When a soldier is injured on the battlefield today he can expect the most sophisticated first aid. But medical treatment for troops has not always been so advanced, as these incredible pictures from the American Civil War show, originally featured on cbsnews. The images take you back years to show the kind of gruesome emergency surgery that wounded soldiers had come to expect. A blood-curdling range of saws, knives and sharp hooks were used to administer much-needed surgery to maimed fighters.

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During the American Civil War , sexual behavior and gender roles and attitudes were affected by the conflict, especially by the absence of menfolk at home and the emergence of new roles for women such as nursing. The advent of photography and easier media distribution, for example, allowed for greater access to sexual material for the common soldier. At camp, " barracks favorites " were available. These were inexpensive novels of a sexual nature. Photographs of nudity were available as well, and were purchased by both enlisted men and officers. These were usually pictures of nude women doing innocent things; nude women that were engaging in actual sexual activity were usually not white, but either black or Native American. With the soldiers being far away from their wives and sweethearts, it is speculated these were used for masturbation , and not just for entertainment.
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Many documentary projects and images that photographers capture fall under controversial photography. Join us in our 20 most controversial pictures in the history of photography. Viewer discretion is advised. Controversial pictures have helped to change our society. One of these issues was the Civil Rights movement between and throughout America. One of these high-conflict areas was Birmingham in Alabama. Here, black residents and allies constantly clashed with white power in a struggle to end segregation. Charles Moore, a photographer for Montgomery Advertiser and Life found himself part of these conflicts. Although he captured many images focusing on this movement, it was the below image that captured the segregation as a reality. The violence was brutal, yet routine and casual.
Harrowing images have revealed the true horrors of the US Civil War - which claimed the lives of more than half a million in just four short years. The Civil War remains the bloodiest war in US history. Fought between and , it claimed , lives - nearly as many American casualties as every other war fought by the United States combined. In these harrowing photos, the death and destruction of the battlefields as well as the horrors inside the Confederate's notorious military prison in Andersonville, Georgia are clear to see. Called Camp Sumter, it was the largest prison in the South where captured Union soldiers were kept from February to April , the end of the Civil War. Harrowing photographs from the Civil War show the horrible conditions that Union soldiers faced after they were captured and brought to the Confederate's notorious military prison, Camp Sumter, in Andersonville, Georgia. Unidentified emaciated Union Army prisoners are seen at the prison in