To The Letter S2 E3: Sawbones

To The Letter

Episode 3 is all about Civil War medicine – which is a huge topic! John was one of many Civil War surgeons, but one of few that had prior medical training.

To the Letter is a podcast brought to you in collaboration with University Libraries and the eLearning and Emerging Technologies Department’s Digital Studio at GVSU. On this podcast, we bring correspondence from GVSU’s Special Collections alive. In each episode you will hear (in their own words!) letters written by the people who lived through history and the stories behind them. John Bennitt is voiced by Matt Ruen, Scholarly Communications Outreach Coordinator at University Libraries.

Letters featured in Episode 3 are available below in full:

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, November 9th, 1862

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, November 30, 1862

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, Dec. 28, 1862

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, February 7, 1863

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Letter from John Bennitt to his wife Lottie, March 18, 1863

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Additional research for this episode:

• Wounds, Ammunition, and Amputation
• Civil War Battlefield Surgery
• Civil War Medicine
• Civil War Medical Practice
• Medical and surgical care during the American Civil War, 1861–1865

Questions? Comments? Let us know!