Tooth Doctor

Barrycdog

Major
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Location
Buford, Georgia
From a Friend

http://www.history-sites.com/cgi-bin/bbs62x/nvcwmb/webbbs_config.pl?page=1;md=read;id=74709

George Martin
Date: 12/23/2013, 12:20 pm
In my father's papers I've come across his grandfather talking of his time during the siege of Vicksburg:

"He said, they usually met with the Yanks after dark, under officer supervision, but it was more fun to sneak off and take a swim with them, just to speak their minds as they pleased without interference. One thing they found in common, and joshed such about, was the ever present 'tooth doctor,' (who scoured the battlefields and extracted teeth from corpses to sell to English Denture firms) who would pull the teeth of sleeping soldier, Rebel or Yank, if a sentry was not alert. For snacks they usually carried a handful of corn in their knapsacks and referred to the grains of yeller or red Indian corn as Yankee's gold teeth."
 
Interesting detail! I wonder if it was unique to Vicksburg?

While there may have been people who looted the battlefield, I'm guessing the "tooth doctor" who stole sleeping soldiers' teeth was a boogey-man campfire story, told to frighten each other. It reminds one how young so many of the soldiers really were, barely out of their boyhood at 18 or 21.
 

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