Civil War Soldier. Physician. Medical Pioneer. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1850 and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in 1852. After spending a year in Paris and Vienna studying medicine, he returned to the US. He edited the American edition of John Erichsen's The Science and Art of Surgery. Brinton then began a private practice. By 1859, he was appointed surgeon at Philadelphia's Saint Joseph Hospital. When the Civil War began, he volunteered and was commissioned a Brigadier Surgeon, US Volunteers,with the rank of Major, in August, 1861. Under Ulysses S. Grant at Cairo, Illinois, he became the General's medical director. His Memoires written in 1891 detail his active medical work on the battlefield from 1861 to 1865. In 1862 he founded the Army Medical Museum and began work on what would become The Medical and Surgical History of the Rebellion. In 1863 he became the lecturer in gunshot wounds at the newly created Army Medical School which held its classes in the basement of the Medical Museum. Brinton wasn't content to use verbal descriptions of gunshot wounds. Neither was he content to use painstakingly accurate sketches he commissioned. In order to make his teaching realistic and practical, he introduced the use of gunshot wound photographs to prepare the civilian doctors for the injuries they would encounter on the battlefield. After the war he was appointed surgeon to the Jefferson Hospital in 1869 where he became Professor of Surgery. He was a first cousin of Major General George Brinton McClellan.
Civil War Soldier. Physician. Medical Pioneer. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1850 and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in 1852. After spending a year in Paris and Vienna studying medicine, he returned to the US. He edited the American edition of John Erichsen's The Science and Art of Surgery. Brinton then began a private practice. By 1859, he was appointed surgeon at Philadelphia's Saint Joseph Hospital. When the Civil War began, he volunteered and was commissioned a Brigadier Surgeon, US Volunteers,with the rank of Major, in August, 1861. Under Ulysses S. Grant at Cairo, Illinois, he became the General's medical director. His Memoires written in 1891 detail his active medical work on the battlefield from 1861 to 1865. In 1862 he founded the Army Medical Museum and began work on what would become The Medical and Surgical History of the Rebellion. In 1863 he became the lecturer in gunshot wounds at the newly created Army Medical School which held its classes in the basement of the Medical Museum. Brinton wasn't content to use verbal descriptions of gunshot wounds. Neither was he content to use painstakingly accurate sketches he commissioned. In order to make his teaching realistic and practical, he introduced the use of gunshot wound photographs to prepare the civilian doctors for the injuries they would encounter on the battlefield. After the war he was appointed surgeon to the Jefferson Hospital in 1869 where he became Professor of Surgery. He was a first cousin of Major General George Brinton McClellan.
Bio by: rjschatz
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