Existing comment:
Civil War Medicine: Debunking the Myths
"Butcher Surgeons" & Amputations
Myth:
"Civil War surgeons were uneducated butchers who hacked off limbs indiscriminately."
Truth:
Most Civil War surgeons went to medical school or trained with an established doctor. They had to pass an exam to serve as a surgeon in the army. Often, the severity of the wounds caused by the new rifled musket technology and the Minie ball made it necessary for surgeons to perform amputations, since repairing the damage was either impossible of not prudent due to lack of time and the likelihood of infection. |