History at Night about Civil War Surgeon

Les Buell will talk at the June 17 session of History at Night at the Wayne County Museum in Lyons. His lecture, 'The Civil War Surgeon,' will tell how Civil War surgeons, with a lack of time, knowledge, and basic supplies, worked to save the lives of wounded Civil War soldiers.

In 1861, the Army Medical Department had far fewer medical officers than they needed to treat those who were wounded in the early battles of the war. The number of doctors increased greatly as volunteers were processed and accepted for duty, but few of those men were experienced surgeons. Their working conditions are unimaginable. Operating rooms were set up in homes, schools and churches; doors or kitchen tables were routinely used for operating tables; equipment, water, and drugs were in short supply; and lighting was often only a hand-held lantern. At the end of the war, the surgeons who had risked their lives treating others, were called 'butchers' and other derogatory terms.

Buell, a member of the Association of Civil War Surgeons and a teacher at Williamson Middle School, is a Civil War reenactor and researcher.

The lecture begins at 7 p.m. at the Wayne County Historical Society Old Jail Museum on 21 Butternut St. Refreshments will be provided by Zappia Vending Service Inc., and the Society. The public is invited to attend this free event but reservations are required as seating is limited. Call the Society at 946.4943.

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