Black Civil War Soldiers: Disparities in Wartime Medicine

Beginning in 2011, America has been marking the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, or “the war between the states,” covering almost every aspect from military and political strategy to strife between states that championed the rights of African American slaves and states that decidedly saw the war as a pivotal move to protect themselves against the laws put forth by a centralized government out of touch with its people.

The effects of the Civil War on medicine and the emergency treatment of soldiers wounded on the battlefield, particularly freed blacks who fought alongside Union soldiers, were the focus of a lecture Monday evening at NYAM, one of three events in a series on medical aspects of the Civil War.

The event, “Black Civil War Soldiers: Disparities in Wartime Medicine,” examined the role of black soldiers and the inadequate medical care they received as they fought for their freedom. The two-part lecture was presented by Cheryl Wills, news anchor with NY1 News and author of Die Free: A Heroic Family Tale, and Harold Holzer, Chairman of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation and co-author or editor of 42 books on Lincoln and the Civil War era.

Holzer began the lecture by laying the foundation for President Lincoln’s decision to wage a battle against the southern states. Although Lincoln is often seen as the man who sought to free the slaves, Holzer described an ambivalent president who took every step to prevent war, partly because of the impact such a war would have on his presidency and because of the great divide he knew the war would cause.

Cheryl Wills followed with her presentation on the inadequate medical treatment black soldiers received during the war, focusing on several of her ancestors who fought for the Union.

Cheryl Wills

“Of the 33,000 black soldiers who died during the war, only four thousand actually died as a result of battle injuries,” Wills said. “Many black soldiers died as a result of smallpox, dysentery, diarrhea, and malnutrition.”

In researching records of her many past uncles and cousins who fought in the war, Wills found that such inadequate treatment took place in part because black soldiers were seen as lowly, stupid contraband who did not deserve the same care as their white counterparts. Wills said this feeling toward blacks would not end with the war, but would continue long after the war as thousands of black troops were denied health benefits and a pension as opposed to white troops.

She described the ways in which the government would deny pension claims, often describing a black soldier’s injury as “alleged” and not real by the Department of War Standards. Wills said that with so many barriers to restitution in place, black soldiers would simply give up. It would not be until 1890 – a quarter century after the end of the Civil War – that the Department of War Standards would revise eligibility rules so that black soldiers could be compensated for injuries incurred in the battlefield. But, as Wills discovered from her own family history, it was far too late for many black soldiers.

“It makes you wonder how they survived after the war, living in such great pain without any promise of support or care from the federal government,” Wills said. “But they did. No matter what or how great their injuries were, they knew life had to go on.”

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Posted on December 11, 2012

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Andrew J. Martin
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