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From Bangor To Elmira And Back Again: The Civil War Career Of Dr. Eugene Francis Sanger, Andrew Macissac

Maine History

Bangor's Dr. Eugene Francis Sanger holds a dubious claim to fame in the annals of Civil War history. Having joined the Union medical corps largely to advance his own career; the abrasive surgeon moved from post to post, frustrated by lack of discipline among field staff and by lack of recognition from his superiors. In 1864 Sanger became the chief medical officer at the Elmira Prison Camp in New York, a northern counterpart to the infamous Andersonville Prison. Was Sanger responsible for Elmira 's unconscionable mortality rate? The historical record is ambiguous. Andrew Maclsaac grew up in Mexico, Maine, and …