Her father, Colonel Frank Hampton, died at the Battle of Brandy Station in early 1863 during the American Civil War.
Their family home Millwood was burned, and Hampton was raised by three aunts, with the expectation that she would marry well, ideally to a southern plantation owner.
Previously she had to wear gloves when gardening, and the procedures at the hospital caused her to develop severe contact dermatitis and painful eczema.
People had to cleanse their hands using soap, followed by a caustic solution of potassium permanganate, a hot oxalic acid bath, and a mercury chloride compound.
[2][6] Halsted was surprised to return from an extended vacation and find that others in the operating room had also adopted rubber gloves, following Caroline's example.