Museum of Civil War Medicine

Our NVCC class visited the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland. We were there once before but the museum has expanded since then and has even more dioramas to help you picture how the sick and wounded were cared for.

We had a guided tour which was excellent. Notice the wheel-layout of a hospital complex in the foreground of the first photo. That was used at Point Lookout in Maryland.

Once I got an email from a visitor to my CivilWarFieldTrips website asking about Civil War hospitals that can still be seen. There are so many — countless public buildings and private homes were used as hospitals, especially in Virginia which saw numerous battles between 1861 and 1865. Here are some I've written about in the past that are open to the public.

1. Exchange Hotel in Gordonsville — fantastic, although the exhibit upstairs may be too graphic for some.  
2. Graffiti House Museum near Culpeper, so called because of the graffiti left by soldiers.  
3. Bushong Farm at New Market Battlefield  
4. Old Court House in Winchester.  
5. Chatham near Fredericksburg 

There are also many buildings used as hospitals that are open occasionally such as old churches and historic homes. Some examples are the Pritchard Farm and Moorefield Presbyterian Church. By the way, Alexandria Archaeology has just published some research on Crimean Ovens, which were radiant heating systems used in a few Civil War hospitals such as Shawnee Springs.

Search for Civil War Hospital on this blog.