I was asked to prepare some comments regarding the training of doctors prior to the US Civil War for a presentation at the local history Museum. When I wrote my book, “A Civil War History of Harrison County West Virginia 1861-1865” as well as my Civil War Novel “The Most Hated Man in Clarksburg” I had done some basic research on the training of medical professionals prior to the onset of the war.
As a major US Army garrison and logistical center Clarksburg, Virginia (WV) saw the immediate infusion of militia units raised in the western states arrive in this small town of 800. Within the month of June 1861 the population had swelled to over 8,500. This brought with it a critical need for medical care.
At the onset of the US Civil War there were a number of ‘doctors’ in Clarksburg, Virginia. The majority had been trained outside of a medical school setting.
A young man who was considered to be intelligent and have something of a grasp of basic scientific knowledge would be apprenticed at about age 14 or 15 to a doctor to study and become a doctor. I was a seven-year ‘bondage’ time working with a local doctor. They would live with the doctor in their house and be relegated to both formal and informal instruction.
Training began with basic anatomy. Once a student was capable of identifying the various body parts, they would be tested by a group of other local doctors to determine how they were progressing in their studies. After basic anatomy they would study the internal aspects of the body sometimes through attending rudimentary autopsies with the local mortician or coroner. As with the case of anatomy, a group of doctors would meet quiz the apprentice to determine how well they had been able to identify the organs of the body. The apprentice would also be required to describe the functions of those body parts as well.
Since there weren’t any drug stores or pharmacies like we know of them today, a young practitioner would learn how to mix various types of medications. Some of these were from natural sources like herbs or from medicinal plants. They would also have to learn how to properly segregate medications in the doctor’s bag or office to ensure that the correct medication was given as was prescribed by the doctor. This was a critical part of their medical training.
An example of how this went wrong here in Clarksburg was the death of the wife of Burton Despard. She and one of her children had ingested bad mushrooms. Doctor Carr, a neighbor of Burton Despard was called upon to administer an antidote. Unfortunately, Doctor Carr was ’indisposed,’ some indicated that he was “into his cups”. Allegedly he sent his apprentice next door to the Despard mansion (now the Davis Weaver Funeral Home) to administer the needed medication. It was alleged that the apprentice gave Mrs. Despard and her son the wrong dosage of the medication that was prescribed. He mixed up a dosage of a stomach purge, possibly Calomel, with Belladonna, a powerful medication that ended up killing Mrs. Despard and her son.
The young apprentice would also accompany the doctor in dealing with difficult childbirth and learn how to help the mother and baby survive the outcome. At some point during his training, he would be challenged by another board of local doctors to describe his abilities prior to being accepted into the medical practice.
As you can see this training was very subjective. The quality of the doctor produced depended on the quality of the doctor who was doing the training, the ability of the apprentice to learn, and the ability of the doctors who were testing the young person to determine their abilities.
By the mid-century medical schools had developed and doctors could actually begin taking formal training in what we would think of today as a medical school setting. One of the biggest advantages was the fact that young doctors could learn about new procedures as well as commercially produced medications.
Philadelphia was one of the leading medical centers of the day. There were over five recognized medical colleges or schools located in or around the city of Philadelphia. The University of Virginia also had established a medical school, and it trained doctors as well as surgeons.
This was the world that the United States military found itself in at the beginning of the Civil War. Each regiment in the Union Army was authorized to have a minimum of one surgeon and usually an assistant surgeon, and hospital orderlies. In many cases the drummer boys from the unit served as stretcher bearers and also assisted in the hospitals in the event of a battle. Each Division would have a medical team and at the Corps and Army levels there were hospitals and medical personnel assigned as well. Since the Confederate Army modeled itself after the Union Army they had similar systems.
When the Union Army took over and garrisoned Clarksburg, various medical personnel from regiments would establish a temporary hospital in town to take care of the members of their units. Initially there was not a central hospital for soldiers, but that would change as the Garrison here expanded.
The first reported mention of a Post Hospital in Clarksburg was on July 1st of 1861. A burial detail was ordered report to the hospital and recover the remains of George Nury of the Ninth Indiana Regiment who had died in the hospital there.
In June of 1861 Captain Charles Leib reported “to Clarksburg as the Assistant Quartermaster General and one of his first functions was to begin procuring buildings to support federal forces.
One of the first buildings that he seized was the Northwestern Virginia Academy. It would be used for a number of purposes, one of which was that of a hospital. He also seized the homes of a number of prominent secessionists who had fled town during the occupation. These homes were used to quarter senior army officers as well as to serve in some cases as hospitals for those who had been sick or wounded and were in Clarksburg.
One of the homes that was used was seized from Mr. Robert Johnson. It was described as one of the best brick buildings in town. It was, “admirably situated in the outskirts with beautiful lawns and gardens and attractive surroundings.” The Johnson family had fled and moved to Richmond where he served as a delegate to the Confederate Congress representing Virginia. When the family fled, they left everything in the house.
When the first volunteers entered Clarksburg, they discovered the empty dwelling and took advantage of their situation.
“Soldiers were quartered upon the rich carpet or took an afternoon siesta in the beautiful, sleep inviting, mahogany rockers. Sideboards and cupboards were investigated and found packed with jellies, sweet meats, choice pickles and all the delicacies that indicated elegance and wealth. The soldiers were happy to enjoy their abundance.”
When a hospital was needed the elegant residence of the ‘fleeing traitor’ offered admirable dwellings. The sick of the federal army were provided with as excellent quarters as they could have found in their far-off homes. It was presumed that it was the only military hospital upon the whole line of active operations fitted up with mahogany sofas and chairs and rich mountings and duvet covers.
Later in the occupation Captain Huntington, who was the new quartermaster in Clarksburg, took action to have the old Northwestern Academy cleaned up and the nearby church cleaned up so they could be used as a hospital during one of the cholera epidemics. At this point, Doctor John M. Robinson, a contract surgeon, supervised the cleaning and made recommendations for repairs to the building.
During the Civil War contract surgeons were relegated to working in the rear area hospitals changing dressings and attending to the general health of patients, not doing complicated, amputations, or field surgery. Doctor Robinson was a contract doctor and reported to the Garrison as the Contract Surgeon. Today he would probably be considered to be the hospital administrator,
Two other doctors, Doctor James Bowcock and Doctor Major John Ramsay, served at the hospital.
Doctor James Bowcock had been raised in Virginia and attended the University of Virginia prior to moving to Philadelphia and studying at the Jefferson Medical School. He graduated there in 1850. Six years later he came to Clarksburg and set up a general medical practice. He was a staunch Union man but politically he was a Democrat. He established the first hospital in Clarksburg during the war. He was a was one of the most noted citizens of the county. He was considered to be an expert diagnostician.
Doctor John Ramsey was the other doctor who worked in the hospital with Doctor Bowcock. He initially studied in Morgantown at the Monongalia Academy and later entered the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and graduated there in 1852.
At the beginning of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a regimental surgeon and then the chief surgeon of division, and a medical director in the Confederate Army. He was captured during the Shenandoah Valley campaign in 1862 and was sent to Clarksburg as a paroled prisoner of war. He was impressed with Clarksburg and decided to locate here during the war rather than accept exchange as a prisoner of war. He stayed in Clarksburg and helped with the hospital. He was a noted surgeon and had had a lot of experience with surgery as a result of his experiences during the war.
After the Civil War, both doctors went into practice together and operated their own hospital in Clarksburg for a number of years. Doctor Bowcock died in 1904 and is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Doctor Ramsay died in Clarksburg after a long illness. He served as a member of the American Medical Association and was a member of the board of directors of the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane at Weston.
Care for wounded and sick soldiers wasn’t just the purview of medical professionals. Life continued and the military focus was on events well outside of Harrison County. In February 1863, an editorial was published in the Daily (Wheeling) Intelligencer commending the work the Union Aid Society of Clarksburg was doing to support the soldiers in the hospital at Clarksburg.
“They united their efforts and hand in hand this little band of sisters have labored zealously and unceasingly together for the comfort of the sick and wounded away from home and kindred dear, “a stranger in a strange land” here protecting our homes and fire sides and valiantly fighting in defense of our beloved country which is so dear to the hearts of every true patriot.” The ladies sponsored suppers and the monies that they raised went to support the needs of the hospitalized soldiers. They would bake cakes and cookies and other treats for the soldiers and take them to the hospital which was located now in the old Academy building. The Ladies also collected items to be sent to other Union hospitals as far away as Winchester, where the 11th West Virginia was currently stationed.
Qualified surgeons were admitted to the Union and Confederate armies and reviewed for their components or lack thereof and eliminated from doing surgery if they did not pass muster. The point here is that contract surgeons were not in the field or rear area hospitals using their surgery skills to amputate limbs or respect fragments from bullet fractured bones. It just didn’t happen often if at all. Real surgeons were in the regular army on both sides, were supplied by the army with army owned and purchased surgical kits.
The role of the contract surgeon.
During the early days of the war there were only 200 medical officers in the union army and some of those left to join the confederate army and formed the medical Service Corps for the confederacy period of those remaining only a very few had any experience doing actual major surgery necessary for treatment of battle ones period until the union could recruit and verify the abilities of the new surgeons they used contract surgeons who may never have actually done any surgery other than minor procedures. These contract surgeons were paid by the day, came, and went as needed in areas where battles took place. They would have been the local doctors who came to help. In 1861 it was rare for any kind of major surgery to be performed unless it was thought to be the absolute last resort.
Another kind of surgeon was those who served state volunteer militias which were organized from the colonial days. These militia groups may have had a surgeon, who brought his own instruments, and they were mustered into the regular army. There were a few teaching centers at medical hospitals where major surgery was done, but it was not even part of the teaching experience for most medical students. That said there are many medical textbooks which show and teach extensive invasive surgery as practiced in teaching hospitals and both America and Europe in 1850 and earlier period but most of this type of disease-oriented surgery was not necessary in the field of battle during the war period. What was needed were doctors who could do triage surgery to correct or sew up bullet damage and treat disease which spread among the troops.
Most American medical students only went to medical school for two years and then generally worked as an apprentice afterwards. “Position surgeons” in major cities like New York, Boston, or Philadelphia would have had extensive surgical experiences but not the type of doctor found across much of rural America at the time of the civil war.
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Again, please look at all my books that I have listed. They can be reviewed and/or purchased from Amazon.com with the click of a button directly from my website at Authors Published Works.
The Advisor Series:
- “The Senior Army Instructor; The Paul Tyler Saga Begins” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/BOGSXJ2ZHC)
- “The Advisor, Kien Bing, South Vietnam, 1969-1970. A Novel” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L4X5NQ3)
- “The Province Senior Intelligence Advisor, Kien Song Province 1970-1971; A Novel” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHL2XCX5)
- “The Hardchargers,” Vietnam 1972-1973; A Novel” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7SPR1JY)
- “The Tuscarora Trail” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3QY2GM6)
Civil War History/Fiction:
- “A Civil War History of Harrison County West Virginia 1861-1865” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/ B0B1CLL28Q
- “The Most Hated Man in Clarksburg” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/ B0C6429M1X
Science Fiction: (Chuck Neighbors author, Taylor editor*/coauthor+)
| *“Destiny” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6WGWHLS |
| *“HomeFall” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJN1JLWF |
| +“The Planet’s Revenge” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYQBHC6C |
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