The Jewett Artificial Leg was the artificial leg that the state of North Carolina provided to its soldiers after the Civil War.
Excerpted from Inventing a Better Mousetrap: 200 Years of American History in the Amazing World of Patent Models
How The Civil War Changed Military Surgery and Orthopedics
The Civil War changed the fields of military surgery and orthopedics. The powerful, destructive and more accurate weapons of this conflict did more damage to the human body than ever before, resulting in not only more injuries, but injuries of a more critical nature. Wartime surgeons had little understanding of sterilization and post-surgical infection, so amputation was commonplace. Wounded soldiers taken from the battlefield were given whiskey, or when available, opium.