Virginia Historical Society Podcast

On October 27, 2011, Dr. Adrian Wheat delivered a lecture entitled "Civil War Medicine." Staggering numbers of sick and wounded soldiers placed unprecedented demands on the practice of medicine on both sides during the Civil War. This lecture will describe the state of medical science in the 1860s and its application in Virginia during the war, mostly on the Confederate side. It will assess the complicated issue of care on the battlefield, transportation of patients to fixed general hospitals, and the role of sanitation. Dr. Adrian Wheat practiced medicine for many years as an army surgeon and helped found the Society of Civil War Surgeons. Most recently he advised the VHS on surgical topics for the exhibition "An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia". This lecture is cosponsored with the Richmond National Battlefield Park.(Introduction by Paul Levengood).