Innovations in Civil War Medicine

Tour Civil War battlefield sites at Harrison’s Landing and South Mountain from a new perspective: for their contributions to improving battlefield medical practices. Thanks to experts from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, we examine the dire battlefield conditions and the doctor who revolutionized medical services for the wounded.

Dr. Jonathan Letterman, Army of the Potomac, would reorganize the Union Army’s medical department during the Civil War and create an effective ambulance system still in use today. Other doctors experimented with new techniques for healing wounds and slowing the rampant infections that raced through military camps and hospitals.