Medical Equipment
The Civil War was fought as medicine was on the brink of the modern scientific era.
Anesthetic compounds were increasingly available to reduce some of the horrors of
battlefield surgery, but antiseptic procedures and medication were not yet in use.
THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863■^ Medicine chest Surgeons carried a range of anesthetics
and painkillers, such as chloroform, ether, and morphine.
As the Union blockade of the South tightened, surgeons in
the South found themselves increasingly short of medical
supplies. ■ Tool tray Contains a range of probes used to
locate any bullets or fragments in the wound. ■ Surgeon’s
operating case Such kits were often elaborate sets of
instruments fitted in fabric-lined wooden cases. ■ Tool tray
This contains a chain saw, used for cutting through bone
where the location of the injury was inaccessible to a bone
saw. ■ Bone saw Used for cutting through the larger bones
of legs and arms during amputations. ■ Trephine
Principally used to drill holes in the skull to relieve pressure
caused by a fracture. ■ Grips These removable handles
were attached to the chain saw to allow the surgeon to
operate the saw. ■ Hey’s saw Used to cut the cranium
around a fracture. ■ Bone crimper Used to remove
rough bony edges on the stump after an amputation.
■(;^ Bullet extractor These forceps were specially designed
to remove a bullet, fragments, or other material from a
wound. ■(2 Bone cutter Designed to remove ragged
bits of fractured bone. ■(3 Amputation knives Used for
cutting soft tissue during an amputation. They came in
a variety of sizes. ■(4 Scalpels and lancets These were
important tools for incising and dissecting smaller tissue.
■(5^ Surgical saw Injuries from artillery fire often left soldiers
with smashed arms or legs which required amputation.
■(6^ Pocket surgery kit Belonging to the first female Union
Army surgeon, Mary Walker, this kit contains a range of
scissors, forceps, and probes.■ MEDICINE CHEST
■ TOOL TRAY
■ OPERATING CASE