Phantom Pain: North Carolina's Artificial-Limbs Program for Confederate Veterans, Including an Index to Records in the North Carolina State Archives Related to Artificial Limbs for Confederate Veterans.

Phantom Pain: North Carolina's Artificial-Limbs Program for Confederate Veterans, Including an Index to Records in the North Carolina State Archives Related to Artificial Limbs for Confederate Veterans. By Ansley Herring Wegner. (Raleigh: Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 2004. Pp. xii, 261. Paper, $15.00, ISBN 0-86526-314-0.)

Although the American Civil War remains the most published topic in American history, surprisingly few volumes have appeared on the rigors and practice of amputation, even though it was a common experience for wounded soldiers. While a few articles have appeared on the medical dimensions of amputation, the prosthetic-limb programs, particularly in the Confederacy, have largely gone unexamined. Thus Ansley Herring Wegner's study emerges as a much-needed starting point in developing a nuanced body of scholarship on the physical, social, and psychological ramifications of amputation for Confederate soldiers.

The first part of the book, written like an article intermixed with a series of stunning photographs, offers a brief history of medicine and amputation. With the advancement of Civil War weaponry and the lack of adequate changes in battle tactics, soft-leaded bullets shattered the flesh and bones of many soldiers. Army surgeons turned to amputation as a common surgical procedure. Wegner offers a detailed step-by-step discussion of how army surgeons facilitated limb removal, even if done only "to gain surgical experience" (p. 13).

As Confederate amputees dealt with the reality of the empty sleeve, Wegner offers a discussion of how North Carolina came to embrace the artificial-limb crusade with the first program of its kind in the South. Through state legislation and citizen support, Raleigh, North Carolina, converted an old wartime bayonet factory into a prosthetic leg facility. Amputees traveled for free to Raleigh, where they stayed at a home during the fitting process, which usually lasted a few days. By 1871 North Carolina had invested $81,310.12 in their amputated veterans (p. 32).

Yet the bulk of the book---over two hundred pages--serves as an index to the records of North Carolina relating to Confederate amputees. For each person, Wegner provides the name, county of residence, military unit, the artificial limb received, the date of issuance, and where the record can be located in the North Carolina state archives. By providing a clear index of North Carolina's amputees, Wegner has done a service to the academic community. Each record allows future researchers to delve into questions about the effect amputation had on postwar southern notions of manhood and the daily experiences of amputee veterans. Were amputees welcomed as heroes or shunned for no longer being able to adhere to prewar notions of manhood that were rooted in honor and the complete male physique? Wegner's work offers an appropriate starting point for a body of scholarship that may enhance our own understanding of gender, medicine, and postwar society through the eyes of Confederate amputees.

BRIAN CRAIG MILLER

University of Mississippi