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New Book On Artificial-Limbs Program For Confederate Veterans

Contact:
For information call (919) 733-7442, e-mail trudy.rayfield@ncmail.net, or visit the online shop.


(RALEIGH) -- Amputations constituted roughly 75 percent of all operations performed during the Civil War. A new book from the state Office of Archives and History examines North Carolina’s extensive program to supply and fit its Confederate amputees with artificial arms and legs.

“Phantom Pain: North Carolina’s Artificial-Limbs Program for Confederate Veterans,” by Ansley Herring Wegner, surveys amputation’s place in Victorian medical science and the problems faced by disabled veterans as they returned to civilian life. In this pioneering study, Wegner compares North Carolina’s artificial-limbs program with those of other former Confederate states. She concludes that North Carolina was among the most progressive of the southern states in supporting its disabled and maimed Confederate veterans.

After discussing the several types of artificial limbs patented by inventors during the Civil War and its aftermath, Wegner reports the response of recipients to their new limbs. While some of them adjusted to the prostheses, others suffered from residual problems associated with stumps that never healed properly. Many veterans reported phantom pain from the amputated region.

“Phantom Pain” includes a useful index to records in the North Carolina State Archives related to Civil War amputees, artificial-limb recipients, and veterans who requested commutations because they were unable to use an artificial limb. The paperback volume is illustrated with pictures of surgical instruments, artificial limbs and veterans with their prostheses.

Ansley Herring Wegner, a native of Wilson, is currently a research historian in the N.C. Office of Archives and History. Before moving to the office’s Research Branch, she was an archivist in the N.C. State Archives. Wegner received an A.B. degree in English and psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. in public history from North Carolina State University.

“Phantom Pain” (261 pages, paperbound, illustrated, index) costs $21.05, including tax and shipping. Order from Historical Publications Section (N), Office of Archives and History, 4622 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4622. For credit card orders call (919) 733-7442 or use the Historical Publications Section’s secure online shop at http://store.yahoo.com/nc-historical-publications/ .

The Historical Publications Section offers more than 160 North Carolina titles, including others about the Civil War. For information call (919) 733-7442, e-mail trudy.rayfield@ncmail.net, or visit the online shop.

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