Civil War medicine is topic for program

Medicine during the Civil War will be the topic for the 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 18, meeting of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Military Historians in Grafton.

Peter Jacobson, a retired professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Marquette  University’s School of Dentistry and past president of the Milwaukee Civil War Round Table, will be the speaker.

Jacobson will present artifacts and photographs from the time, discuss the weapons that caused the casualties and the medical technology used at the time.

Approximately 560,000 soldiers died from disease during the Civil War and 200,000 from battlefield injuries.

Doctors in field hospitals had no notion of antiseptic surgery, resulting in extremely high death rates from post-operative infection.

Amputation of a wounded arm or leg was the most common operation, due largely to the .58 caliber Minnie ball ammunition used during the war that caused large, gaping wounds filled with dirt and pieces of clothing and shattered any bone it contacted. Because of the severity of the wounds and the overwhelming case load, surgeons usually elected for fast and easy amputation over trying to remove the bullet and save the limb.

Admission is $25, which includes a buffet dinner from Miss Molly Catering and the speaker’s presentation.  A limited number of $10 tickets are available for the speaker’s program only.

The meeting will be held at the Rose-Harms American Legion Hall, 1540 13th Ave.

Doors open at 5:15 p.m.

Reservations are required and may be made by calling Ken Grigas at (262) 284-1090 or emailing rsvp@mkemh.org.