Identifier: MSHWRMedical3 (find matches)
Title: The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part III, Volume I. (3rd Medical volume)
Year: 1888 (1880s)
Authors: U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office
Subjects: Civil War military medicine Medicine, Military -- History United States Medical care United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Medical and sanitary affairs
Publisher: Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine
Contributing Library: U.S. Army Medical Museum

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s of the regular and volunteer array were dis-charged, but the Hurgeon Generals Office has reports of only 215,312 such cases. Of these,48,374 were based on wounds, accidents and injuries; 4,439 on deformities, immaturityand senility, disabilities which existed prior to enlisthient; and 25,915 on causes that werenot specified. Dropping these, there remain 136,584 certificates in which the disease isstated. But if the cases in which the disease was not stated and those reported to theAdjutant General, but not to the Hurg(M:)n General of the Army, were distributed ;:>ro rataamong the discharges occasioned by wounds, by conditions which should have preventedenlistment, and by disease, the number referred to the last cause would be increased to198,849, equal to an annual loss of 82.2 men in every thousand of strength. Thi^ files of the Adjutant G^nrnds C)Hlco include cei-tificates pertaining to 9,807colored men, while those in the Surgeon Generals Office number only 8,223; and of these
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$ s ^ ^ 1 I 5?. 5 <• -i ■^ ^ 1 5» 5 I A^rONCT THE U. 8. FORCES. 29- 1,479 are based on wounds, 687 on causes wliit-h sIkjuLI liavo ivjcctiMl llio riH-ruit, and1,226 on unspecifiod causes. Dropping tliese, tlieic rimaiii I.SiM ciTtiticatrs in which thedisease is specified. But if these fiuures were trcateii as in ihc case dI thi wiiite trnops.tlie number of discliarges due to disease would lie augincnttMl to (),771. eijiial to an annualloss of 35.3 men in every thousand of strength. These lieavy losses were not wholly due to the diseases incident to military service.Many of the disabilities existed prior to enlistment; for instance, not all of the men dis-charged for consumption contracted the disease in the service, uov did all of those dischargedfor hernia become ruptured in the performance of military duty. Ignorance, carelessnessand intentional fraud at the recruiting depots were at first responsible lor the enrollmentof this worse than valueless material; afterwards liberaMSHWRMedical3

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