Port Gibson in Claiborne County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
Field Surgery on the Porch
Photographed By Cajun Scrambler, November 30, 2019
1. Field Surgery on the Porch Marker
Inscription.
Field Surgery on the Porch. . During the battle, and for weeks afterward, the Shaifer home served as a field hospital where amputations took place on benches and tables on the porches around the house. It was here that Charles Dana, a former journalist who was observing the army for U.S. Secretary of War Stanton, first confronted such a bloody scene.
On June 13, weeks after the battle ended, neighbor Spooner Forbes wrote in his diary, "Loaned Mrs. Shaifer buggy to go to Jefferson after her children.” Perhaps the women of the household had spent the intervening weeks cleaning and making the house habitable again for their families.
"About four miles from Port Gibson we came upon the first signs of the battle...The little white house had been taken as a field hospital, and the first thing my eyes fell upon as I walked into the yard was a heap of arms and legs which had been amputated and thrown into a pile outside. I had seen men shot and dead men plenty, but this pile of legs and arms gave me a vivid sense of war such as I had not before experienced." , Charles A. Dana, "Recollections of the Civil War" , ,
Trauma and Memory.
It is stories like this that keep the Civil War alive for some southerners. Caring for small children in the face of a battle and its aftermath was especially traumatic at the Shaifer home, where the story of amputations lingered for generations.
Photo Caption , The military surgeon's kit was used for battlefield surgery. The relatively crude surgery and a high rate of infections caused many post-battle deaths. , The technology for killing had far outpaced the technology for healing at the time of the Civil War.
During the battle, and for weeks afterward, the Shaifer home
served as a field hospital where amputations took place on
benches and tables on the porches around the house. It was
here that Charles Dana, a former journalist who was observing
the army for U.S. Secretary of War Stanton, first confronted
such a bloody scene.
On June 13, weeks after the battle ended, neighbor Spooner
Forbes wrote in his diary, "Loaned Mrs. Shaifer
buggy to go to Jefferson after her children.” Perhaps the women
of the household had spent the intervening weeks cleaning and
making the house habitable again for their families.
"About four miles from Port Gibson we came upon the
first signs of the battle...The little white house had been taken
as a field hospital, and the first thing my eyes fell upon as
I walked into the yard was a heap of arms and legs which
had been amputated and thrown into a pile outside. I had
seen men shot and dead men plenty, but this pile of legs and
arms gave me a vivid sense of war such as I had not before
experienced."
Charles A. Dana, "Recollections of the Civil War"
Trauma and Memory
It is stories like this that keep the Civil War alive for some southerners. Caring for small children in the face of a battle and its aftermath
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was especially traumatic at the Shaifer home, where the story of amputations lingered for generations.
Photo Caption The military surgeon's kit was used for battlefield surgery. The relatively crude surgery and a high rate of infections caused many post-battle deaths. The technology for killing had far outpaced the technology for healing at the time of the Civil War.
Location. 31° 56.889′ N, 91° 2.16′ W. Marker is in Port Gibson, Mississippi, in Claiborne County. Marker can be reached from Shaifer Road, 1˝ miles west of Bessie Weathers Road, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Port Gibson MS 39150, United States of America. Touch for directions.
More about this marker. Located on the grounds of the A.K. Shaifer House, Mississippi State historic site.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 31, 2019. It was originally submitted on December 31, 2019, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 388 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 31, 2019, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.
