amputation was by far the most common surgery in the civil war. during the war it is estimated that about 60,000 surgeries were performed. of these, nearly 75% were amputations. there were several reasons why amputation was the main procedure. bullet wounds made by the slow moving minié ball caused major damage. they often shattered bones beyond repair. another reason was to prevent gangrene and other complications. men often lay unattended for a day or more before being brought to a surgeon. perhaps the most important reason was that medics had too many wounded men and very little time to reconstruct damaged body parts. lastly, if a man was wounded in the head, stomach or chest, he rarely lived long enough to be taken to a field hospital.