Medical

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Medical concerns dominated Peter's letters. While he assured Clarinda that he had a strong constitution and could recover from the many illnesses and injuries he incurred, he also reported on deaths and injuries of other soldiers resulting from disease and battles.

Clarinda's older sister's husband Tom suffered greatly from a lingering illness. Peter ended up traveling to visit Tom in a Washington hospital. Peter also chronicled the death of a young tentmate from disease and of another soldier from a head wound at Chancellorsville. Peter wrote to one family, sending home personal items, and asked Clarinda to communicate with another family. He even noted certain soldiers by name who had frequented prostitutes in Washington and Alexandria and ended up with venereal disease.

He reported on receiving a vaccination to prevent small pox and whiskey and quinine to prevent yellow fever.

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