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The popular myth that depicts Civil War surgeons as butchers and holds that soldiers suffered extreme pain during amputations, having only whiskey and a bullet to bite on as pain-relievers, is patently false. In fact, the Civil War (1861–1865) saw the first widespread use of general anesthesia, which was used on over 80,000 patients; nearly 95 percent of operations during the Civil War were performed under some kind of anesthesia. Chloroform was the agent most used in field hospitals because it works more quickly and is not flammable, whereas ether was preferred in the bigger hospitals. William Morton himself administered anesthesia to injured soldiers; however, most Civil War surgeons had little experience with surgery, much less anesthesia, so they entrusted the duty of administering anesthesia to nurses, who were able to focus their undivided attention on patient care during surgical procedures.

The popular myth that depicts Civil
War surgeons as butchers and holds that
soldiers suffered extreme pain during
amputations, having only whiskey and
a bullet to bite on as pain-relievers, is
patently false. In fact, the Civil War
(1861–1865) saw the first widespread
use of general anesthesia, which was
used on over 80,000 patients; nearly 95
percent of operations during the Civil
War were performed under some kind
of anesthesia. Chloroform was the
agent most used in field hospitals because it works more quickly and is not flammable, whereas
ether was preferred in the bigger hospitals. William Morton himself administered anesthesia to
injured soldiers; however, most Civil War surgeons had little experience with surgery, much less
anesthesia, so they entrusted the duty of administering anesthesia to nurses, who were able to focus
their undivided attention on patient care during surgical procedures.

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