Army surgeons learned much about effective trauma treatment during the Civil War. Many wounded soldiers survived as amputees—among them, Samuel H. Decker, whose hands were destroyed in a gun accident during the 1862 battle of Perryville, Kentucky. Decker designed his own prostheses to adapt to his disability. He later served as doorkeeper for the House of Representatives.
National Museum of Health and Medicine
Photograph, Private Samuel H. Decker, Co. I, 4th U. S. Artillery, November 29, 1867
Civil War Medicine
To provide for the nation’s welfare, Congress acts to promote health and prosperity. In 1866 Congress authorized publication of the Medical and Surgical History of the War of Rebellion. Compiled by the Army Surgeon General’s staff from Union and Confederate records of military medicine, it was the United States’ first major federal contribution to medical research. Soldiers who survived the war had a significant presence in Congress. Many senators and representatives served in the Union and Confederate Armies, and Congress employed Civil War veterans as staffers into the 20th century.
Army surgeons learned much about effective trauma treatment during the Civil War. Many wounded soldiers survived as amputees—among them, Samuel H. Decker, whose hands were destroyed in a gun accident during the 1862 battle of Perryville, Kentucky. Decker designed his own prostheses to adapt to his disability. He later served as doorkeeper for the House of Representatives.
National Museum of Health and Medicine
