Yesterday's Weapons Forums

I looked through my copy of HISTORICAL REGISTER AND DICTIONARY OF THE US ARMY ( there are a few Confederate records) but found no other mention of that name. It was not uncommon for people of the same family to serve on different sides, so I looked carefully that way. Plenty of "Griggs" but no "Grigg".

If there's a branch office of the National Archives near you, I have their catalog of military records and could get you the appropriate roll number before you went.

Most records are listed by roll number except Confederate records and Revolutionary War which are listed by name. I found MY OWN NAME among the revolutionary war vets applying for their pension and 100 acres of land awarded by the Continental Congrefs to veterans who fought "the duration of the war".

I also found one of wifey's ancestors who was a "Marine soldier" in the Continental Navy. Meaning he mostly tried to snipe Brit officers during close combat.

If you are a history buff, a day in a national archives branch office will pass VERY quickly! I have been given the bum's rush out the door on at least 3 occasions.

Any word on the nature of the ailment from which your ancestor died? Advanced infection? SW

.....doesnt sound like much fun...
=================================

Pyaemia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Pyaemia
Classification and external resources
ICD-9 038.42
eMedicine /

Pyaemia (or pyemia) is a type of septicaemia that leads to widespread abscesses of a metastatic nature. It is usually caused by the staphylococcus bacteria by pus-forming organisms in the blood. Apart from the distinctive abscesses, pyaemia exhibits the same symptoms as other forms of septicaemia. It was almost universally fatal before the introduction of antibiotics.

Sir William Osler included a three-page discussion of pyaemia in his textbook The Principles and Practice of Medicine, published in 1892. He defined pyaemia as follows:

"A general disease, characterized by recurring chills and intermittent fever and the formation of abscesses in various parts, all of which result from the contamination of the blood by products arising from a focus contaminated by the bacteria of suppuration."

Earlier still, Ignaz Semmelweis - who would later die of the disease - included a section entitled "Childbed fever is a variety of pyaemia" in his treatise, The Etiology of Childbed Fever (1861). Jane Grey Swisshelm, in her autobiography entitled Half a Century, describes the treatment of pyaemia in 1862 during the American Civil War.


[edit] Symptoms
The disease is characterized by intermittent high temperature with recurrent chills; metastatic processes in various parts of the body, especially in the lungs; septic pneumonia; empyema. It may be fatal.


[edit] Treatment
Antibiotics are effective. Prophylactic treatment consists in prevention of suppuration.


[edit] Different types of Pyemia
arterial p. Pyemia resulting from dissemination of emboli from a thrombus in cardiac vessels.

cryptogenic p. Pyemia of an origin that is hidden in the deeper tissues.

metastatic p. Multiple abscesses resulting from infected pyemic thrombi.

portal p. Suppurative inflammation of the portal vein.

In that era - American Civil war - Crimean War - Napoleanic Wars, even a minor wound could easily be a death sentence.

As for "anitbiotics", I have a 1906 book on clinical theraputics, and they were known then... but the book lets on that medical people were more than a little skeptical of them.

It's quite an interesting book. In 1906, if you had pesistent hay fever, you could expect a prescription of cocaine. For "women's problems" like menstrual symptoms, cannabis was a popular remedy. Belladona for eye issues - strychnine for heart ailments. And this from actual medical doctors.

Fascinating reading. SW

I think today we call those medican users drug attics now.I have herd C War vets were often hooked on morphine after they got shot..Hell of A price they paid..

I also think that the last ones to get any kind of treatment or medicine would have been the POW back then. We have all heard the stories of Andersonville & the like. I think that quite a few prisoners
died in NY

Go to civilwartalk.com and join up. There are people who can track down your relative and assist you.