The Toll of War

Union doctors performing surgery inside St. Thomas Chapel following the Battle of Cedar Creek

Sketch by James E. Taylor, an artist for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1864

The carnage of battle meant that beside the hundreds of men killed or mortally wounded on the battlefield, thousands of others had wounds or injuries that required treatment. Dozens of private homes and other structures, including St. Thomas Church were pressed into service as temporary hospitals. Conditions were deplorable, as medicine was still somewhat primitive and in short supply, knowledge about infection was little understood and the need for sterile conditions was unknown. The number of soldiers dying from infections was almost double the number who died on the battlefield.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church opened in 1837. The Hite family of Belle Grove was instrumental in raising funds for its construction.