Concerted government efforts to assist in the rehabilitation of wounded veterans started with the Civil War era artificial-limbs programs. This book is the first to examine the evolution of these programs for military amputees during and after the Civil War. Author Guy Hasegawa looks at how both the Union and the Confederacy handled the supply of artificial limbs to maimed Civil War soldiers and sailors, demonstrating the vast differences in industrial and economic conditions between the two regions. The story also illustrates the inventiveness and intense business competition of the era.