The Medical Encampment

Though I still FIRMLY believe this blog is a fools errand, and that the disappointment outweighs the pleasure...Yet I have the urge to foolishly push forward like an odd sheep moving closer to the edge before flinging themselves off.
Though my life has been dull recently, as it usually is, I traveled to the Springfield Illinois Medical Encampment this Saturday with my mom, sister, and dear friend Heather. The night before the fury of the heavens tore down upon the small camp in the form of a rather strong storm which was easily felt here at home, including a flash of lightning that appeared to be right across the street and a large clap of thunder on the coat tails of the lightning. Saturday dawned with a dull watery gray sky, but a dry ground. Once mom, Heather, and myself were on the road, we hit a small hiccup of rain, but it was quickly out of our way and we entered Springfield under the same dull inky looking skies we had left at home. With my sister retrieved from her own apartment, we were onto the Old State Capital. Upon stepping out of the van, Heather and I finished dressing for the occasion, we had both worn our blouses, I had worn my skirt as well, Heather opted for more comfortable pants, we both slipped into our hoops, my "slipping" was a bit harder due to the skirt I was already wearing. With our dresses together, our little odds and ends to "dress up" our outfits, and my hair up, courtesy of my sister, we were off!
The air we entered after leaving the parking garage was a bit thick with humidity, but the temperature was in the 70's making for a cool comfortable walk to the Capital. we entered through the lovely wrought iron gates, and onto the spacious emerald green lawns that surrounded the tall tan fortress that was once the official state capital before its move later. We were given schedules, and entered the sea of tents. Heather and I were drawn immediately to my FAVORITE sutler, "The Ladies and Gentleman's Emporium" while mom and Michele listened to some of the reenactors by the front gate. Our initial observation of the sutler over, we walked out and I walked into my dear friend Anna! A wonderful hug from a lovely friend always makes ones day so much better! I introduced my two dear friends, and after a quick chat, we were off again. Heather and I met up with my mom and sister and we made our way around the sea of tents. We heard many wonderful stories from a civilian woman portraying a middle class woman sitting on her porch and chatting, she asked us to "pick the boy" out of the pictures of children, and seemed delighted when she heard me say the way to tell a boy and girl apart was the part in their hair, boys were to the side, girls down the middle. We then sojourned to a large medical tent, where the wind kicked up again, and the dull gray inky sky became a darker shade of black foreshadowing a storm. We learned quite a bit about the nurse who discovered many of the soldiers had scurvy, we learned about civil war pills, some on dentistry, and different chemicals used to treat symptoms. Our small group then traveled to watch a poor wounded soldier being trephined, I'm an atrocious speller so hopefully the definition will help identify the proper word. The purpose of this procedure was to drill a small hole into the skull to allow the brain to "breathe" and move to settle tremors. In ancient times, native people's would perform these tasks to "let demons out" and to treat depression, it is still used in Mexico for depression to this day. What is really miraculous is not only that 45% of soldiers who had this operation survived, but in the case of the natives, many skulls were found with HEALING, meaning they survived the surgery and lived on. When I told my mom about this, and the man giving the presentation said the same thing about the demons a second later, mom said "You have to be a history teacher!" 
With the presentation over, we had time to kill before our next event, and our stomachs were crying out for nourishment, so our little group journeyed back through the wrought iron gates and down the street to Bennigan's! We had several odd stares as Heather and I walked down the street in our full hoops, and Bennigan's was not only surprised to see us, but rather delighted to see us. The hostess had SEVERAL questions for us, and my sister was amazed when I sat easily in my hoops while waiting to be seated. Another waiter had a few questions and comments, but the favorite question was, "Are those hot?" The looks were also priceless when we say, "No they're actually cool." When one swishes, air kicks up, and cools the legs, a built in air conditioner. The woman who seated us went out of her way to assist us, pulling both Heather and my chairs out, helping us get situated and helping us put our baskets on the ledge. The service and attention was truly great! Our waitress was also interested in our dresses, and the woman seating everyone I believe, made reference to us when she seated a recent graduate. After the meal and a very yummy desert might I add, Heather and I went to the restroom and the looks did not end! When we were both preparing to leave, two women came in and asked us why we were dressed that way, they also had the same questions as others. What was very interesting was when we left! This restaurant was attached to the Hilton and a young man in a tux said as we walked by, "Hello ladies". I was honestly shocked, no one ever really says anything more than they have to! 
Once we all returned to the encampment we went to see the embalming, Heather and I took a respite on the ground at the front. Oh I'm such a liar! The event I spoke of, with the trephining was AFTER lunch sorry for that mix up! Anyway, after the surgery we went to get front row seats to the embalming. When Heather and I sat down, another lady in modern dress sat next to us and asked us questions as well, these dresses sure invite questions, but oddly enough while I wear them, I'm not shy! We were happy to answer as many questions as we could about our dresses and the hobby before the embalming began. Our doctor stepped up, and our "dead" patient stuck his head out of the tent, grinned shyly and said, "hello" before hopping up on the table and proceeding to "die". Our embalmer proceeded to explain the reasons for different things, such as binding the mouth shut, putting half dollars on the eyes, and a brief history of embalming. He then explained the purpose and name of each of the chemicals used, and demonstrated the "modern" way of embalming using a pump of sorts, he had a volunteer pump the air, and water shot out quite a bit from the tip, something that was MUCH faster than the previous method of inserting the liquid with a syringe. With our other demonstration over, we went through the camp again, and visited the Ladies and Gentleman's Emporium one last time, Heather sat back a lovely bonnet for Grierson Days, and I made a deal that I would work around the house to earn the money I needed for my own bonnet, which was set aside. With that done, we loaded up, or I should say we shed some extra attire, Heather her hoops and skirt, me my hoops and accessories, climbed in the van, and made our way home! All in all, it was a FANTASTIC day! I also would LOVE it if we could add this sort of element to the Grierson Day's event to keep the families before and after the battle. Pictures below! 

Our poor head injured soldier.

Drilling a small hole in the soldiers skull.

They had to have done a good job, they asked a young boy what the white thing was, he said the skull, they asked what the red thing was, he wasn't sure but they said that is his brain.

Medicines.

Embalming.

The unlucky dead one. ;)

More embalming.

Medical instruments.

More medical equipment.

Medicine chest.

Myself and my FAVORITE Mr. Lincoln, Max Daniels! Bad picture of me...Didn't know mom was snapping it...

Love,

Christina