Unusual incidences in Civil War camps, by Dr. Wilder of the 55th Massachusetts

 I think I mentioned a few weeks ago (it was before things went crazy with the job application) that I’ve been reading this really awesome recently published document. I suspect I was talking to feral_shrew  about some history subject or another. The edition I have of this text (the only published edition?) is entitled Practicing Medicine in a Black Regiment: The Civil War Diary of Burt G. Wilder, 55th Massachusetts. It’s edited by a historian named Richard M. Reid, and only came out in 2010.



( About the surgeon and his diary... )

( Discovering exotic flora & fauna, recruiting others to do your collecting for you, and making spider-silk jewelry! )

( Quick note re: adaptation )

( Astonished horses! )

( Unusually large amounts of spider silk! )

( Bitching about Doctor Brown )

( The epic quest for sweet potatoes... )

( The quartermaster resorts to monetary fines to make Wilder actually eat something )

( Billy the horse! )

( African American superstitions re: pulled teeth, and on the method of "locking" the door of a tent )

( A colonel admires Wilder's awesome horseriding skillz )

( Well, HE hasn't seen any fleas yet... and he also almost loses his hat. And falls off his horse. )

( Wilder overhears a debate amongst the men of the regiment and is surprised. )