Civil War Post-Mortem surgical sets

By Dr. Michael Echols, American Civil War Surgical Antiques

Post-mortem sets are used to dissect a human body or parts thereof after death or amputation.  The purpose of this operation is to discover reasons for death or contributing causes for operations as a learning experience to advance medicine.

By 1864, during the Civil War, surgeons were solicited by the Surgeon General and Staff to forward to the Army Medical Museum interesting morbid specimens of amputated limbs, images of the same, and projectiles which caused the injuries, etc.  This was the beginning of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.  Some dissecting sets of the Civil War period may have been required when serving as a regimental surgeon since post-mortem examinations were standard and required.

Examples of various post mortem sets used during the Civil War:

Above: An extensive Tiemann post-mortem set with large bowel scissors, hammer, saw and large knife with detachable handles, tissue scissors, scalpels, etc.

Above: Medium size Snowden post-mortem set in a small mahogany case.

Above: Small size Tiemann dissection set, also typically sold to medical students of the period

List of instruments found in a typical small to medium size post-mortem set:

• 1 catlin knife
• 1 enterotome
• 1 scissors
• 1 blow pipe to enlarge veins and arteries
• 1 chisels
• 1 set of retractor chain with hooks
• 2 needles and thread
• 1 tenaculum
• 1 dissection forceps
• mahogany box with latch

For some reason, a lot of these small dissection and post-mortem sets show up on eBay and are mis-labeled as a 'surgical' set.  Yes, they were used for surgery, but on a deceased person or on a dismembered part of a living person.  They are not something typically carried by a doctor unless dealing with a cadaver or preparing a specimen for a military report if used by a military surgeon. 

Non-military surgeons would not have been expected to have provided post-mortem reports to the military for publication of the Medical and Surgical History of the Union Medical Department, which was published after the War.

Dr. Michael Echols is a long-term Civil War medical antiques collector and is not a dealer.  For additional information on this topic, please search for:

American Civil War Surgical Antiques