Wounds and Sickness in the Ranks

[Lawtonka]

I found it interesting that one of the most hazardous things facing a frontier soldier was the same that were experienced during the Civil War.

I have been reading To Live and Die in the West by Jason Hook and Martin Pegler, and one section deals with wounds and sickness. I found it interesting, according to this author, "TB and veneral diseases were the most usual afflictions, but cholera and dysentery could decimate a garrison."

He also quote from a letter from July 20, 1867 (Albert Barnitz to his wife) "Only think, seven dead men in the evening (all of the 7th Cavalry) isn't a small beginning at all.. and more the following day. I would much rather see two Indians thatn one man with the cholera and I am not remarkably fond of Indians either!"

Then there is the devestating wounds from large caliber weapons with soft lead bullets. We all know the results of that which ended in many amputations.

The arrow wound and removal is interesting. The removal of an arrow was to slide a loop of wire along the shaft into the wound, hook the arrow tip with the loop, and withdraw both.

As to scalping.....this source says that it was possible to survive a scalping, depending on the size of the scalp lifted. For the most part scalping consisted of "a circular incision from 2 to 10 inches across, with the hair being unceremoniously yanked off." One who survied this would be subject to constant headaches and aversion to extremes of temperature......this sounds reasonable. I guess beat the alternative.

His statistics tell that eight men out of a thousand would die from disease while five out of a thousand would die from a consequence of wounds, injuries and accidents.

Wouldn/t you know, the most common accident for a frontier cavalryman was being thrown from their mounts.

[Scout]

Many people survived scalping and if they could live through the infection which followed lead a normal life...of sorts. I would think horses and the careless use of firearms would probably be the number one and number two causes for serious injuries. pneumonia was the actual culprit in the end though I would think of soldiers bedridden with serious injuries and viruses. And then there was always the remedies that would kill you. Didn't they give people mercury at some point? The treatments were some time worse than the illness. Two troopers died on the Black Hill expedition as the result of the two drunken doctors neglect.

[elisabeth]

The thing that shocked me the most when I first started reading about all this was the prevalence of scurvy in the ranks. It was unbelievably short-sighted of the army to allow something so preventable, yet so debilitating, to run riot as it did just because of lousy rations ... You have to wonder how many desertions were people who just couldn't stand the diet any more!

[markland]

scout2 said:

Many people survived scalping and if they could live through the infection which followed lead a normal life...of sorts. I would think horses and the careless use of firearms would probably be the number one and number two causes for serious injuries. pneumonia was the actual culprit in the end though I would think of soldiers bedridden with serious injuries and viruses. And then there was always the remedies that would kill you. Didn't they give people mercury at some point? The treatments were some time worse than the illness. Two troopers died on the Black Hill expedition as the result of the two drunken doctors neglect.

Without a doubt, the careless use of firearms led the race for the number of what I call accidental deaths. Drowing is currently second. Murders and other types of deliberate killings represent another drain on the forces. As far as disease, cholera was the number one killer of Army forces. Off the top of my head without breaking out the database, I think I can safely say that more as many men died in the 1866 and 1867 cholera epidemics [insert], as well as the 1867 Yellow Fever epidemic, [end insert] than died in all the actions with Indians including LBH and the Fetterman fight. Aww, the heck with it, let me do some sorting on the database.

Billy

Edit: Hmmm, I obviously don't have all the 17th Infantry data input but will figure out a format to post the 1866-1870 deaths I do have input.

[markland]

Year	Cholera	YF	Drowning	Acc. GSW	Indians	Listed Deaths	Total Deaths All Causes
1866	189	2	22	9	107	0	601
1867	183	143	49	56	80	0	873
1868	1	0	20	46	52	0	332
1869	0	0	11	21	18	0	162
1870	0	0	8	18	13	0	124
Total	373	145	110	150	270	1048	2092

As you can see from the above, I have been spending too much time reading about LBH! I have the most data input for the years 1866 and 1867. There are a couple large death tolls from the 4th Cav. and 17th Infantry which I have to input but all-in-all, the data for those years is at least 80% complete. The good thing about the above numbers is that I can put a name to all and a location and date of death for almost all (98% plus).

Hmm, time to start typing stuff into the database. Oh, I didn't include these figures but for the years above, the category "Unknown" (whether not written on the Enlistment Register or the Regimental Returns or simply not known) totals 288 men. Of those, the majority occurred in 1866 & 1867 (119 & 71 respectively) and making an educated guess, I think we can safely assume at least half died of cholera based upon location and month/date of death.

Billy

[bubbabod]

I think the same is true as to the perils of crossing in wagon trains. Seems I've read that more pioneers were killed by accidental firing of their own firearms than all Indian raids combined.
El Crab, my young friend, wasn't there something recently about our VP and a friendly fire incident?

[Lawtonka]

It looks like the most dangerous thing to a soldier was being a soldier, with the chance of becoming a combat casuality coming in a little lower on the totem pole. In addition to the accidental shootings we know of a few intentional shootings don't we.

Here is an except from the Regimental Return for Sept. 1873 for the 7th Cav.


---------------------------------------------

September 1873

Yellowstone Expedition

Troops C&H remained at the stockade at the Yellowstone River, D.T. until the arrival of Lt. Col. G.A. Custer September 10, 1873 and they joined his command enroute to Fort A. Lincoln, D.T. arriving on September 21, 1873.

Knipe on detached service from September 17-23 in the field.

Private James M. Gordrey of Troop C drowned in the River at Fort Rice.

[markland]

Since I am now inputting 7th Cav. deaths for that period, your post caught my attention. I read his name as James McGorley, not Gordrey. I will have to double-check that spelling tomorrow (or wait until I find it in the enlistment register).

Thanks,

Billy

[Melani]

elisabeth said:

The thing that shocked me the most when I first started reading about all this was the prevalence of scurvy in the ranks.

Scurvy?!?! My God, the Navy had known how to combat that for years! I hesitate to ask what the Army was using for brains at this time, for fear someone will answer. I know it was probably difficult to transport cargo out to the frontier forts, but citrus juice keeps a long time in barrels, and you'd think it would have occurred to somebody to send them some. Or was it just another example of rampant graft?

The parellels today are so striking--I heard an interview with a retired officer who had spent time in Iraq, saying that it was clear how much the Army cared about it's men when some private driving a truck in dangerous conditions compared his pay to some guy from Halliburton doing the same job for $100,000 a year. Oh well, at least he's probably getting Vitamin C with his MRE.

[Lawtonka]

I found this to be of some interest.

March 1877 --

I was taken to the hospital with a chronic attack of diarrhea, from which a great many of the troops were suffeing and dying, attributed principally to the Mississippi River used for drinking purposes. I was placed in a bed which stood next to a man who was there with a vile disease brought on by immoral habits, rotting body and soul. Looking about the ward I saw men suffering from all kinds of ailments -- some with sore arms caused through vaccination and made worse by the individual in order to get discharged from the service. Others were lame or crazy, or suffering of consumption, chills and fever, and secret diseases caused through unclean and immoral conduct, which, with shame I confess, existed to a great extent -- both officers and men."

--A Dose of Frontier Soldiering - The Memoirs of Corporal E. A. Bode - Frontier Regular Infantry 1877-1882 Edited by Thomas T. Smith. Bode was sharing his experience upon his enlsitment in New Orleans into Company D, 16th Infantry Regiment.

[Diane Merkel]

Melani, as the daughter of a naval officer, I can assure you that the pay difference has always been there. Everyone serving in the military knows that they could make much more doing the same thing in civilian life, whether they are a truck driver or a pilot or a medical doctor. They aren't in it for the money. If you don't understand the concept of service, I can't explain it to you.

That said, your example has nothing to do with scurvy or anything else from the 19th century. Kindly keep your politics to yourself.

[Melani]

Sorry. The comparison to me seemed to be general disregard for welfare of the troops. I realize people don't join the military to make money.

[Diane Merkel]

And I'm sorry for being so grumpy, but I just get so tired of politics. I would like this forum to be a refuge from contemporary issues.

[fred]

Whoops! And I was just going to rant about the military, Halliburton, & convoys in Iraq.

[Diane Merkel]

You are BAD, Fred -- BAD! ;D