Snake bite

[Michael Comer]

The thread on dealing with insect bites listed elsewhere, reminded me of something I was thinking about just a few days ago.

I have seen very little in the way of memoirs, diaries etc. that mention snakebite. With that many men in uniform tromping about in all sorts of reptilian habitat, someone had to get nailed now and again by a copperhead, cottonmouth or rattler. The deep South is coral snake country so there may have been a few of them too.

Now I know that an army on the march or in bivouac would make so much commotion and noise that most snakes would promptly clear out but what about pickets, small patrols etc?

Has anyone come across medical reports, company sick call reports etc that might shed some light on whether this happened enough to be of concern?

[Jayhawk102]

Re: Snake bite

I know this might naught be what your asking for, but I found it interesting. On the Pea Ridge National Park site, I found that civil war surgeons treated snake bites with whiskey and black powder.