the faux bohemian

Posts tagged civil war

279 notes

my-ear-trumpet: liquidnight: The prevalence of amputation during the Civil War created a need for prosthetic devices. In 1866 more than half of the entire budget for the state of Mississippi was expended on artificial arms and legs. Because demand often outstripped supply, some veterans designed their own mechanical limbs of metal and leather; one of the most famous was Union veteran Sam Decker, who could eat and write relatively easily with the prosthetic arms he and his wife created. Decker was made Doorkeeper of the U.S. house of Representatives after recovering from his injury. Photographer unknown, circa 1866 From The Face of Mercy - A Photographic History of Medicine at War

my-ear-trumpet:

liquidnight:

The prevalence of amputation during the Civil War created a need for prosthetic devices. In 1866 more than half of the entire budget for the state of Mississippi was expended on artificial arms and legs. Because demand often outstripped supply, some veterans designed their own mechanical limbs of metal and leather; one of the most famous was Union veteran Sam Decker, who could eat and write relatively easily with the prosthetic arms he and his wife created. Decker was made Doorkeeper of the U.S. house of Representatives after recovering from his injury.

Photographer unknown, circa 1866

From The Face of Mercy - A Photographic History of Medicine at War

Filed under history 1860s civil war reconstruction bodies prosthetics

0 notes

The Robert Smalls House, in Beaufort, South Carolina.  Awesome story about this house - Smalls was born into slavery here, where he worked for the owner (and probably his father), the planter Henry McKee.  In 1862, he was working on the CSS Planter, a confederate gunboat, and smuggled his family and three other enslaved families on to the ship after dark, then piloted it to the Union blockade of Charleston, where he and the others received their freedom.  Smalls aided the Union army deactivating mines and leading raiding parties into the lowcountry, and used his pay to purchase the house where he was once enslaved.  After the war, he was elected one of the first African-American congressmen. Now that’s a story.

The Robert Smalls House, in Beaufort, South Carolina.  Awesome story about this house - Smalls was born into slavery here, where he worked for the owner (and probably his father), the planter Henry McKee.  In 1862, he was working on the CSS Planter, a confederate gunboat, and smuggled his family and three other enslaved families on to the ship after dark, then piloted it to the Union blockade of Charleston, where he and the others received their freedom.  Smalls aided the Union army deactivating mines and leading raiding parties into the lowcountry, and used his pay to purchase the house where he was once enslaved.  After the war, he was elected one of the first African-American congressmen. Now that’s a story.

Filed under civil war slavery robert smalls beaufort south carolina south