Civil War at Gettysburg - Canadian Doctors
Dr. Francis was 32 when he served at Gettysburg and Solomn
Secord was 29.
Secord and Wafer, both products of Canadian Medical Schools, were
highly sought by recruiters. Canadian schools, patterned on British
and European systems, were at the forefront of medical science, with
curriculums that included surgical and dissection classes.
As Wells notes: "Even though Wafer had just one year under his belt
at Queen's, he was already more qualified than many practicing
American doctors." Secord, with six years practice, was pure gold.
Both men arrived at Gettysburg early on the morning of July 2nd.
Secord on the Confederate right near Devil's Den.
While Wafer experienced the horror of battle first-hand, Secord had
his own front-row seat to the nightmare at the 20th Georgia hospital
on Plank Farm, southwest of town. He was the man at the end of the
line, carrying the weight of life and death decisions that came with
triage.
Dr.'s had about a minute to decide a man's fate, and many of these
men he knew personally. If a soldier was hit with an arm or leg,
changes for survival were good if an amputation was performed within
24 to 48 hours. A good surgeon like Secord could remove a limb in 10
minutes.
But if a man had suffered a shot to the gut or chest, he was set aside
to pass on quietly. It was a simple and brutal process. A surgeon with
Secord at Plank Farm recalled: "The surgeons (looked like) butchers,
with their blood spattered white shirts and navy trousers. To one side
lay a pile of amputated, mangled limbs, stacked like cordwood."
By the end of the battle, 1,542 wounded men flooded division
hospitals around Plank Farm, overwhelming Secord and a handful of
surgeons. On July 3, while Wafer bore witness to Pickett's Charge,
Secord had been amputating limbs for 24 hours straight, hearing only
the distant sounds of the final battle. Secord and the Confederate
soldiers around him knew their world had changed. 75 per cent of all
operations during the Civil War were amputations, including more than
15,000 at Gettysburg, a sleepy town of 2,400 in southern
Pennsylania.The three-day Battle of Gettysburg resulted in 51,000
casualties, making it the bloodiest engagement ever on a North
American Battlefield. Among the 165,000 Confederate and Union
troops who fought at Gettysburg,some 3.000 were Canadians
mostly on the Union side.
troops who fought at Gettysburg,some 3.000 were Canadians
mostly on the Union side.
On July 4, Wafer marched with the 108th in pursuit of Confederate
Gen. Robert E. Lee and his retreating men. Secord remained behind
as a prisoner, caring for 20,000 wounded (6,000 Confederate, 14,000
Union).
After the war, both returned to Ontario, practising medicine for the
remainder of their lives.
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