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Why did the U.S. Civil War increase the use of embalming in the United States?

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surgeon; American Civil War — embalming An embalming surgeon at work on a soldier's body during the American Civil War.

The U.S. Civil War served as the critical turning point for the adoption of arterial embalming in the United States, effectively breaking down public resistance to the practice.

Prior to the war, preserving bodies for viewing or transport was often done using ice or "cooling boards," which were frequently unsatisfactory. The war created an urgent need to transport the remains of soldiers from distant battlefields back to their families. The government facilitated this by awarding contracts to undertakers to prepare bodies for shipment home, a service that many families utilized.1

The practice gained further legitimacy through the embalming of high-profile figures, including President Abraham Lincoln and his son Willie, which helped associate the procedure with patriotic duty. Additionally, for wealthier families, embalming provided a means to bring their fallen loved ones home for burial, offering a new, more permanent way to manage the loss of life during a period of unprecedented national mortality. This widespread wartime use established embalming as a common mortuary practice and laid the foundation for professional mortuary education in the United States.12