‘Medicine of the Civil War’ Event for Fourth of July Weekend

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Washington County Historical Society will host a presentation on medical practices of the Civil War this weekend.

The event, featuring historian Ken Martens, is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, July 7, at the Warden’s House Museum, 602 N. Main St., in Stillwater. It is free and open to the public.

Martens—who serves as the vice president of the Afton Historical Society and is a local expert on the Civil War—will discuss “grisly, yet interesting, topics such as how doctors viewed illnesses and infections without an understanding of bacteria and viruses or the types of damage a saber can do on the battlefield,” according to a release from the WCHS.

Meanwhile, on display—at both the Warden’s House Museum in Stillwater and the Hay Lake School Museum in Scandia—will be prints of the portrait paintings of members of the First Minnesota Regiment by artist Jay Wittenberg. Many of these paintings are of soldiers from Washington County.

For more information, contact Sean Pallas at spallas.wchs@gmail.com or 651-439-5956.