Of the many women who provided medical service during the Civil War, Mary Ann “Mother” Bickerdyke was one of the most beloved by the soldiers. She also earned the respect of Union generals, including Sherman and Grant. Mary Ann Bickerdyke (Digital Research Library of Illinois History) Mary Ann Ball was born on July 19, 1817, in Knox County, Ohio. Her father and mother were farmers and her mother died when Mary Ann was only a year old. Mary Ann was sent along with her sister to live with her grandparents, who also lived in Ohio. When her grandparents died, her uncle cared for her. Not much else ..read more

In honor of this year’s Women’s History Month, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine wants to acknowledge the contributions that Clara Barton made not only to the medical field, but to the Women’s Rights movement as well. At a time when women are still fighting to be paid wages equal to their male counterparts, we can refer to and take inspiration from Barton’s struggle to prove herself in a male-dominated environment over a century-and- a- half ago. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, men are paid $1,219 per week on average while women are paid $1,002.[1] Even those with advanced d ..read more

Hooker House courtesy of SonomaValley.com By far the most famous connection between the California Wine Country and the Civil War is the Bedrock Vineyard in Sonoma Valley- now farmed by Bedrock Wine Co. and comprising 152 acres. The vineyard was founded in 1854 by Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Joseph Hooker.[1] The land originally belonged to General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo who sold it off just before the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846.[2] It went through several owners before being acquired by Hooker with the financial help of Sherman. During this time, Hooker also erected a ¨knockdown¨ p ..read more

Edge Hill Wine courtesy of K. Laz Wine Collection In part one of this series, we examined the Civil War connection to Inglenook Winery. Yet another Napa Valley winery with close ties to the Civil War is the Edge Hill Winery, founded by General Erasmus D. Keyes who had served in commanding positions at well-known battles such as First Bull Run, Seven Pines, and Gettysburg.[1] The winery would later pass through the hands of General Richard W. Heath and Captain William Scheffler who were also Civil War military men.[2] Erasmus D. Keyes courtesy of Library of Congress Erasmus D. Keyes had a mixed ..read more

Inglenook Winery courtesy of Inglenook Many visitors to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine are surprised that we sell Napa Valley wine. They are even more surprised when informed that the wines being sold have a Civil War connection. In fact, the Sonoma and Napa Valleys in California are steeped with Civil War history, and that includes their lauded wineries. In this three-part series, we will be examining the various wines that we offer and how they are connected to the Civil War. Gustave Niebaum courtesy of Inglenook What is the connection between filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, wine ..read more

There were approximately 20,000 Native Americans who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. While most served as private soldiers, some did become commissioned officers. Cavalry soldier of the Indian Home Guard (OHSCW.562, Oklahoma Historical Society Civil War Collection, OHS). In 1861, Native Americans were dealing with forced removal from their tribal homelands. When the Civil War began, many saw it as a “white man’s war.” In general, the Native American tribal nations that were on the outskirts of the organized states did not really want to become involved in issue ..read more

A surgeon steps into the washroom to wash their hands for around five minutes before entering the surgical theater. A nurse assists the surgeon in donning the surgical gown and gloves so as to not break the sterile field. The surgeon recalls their years of education and training before making the first incision. Today, a surgeon usually goes through at least a decade of coursework and education before they are able to run the show in the surgical rooms. Doctors and surgeons go through a lot of training to make sure they know where to cut and where not to, proper dosage of medicines, and proper ..read more

Reflecting on this holiday season, in which members of the Jewish community celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights which commemorates the Maccabees’ liberation of Israel from the tyrannical Greek king Antiochus, it should be remembered that during the Civil War, American Jews observed this sacred holiday while fighting against their co-religionists on opposing sides. While both Northern and Southern Jews practiced the same faith and celebrated its traditional holidays, they invoked God’s name and the sacred Jewish texts in fighting against each other, giving different meanings to Jewish ho ..read more

The state of Virginia was home to the capital of the Confederacy and became a central location for battles fought over the course of the Civil War. Armies, North and South, marching through cities, towns, and farmlands of Virginia, foraging their way through the countryside, devastated the agricultural crop. The sustained battles across the state destroyed farmland, the bodies of dead soldiers poisoning the earth and rivers which fed the crops. Virginia had been brutalized and the citizens on the home front were feeling the effects of the hardening of war. The 148th Pennsylvania Infantry recor ..read more

The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the most complete pieces of text that includes origins and definitions of every word in the English lexicon. Its first edition was published between 1884 and 1928. In the 1870s, a Dr. James Murray took over as editor of the dictionary and began accepting entries for the dictionary from all over. For the next 20 years, Dr. Murray would receive over 10,000 of these entries from a mysterious Dr. W. C. Minor from the village of Crowthorne in Berkshire, England. In 1891, Dr. Murray went to visit Dr. Minor where he learned the truth about the man; he had been ..read more