MAY 2011
For the local community and visitors to Williamsburg, Virginia
Library of Congress Union Gen. George McClellanĘźs headquarters in Yorktown
Captivated by Civil War surgery By Bob Ruegsegger Historical interpreter John Pelletier has been fascinated with Civil War medicine since his parents took him to Gettysburg as a youngster. In the National Civil War Wax Museum, Pelletier encountered a wax image of Gen. Daniel Sickles having his leg
amputated during the Battle of Gettysburg. That image of Sickles made a permanent impression. "I'll always remember that," said Pelletier, an upstate New York native. Pelletier has taken on the persona of a Confederate surgeon as a vehicle to convey what he has learned over the years about 19th medicine and field surgery. "I had an ancestor who was a hospital steward for Hampton's Legion so I have always been interested in the Civil War," Pelletier said. "I got more interested in the medical side of it and that's
when I met up with Dr. Wheat," added the Suffolk resident. On Memorial Day weekend, Pelletier traditionally teams up with Dr. Thomas Adrian Wheat at the Nelson House in Yorktown to brief visitors at Colonial National Historical Park's Yorktown site on 19th medicine. Doc Wheat, as he is affectionately known to local living historians, was an Army surgeon for 25 years. Wheat was instrumental in convincing the NPS folks at Yorktown to allow him and a few associates to introduce an interpretive program on Civil War surgery at the Nelson House. Over the years, Wheat's interpretive program evolved into a twoday annual event. He has long regarded Yorktown's Civil War history as "Virginia's best kept secret." "Doc Wheat's kind of taken me under his wing," Pelletier said. "I learned quite a bit from him and a few other doctors that do Civil War medicine." Early in the Civil War, the Nelson House in Yorktown served as a general hospital for the Confederate Yorktown garrison that included the 1st North Carolina Regiment, the first unit to be engaged by Federals at Big Bethel on June 10, 1861. Two Confederate surgeons, Dr. Leach and Dr. Coffin, were assigned duty at the Nelson House. When the Confederates withdrew from Yorktown, the Nelson House served as a Union hospital and remained under Federal control for the rest of the war. "Chimborazo Hospital with Dr. McCaw and Robertson Hospital with Captain Sally Tompkins were excellent [Richmond] hospitals," Pelletier said. "Captain Sally had a phenomenal survival rate at Robertson Hospital. If you made it to the general hospital, you probably had a better chance of survivPhoto By Bob Ruegseggery ing. It was getting there that was Historical interpreter John Pelletier as Confederate surgeon. the tough part."
Pelletier has no professional medical training. "My background is in engineering. I work for a consulting engineering company," he said. "I'm basically a designer, a plumbing designer. I work on a different set of pipes than medical professionals," he said with a smile. Being able to ask questions of a medical nature to someone with Doc Wheat's medical background has proven to be an invaluable asset to Pelletier in understanding surgical techniques and translating that information into 19th century terms. After experimenting briefly with performing graphic mock amputation demonstrations for the public Wheat and Pelletier have limited their programs to static medical displays. Surgical sets and instruments of the Civil War era are exhibited. Discussions regarding the medical department, medicines, and techniques of field surgeons are among the usual topics included in their interpretive medical program. "Sometimes you can get more information across to the public by doing a static display versus doing the mock amputations," noted Pelletier. Pelletier has been participating in the Yorktown Civil War Weekend event for over six years. He initially decided to participate in the program because he wanted to meet Doc Wheat. "I had been dabbling a little bit in Civil War medicine, but not to the extent that I am now," recalled Pelletier. "Doc Wheat just welcomed me with open arms, and I guess the rest is history.� Want to go? Colonial Historical National Park will host Civil War tactical demonstrations and encampments during Memorial Day Weekend, May 28-29. Admission is $10. For more information, call 898-2410.