Author:
Scott McGaugh
Stars:
4
Review by: Mandy Apgar
A long deserved biography of Dr. Johnathan Letterman, the
PA born physician who is credited with standardizing battlefield
medicine. Letterman grew up in a humble, but slightly well off family and
was able to afford an excellent education despite
the early death of his father. Possessed of excellent common sense, he
began traveling upon graduation all over the country and applied that
good sense to barracks and bases all over. Early highlights included
tackling malaria ridden swamps in Florida, an act
which caught the eye of several persons in the right places. So after
Lincoln's appointed medical adviser left,
Letterman found himself, with little actual tactical experience, head of
the 100,000 plus Army of the Potomac on the eve
of the Civil War. His abilities were first tested at Antietam, where his
basic sense applications (baths, not eating moldy food, etc.) on the
field cut illness down by 3/4 and deaths by an immeasurable amount. By
Gettysburg he had become involved in planning parts of the battles. After the war was over he married,
fathered two daughters, and ended his brief
life as a coroner.
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