From official records, personal letters, and postwar memoirs, Jack D. Welsh, M.D., has compiled the medical histories of 425 Confederate generals. The generals' early military experience, at West Point and in Florida, Mexico, or on the western frontier, meant that hundreds of them were exposed to and immunized against the diseases that killed so many soldiers in the Civil War, while many also were wounded or lost limbs. In addition, several survived street fights, duels, and shooting accidents - all before the war. Welsh does not attempt to analyze the effects of an individual's medical problems on a battle or the war, but whenever possible provides information about factors that may have contributed to the wound, injury, or illness, and the outcome. He also details the immediate care, logistics of transportation, timing of operations, and the remedies used or recommended by the physicians, when such data is available. He also follows these generals after the Civil War. Medical histories of Union generals includes a glossary of medical terms as well as a sequence of medical events during the Civil War listing wounds, accidents, and deaths. -- Adapted from the introduction.

Introduction -- Abbreviations -- Confederate Generals: medical histories -- Appendix: a sequence of medical incidents during the Civil War -- Glossary.