Martin V.B. Hill had bad luck during his time in the Civil War. He only fought in two battles, then came down with rubella (German measles). He was sent to an Army hospital, where he was cured of rubella, but contracted the tuberculosis that eventually killed him.

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What is Tuberculosis?
Questions and answers by Lyndsay S. and Leanne G.


Civil War Tuberculosis patients

What is Tuberculosis?	Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic or acute infection caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. The bacterium has a rod shape. Tuberculosis mainly affects the lungs but can also attack kidneys, bones, lymph nodes and even your brain! Tuberculosis is a disease that affects animals and humans.
Is Tuberculosis contagious?	Tuberculosis can be very contagious because it is transmitted through the air. Tuberculosis is passed on when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks or laughs. For a 50% chance of catching Tuberculosis, you need to be around an infected person for either six months, eight hour a day or two months for twenty-four hours a day.
How do you catch Tuberculosis?	Tuberculosis is passed person-to-person (animal-to-animal), by inhaling droplets of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis that are in the air. When a person coughs, sneezes, or speaks droplets are released into the air and others can become infected. You can also get Tuberculosis from skin-to-skin contact. This type of contraction is more rare but is possible; you can contract Tuberculosis from flesh wounds, tattoos and non-sterilized instruments.
What causes Tuberculosis?	Being exposed to droplets of bacteria called, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis causes Tuberculosis. The disease is transmitted when a person talks, laughs, sings or sneezes.
Where did Tuberculosis start?	One of the earliest records of Tuberculosis is found on Egyptian mummies dated 2400 BC. There are definite signs of tubercular decay on the vertebral column.
What are the symptoms of Tuberculosis?	The symptoms of tuberculosis can often be related to the common cold, only much, much worse.You will not have symptoms unless the Tuberculosis is active. If the Tuberculosis is active you may have the following symptoms: Not feeling well, cough (yellow or green mucus and maybe bloody.), feeling tired (so tired in fact, that you would only be awake for about four hours a day), feeling short of breath, weight loss, loss of appetite, a fever, night sweats or chills and pains (chest, kidneys and back. You may have one or all three.)
What kinds of people catch Tuberculosis?	Anyone can catch Tuberculosis. The following people may have a higher chance: People who are malnourished People who live in close quarters Healthcare workers Long-term hospital patients Prison workers Prison inmates People with weakened immune systems
What are the stages of Tuberculosis?	There are two stages in which Tuberculosis can develop, primary and secondary. Primary- In the inactive stage, you will have no symptoms and the tuberculosis will not be contagious. Immune cells may destroy the bacteria before it develops. Bacteria can multiply and become active, symptoms will show if this happens. It can also, inhibit (blocks the action of Tuberculosis bacteria), this will make a ball of immune cells and bacteria form called a granuloma or a tubercle. The immune cells will form a wall and the mass will stay in one spot. Nothing will happen unless the immune system weakens which will cause the Tubercle to open and the bacteria can multiply. The Tubercle will collect calcium deposits and will be called a Ghon Focus. Over time the Tubercle will heal but scars will be left on the lungs permanently. Secondary- In this stage the dormant bacteria will multiply and destroy lung tissue. Bacteria may also spread to the rest of the body through the blood stream. Tubercles will continue to develop and destroy lung tissue. Coughing of blood of phlegm may happen in this stage.
What are the effects of Tuberculosis?	Basically, all the effects of tuberculosis are the same as the symptoms, only they continue on throughout your life. The basic effects are as follows: Hunchbacked spine Weight loss Constant tiredness Bloody cough Wheezing Shortness of breath How tuberculosis really effects you depends on what kind of the disease you have. It could affect your lungs, skin, spine and even your neck glnads (although that is very rare). As far as limitations on your life go, there were many with having tuberculosis. For example, let's say that you wanted to play outside with your children in the winter. You couldn't, because you could catch another illness like pneumonia and die.
Were there any treatments [in the 1800s]?	Tuberculosis was mostly treated in the home using homemade remedies. Other people that were infected moved to higher climates such as The Rockies or The Adirondacks, which were favorable to health and recovered. Treatments varied widely. Some of these included: warm sea air, milk from pregnant women, seaweed placed under your pillow, cold baths and deep breathing. Non of theses so-called “cures” worked. There were also cover-ups for your coughs like cough syrups. In 1885 Dr. Trudeau (Who was formerly infected with Tuberculosis), found A great cure for Tuberculosis. This idea was called a Sanatorium. His belief was that fresh mountain air and exercise in cool air would cure Tuberculosis. He opened the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium. The sanatorium was located at Saranic Lake in New York.
What is a sanatorium?	A sanatorium was a place where patients that suffer from Tuberculosis could go to recover from the disease. At a sanatorium patients were required to have a diet of three meals a day and a glass of milk every four hours. Patients were also required to spend as much time outside as possible. First patients would sit on the veranda (an open air porch). When the patients were able to, they would spend 8 to 10 hours outside, walking and exercising whether it was raining, sleeting, hailing or snowing. These sanatariums were spread out all over the place because there were so many people who had the disease that they could not hold them all in one place. Because the disease was so contagious, they could not let people with tuberculosis into hospitals for fear that people who already had an illness might catch this disease. [Teacher's note - This is exactly what happened to Martin V.B. Hill.]
What is the history of Tuberculosis during the time of Martin V.B. Hill?	The real first discovery toward the cure for Tuberculosis was when Jean-Antoine Villemin confirmed that Tuberculosis was contagious. According to previous beliefs, Tuberculosis was hereditary. Villemin discovered this fact in 1868. A German biologist named Robert Koch discovered the cause of the disease in 1882. The cause is from a bacterium called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. This discovery aided in the discovery of Tubercle Bacillus in sputum from the victim.
Is there a cure for tuberculosis?	Although there is no one way to cure tuberculosis, doctors have come up with many ways to slow the disease. Long ago, doctors believed that resting cured everything and though it helps, it does not in any way cure tuberculosis.
Are there any different types or names for Tuberculosis?	There are three main kinds of tuberculosis in the world. The most common is called Pulmonary Tuberculosis or phthisis. This is tuberculosis of the lungs. The common symptoms for shthisis is a bloody cough, followed by wheezing and shortness of breath. There are many different nicknames including: Scrofula, Tabes, Bronchitis/Inflammation of the lungs, hectic fever, gastric fever, lupus, The Great White Plague and Consumption.

Bibliography:

Text:

• www.micklebrig.com/oakwood.ch.18.htm
• http://hsc.virginia.eu/hs-library/historical/ALAV/VKC.html
• http://hsc.virginia.eu/hs-library/historical/ALAV/trudeau.html
• http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/7/1680_53937.htm
• http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/10/1680_53937.htm
• www.lungusa.org/diseases/lungtb.html
• www.faculty.virgina.edu/blueridgesanatorium/tuberculosis.html
• Encyclopedia Americana, Book #27
  

Pictures:

• http://hsc.virginia.eu/hs-library/historical/ALAV/VKC.html
• http://hsc.virginia.eu/hs-library/historical/ALAV/trudeau.html
• news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ health/1070387.htm
• http://www.cpmc.columbia.edu/tbcpp/abouttbs.html
• www.evc.org/.../nyc_history/ ROSLYN_NYC_history/Tb2.html

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Rubella
Fiction by DJ P.

Hi. My name is Martin V.B. Hill. I am going to tell you about my experience with Civil War hospitals. I hope by the time someone finds this, hospitals would have changed and people will get better care when sick.

The food here makes you wish for a bullet. The food is not the only thing making me want to run head-first into a cannon. The sick people and the people with gunshot wounds make you want to run. I will spare you the details of the black and yellow puss, except to say that it looks a lot like pepper when dry.

My best friend, John, has tuberculosis. The nurses told me to stay away from him, but I don't listen very well. John is a big guy, the kind of guy you would expect to see in here with a gunshot wound, not a disease like tuberculosis. He still tries to tell us he got it from an earlier gunshot wound and not from a bowl of soup.

John and I have been talking a lot. We share battle stories; he has been in many more battles than I have. He has gone into five major battles to my one. He told me of a time when two of his old friends got shot; one on each side. His stories affect me and give me great appreciation for why I am here. I am one of the lucky ones to be here with a fever instead of a gunshot wound.

The nurses tell me I have Rubella; it's known around the soldiers as German measles. They say there is nothing they can do for me. I have a rash that is all over my body. It started on my face; I thought it was just sunburn. My friend laughed at me. I have a fever. I'm afraid. They told me a person before me died from a fever. I am really uncomfortable because the rash is making me itch. It seems like all I do is itch. The nurses tell me to stop scratching so I won't get an infection. My friend John is getting worse. He coughs all the time and now he is right next to me. I cut myself scratching. A new doctor came in today. He says I will be able to get back into the war soon. I start to say goodbye to my friends and the nurses. I respect them for trying their best to take care of us.The nurses still like me, even though my face is as red as an apple. I make them laugh. I am not feeling as well as I was; my fever is higher and the rash is spreading more. The bed sheets are rough and I may have to be moved so I don't infect the nurses. My whole body is red and itchy and I can't stand to look at myself. I wish I could go back to the war and make a difference. I really want to go home and get myself a wife, or maybe I will ask one of the nurses to marry me.

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Problems Martin V.B. Hill Had, Getting His Pension
Questions and answers by Nate C.

What is a pension?	A pension is a document given to someone by request.It says that the person that requested it will get a certain amount of money according to their house income. It is given either for an act of patronage or as retirement money.
Who gives out pensions?	Well actually, Congress is the one that is in charge of giving out pensions, [but in this case, Martin V.B. Hill had to convince the Army that he deserved one.]
Why did Martin V.B. Hill want a pension?	The main reasons Martin V.B. Hill had for wanting a pension were that he had caught tuberculosis while in the army during the civil war. He also caught rubella while in the hospital being treated for TB. [Teacher's note: Hill actually caught tuberculosis while being treated for rubella.]
What were some of the problems he had in getting a pension?	One of the biggest problems he had was the fact that he had filled out at least two different pensions and both were declined. Each pension consists of two or three papers each. The third time he filed for a pension it was granted to him.
Detail from Hill's pension file: rejection of benefits by Army surgeion Click to see the whole form
Why were his first two pension requests rejected?	The reason he was rejected was that the examiner said that there was no lung disease present in his body at that time. As for the rubella, the doctor said he didn’t catch it while he was in the army.
When he finally got his pension, what were his benefits?	It took him until two years before he died to get his pension requests granted. After it was granted the government paid him half the amount in a lump sum of $4.00 for every month he was waiting to get it accepted. After that they started paying him the full amount of $8.00 a month. This is why he looked like he was rich when he died because he had all this money in the bank which was about $600.00.

Bibliography:

• Martin V.B. Hill's military and pension files, National Archive, Washington, DC
• http://www.va.gov , cited 27 April, 2003
• Webster's Dictionary

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