Mending Broken Soldiers: The Union and Confederate Programs to Supply Artificial Limbs

Guy R. Hasegawa presents the first volume to explore the wartime provisions made for amputees in need of artificial limbs—programs that were the forebears of modern governmental efforts to assist in the rehabilitation of wounded service members. Hasegawa offers a comprehensive look at the artificial-limb industry, including detailed descriptions of the ingenious designs employed by manufacturers; illustrations and photographs of period prosthetics; accounts of the rapid advancement of medical technology during the Civil War; and in-depth examinations of the companies that manufactured limbs for soldiers and bid for contracts, including at least one still in existence today. An intriguing account of innovation, determination, humanitarianism, and the devastating toll of battle, Mending Broken Soldiers provides a fascinating glimpse into groundbreaking military health programs during the most tumultuous years in American history.

Guy R. Hasegawa is a pharmacist and senior editor of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. He is a coeditor of Years of Change and Suffering: Modern Perspectives on Civil War Medicine and has written many articles on the history of pharmacy and on Civil War medicine. He serves on the board of directors of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and is a director emeritus of the Society of Civil War Surgeons.