362 Walt Whitman, John Mahay, and Urotrauma in the American Civil War

Abstract

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a visionary American poet who inspired innovation within the literary landscape, choosing to preserve real, complex life with poetic imagery. He also chose to volunteer as a nurse during the American Civil War, daring to confront the violent, painful reality of war’s aftermath with precision and unflinching honesty. Volunteer nursing for the Union Army was organized by the United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War (1861-1865). Our objective is to investigate the urologic management and perspectives of Walt Whitman during his service as a Nurse during the American Civil War. We conducted a review of the literature pertaining to Walt Whitman, his clinical practice, and his relationship to John Mahay during the Civil War. A review of textbooks, peer-reviewed articles, works of prose, and government archives was performed. Original publications and anatomic diagrams were reviewed through the Walt Whitman Archive and the National Museum of Health and Medicine.