Introduction

The Medical College of the State of South Carolina (MCSSC), as it was known from 1832 until 1952, suspended classes after the March 1861 graduation, just three months after South Carolina seceded from the Union and a month before shots upon Fort Sumter marked the official commencement of hostilities between North and South. Almost immediately, many of the College's faculty, students, and alumni joined the Confederate military and the College was left dormant for five long years. Even while the College was on hiatus, its students, alumni, and faculty were getting an entirely new education in the field hospitals and on the battlefields. What follows are the stories of but a few of the hundreds of MCSSC's alumni, faculty and students who took their medical bags to war.

“Civil Practice to Civil War. The Medical College of the State of South Carolina, 1861- 1865” is designed to be a “living” exhibit, meaning we will add information over the upcoming five years. Additions to the exhibit will become available on or around dates of significant accomplishments in military medicine made by College faculty, students, and alumni.