David

On both side a lot of the medicine were homeopathic or herbal medicine and some of them were quite powerful and good such as making a pain killer from garden lettuce that was reportedly as good as opium. Hard to believe I know but it was a published medical remedy.

Actually on the whole the Confederates medical services were better at this than the Union because of the heavy usage of Union doctor on available "manufactured drug" such as "Blue Mass". Which was basically a mercury paste. Lincoln was known to take "Blue Mass" Pills regularly. He was literally poisoning himself all during the war. And as we now know today Mercury affects the Brain functions..

The draw back in this stuff is that these herbal medicines tasted terrible and were almost impossible to take because of that. so there enters in the use of whiskey and chocolate to cut the taste and as a carrier base for the actual medicine.

That was the primary use of these items in medicines and in fact all of the reports of men being detailed to manufacture whiskey and the military importance of manufacturing whiskey stems from this. Not so the Officers and soldiers could have a good time with the "Who hit John".