There were many medical advances made during the American Civil War. When the Civil War began in April 1861, medicine was approaching what Surgeon General William Hammond called "the end of the medical Middle Ages." American physicians had little knowledge of the cause and prevention of disease an...

There were many medical advances made during the American Civil War. When the Civil War began in April 1861, medicine was approaching what Surgeon General William Hammond called "the end of the medical Middle Ages." American physicians had little knowledge of the cause and prevention of disease a...

Medical Technology Advances "First the surgeon would cut off the blood flow with a tourniquet. After that he would take a scalpel and slice through the outlying tissue and flesh. Then he would use a hacksaw-like tool called a capital saw to saw through the bone. It had replaceable blades. ...

I. INTRODUCTION Before the Civil War the North prohibited slavery while the South did not. The North had no reason to use slaves, but in the South there were sugar and cotton plantations. So large plantation owners would buy around three to four hundred slaves to pick the cotton or cut down t...