Common Enemy
The nonprofit NMCWM, based in Frederick, Md., explores the world of medical, surgical, and nursing innovation during the Civil War. To learn more about the stories explored in this and future columns, the museum hosts walking tours to the city’s Civil War hospital sites on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. from April to October. For more, visit civilwarmed.org.
THE SOLDIERS MOSTLY CARRIED Springfield, Enfield, or Lorenz rifled muskets rather than M4 carbines, wore blue or gray rather than green or tan combat uniforms, and they might have seen balloons flying overhead rather than drones, but among American forces, one similarity between military life in the Civil War and today was in a simple requirement: Get vaccinated.
COVID-19 was far in the future; the requirement was for the smallpox vaccine. At the time, vaccination was relatively new and viruses, such as the one that causes smallpox, wouldn’t
