Opium Abuse and the Civil War

As you can image by the title of my novel, Widow of Gettysburg, writing it required extensive research into the condition of wounded soldiers and their treatment. I soon discovered that opium was considered a wonder drug by battlefield surgeons. It was sprinkled on wounds to help slow blood loss, and taken orally to relieve pain and induce sleep. Opium and morphine were the most popular painkillers—but they were also used in the treatment of cholera and sometimes dysentery. In the South, doctors encouraged civilians to grow poppies in their own gardens and bring the seeds to collection centers in order to overcome the blockade-induced shortage, but the plan didn't yield much of a harvest. The most significant incidence of opium abuse in the United States occurred during the Civil War, when an estimated 400,000 soldiers became addicted to the drug. Two of my characters in Widow of Gettysburg struggle with it. The following signs and symptoms helped guide those storylines.

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Opium Abuse Side Effects These side-effects depend on factors such as the dose, how the drug is taken, and the individual’s metabolism. In addition, these side-effects depend on the duration of time in which the drug has been taken. Opium abuse brings about side-effects such as:

• Drowsiness
• Sedation
• Depressed or slowed breathing
• Glazed or red eyes
• Slurred speech
• Headaches
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Small pupils
• Nausea
• Sleeping disorders
• A runny nose
• Sinus irritation
• Excessive energy
• Rapid speed
• Mania
• Loss of appetite
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Apathy
• Slowed reflexes
• Vomiting
• Constipation and other gastrointestinal problems
• Extreme anxiety
• Restlessness and tension

In most cases, side-effects are experienced at the early stages of abuse and decrease as time goes by. Depression was one of the most serious side effects of long-term users, and could lead to suicide. In severe cases, the individual may have a weak pulse, lower blood pressure, reduced heart rate, difficulty or labored breathing, and changes in the color of lips and fingertips. Seizures, convulsions, hallucinations, confusion and psychomotor retardation also take place.

My research for Spy of Richmond, my fourth novel in the Heroines Behind the Lines series took me into the related world of laudanum, an alcoholic tincture widely taken, which was 10 percent powdered opium. Many women, including the famous Confederate diarist Mary Boykin Chestnut, used it regularly. "I relieved the tedium by taking laudanum," wrote Chestnut in one of her references to the drug. Some took it to achieve a pallid complexion, some to relieve pain, and some to simply calm nerves and encourage sleep. It's easy to imagine the untold thousands of women who would have been attracted to such a drug while loved ones were at war. Unfortunately, laudanum addiction, like opium addiction, could be fatal.