title: The medical challenge of military operations in the Mississippi Valley during the American Civil War.
abstract: The prevention and treatment of disease was as important as combat operations in the campaigns along the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. Throughout the Vicksburg campaign, many more soldiers were disabled by sickness than by combat injury. While this held true for both sides, a greater proportion of the Union army was healthy than of the opposing Confederate force. In the last 2 years of the war, the North tried to occupy the Confederate states in the Mississippi Valley. The failure to accomplish this goal was partly due to the deteriorating health of the Union army. Medical knowledge and action taken to prevent disease were of major importance in the success and the failure of military campaigns in the Mississippi Valley during the American Civil War.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN.
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Freemon
mesh_terms: D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008887:Military Medicine; D008922:Mississippi; D014481:United States; D014857:Warfare