I Acted From Principle The Civil War Diary Of Dr. William M. Mcpheeters, Confederate Surgeon In The Trans-mississippi

At the start of the Civil War, Dr. William McPheeters was a distinguished physician in St. Louis, conducting unprecedented public health research, forging new medical standards, and organizing the state's first professional associations. But he lived in a volatile border state. Under martial law, Union authorities kept close watch on known Confederate sympathizers. McPheeters was followed, arrested, threatened, and finally, in 1862, given an ultimatum: sign an oath of allegiance to the Union or go to federal prison. McPheeters "acted from principle" instead, fleeing by night to Confederate territory. He served as a surgeon under Gen. Sterling Price and his Missouri forces west of the Mississippi River, treating soldiers' diseases, malnutrition, and terrible battle wounds. Meanwhile, his wife and two children suffered harassment by Federal military officials, imprisonment in St. Louis, and legal and literal banishment.Pitcock, Cynthia DeHaven is the author of 'I Acted From Principle The Civil War Diary Of Dr. William M. Mcpheeters, Confederate Surgeon In The Trans-mississippi' with ISBN 9781557287953 and ISBN 1557287953.