But what about Hollywood?

Mike Inman not only entertained but educated those who attended the January regular meeting. We got to hear stories and statistics not often shared when discussing the Civil War.

In a bloodied apron standing in front of a table loaded with medical instruments, Mike Inman shared stories about battles and personalities that brought the Civil War to a much more personal place than we had ever adventured. We heard about women carrying letters from President Lincoln that provided these ladies great power and the lack of formal education required of doctors. We learned that disease and dysentery were the most successful enemies of the war, and that the war still needed to go on even if a drought caused a complete lack of water.

Linda Stephens has done a wonderful job of capturing many of the details of this presentation. It has been emailed to all of the TCGS members. Take the time to read it and be reintroduced to interesting facts that Hollywood and textbooks have ignored or completely overlooked.

Linda wraps up her write-up by giving the following description of what tools were displayed during

the presentation. “Mike Inman explained about the pieces in his collection of surgical instruments. In addition to scalpels, knives and other sharp devices, he had an hour-glass-shaped metal tool, open on both ends, that was used to listen for heartbeats. Since it was only effective if all was silent in the surrounding area, the surgeon probably just put his ear to the chest to listen or his finger to feel a pulse in an artery. Mike also has a trepanning tool that was used to drill a hole in the skull to relieve pressure. There was a tooth extractor that was used after the surgeon sliced a cut inside the cheek next to the gum, anchored the extractor and popped off the tooth. Unfortunately, when the tooth shattered, forceps had to be used to dig out the rest. He also brought a Civil War crutch that was made without nails. When massive numbers of soldiers were wounded, the surgeons would rely on local butcher shops to provide additional sharp saws. Mike concluded by showing several very heavy Civil War weapons including: .69 caliber musket, .58 caliber rifle, Henry 16-shooter, which was a precursor to the Winchester; 1866 Winchester called the ‘yellow boy’ (1866 was the first year it was produced); 1860 Colt .44 caliber revolver; a small Derringer like the one that was used to kill President Lincoln; and a .42 caliber LaMat 10-shot revolver with a 20-gauge shotgun—that’s a large handgun!”

Over 80 people attended this fascinating presentation. It was our first meeting at Charbonneau and it was a full house yet there were seats brought in for everyone. Art Kelly is the new TCGS Program Chairperson and he has done a great job with this opening act. Watch for emails and Facebook posts on more fascinating presentation coming to TCGS this year.