Surgeon
Medicine in the Georgian and early Victorian era was not what a soldier of today's 80th regiment would expect. During the Georgian and early Victorian periods important new discoveries were being made into the causes of diseases and in understanding the anatomy of the human body, however surgery practices were still crude and performed without anaesthetics or antiseptics. Barber-surgeons usually carried out operations such as amputations and the pulling of teeth.
Soldiers affected by what is known today as Battle Fatigue were considered to be suffering from 'Chaos of the Brain' and treatment was primitive and might take the form of drilling into the skull to release evil spirits or simply locking the victims away in asylums.
The Army Medical Department came under the control of three different General Officers:
The Physician General
The Surgeon General
The Inspector of Infirmaries
A Regimental Surgeon and his Assistant were responsible for providing their own Instruments and all Medicines and other equipment.
"On Enlistment with the regiment you would be brought before the Medical Officer who would test you to see that you were not suffering from being shallow of chest, nor by any means must a recruit be gummy of mouth. A recruit must be light and straight of back and limb, be not under 5 feet 5 1/2 inches, or over 5 feet 9 inches in height, nor afflicted by anything else which might debar you from serving the regiment."
The only medical conditions that apply to the 80th Regiment re-enactment group are those that would de-bar an individual from obtaining a Shooters License under the NSW Firearms legislation. Although average physical fitness is expected as drill and battle re-enactments can become quite physical.
This Georgian piston-action syringe made of ivory was probably used to syphon off blood or extract poisons
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A typical case of surgical instruments of the Georgian and early Victorian period looks more like carpenters' toolbox. It contains instruments to carry out amputations, a common remedy at a time when little was known about bacterial infections, antiseptics etc. Sharp knifes and scalpels for sizing the flesh, saws for bones and ligatures, tourniquet to restrict blood flow and leather straps to hold down the patient. |
Over half of all surgical patients died from shock or gangrene
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