MYTH 2: There was no anesthesia so amputations were always performed with the men conscious.
Case studies show that some 95% of amputations done by Union surgeons were performed under anesthesia. When chloroform or ether were not available, amputations were sometimes postponed rather than cause unnecessary suffering by the victim.
As for Confederate surgeons, Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire reported "...that in the corps to which I was attached (2nd Corps ANV), chloroform was given 28,000 times..."
In a piece titled "Confederate Medical Service", Dr. Deering J. Roberts expanded: "Many Confederate surgeons reported that at no time did they fail to have an adequate supply of the three most important drugs, quinine, morphia and chloroform."
--Old Secesh
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