Photorhabdus luminescens & "Angel's Glow"

[Astronuc]

Claim:

During the bloody chaos of the American Civil War, one strange and almost miraculous phenomenon left soldiers and doctors completely baffled. After the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, some wounded soldiers noticed that their injuries glowed faintly in the dark, giving off an eerie bluish light. The mysterious effect soon became known as “Angel’s Glow,” a name inspired by the belief that divine forces were protecting the wounded from death.

The Battle of Shiloh was one of the war’s deadliest confrontations, fought in Tennessee amid mud, rain, and chaos. Many soldiers were left lying on the cold, wet ground for nearly two days before medical help arrived. Those whose wounds glowed were surprised to find that they healed faster and were less likely to develop infections. For years, no one could explain why.

More than a century later, scientists finally uncovered the truth. The glow was caused by a type of bioluminescent bacteria called Photorhabdus luminescens, carried by tiny parasitic worms that lived in the soil. The cold temperatures during the battle likely allowed the bacteria to thrive in the soldiers’ wounds, producing the faint light. Remarkably, the bacteria also secreted natural antibiotics, helping to kill harmful microbes and prevent deadly infections.

Ref: some claim on social media

However, according to a Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorhabdus_luminescens):

P. luminescens is bioluminescent; however, the reason for this is not yet properly understood.

It has been reported that infection by this bacterium of the wounds of soldiers in the American Civil War at the Battle of Shiloh caused the wounds to glow, and that this aided the survival of the soldiers due to the production of antibiotics by P. luminescens.

There are no contemporary accounts of this phenomenon, meaning that it may be a myth or that conditions including low temperatures, low lighting, abundance of blood, time on battlefield, presence of specific vegetation, presence of rain and humidity, and the time to organize medical evacuation would prevent the phenomenon from recurring in current conditions.

https://www.vumc.org/lacy-lab/adventure-travel-guide-microbial-world/superpowers-p-luminescens

Interestingly, according to some stories, this symbiotic relationship even had a role in the Battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War. It was noticed that some soldiers’ wounds began to glow in the dark, and those with glowing wounds recovered much faster.

Further research is required.