Civil War Medicine

Civil War Medicine

The Kent Historical Society featured a presentation on May 18, 2014, on Civil War medicine by Harwinton resident Dane Deleppo. The presentation was a preview of a large ceremony that happened in Litchfield to honor one battle in the war.

Dane’s talk focused on the care given to soldiers in the Civil War. He also shared information about the training of doctors, misconceptions about the care, as well as which medical drugs were available. Poor hygiene in camps led to disease becoming rampant, and at the beginning of the war there were no hospitals to which to take the badly wounded. Eventually orders were issued that each regiment must have a surgeon. The development of medical practice during the Civil War had many different aspects.

Deleppo is a 25-year veteran of Civil War re-enacting and is the current president of the T. A. Hungerford Museum in Harwinton. Deleppo and his wife, Carol, received the 2012 Mary Tallmadge Chapter of the DAR award for historical preservation.

The Civil War Battle of Cold Harbor was remembered on Memorial Day weekend in Litchfield with a series of events organized by Litchfield’s Morgan-Weir American Legion Post 27 and the National Park Service. Deleppo was one of the featured speakers. Other presenters included Bert Dunkerly of the National Park Service, Civil War historian Peter Vermilyea, who also teaches history at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Western Connecticut State University, and the Connecticut Army National Guard Brass Pack. The battle of Cold Harbor was significant because so many local men were involved and because of its devastation. The 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery had trained on the Litchfield Green and suffered large losses in the battle. The organizers of the Litchfield event have a Facebook page “Litchfield County Connecticut Remembers Cold Water – 150 Year Anniversary.”