Malaria

[WinterLeia]

Before fighting in their first engagement at Fort Henry, my ancestor's regiment spent a month or so in the swamps of Paducah, Kentucky and over half of them ended up with malaria and were in the hospital. They were finally sent back to Cairo, which I don't think was done so much because they were sick, as it was that the press was accusing the government of not taking adequate care of them, and malaria was only one of the problems that were an issue. But I was wondering, how serious was malaria in 1861 and what did they do to treat it?

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Before fighting in their first engagement at Fort Henry, my ancestor's regiment spent a month or so in the swamps of Paducah, Kentucky and over half of them ended up with malaria and were in the hospital. They were finally sent back to Cairo, which I don't think was done so much because they were sick, as it was that the press was accusing the government of not taking adequate care of them, and malaria was only one of the problems that were an issue. But I was wondering, how serious was malaria in 1861 and what did they do to treat it?

Malaria was quite common, especially to troops who were in the southern states during the war. Doctors did NOT know what caused malaria, but they DID know what was good for treating it, and they did use quinine extensively for treatment.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

Before fighting in their first engagement at Fort Henry, my ancestor's regiment spent a month or so in the swamps of Paducah, Kentucky and over half of them ended up with malaria and were in the hospital. They were finally sent back to Cairo, which I don't think was done so much because they were sick, as it was that the press was accusing the government of not taking adequate care of them, and malaria was only one of the problems that were an issue. But I was wondering, how serious was malaria in 1861 and what did they do to treat it?

One of my great-great-grandfathers, John Gray of Washington County, East Tennesseee, a member of the 60th Tennessee, caught malaria while in Alabama as the regiment made their way to Vicksburg. While delirious, he injured his back falling from a third-story hospital window. He was examined, discharged, and sent back home. My grandma could remember her Rebel grandpa and him always being aware of his back injury and taking care not to injure it again. He had a life-long bad back, but the fall may have saved his life.

 

[UnionistMarylander]

Before fighting in their first engagement at Fort Henry, my ancestor's regiment spent a month or so in the swamps of Paducah, Kentucky and over half of them ended up with malaria and were in the hospital. They were finally sent back to Cairo, which I don't think was done so much because they were sick, as it was that the press was accusing the government of not taking adequate care of them, and malaria was only one of the problems that were an issue. But I was wondering, how serious was malaria in 1861 and what did they do to treat it?

Malaria was quite common in the deep south, especially in the hot and humid swamps of Flordia and Louisiana. Quinine was commonly used to treat it just as it is today. As an urban legend goes, a Spanish explorer in Peru who had fallen ill to Malaria was left behind by his comrades. He crawled to a stream with a Cinchona tree fallen in it, and drank from the water. He ingested the quinine from the tree bark and began to recover.