Life and Limb exhibit at National Park Focuses on toll of Civil War

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is proud to host the National Library of Medicine traveling exhibit titled “Life and Limb: The Toll of the American Civil War,” on view to the public Monday, August 31 through October 10, 2015 at the park visitor center, 33 William Street, downtown New Bedford. The visitor center is open seven days a week from 9 AM- 5 PM. Admission is free.

The perspectives of surgeons, physicians, and nurses are richly documented in the history of Civil War medicine, which highlights the heroism and brutality of battlefield operations and the challenges of caring for the wounded during wartime. Yet the experiences of injured soldiers during the conflict and in the years afterwards are less well-known. Life and Limb focuses on disabled veterans and their role as symbols of the fractured nation via a free-standing six-panel display.

More than 3 million soldiers fought in the war from 1861-1865. More than half a million died, and almost as many were wounded but survived. Hundreds of thousands were permanently disabled by battlefield injuries or surgery, which saved lives by sacrificing limbs. These men served as a symbol of the fractured nation and remained a stark reminder of the costs of the conflict for long after the war.