed with diluted chlorinate of soda. On December 29th there was partial paralysis of the left side; wound showing some disposition to clean out; pulse 108; tongue dry and coated; nausea, with some vomiting; slight delirium, with some tendency to diarrhœa, which was controlled by an enema. Wound dressed with solution of permanganate of potassa. On December 30th the patient seemed to improve--taking his cream, beef-essence, and brandy without difficulty, and having no vomiting nor diarrhœa; pulse 90; wound cleaning out. On the following morning the wound presented healthy granulations, but the patient had a rigor, followed by fever and perspiration, precursors of pyaemia. From this time a decided change for the worse became evident and the patient continued to sink until the morning of January 5, 1865, when he died. The wound was healthy at the time of death. The postmortem examination revealed the ordinary condition of a pyaemic patient, and showed that pus had dissected down the sheaths of the vessels nearly to the pericardium. An organized clot was found above as well as below the ligature. The former xtended down to the point of the ligation, and the latter was found occupying the carotid to within a few lines of the innominata and extending up an inch and a half above the bifurcation. The ligature had ulcerated through the carotid."
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CONTINUED
 
Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume II
Chapter XI.--Miscellaneous Injuries.
Section II.--Operations For Miscellaneous Injuries.
CASE 1008.--Ligation of brachial for aneurism.--Corporal R. L. Phillips, Co. M, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, aged 44 years, admitted into City Hospital, St. Louis, September 15, 1862, with an aneurism of the brachial artery, caused by a sprain; had been increasing gradually. October 2d, ligation of artery by Surgeon J. T. Hedges, U. S. V. October 24th, coldness in hand; ligature removed. Returned to regiment November 20, 1862, quite well; aneurism nearly same size, but no pulsation.

CASE 1009.--Ligation of brachial for incised wound.--Private W. Stewart, Co. G, 1st Connecticut Cavalry, aged 23 years, admitted to Douglas Hospital, Washington, July 31, 1865, with an incised wound of the internal aspect of the lower third of the left arm, inflicted with a penknife. July 31st, ligation of the brachial artery (supposed) at its bifurcation in continuity by Surgeon R. B. Bontecou, U. S.V. The radial pulse was almost if not quite as full as on the right side, leading to the conclusion that either the brachial had not been tied or that the bifurcation was high up in the arm. August 6th and 8th, ligatures came away. August 25th, wound entirely healed; slight pain in forearm. Transferred to New Haven August 31, 1865.

CASE 1010.--Ligation of femoral followed by ligation of external iliac; death.--Private W. P. Webb, Co. H, 4th Maine, aged 21 years, was admitted to Master Street Hospital, Philadelphia, August 12, 1862, suffering from an abscess resulting from a contusion. Acting Assistant Surgeon P. B. Goddard reported that "the injury was located at the outer and anterior part of lower third of the right thigh, and was inflicted by a blow with the butt end of a musket. The abscess was followed by caries of the femur, and the patient was much debilitated when admitted, but improved until secondary haemorrhage set in at the seat of the abscess. In order to control this Acting Assistant Surgeon D. Gilbert was obliged to ligate the femoral artery above the profunda on September 21st. The patient did well until the ligature cut through on September 25th, when from the aplastic condition of the blood no coagulation had taken place in the calibre of the vessel and violent haemorrhage from the divided femoral artery was the consequence. This was controlled by the ligation of the external iliac below the origin of the deep epigastric by Acting Assistant Surgeon W. H. Pancoast on September 25th. The haemorrhage, however, reappeared at the seat of the first ligation on September 30th, when Dr. Pancoast was obliged to enlarge the former incision, and finding that the lifting up of the external iliac on the groove director just below the bifurcation controlled the bleeding entirely, he ligated the artery at that point. The patient lived several days after the operation; but he could not recover from the effects of the haemorrhages and sank away gradually till October 3, 1862, when he died. The temperature of the leg continued good after the operation."

CASE 1011.--Ligation of femoral followed by ligation of external iliac.--Private D. Britton, Co. C, 5th Indiana Cavalry, aged 34 years, entered hospital No. 2, at Nashville, on September 19, 1864. He was admitted on account of femoral aneurism. located in Scarpa's triangle, for which pressure had been applied, producing an extensive gangrenous slough below Poupart's ligament. Surgeon J. E. Herbst, U. S. V., who described the case, reported that he ligated the femoral artery three-fourths of an inch below Poupart's ligament on October 2d, and that haemorrhage to the amount of forty-eight ounces occurred four days afterwards, when the external iliac artery was ligated by Acting Assistant Surgeon M. N. Benjamin. Death occurred on October 7, 1864, from exhaustion resulting from the haemorrhage.

[EXCERPT - many cases]

CASE 1015.--Ligation of an artery of the foot.--Surgeon T. H. Squire, 89th New York, reports: "Private T. P. Barrows, Co. G, 35th Massachusetts, aged 18 years, accidentally wounded by an axe, which slipped from the handle while he was using it, making a transverse cut across the dorsum of the left foot, injuring the metatarsal bones, dividing the tendons and one artery, which required a ligature. The wound has been painful, the foot is badly swelled, the wound is ugly, and, for aught I know, the boy will eventually lose his limb or life from it; now being poulticed. Died November 1, 1862."
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Other Accidents and Injuries.--Of fifteen thousand two hundred and seventy-three injuries of various kinds, grouped in this class, one thousand and seventy-five were fatal, a mortality of 7.03 per cent. A large number of these cases were injuries from frostbite.
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Medical/Surgical History--Part III, Volume II
Subject-Matter Index Of The
Three Volumes Of The Surgical Part Of The
Medical And Surgical History Of The War Of The Rebellion.
Dry Gangrene, XI, 351; III, 850, 851; after ligation of ulnar artery, II, 435; after shot wounds, II, 351; III, 310, 314, 542; for frostbite, III, 678; due to impaired circulation, III, 850.
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Frostbite, III, 671; amputations for, III, 671, 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677. Gall-bladder, shot wounds of, II, 136, 137, 140; shot rupture of, II, 193. Galvanism to revive patient asphyxiated by ether, II, 187.
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END OF SEARCH

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
 
frostbite...

Wow! Great source and a true wealth of information that you have provided me. I thank you very much! It is amazing the hardships and privations that all soldiers went thru during the CW, especially the Confederates who were usually short on everything but guts. Again, Thanks!
 
Dear Worlad;

The files copied for you are from the Union/Federal records.

A lot of records with the Confederate Forces were destroyed. So, unless there was a Rebel prisoner in Union care, rarely will you see their health situation.

If I have more time, I will go into other resources and see what frostbite cases I can find.

Just some thoughts.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
 
In East Tennessee during the winter of 1863 and 1864, it is noted that many of Longstreet's men were without of shoes. During the last days of December and the early part of January, the weather was very adverse in fact many confederates died at there picket posts. I am not sure of the exact date but it reached -29 one night. Many of these men froze to death.

Richard
 
Sam Watkins the death on pickettt of several men due to the cold. Some accounts of garrison on the western frontier also detail the cause and effect of frostbite. They weathered it as we do today by layering their clothing and sharing bunks and blaankets.
 
frostbite

Dear Richard,

Thank you for your input. I did a stint in the USMC and did cold weather training in the Great Smoky Mtns. To be honest I could not imagine going barefoot and marching in freezing temperatures muchless snow. Many of the soldiers without shoes had to fall out of the marches during winter with one report citing 200+ men from one regiment alone. (I'll have to dig through my volumes for citation info if you are interested, so if you are interested let me know)
 
Dear List Members;

Here are the 'hits' on using 'men frozen to death.'

O.R.--SERIES I--VOLUME XLVII/2 [S# 99]
UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA (FROM FEBRUARY 1), SOUTH CAROLINA, SOUTHERN GEORGIA, AND EAST FLORIDA, FROM JANUARY 1, 1865, TO MARCH 23, 1865.(*)--#12
BELLAIRE, January 30, 1865--11.30 a.m.
W. PRESCOTT SMITH,
Baltimore, Md.:
Thank God, nearly everything is here safe. Ten trains left yesterday; hope to get off the balance to-day. Your employes have worked splendidly; we have been off the track on the Ohio Central several times by broken rails or axles, arising from severe cold weather, occasioning much delay, and had some narrow escapes from great disaster, but so far there has been no injury or loss of life, limb, or property. Stories about men being frozen to death are pure fiction. I have inquired carefully and cannot find a single case of even a frozen limb. Troops are cheerful and happy in being sent East in cars not overcrowded and having stoves.
LEWIS B. PARSONS,
Colonel and Chief of Rail and River Transportation.
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O.R.--SERIES II--VOLUME VIII [S# 121]
UNION AND CONFEDERATE CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, ETC., RELATING TO PRISONERS OF WAR AND STATE FROM JANUARY 1, 1865, TO THE END.--#16
RICHMOND, March 13, 1865.
To the Honorable COMMITTEE OF THE CONFEDERATE SENATE:
SIRS: During a short conference held on yesterday, at the suggestion of Colonel Ould, between the Honorable Senator Watson, a member of your committee, and myself, the statements which I then made respecting my own treatment and that of other prisoners confined by the Federal authorities at Lexington, Ky., during the past fall and winter, was regarded by Mr. Watson of so much importance that he requested me to state some of the material facts which were presented in that conversation in writing, under the impression, as I learned, that they might be of use as part of a record now being made by the Confederate Government.In compliance with this suggestion I make this communication, and at the outset I would remark that it is my impression that many of the outrages now perpetrated by the U.S. authorities upon our prisoners have been provoked and incited by false representations made by many of their men confined in Confederate prisons at various times, and in retaliation for what they regard as brutality on the part of the Confederacy. Statements of such a character, published at large in the journals daily circulated over the country and reaching the officials who have charge of the various places where men are confined, cannot fail to produce bad blood and must lead to unkindness, even to brutal treatment, of the poor prisoners whose lives under the most favorable auspices are very miserable; and while I regard retaliation as the only means by which the condition of our captives can be ameliorated, yet the publication to the world at large of many facts which must come to your knowledge would be more than useless, and tend to aggravate the miseries of the poor men whom you are attempting to relieve.
I trust your committee will excuse the above remarks. For certain purposes which it would be irrelevant to state here, with a commission of C. S. colonel in my pocket, I went into Kentucky about the middle of October last. I was accompanied by Col. R. J. Breckinridge and Major Steele. Upon reaching the interior, after passing over a country almost ruined by the marauding parties of both armies, by extraordinary exertions and precautions, we reached the hills of Owen County, on the Kentucky River, all safe. Here we had time to look about us, and had I not seen with my own eyes the attitude occupied by those people I would never have believed that free white men could be reduced so completely and absolutely to the most degrading of all conditions. While outwardly and to the Federal authorities they professed a cordial hatred for all traitors and rebels, paid taxes, furnished money, many of them going so far as to join the Federal Army, for the purpose of saving their property from Yankee confiscation and their persons from Yankee brutalities, to me they professed their cordial sympathy with the South, contributed in many ways to the furtherance of my views, treated me with the utmost kindness and hospitality, and seemed ready and anxious to do
verything which might not endanger their lives or jeopardize their property. They were all things to all men. The whole State filled with a once proud people is now wretched and degraded, a living lie.
n the county of Owen, which is almost universally Southern in its proclivities, separating myself from Colonel Breckinridge and Major Steele, who at once commenced recruiting and were very successful in furtherance of my own plans, I put myself in communication with Colonel Jessee, a Confederate officer, who, with a small part of a regiment, had been cut off from General Morgan's command after the fight at Cynthiana during the past summer. He had remained in this and one or two adjoining counties, with his men not held together in compact form, here in the very heart of Kentucky, for many months, almost undisturbed by the Federal troops immediately in his vicinity. From Jessee's representations and from various conversations with many of the people it seemed to me that the State was on the very eve of rebelling against the Federal authorities. This opinion was confirmed by information which I received from several of the most prominent men of the State. I was very careful in the concealment of my plans, so fearful of being captured that, avoiding houses as dangerous, I took up my quarters in the hills and woods, where I was fed and carried on my business arrangements through certain persons who were apprised of my whereabouts.
In this state of my affairs, with everything very promising before me, I was apprised one night that Colonel Jessee wished to consult me upon some matters of the utmost importance; a courier was waiting to conduct me to his headquarters. I mounted, rode down to the river, where there was a small boat awaiting me, crossed over, leaving my horse tied on the bank of the stream. I spent the remaining portion of the night with Colonel Jessee. Next morning before breakfast we walked down to the river, where I saw my horse still tied. Upon our return to the house (before reaching it, however) I saw a force of Federal cavalry numbering some 150 descending the hill beyond the house and within half a mile. Fortunately Jessee's horses were all saddled, and at once he mounted with his guards of some fifteen men, and being upon splendid animals, escaped without difficulty. I was left, however, my horse being on the other side of the river. I ran into the bushes immediately upon the margin of the river; remained concealed until ]ate in the evening. Just before dark I came out, made a reconnaissance, saw six men in Federal uniform ride up to the house (the only one in the neighborhood with which I was acquainted), dismount, leave a sentinel at the gate, and they were still there as long as I could see. It was night, raining, and very cold; I was hungry; had no blanket or overcoat; I knew no one in the neighborhood, and was afraid to apply to any one for food and shelter lest I might be informed on and captured. I had seen a large hay barn some half a mile distant during the day, and determined to take shelter for the night under its roof. When I reached the barn and was about to enter I heard the stamp of horses within, and believing that they were Yankee cavalry, who were likewise sheltering from the storm, I retreated hastily to some stacks, where, covering myself with the hay, I remained until the early dawn. I then returned, it being yet dark, to my shelter under the riverbank nearer to the house. When it became sufficiently light for me to discover objects at a distance I was astonished to see my horse still standing where I had left him two nights before. I thought it was a trap, that the Yankees had left him there as a bait, and were watching my return to capture me. Of course I did not go near him, but hid in the bushes and kept a sharp lookout. I soon discovered that there was a man not far off on the lookout, but after remaining for some time he left. Two boys then came down to the river; crossed over to my side. I captured one of them and learned that the Yankees had all gone down the river, the last of them having left but a short time before. I went to the house, where I was kindly welcomed and well fed. Mrs. M. was kind enough to send two negroes to swim my horse across the river. When they were in the very act of bringing him down the bank a party of Federals disclosed themselves and carried off horse and negroes. Again believing they would come over, I ran to the bushes and concealed myself all day and part of the night. At night, seeing a signal which had been arranged between Mrs. M. and myself, I went to the house and was most hospitably entertained. On the third morning the same scene was re-enacted, and I spent the day in the bushes exposed to the most tremendous rain I ever saw. This day they treated my kind host with much indignity and destroyed his boat. I came in at night, and concluding that these constant and repeated visits to this particular house were prompted by the knowledge that I was in the vicinity, I determined to go across the river and seek shelter again in the hills and bushes. I walked two miles to a point where there was a «25 R R--SERIES II, VOL VII» little boat lying opposite, and concealing myself, waited the arrival of some citizen, believing that some one would soon come, now that all the boats except this one had been destroyed. A man soon came along, the boat came over for him; I discovered myself just as they were going off, and by force of arms obtained a passage across.
After leaving the river and in passing along a narrow pathway over the cliff immediately contiguous I encountered a Federal soldier, whom, while attempting to capture me, I shot dead. I reached my place, laid up in the bushes, was well fed, received many letters in reply to those I had written. My work was progressing well, when one night I was lured to his house by a man represented to be entirely reliable, and when asleep in bed was surrounded and captured. I was aware of General Burbridge's bloody order requiring all officers and men caught without their commands to be shot on the spot and not brought in as prisoners. I had many misgivings. I was conducted to the little town of Owenton, and there confined in the court-house under a heavy guard with eighteen other men. We were kept here several days, the major who was in command of the troops being absent in Lexington. When he returned he came into the room where we were all together, and after questioning all the other men he took me into an adjoining room. He stated to me that under the orders he had received from headquarters all of us would be shot the next morning at 9 o'clock. I planned and would have attempted an escape that night--had determined to force the guard--but before the time appointed we were taken and placed in little cells in the county jail, the most loathsome and horrible places I have ever seen. There were eight men in my cell, a little room about eight feet by six. The walls and floor were of cast iron. It was wet and foul, and the only air was admitted through a little grating in the door about the size of a small pane of glass. Here a guard was stationed. After remaining some time in this horrible place--so foul was the air that I became extremely sick--I vomited a great deal. The sentinel at the door discovering my condition reported it to the major, who ordered me to be taken out and carried back to the court-house and there kept under strict guard. I soon recovered. How those poor men who were left in that hole managed to live through the night is a mystery to me. I am sure I should have died had I remained two hours longer.
Next morning a party of men were detailed, as I learned, for the execution. Immediately after breakfast Major Mahoney came round to the room where I was to see, I suppose, if I was well enough to be shot. During the interview which ensued I succeeded in convincing him of the barbarity of the order of General Burbridge and persuading him to take us all to Lexington. One man who had been brought into the town the evening before had been executed. I heard the guns by which he was killed, but I never saw the man. They said he was a guerrilla; the man claimed, as I learned, to be a Confederate soldier. After this the major was kind enough to parole me to the limits of the town. Next morning we all started for Lexington, General Burbridge's headquarters. I was mounted on a horse and rode at will with the command, and had much conversation with the major, who seemed to be a pleasant and humane man. The other prisoners were placed in wagons and brought in under strict guard. When we reached the line between Owen and Franklin Counties the command was halted, sixteen men were detailed, the major dismounted, and I saw him writing an order. The column moved forward and I went with it. After we had proceeded some 200 or 300 yards the major rode up beside me and remarked that this was a "most horrible war." I asked the reason of his remark, and he told me he had just ordered four of those prisoners in the wagons to be shot at the line of the two counties as an example to all malefactors. My blood ran cold in my veins, and I begged him to spare the men; told him that such acts were evidently inconsistent with his character; that there could be no difficulty if he used the necessary precautions about carrying these men to Lexington, and if this deed of blood had to be committed, were I in his place I would leave it to General Burbridge to carry it through. He concluded to spare the men, sent back an officer to stop the execution, and we moved on.
I wish I could tell you of several scenes which transpired along the road, going to show the complete subjugation of the population and their abject submission, but this narrative is already too long and I must bring it to an end. We reached Frankfort and I was turned loose on parole with instructions to report next morning at the railroad depot. I saw during the night many of my relatives and friends and succeeded in enlisting them in my favor. They were all Union people--at least professed to be so. On the following morning I was placed under a new guard and carried on the train to Lexington, taking leave of Major Mahoney, who had been very kind after he determined not to shoot me. At Lexington we were carried to the office of the provost-marshal, who, after insulting and using the most abusive language to us all, had us committed to the prison. This prison was an old warehouse, in CONTINUED
 
along room of which were about 120 men of all descriptions--Yankee deserters, men belonging to General Grant's army who had been sent through the lines by the Confederate Government and captured in Kentucky, men who belonged to the guerrilla bands who infest the State, bounty jumpers, disaffected citizens, and Confederate soldiers. There were occasionally during my stay a few negroes introduced in this room, but they never remained long, were treated with greater consideration than the whites, and the same charges which would keep a white man for months would not detain a negro as many days. A more filthy, loathsome, and uncomfortable place could not be well conceived, full of filth and swarming with vermin. The four large windows fronting north and south had scarcely a pane of glass in them. The floor was uneven and full of cracks. There were two large stoves, which were [sic.] fully supplied with fuel served very poorly to keep up anything like a comfortable temperature, and which for many days and nights of the severest weather the past winter were not in blast for the want of fuel. Many of the prisoners were wretchedly clothed, some of them almost naked; a large number of them had no blankets, and how they survived some of those bitter cold nights was a matter of astonishment to me. They were required to lie down at 8 o'clock, where they were compelled to remain all night, and I frequently expected when day dawned upon us to see the men frozen to death.
The executions under the bloody order of General Burbridge commenced about this time. One day immediately after my arrival the provost-marshal, Lieutenant Vance, came into the room, and looking over the men picked out fifteen. They were carried downstairs. In a short time five of them returned. They had drawn lots for their lives and escaped; the other ten were taken out and shot. The day after six others were carried out and executed. Three men who were brought in and belonged to Jessee's command, within four hours after their arrival were carried from the prison and hung, and this thing went on until twenty-eight of our number, almost invariably Confederate soldiers, had fallen victims to this unheard-of barbarity. You may imagine--I cannot describe--the horror and dread which spread among the prisoners at witnessing these scenes. These men were not tried before a military commission or court-martial. They were simply selected by the provost-marshal, as it seemed to me, without any reference to the guilt or innocence of the parties, just as a butcher would go into a slaughter pen and select at his will the beeves or the sheep or the hogs which he might wish to destroy. The thing was very horrible. About one-half the men in the prison were in irons, some of them with handcuffs on their wrists, others with balls and chains on their limbs; many of them chained together two and two. We were fed on ship crackers, cold beef, coffee, and bean soup. Our supplies were in sufficient quantities, and though many of the men complained, so far as food was involved I never suffered. We were guarded a portion of the time by negro troops. They were not obtrusive nor insulting; were extremely vigilant, and I verily think the best garrison troops I have seen during the war. The private soldiers of Indiana regiments, who were nearly all the time upon duty in the prison, were, generally speaking, orderly, well-behaved, well-disciplined men; many of them were even kind to the prisoners. In fact, all the acts of brutality which were perpetrated upon us were invariably attributable to the officers and not to the private soldiers.
In these uncomfortable quarters many of the men fell sick. Measles, mumps, diphtheria, typhoid fever, erysipelas, and pneumonia prevailed to an alarming extent. No man was ever carried to the hospital until he was almost in extremis, and many of them died.
After remaining in the room some six weeks we were transferred to another much larger and more comfortable apartment, but the sickness among us was on the increase, and, in addition to the diseases above mentioned, the smallpox made its appearance in our midst. This gave us great uneasiness and a good many were carried off to the hospital. In the late part of January I was taken ill. I suffered greatly for several days. The doctor, who was kind, on the fourth day after my attack pronounced my disease smallpox or varioloid and decided to send me to the pest-house. A horse-cart was driven to the door of the prison and I was placed in it with a poor negro from another prison, and, with the wind blowing fiercely and the snow falling fast, we were carried to a house some three miles in the country, which was used as a hospital for smallpox patients of all kinds. My courage has been tried upon many a battle-field--I have fronted death in a thousand shapes--but never was it so severely tried as when I was conducted into the small room where I was to be treated for this loathsome disease. There were seven patients already in the room, several of them in the last stages of the disease, all of them horribly swollen and wretchedly offensive. My clothes, everything belonging to me except the chains upon my limbs, were taken from me and carried away. I was dressed in some old Federal traps and placed upon a straw mattress on a little iron bedstead. The same evening one of the men in my room died; he was taken out at once to be buried, and I was immediately transferred to his place. There was a large negro on one side of me dreadfully ill, and beyond conception offensive. Next morning another man died. This poor fellow was from my prison, and like me had fetters upon his limbs. After his death men came in, knocked the chains from the stiffening corpse, and he was carried off. Immediately I was changed into his place. Next day another man, one of the negroes, died, and they were about to move me again, but I protested and they desisted. My attack was a slight one, and in ten days I was back again in my prison quarters. Here, after remaining some time longer, it was announced to me that I was to be sent on for special exchange. My irons were taken off and I was placed upon the cars and sent to Louisville and thence to Fort Monroe.
Such is an imperfect narrative of my capture and confinement.
Very respectfully,
J. D. MORRIS,
Colonel, C. S. Army.
==========================================================
FOX’S REGIMENTAL LOSSES
CHAPTER VII.
Fifty-second Indiana, Company B :--"William Tyler; frozen to death near Fort Pillow, December 31, 1863." (The rolls of this company show that Lieutenant Edwin Alexander and five men were frozen to death in a snow-storm on an island in the Mississippi river, while on a scouting expedition.)


END OF SEARCH USING KEY WORDS 'M/men frozen to death'

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
 
Dear List Members;

Using key word search; 'frozen to death' --these come up:
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME 8 [S# 8]
NOVEMBER 19, 1861-JANUARY 4, 1862.--Operations in the Indian Territory.
No. 1. -- Report of Col. Douglas H. Cooper, First Choctaw and Chickasaw Regiment, commanding Indian Department, of operations November 19, 1861-January 4, 1862.
HEADQUARTERS INDIAN DEPARTMENT,
Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation, January 20, 1862.
[excerpt]
This fatiguing scout of seven days, embracing the entire country lately occupied by Hopoeithleyohola's forces, accomplished over an exceedingly rough and bleak country, half the time without provisions, the weather very cold (during which 1 man was frozen to death), was endured with great fortitude by the officers and men under my command.
[excerpt]
DOUGLAS H. COOPER,
Colonel, C. S. Army, Commanding Indian Department.
Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN,
Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.
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O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXII/2 [S# 33]
Correspondence, Orders, And Returns Relating To Operations In Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, The Indian Territory, And Department Of The Northwest, From January 1 To December 31, 1863.
UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.--#6
HEADQUARTERS,
Saint Louis, Mo., March 7, 1863.
Major-general HALLECK, General-in- Chief:
General Davidson reports that Colonel McNeil encountered forces of Jeff. Thompson below Bloomfield; killed 9 rebels and took 20 prisoners; also considerable live stock. Marmaduke is reported near Chalk Bluff with his force from Nebraska. General Craig reports the Ute Indians stealing horses on stage line; were pursued, and stock recovered. Lieutenant commanding badly wounded. Fifty of troops under Colonel Collins, Ohio cavalry, going to relief of Fort Halleck, caught in snow storm and badly frosted. Two frozen to death. SAML. R. CURTIS,
Major-General.
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O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXII/1 [S# 57]
JANUARY 3, 1864.--Action at Jonesville, Va.
No. 4. --Report of Brig. Gen. William E. Jones, C. S. Army, commanding Cavalry Brigade.
HEADQUARTERS JONES' CAVALRY BRIGADE,
Jonesville, Va., January 7, 1864.
COLONEL: Preparatory to executing the design imparted in your confidential note of the 28th ultimo,(*) I moved my command across Clinch River on the 2d instant. Soon after going into camp information reached me that the enemy had driven Lieutenant-Colonel Pridemore through this place, and was still going east. I at once determined to cross Powell's Mountain that night to attack him in rear, and ordered Colonel Pridemore to attack in front as soon as he found me engaged. The weather was intensely cold. Many of my men could not be started from their camps. Every halt of a few moments fires were started, and probably more than half of those who did leave were far in rear before daylight. The road was rough and in many places almost impassable from ice, but onward we went with all that could or would go. One man was frozen to death and many were badly frost-bitten.
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O.R.--SERIES I--VOLUME XLII/3 [S# 89]
UNION CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, AND RETURNS RELATING TO OPERATIONS IN SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA, FROM OCTOBER 1, 1864, TO DECEMBER 31, 1864.(*)--# 44
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE JAMES,
December 25, 1864. (Received 10.20 a.m.)
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
General Ferrero telegraphs as follows:
Hunton's brigade, of Pickett's division, left for Gordonsville on Friday morning last by rail; thirteen men reported frozen to death on the cars. Six deserters came in during the night. The Thirty-first U.S. Colored Troops has returned; also the balance of Colonel Wells' brigade.
J. W. TURNER,
Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff.
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O.R.--SERIES II--VOLUME VIII [S# 121]
UNION AND CONFEDERATE CORRESPONDENCE, ORDERS, ETC., RELATING TO PRISONERS OF WAR AND STATE FROM JANUARY 1, 1865, TO THE END.--#14
COLUMBUS, OHIO, March 2, 1865.
MARCH 3, 1865.
Report of the joint select committee appointed to investigate the condition and treatment of prisoners of war.
[By Mr. Watson in Senate and Mr. Perkins in House.]
The duties assigned to the committee under the several resolutions of Congress designating them are--
to investigate and report upon the condition and treatment of the prisoners of war respectively held by the Confederate and United States Governments; upon the causes of their detention and the refusal to exchange, and also upon the violations by the enemy of the rules of civilized warfare in the conduct of the war.
[excerpt]
FALSEHOODS PUBLISHED AS TO PRISONERS FREEZING ON BELLE ISLE.
The statements of the Sanitary Commission as to prisoners freezing to death on Belle Isle are absurdly false. According to the statement, it was common, during a cold spell in winter, to see several prisoners frozen to death every morning in the places in which they had slept. This picture, if correct, might well excite our horror; but, unhappily for its sensational power, it is but a clumsy daub, founded on the fancy of the painter. The facts are, that tents were furnished sufficient to shelter all the prisoners; that the Confederate commandant and soldiers on the island were lodged in similar tents; that a fire was furnished in each of them; that the prisoners fared as well as their guards, and that only one of them was ever frozen to death, and he was frozen by the cruelty of his own fellow-prisoners, who thrust him out of the tent in a freezing night because he was infested with vermin. The proof as to the healthiness of the prisoners on Belle Isle and the small amount of mortality is remarkable, and presents a fit comment on the lugubrious pictures drawn by the Sanitary Commission, either from their own fancies or from the fictions put forth by their false witnesses. Lieutenant Bossieux proves that from the establishment of the prison camp on Belle Isle in June,1862, to the 10th of February, 1865, more than 20,000 prisoners had been at various times there received, and yet that the whole number of deaths during this time was only 164. And this is confirmed by the Federal Colonel Sanderson, who states that the average number of deaths per month on Belle Isle was "from two to five; more frequently the lesser number." The sick were promptly removed from the island to the hospitals in the city.
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End of search-repeats came up (already posted)

Will dig in "Confederate Military History" and Confederate Historical Society next. (Having high winds, lost power a few times so, might be tardy in getting results posted here 12/31/08)

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
 
[Frozen to death search resumed in the second section of materials]
================================================
Confederate Military History, Vol. 5
CHAPTER IX.
HAMPTON'S CAVALRY IN THE MARYLAND RAID--THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG--DEATH OF GREGG --SOUTH CAROLINIANS AT MARYE'S HILL--CAVALRY OPERATIONS.
[excerpt]
The casualties of the brigade were reported as follows: Orr's Rifles, 21 killed, 149 wounded; First South Carolina, 15 killed, 58 wounded; Twelfth South Carolina, killed, 7 wounded; Thirteenth South Carolina, 3 killed, 52 wounded; Fourteenth South Carolina, 28 wounded; aggregate, 336. The main loss was sustained by Orr's rifles, who were attacked lying down behind their stacks, and 170 of them killed and wounded and their general slain, before they could grasp their arms in defense. In the First regiment Capt. T. H. Lyles was killed. Capt. T. P. Alston, Lieutenant Armstrong, Lieut. Thomas McCrady, and Lieut. W. J. Delph were wounded. Captain Alston returned to the field, after his wound was dressed, despite the remonstrances of the surgeon. Adjt.-Gen. A. C. Haskell, severely wounded, refused to leave the field until he sank fainting from loss of blood.
General Gregg was shot through the spine, and died the day after the battle. Seeing he must die, he sent his respects to the governor of his State, and assured him that he "gave his life cheerfully for South Carolina." General Hill said of him, in his official report, "A more chivalrous gentleman and gallant soldier never adorned the service which he so loved." General Jackson, in his report, deplored the loss of"a brave and accomplished officer, full of heroic sentiment and chivalrous honor." General Lee wrote to Governor Pickens to claim a share in South Carolina's sorrow, and to express his appreciation of her loss and the loss to his army. "He has always been at the post of duty and of danger," said General Lee. "His services in this army have been of inestimable value, and his loss is deeply lamented. In its greatest triumphs and bloodiest battles he has borne a distinguished part ....
The death of such a man is a costly sacrifice, for it is to men of his high integrity and commanding intellect that the country must look to give character to her councils, that she may be respected and honored by all nations." Mr. Caldwell, the brigade historian, pays his general a worthy tribute, and speaks of his high character, his heroic courage, his careful, unswerving, unselfish equity. He was a Ney on the battlefield and a Rhadamanthus in giving judgment.
The distinguished part borne by Kershaw's brigade at Fredericksburg will now be referred to. As already stated, Kershaw was in McLaws' line, to the right of Marye's hill. His brigade included, besides the Second, Third, Seventh and Eighth, the Fifteenth, transferred from Drayton's brigade, and the Third battalion, known as James' battalion. These transfers were made by General Lee on November 26th, and the policy adopted, as far as possible, of brigading troops of the same State together.
On the morning of the 11th, being called on to reinforce General Barksdale's pickets on the river, at Deep run, General Kershaw sent the Fifteenth, Colonel De Saussure, upon this duty. During the night, so bitterly cold was the weather, one of De Saussure's men was frozen to death, and others so badly as to be temporarily disabled for service. Under such circumstances of suffering the fortitude and courage required of the soldier on picket are as great and as noble as when displayed in charging the batteries of the enemy. The brigade was at work on the line strengthening the position, until the hour of its battle. At 10 o'clock on the 13th, while Meade and. Gibbon were assaulting A. P. Hill, and Sumner and Hooker were throwing their divisions against Marye's hill, Kershaw was ordered to reinforce the position held by General Cobb at the foot of the hill. The Second regiment, Col. A.D. Kennedy, and the Eighth, Capt. E. T. Stackhouse, were sent forward. Before these regiments could reach their destination, Kershaw was directed by General McLaws to go with his whole brigade and take personal command, as the gallant and noble Cobb had been mortally wounded, and General Cooke, who supported him from the crest in rear, was also wounded.
[end of excerpt]
------------------------------------------
The Mississippi Valley In The Civil War
Chapter II--Fort Donelson And Shiloh
[excerpt]
The night was a dismal one for the soldiers. Their supplies were delayed, and food was getting scarce. The weather had been warm, and many of these inexperienced men had forgotten or thrown away their blankets. Now the temperature dropped to twenty degrees below the freezing-point, while the camps were swept by a furious storm of snow and sleet. Many were frost-bitten, some were frozen to death, in others were sown the seeds of fatal disease. The morning, however, brought the gallant fleet, convoying the transports with the provisions so sorely needed, and 5000 fresh troops, which were added to Wallace's division and essentially increased the strength of the besieging line. Commodore Foote, pushing up within 500 yards of the water-batteries, opened a furious fire, which succeeded in silencing several guns; but at length their plunging fire disabled his two best gunboats and compelled him to withdraw out of range, leaving the river above the fort still open to the enemy. The works on the river-front were knocked out of shape, but the fort seemed as far as ever from surrender, and at nightfall of the 14th Grant began to think it might be necessary to have recourse to siege.
============================================
Southern Historical Society Papers
Vol. X. Richmond, Va., August and Sept'r, 1882. Nos. 8-9.
The Battle Of Fredericksburg.
PAPER NO. 1.
By General E.P. Alexander.
CROSSING THE RIVER AND OCCUPYING THE TOWN.
[excerpt]
Meanwhile, Colonel Lure, at the mouth of Deep Run, had delayed the pontoniers until nearly noon, when the lifting of the fog, exposing their positions accurately to the enemy's guns, and the ground affording no shelter whatever, they were driven into the ravine of Deep Run, and some adjacent hollow. Here they were reinforced by the 15th South Carolina, under Colonel DeSaussure, and the 16th Georgia, under Colonel Bryan, and remained until the enemy had completed his bridges, and commenced to cross his infantry, when by order of General Kershaw, Colonel DeSaussure withdrew the whole force to the Bowling Green road, except Captain Cassell's company, of the 18th Mississippi, which was hidden in the ravine of Deep Run, until the advance of the enemy's skirmishers, about sundown, when it was also withdrawn, after a slight skirmish, to the road. These troops remained in this position, without fires, during the night, which was of such intense cold that one member of the 15th South Carolina was frozen to death, and several others were frostbitten.
================================================
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol. XXVI. Richmond, Va., January-December. 1898.
War Diary Of Capt. Robert Emory Park.
[excerpt]
BATTLE OF MINE RUN.

Dec. 1, 1863. A remarkably quiet day. Not a cannon shot fired and scarcely a report from a musket. Meade was plainly making some movement, but we could not discover what. The intensely cold weather continues. I was afterwards told by some Yankee prisoners that some of their pickets were actually frozen to death while on post, and that others were carried off wholly insensible from cold. I can believe the story, as, though warmly clad, I never suffered more in my life
[end of excerpt]
==========================================
Southern Historical Society Papers
1959. New Series, Vol. 14, Old Series, Vol. LII.
2d Confederate Congress--(2d Session)--Wednesday, February 15, 1865.
RAILROAD TRANSPORTATION FOR TROOPS, SUPPLIES AND MUNITIONS OF WAR
[excerpt]
During the debate Mr. Turner remarked that the railroads had lost all their energies. In transporting troops recently from Richmond to Wilmington, over the Piedmont road, nine of our men had been frozen to death! He had called upon the late Secretary of War, and had complained to him of this suffering of our troops.--The Secretary of War admitted that the road was under his control, and he therefore thought a great portion of blame attached to him for this exposure and death of the men. Barrels of molasses and all sorts of baggage had been permitted to be piled up about the stove, and the men had been forced to ride, through that bitter cold weather, on top of the cars. Such was a specimen of the railroads under the control and management of the late Secretary of War!
The bill was passed--ayes, 52; noes, 18.
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END OF SEARCH

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf
 
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