Information concerning the medical histories of most Union generals is hard to find and poorly documented. Jack D. Welsh, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Oklahoma, has examined the medical events that occurred not only during the Civil War but throughout the lives of 583 Union generals.

Previously unpublished material from letters, diaries, West Point cadet records, and applications for retirement or a pension provided new additional data and clarification of many medical events, as well as information on their outcome. A number of men had suffered from medical events before the war and three joined the army missing an arm and one missing a leg.

During the Civil War, the majority of these Union generals were afflicted by disease, injured by accidents, or suffered wounds. Following the war, they frequently continued to be afflicted by disease and the effects of unhealed wounds. Medical Histories of Union Generals includes a glossary of medical terms as well as a sequence of medical events during the Civil War listing wounds, accidents, and deaths.