By Sabina Beauchard, Reader Services
In the Albert Gallatin Browne papers you will find a printed piece of paper entitled, “Hints to Soldiers on Health.” These “Directions for Preservation of Health” give pointers to soldiers serving in the Union Army during the Civil War on how to keep themselves in tip-top shape while living through the worst of conditions and on the move. It includes my favorite tip, number 11, regarding bleeding to death:
If, from any wound, the blood spirts out in jets, instead of a steady
stream, you will die in a few minutes unless it is remedied; because an artery
has been divided and that takes the blood direct from the fountain of life . . .
Aren’t those positive words? If your blood is spurting out, you will most likely die. Don’t forget to wear flannel!
The handout does mention the difference between blood spurting and blood flowing, and what to do in either situation. While it’s necessary to know these things when you are about to enter a battlefield, the rather blunt wording shook me, thinking of all those who did indeed bleed out over the course of the war on both sides.
Number 7 is also a good reminder:
Recollect that cold and dampness are great breeders of disease. Have a
fire to sit around, whenever you can, especially in the evening and after rain;
and take care to dry every thing in and about your persons and tents.
Even in the warmest of climates, it seems like having a fire would still be necessary. As William H. Eastman, a member of the 2nd Battery (Nim’s Battery) of Massachusetts Volunteer Light Artillery writes home to his mother from Bayou Boeuf, Louisiana, 8 May 1863:
. . . the flys are awful thick + as soon as the sun sets
musquitoes “Oh Dear” tis no use for me to try +
give any idea of their number a swarm of Bees
is no comparison as soon as sundown we build large
fires of corn husks + keep them agoing all night
why if a man has occasion to do a job for himself
after dark he is obliged to take some husks out + build
a fire + sit in the smoke else his rear will be in rather
a dilapidated condition rather a tough state of things
but such is the case. I am fortunately well off as
I have confiscated the Captains Bed and Musquito bar
that were among the stores but is rather hard for many
of the poor fellows without bars ^who get up + walk around
half the night to pass the time away.
Well! Hopefully this post has made you feel a little more comfortable with your living conditions, and thankful winter will soon set in and erase mosquitoes from our lives for a short time. Remember, “if disease begins to prevail, wear a wide bandage of flannel around the bowels!”
