AMPUTATION
A surgical operation to remove an arm, leg, hand, foot or digit of the body. Amputations were the most frequently performed surgeries in the Civil War. Massive damage was done to bones and tissue by the new ammunition, the Minié ball. Amputation was the fastest way for doctors to save a life, and 75 percent of the amputees survived their surgeries.
ANEMIA
A condition characterized by weakness and pallor. It is a reduction of hemoglobin in the red blood cells, and also a reduction in the number of red blood cells in most forms of anemia, resulting in a deficiency of oxygen. During the war, it was twice as common among black soldiers from the southeastern states. It was discovered many years later that intestinal parasites are usually the cause.
ANESTHESIA
A loss of feeling,...
