{"id":3011,"date":"2016-02-11T08:52:01","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T13:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2024-06-26T14:04:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T18:04:19","slug":"3011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/3011\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Flagg, American flag and yellow flag"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Physicians<\/a>
Physicians work on wounded men in the midst of battle. (National Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few years after the Civil War ended, a multi-volume opus was written. Titled \u201cThe Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-\u201965,\u201d it bulged with case studies, surgical breakthroughs \u2013 and some flags, one of which was a person.<\/p>\n

FLAGG<\/h2>\n

One of the breakthroughs involved Corporal Eugene Flagg, a member of the 94th Illinois Volunteers. In December 1862, he was severely wounded during a battle in Arkansas when a musket ball slammed into his head. As one of the doctors put it, the metal ball \u201cfractured and depressed the cranium two inches posterior to the coronal, and one and one-fourth inches to the left of the sagittal suture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Army<\/a>
Army surgeons during the Civil War. (National Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Put more bluntly, it almost killed the young, blue-eyed farmer. An assistant surgeon with the unit \u201cremoved all fragments of bone\u2026.The patient was immediately admitted to the field hospital.\u201d Within weeks, with Flagg\u2019s condition \u201cfavorable and daily improving,\u201d he was discharged.<\/p>\n

Seven years later, the damage remained, with Flagg still suffering from head pain and paralysis of his leg. He died in California in 1872, having gained ten years of life from the doctors\u2019 skills.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN FLAG<\/a><\/h2>\n
\"Doctors<\/a>
Doctors prepare for an amputation. (National Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The physicians also reported on other kinds of damage, \u201cincluding every influence that tended to lower the vital powers of the soldier, such as over-fatigue, loss of sleep, exposure to cold and wet,\u2026over-crowding in quarters and the diseases to which these influences predisposed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those overseeing the troops recommended such solutions as fresh vegetables and more carbohydrates \u201cthat formed the bulk of the nutritive supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, the physicians weighed troubles that were emotional in nature and called \u201cdepression of spirits.\u201d The authors noted several causes, including personal woes, anxiety, and \u201cthe gloom and despondency attending disaster to the flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those symptoms were seen as particularly occurring among POWs, with the physicians diagnosing that the loss or absence of the American flag and other banners under which they served could lead to deep depression.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Civil War hospital flag. (Army Medical Dept., Center of History and Heritage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TRAIN FLAG<\/h2>\n

Doctors who flitted around battlefields, transporting the wounded and crossing dangerous territory, flew a special flag that identified their work. It wasn\u2019t a white flag of truce; it was a yellow flag of medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hospital trains were distinguished by displaying those flags with an \u201cH\u201d on them and by the inscription \u201cU.S. Hospital Train\u201d in large letters along the paneling of the railcars.<\/p>\n

As a result, the book disclosed, the trains \u201cwere seldom molested\u201d by enemy forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few years after the Civil War ended, a multi-volume opus was written. Titled \u201cThe Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-\u201965,\u201d it bulged with case studies, surgical breakthroughs \u2013 and some flags, one of which was a person. FLAGG One of the breakthroughs involved Corporal Eugene Flagg, a member of… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,43,337,338],"class_list":["post-3011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-civil-war","tag-hospital","tag-medical"],"yoast_head":"\nOf Flagg, American flag and yellow flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/3011\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Of Flagg, American flag and yellow flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few years after the Civil War ended, a multi-volume opus was written. 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