field hospitals during the napoleonic era were crude by modern standards. there was still no knowledge of hygiene, antibiotics had not yet been discovered and amputation was the most common treatment for battlefield wounds. soldiers sometimes waited for days to be removed from the battlefield. the wounded had no water or food, and flies would plague them as they lay there bleeding. many died from infection before getting medical help. if they were removed, they were sent to makeshift surgical facilities where overworked surgeons did the best they could. in a "field hospital" they had to endure amputations with no anesthetic. officers were sometimes offered rum or brandy while regular soldiers were given a piece of wood to bite down on. the prospects for surviving their wounds were dim.