Civil War Prosthetics

The Renaissance time period was one of considerable advancement. After individuals started dissecting humans, knowledge of diseases and knowledge of these cures increased greatly. This occurred through individuals being naturally curious about the world around them. The surgical tools during the Renaissance included scalpels, a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument, as well as dilators, and bone saws. A frequent surgical instrument also used was a catlin, a long double-bladed knife used in amputations and could later be referred to as an interosseous knife. A rather ghastly tool used was an amputation knife. This curved knife would make a circular cut through the skin and muscle before the bone was cut with a saw.  However, this was later

During the war, many patients died from blood loss while waiting for treatment or during surgery. This

Let’s go way back, all the way to 1861, the beginning of the Civil War. The Civil War was a battle between the Confederacy (south) and the Union (north). This was a battle to end slavery in the south. There were about 1,264,000 soldiers that died, and about 644,000 people were injured. As you may know, our medical field has drastically improved over the years since then. But back at that time, there wasn’t a lot that was yet to be known. As the Civil War progressed in its dreadful ways and occurrence of common wounds, that would be the main topic that will be addressed. Now sit back and relax, as we take a trip back to the past of battlefield medicine during the Civil War.

The Civil War, also called The War Between the States, was one of the bloodiest wars in American history. What made the Civil War such a massacre? The Civil War was such a bloodbath because the technological advances were so far superior to the tactics of the infantry, that the weapons virtually obliterated the soldiers. Soldiers would form lines known as a battalions. In these battalions, soldiers would basically march to their deaths. In addition to weapons doing so much damage, fortification on the battlefield was far more advanced than had ever been before. The Cheveau-de-frise was the main focus of armored fortification in the Civil War. This fortification consisted of 10 to 12 foot

John Burford, a Brigadier General, had received a bullet to the knee during the Second Battle of Manassas. Luckily Buford’s bullet wound wasn’t too serious. If the wound had been serious, it would have been treated with amputations and since there were no anesthetics back then, the person getting amputated on would feel all the pain. Surgeries during the Civil War were performed unsanitary. Surgeons would not wash their hands before operating and would wear blood splattered clothing. The instruments used for operating were never disinfected properly. Instead, they would dip their instruments in cold water, often bloody from the prior operation. Buford had died in December 1863 of

Immediately after hearing the news about Kilrain’s death due to his injuries, the Confederates began to open fire. Chamberlain hid behind the stone wall, where he goes in and out of consciousness due to blood loss from his foot. Had Chamberlain properly got his wound treated, according to ehistory.osu.edu, the treatment would have been at least a day or two, at the most. The surgeon would then clean/wash out the wound with a cloth and then prod the wound with his finger, searching for any remnants of the cloth, tissue, or bone. Furthermore, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov explains that the regimental surgeon would then dress the wound, and would later be carried out in an ambulance driven by the Marine Corps to be taken to a division level field hospital for surgical treatment, if needed. Consequently of Chamberlain not getting required treatment, as also stated by ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, this consequence would eventually lead to “...gross tissue destruction that was an excellent medium for infection.” Also mentioned by muttermuseum.org, gunshot wounds to the ankle would often do very well, but would require long treatment. Although Chamberlain’s wounds were not to the ankle, but to the foot, his mortality rate would be low, because amputation would always be another probable answer if treatment did not work.

A. Plan of Investigation This investigation will assess the impact of amputations on the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. The practice of amputations during the Civil War is perceived as a failure due to the high amount of casualties, uneducated practitioners, and attitudes towards medicine, but there were also limited successes in the practice of amputations. Primary documents and individuals directly involved in the conflict will be investigated to determine the impact of amputations during the conflict to analyze the arguments. Also, statistics and historians’ interpretations will be examined to analyze impact of amputations and different perspectives.

The civil war was known as the bloodiest war in the history of the United States and it was fought over 10,000 places. And more than two percent of the population died during the war, and more people died during the civil war than in all wars put together. Twice as many soldiers died during the war than in combat and it was marked improvement compared to the Mexican war that was from 1846 to 1848 where there were 7 to 10 deaths from diseases for every death in the battle and it wasn’t until World War II that weapons killed more Americans than diseases. And this was because a lot of soldiers died from either injuries from the battlefield or

When people picture the Civil War amputations, they often picture piles of limps stacked around a battlefield and a surgeon as a butcher. However, this picture is not true to the real nature of battlefield medicine. Amputation was the most common surgery throughout the Civil War. The Civil War leads to advancement in amputation and quality of life for those who had amputation. Artificial limbs also came into the picture helping former soldiers lead a better quality life.

Surgeons worked very hard and once the Civil War was over (likely) or the army thought it was time for a soldier to leave the war (less likely) they were discharged. By the time the civil war ended more than 12,000 surgeons had served. In all, more than 174,000 wounds were presented in field hospitals around the US. Of these, 30,000 resulted in amputations by a surgeon. Surgeons were completely necessary for the success of either side (though the North won the war) to succeed in the war.

The Civil War was fought with much carnage, and was one of America’s most ‘uncivilized’, wars with a soldier’s chance of survival about twenty-five per cent. While many were killed by other soldiers, usually through bullets, a large portion died as a result of disease such as: dysentery, mumps, pneumonia, typhoid fever, measles, and tuberculosis, diseases that are curable today. These diseases were spread through the horribly sanitized camps found on both sides of the war: Confederate and Union. And while many died from disease, some died from other soldiers’ bullets; these deaths may have been prevented if the technology, or overall techniques used by surgeons, during this time period were more up-to-date, as amputations were the main procedure

To obtain a medical degree during the Civil War, one only had to apprentice with a local physician, received practically no clinical experience, and they just had to take a few courses at a proprietary medical college. Amputations were the most common surgeries performed during the Civil War. An amputation consisted of the removal of a person's arm or leg due to infection or severe injury. Military surgeons learned to amputate and perform a wide variety of procedures as they were actively engaged in conflicts. Most Civil War surgeons had never even treated a gunshot wound or even performed a surgery. Due to the lack of education, nurses would volunteer to be present during surgeries even though they knew very little about what was going on. Working against incredible odds, however, the medical corps increased in size, improved its techniques, and began to gain a better understanding of medicine and disease every

One of the highly praised Renaissance surgeons was Ambroise Pare because he gave a “conventional account of the ‘five duties’ of his art: ‘to remove what is superfluous, to restore what has been dislocated, to separate what grown together, to reunite what has been divided and to redress the defects of nature’”(Porter, p.188). Pare was a barber-surgeon who had gotten a plethora of experience during his tending of the wounded from war. In fact, it was during the treatment of the battlefield that he learned gunpowder and shot weren’t poisonous as everyone had presumed. Another one of his discoveries was the use of ligatures when performing an amputation.

Surgeons have learned surgical fundaments of trauma management from military experience probably since the dawn of human history (3), but also, we know that it is difficult to draw conclusions for civil trauma management from studies with military settings. Since World War I when most patients were managed expectantly, mortality was reported approximately 11% the principal causes were exsanguination and airway obstruction (4). Dr. Fogelman in 1956 proposed early neck exploration for penetrating neck injuries lowering mortality rates to 6%. This concept leads to an early surgical therapy and neck exploration for suspected vascular injuries. Based on these experiences mandatory

Imagine for one moment that you are living in the 1800’s and are in need of medical help. During this time surgeons were known for the treating of wounds, amputations, and treatment of broken bone. Picture yourself lying on a dirty cot, or soiled table waiting for the surgeon to come in. When he finally enters he is wearing a bloody, dirty apron and informs you that the only option is to remove your limb. He calls in for help in holding you down and picks up a stained saw and prepares to remove your leg. Your mind flashes back to the numerous people who came before you and died shortly after having this procedure done. Will you die during the operation or like so many others survive only to succumb to fever and gangrene and die after?