A Vast Sea of Misery: A History and Guide to the Union and Confederate Field Hospitals at Gettysburg, July 1-November 20, 1863

by Gregory A. Coco

A History and Guide to the Union and Confederate Field Hospitals at Gettysburg, July 1- November 20, 1863

Genres: Civil War, American Civil War, Medicine, History

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1988

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I was buying this as a reference book for my genealogical search for my one and only Civil War soldier who was a CONFEDERATE. I knew that he had been wounded at Culp's Hill in the last day of fighting in the Gettysburg battle. And indeed, I found the farm (H. A. Picking) where he died and was buried in this book. (He was dug up 9 or 10 years later and reburied in a Confederate cemetery in Virginia).
The surprise for me was that I started reading the book and couldn't stop. It is a guide and history to more that 160 field hospitals, both Union and Confederate, of that most horrible of all battles, where 7,000 were killed, over 26,000 wounded. Gregory A. Coco used all of the then available documents, letters, and newspaper articles to identify the sites and then describe them today. It made me want to go back to Gettysburg and help save the sites from development.

[Matthew Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

As many who tour the battlefield notice, there are a number of signs delineating where the field hospitals of Gettysburg were located. However, while there have been a number of books talking about the field hospitals of Gettysburg, they usually focus on a few of the locations and what they did there. In A Vast Sea of Misery, Gregory A. Coco chronicles the location of each field hospital and some of the interesting cases which came from them. In this printing of Coco’s work, the reference of the field hospitals throughout the town are a welcome sight to see back in print once again.
Gregory A. Coco lived in Gettysburg for nearly thirty-five years. He served in the United States Army and also earned a degree in American History from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. While he was in the army, he served as a prisoner of war military interrogator and also served as an infantry platoon radio operator with the 25th Infantry. He received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. While living in Gettysburg, he served as a Park Ranger for the National Park and was a Licensed Battlefield Guide. He has written many other articles and books on the Civil War, but his most famous is A Strange and Blighted Land. Gettysburg: the Aftermath of Battle.
This book is separated into six parts all chronicling the field hospitals throughout Gettysburg. The first is the hospitals in the borough of Gettysburg, the second is the Union controlled hospitals, the third is the Confederate controlled hospitals, the fourth are other important medical sites, the fifth being the field hospitals of nearby towns, and the last being Camp Letterman. Overall, the entirety of the book is comprehensive when it comes to the study of what these hospitals performed. Going through the text are intricate details on the location of the hospital, who served there, who most likely was healed due to regimental position, and even a short narrative on what happened. In the end, what I’m getting at is, this is one of the most comprehensive books on Gettysburg hospitals I have ever read. Since this is a new printing of the book, I should mention that I had not read the first edition since I could never seem to get a copy. But this printing of the book is quite gorgeous, just as well done as Savas Beatie’s reprint of A Strange and Blighted Land. Even after the six parts are completed, the appendices are something to behold as they are a wealth of even more information.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Battle of Gettysburg. Especially since the new printing is out, the accessibility of this work has reached even more than before. I will forever enjoy this reference material of the medical work which was done in the aftermath of battle and I thank Gregory Coco for writing it. While A Strange and Blighted Land is his most famous work, I find A Vast Sea of Misery to be just as important and a great companion book to the former. Highly Recommended.

Matthew Bartlett

[Donna Giberti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gregory Coco provides the casual reader, researcher, or student of the Civil War with a comprehensive understanding of the breadth and wide-ranging response of military and civilian surgeons, medical staff, and compassionate community members who served the needs of the casualties of the Battle of Gettysburg. Though catalogue-like in structure, Coco immerses the reader in the sights, sounds, and smells of the environment as much as possible. Anecdotal quotes breathe life into the humanity of the experience.

[William Olenick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good resource for medical information and the many farms and homes used as hospitals.

[Emilie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to revisit Gettysburg right before Thanksgiving and found this book once again to be very helpful. It is such a moving place to visit, on a par with the National Memorial in OKC or the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. This book is thorough, historically accurate, and extremely useful in locating and understanding the sites in and around the Gettysburg area which were used as hospitals during and after the battle. Once again I found this book invaluable in providing background information and insight into this dreadful engagement of Americans against Americans, where more men died in 3 days than in any other encounter in US history.

[Sarah Bierle · Rating 3 out of 5]

So how can I rate this book? It's not a topic that we "like." Some of the text made me cry. However, this book has been meticulously researched and I find it a very valuable resource on my Gettysburg shelf. There are many good photographs of buildings and locations. The maps are good, but I really wish there was scale of miles included on them.

Not for the faint-hearted, but this book is a must for a historian who wants to understand the Civil War/Gettysburg impact on civilians or the medical situation during this era.

[Joe Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide to the locations of the various hospitals that were used during and after the Battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863. From barns to many houses, the wounded Union and Confederate were cared for by doctors, nurses, and civilians. This book gives the details with photos of the many hospitals used. A great book!

[Cheryl Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Mr. Coco's books are fascinating, no one could say that they are quick reads. There's far too much infromation to absorb to hurry through the text. This book is also lavishly illustrated. Written around the 125th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, it could benefit from an updating, but it is still well worth the effort.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent information regarding the hospitals/aid stations in and around Gettysburg, during and after the Battle of Gettysburg.

[Christopher Loperfido]

Excellent.