More than one-third of soldiers in the Civil War died, and many more returned physically disabled or fighting what now is known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Durangoan Marti Bourjaily’s relative was one of them and is featured in the Smithsonian magazine. The soldiers pictured here are in a hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia, between 1861 and 1865.
More than one-third of soldiers in the Civil War died, and many more returned physically disabled or fighting what now is known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Durangoan Marti Bourjaily’s relative was one of them and is featured in the Smithsonian magazine. The soldiers pictured here are in a hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia, between 1861 and 1865.Courtesy of Library of Congress Photos and Prints/Smithsonian

Marti Bourjaily found Edward Leard on her family tree, a young volunteer who fought with his infantry regiment in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, including Antietam and Gettysburg. Suffering a mental collapse at the end of the war, he died at St. Elizabeth’s, formerly the Government Hospital for the Insane, at the age of 54.

Bourjaily found a connection to her own father in the story because he had been wounded at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, self-medicating his PTSD with alcohol and ranting about the war during Bourjaily’s childhood.

“I want to reach out to this man and tell him how sorry I am that he had to go through hell,” she told the magazine.

Herald staff

On the Net

Visit http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ptsd-civil-wars-hidden-legacy-180953652/?no-ist to read the full story about PTSD in Civil War soldiers.