Civil War Surgery
Civil War surgery was characterized by brutality.
Unfortunately for the patient, battlefield surgeons took minimal care when attending to patients. This meant that not only did many patients due on the battlefield due to inoperable injuries, but even those whose injuries were operable weren't always safe from harm, as infections from their procedures often killed them.
The brutality of the surgical procedures of the Civil War was found specifically in the use of anaesthesia during operations, and two specific procedures: amputations and skin grafts (3).
This image depicts a standard battlefield hospital and operating room, wherein a man is undergoing an amputation procedure. Clearly, this is not a sterile environment: no one is wearing the proper gear to perform this surgery, the patient and doctor are both outside, and several other people are standing near the patient, increasing his risk of infection (4).
3. "Surgery," US History in Context, accessed January 4, 2015, http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/uhic.
4. Amputation Being Performed in a Hospital Tent - Gettysburg, PA, July 1863, photograph, Civil War Photos, accessed February 4, 2015, http://www.civilwarphotos.net/files/images/036.jpg.