Thomas P Hall

Thomas Percy Hall fought in the War of the Rebellion (Civil War). He went as a substitute for his cousin James Gilmore. He was by trade a ship's joiner (finish carpenter). The son of John Hall and Matilda Delano Hall, the brother of Benjamin Delano Hall. He went to Alexandria, Virginia and did not die in battle but died, as so many of the soldiers on both sides, of thyphoid fever. Today we know that thyphoid is caused by the salmonella bacteria. The Union lost 360,000 men to disease and the Confederates lost 260,000 men. 110,000 of those Union men died of battle wounds and 94,000 Confederate men died of battle wounds also. The Union Army had 98 medical officers and the Confederates had 24. The Doctors at that had 2 years of medical training with no clinical experience. Imagine having your son go off to war, and losing him not to a battle injury but to a disease that could have been prevented by cleanliness. So far from home and all alone! It just breaks my heart to try to imagine what it must have been for all those mothers, fathers, and sons.The sanitation in the camps was non-existent.With those heart rending thoughts I will leave you. Until next time. Your Hall genealogy insider.