Report on the condition of the troops, and the operations of the Sanitary Commission in the Valley of the Mississippi, for the three months ending November 30th, 1861 / by J.S. Newberry.

  • Newberry, J. S. (John Strong), 1822-1892.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the condition of the troops, and the operations of the Sanitary Commission in the Valley of the Mississippi, for the three months ending November 30th, 1861 / by J.S. Newberry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    43/50
    latter were cooped up, using the same food and drink; but the camp police and sanitary discipline of these regiments differed as widely as the relative amount of sickness among their men. In the same month (August) we had a total absolute increase of 884 cases of sickness over those in July, although the number of the force diminished from 7,227 to 6,103 during the same period; while these two regiments (18th and 22d) alone show in their monthly reports an increase of 874 cases in August over those in July, or only ten less than the increase in the whole force during the same period ! These figures, compared with the description I gave of the camps of these typical regiments in my detailed returns, speak volumes for the value of sanitary science to army men. An examination of the Surgeons' reports from these and some other regiments, shows the following ratios of sickness and mor- tality among them: July. August. September. Taken sick of the whole force, 40.66 p. c. 62.73 p. c. 61.00 p. c. Died of the whole force, ) including j 0.249 0.377 0.470 sick,.. $ accidents, } 0.612 0.601 0.770 whole force, ) excluding j 0.152 0.295 0.448 sick, [accidents, ( 0.372 0.473 0.734 The rapid rise in the mortality among the sick with exclusion of accidents, from 47 to 83 in 10,000, from August to September, is due to the greater prevalence of typhoid, typhus and severe malarious fevers. The October reports will show a still greater increase. I could point out a great many more interesting facts embodied in thes*e reports, were I not afraid to make this review too lengthy for your perusal. I send you a consolidated abstract of them for your own use. The general health of the troops was improving in October, as far as the mere number of cases of sickness is concerned; the severity of their character was, however, increasing. 21.—Preventive Duty of Surgeons. The number of Surgeons who fully understood their responsibity as health officers to the regiments is very small, judging, not from the answers to questions 168-172 of my returns, but from the facts connected with their duties as such before my eyes. The adoption