By James M. Schmidt
The Civil War News
“…to facilitate the carrying of badly-wounded dead bodies hurriedly away that could not otherwise be quickly removed for the want of proper conveyances, or difficulty to procure boxes or coffins for removing the dead, as the boxes or coffins cannot be so easily transported or handled on the field of battle.”
The “receptacle” was made of india-rubber, oval-shaped, about six feet in length and about two and a half feet in width. The top was funnel-shaped, “so that a dead body may easily be thrust in at the top.” The bag had two handles, “so that the body can be immediately lifted up and carried off…to be transported safely to any desired place to be inclosed in a box or coffin.” A tube was attached near to the center of the bag receptacle to accommodate deodorants or preservatives, “until received by its friends to be...prepared for interment,” or embalmed.
Still, not everyone could afford embalming. As Valentine Mott - one of the foremost surgeons of the era – declared:
“…in times like the present, when so many are bereft of one or more members of their family by the calamities of a horrid war . . . .the rich and the titled can afford to be embalmed, but the commoner must be pitched into the pit unheeded and unknown.”
The mechanics of the innovative burial case received the approbation of the Western Sanitary Commission (which performed numerous and diligent experiments to test its utility) which appreciated the “safer, cheaper, and better method of preserving the remains of deceased persons without burial, for transportation to friends at a distance an object greatly desired by those having relations killed in battle, or dying in the military hospitals.”
On a related note:
The museum – which opened its doors in October 1992 – fulfilled the aspirations of founder Robert L. Waltrip, who had long dreamed of an institution that would educate the public and preserve the rich heritage of the funeral industry. The NMFH is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization and all profits raised by donations, admissions, and gift shop sales go towards the operation of the Museum.
Of special interest was a wonderful “Civil War Embalming Exhibit” featuring the story of the afore-mentioned Dr. Thomas Holmes!
As experts in their field, the staff of the NMFH has been a leading consultant to many motion picture and television production companies as well as well as national and international print media. They have supplied “props” from the early days of the undertaker to the modern funeral home to “Kill Bill: Vol 1,” “Gangs of New York,” “Six Feet Under,” documentaries produced by A&E and Discovery, and other productions.
Finally:The grief of families who lost a loved one during the war did not end with the funeral, if they were even able to have one. In a previous column (April 2008, here) I interviewed Bernadette L. Atkins - writer, lecturer, photographer, collector, and expert - about 19th-century mourning rituals.
Bernadette is pleased to announce that her terrific booklet on the subject, Widow’s Weeds and Weeping Veils: Mourning Rituals in 19th Century America, was revised in 2010 and is available through http://battlefieldsandbeyondbooks.com/.