field medical kits

[Duff]

How common was it for soldiers to carry bandages and things of that nature in the field with them? I know some officers carried them, but how about enlisted men? Thanks.

[2ndNHDOC]

Re: field medical kits

You had to catch me without my books. To my knowledge the practice of enlisted men tending to wounded was mostly discouraged for the "guys in the line". Soldiers were mostly told to leave their wounded comrades behind for the ambulance and litter crews to recover. If the wounded were able to move they didn't have far to go to get to a forward aid station were they could be bandaged. Now their were precut and rolled bandages later during the war. However at the begining most bandages were made from whatever white linen, muslin etc could be found. Give me a week and I can get back to you better on this when I can get home and get to my books.

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: field medical kits

For what it's worth, I've never read a primary source that referred to a common soldier or officer carrying any type of medical supplies in the Civil War.

Regarding aiding the wounded, yes, the theoretical practice is that the soldiers were to leave their wounded comrades for others to tend. That such orders were issued often is, by itself, testament to the fact that soldiers did otherwise. Of course, the copious first-person accounts that anyone can read of soldiers helping a hurt comrade in a battle, and even abandoning the line to help a comrade or faimly member to the rear, are also evidence that such orders "needed" to be issued.

I suspect that the typical practice, based on my own reading, is that most soldiers, when engaged in a hot battle, tended to concentrate on fighting instead of helping the stricken, without having to be ordered to do it. Whether one calls it battle rage, blood lust, or what, most men continued to fight almost mechanically even after receiving near misses, being hit by spent balls, adn sometimes even after being shot. A few ceased fighting to tend stricken men, and some even left the front to escort men to the surgeons.

I have read of very, very, very few accounts of officers or non-comms firing on their own men for leaving the line during a battle, despote how often one may see this hackneyed thing portrayed at certain reenactments.