Drug Addiction and the U.S. Civil War
DRUG ADDICTION AND THE U.S. CIVIL WAR
I have rarely been aware of the problems of drug addiction in the nineteenth century. It took one episode of an old TV western to bring my attention to it.
Just recently, I came across an old episode of "RAWHIDE", the 1959-66 Western television series that starred Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. This particular episode called (3.12) "Incident at the Top of the World", told the tragic story of a Confederate veteran (Robert Culp), who became addicted to morphine after he was badly wounded during the Civil War. His addiction continued after the war and nearly disrupts the cattle drive featured in the episode.
Television has returned to the topic of the Civil War Era and drug addiction in the new BBC America series called "COPPER". The series features at least two major characters who are regular morphine users. After viewing the excellent "RAWHIDE" episode and some of those from "COPPER", I decided to look more into the connection between the U.S. Civil War and drug addiction. I came up with this interesting article. I think you will find it interesting.