Letter from Patients at a Confederate Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia to President Jefferson Davis
9/3/1861
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Sickness, not combat, killed most Civil War soldiers. During the early months of the war, especially, disease ran rampant through both the U.S. and Confederate armies. Many men had never developed immunity to diseases such as mumps and measles. Cholera and typhoid fever spread through poor sanitation. Medical officials hastily set up hospitals. According to the patients who wrote this 1861 letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, however, conditions, treatments, and medical expertise were lacking.
This primary source comes from the War Department Collection of Confederate Records.
National Archives Identifier: 3854699
Full Citation: Letter from Patients at a Confederate Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia to President Jefferson Davis; 9/3/1861; Letters Received by the Confederate Secretary of War, 1874–1899; War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-from-patients-at-a-confederate-hospital-in-charlottesville-virginia-to-president-jefferson-davis, April 25, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.