James Edward Hanger served in the Confederate Army for less than two days. His
military experience was cut short after the first land battle of the Civil War,
and Hanger holds the “honor” of being the first known amputee of the conflict.
Devastated with the loss of his limb, Hanger turned his emotional trauma into
ingenuity, creating an artificial limb that revolutionized prostheses and a business
that continues to innovate and advance the field of prosthetic limbs.
