Collage of historical images and cartoons of the American Civil War

Visual Culture of the American Civil WarA Special Feature of Picturing US History

The Empty Sleeve.

The use of soft lead bullets in Civil War rifles caused devastating injuries, including shattered bones that resulted in amputations, the most common surgery during the war. An estimated 45,000 amputees survived the war and became common sights in their communities. The loss of a limb was often viewed as a symbol of bravery, sacrifice, and service. In poetry and literature amputees became a metaphor for the heroic efforts by soldiers to keep the nation from being dismembered. The image of veterans with amputations appeared in a number of prints and illustrations of the period, including this 1866 print that accompanied a poem titled "The Empty Sleeve."The use of soft lead bullets in Civil War rifles caused devastating injuries, including shattered bones that resulted in amputations, the most common surgery during the war. An estimated 45,000 amputees survived the war and became common sights in their communities. The loss of a limb was often viewed as a symbol of bravery, sacrifice, and service. In poetry and literature amputees became a metaphor for the heroic efforts by soldiers to keep the nation from being dismembered. The image of veterans with amputations appeared in a number of prints and illustrations of the period, including this 1866 print that accompanied a poem titled "The Empty Sleeve."

Source: American Antiquarian Society

Publisher: New York: J. C. Buttre

Date: 1866

URL: http://gigi.mwa.org/netpub/server.np?find&catalog=catalog&template=detail.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=3512&site=public