The first administration of anesthesia in military surgery: on occasion of the Mexican-American War.

Previous publications have reported the initial wartime use of anesthesia for surgery as occurring in either the Crimean or German-Danish conflicts after 1848. The authors have determined that this first-time use took place in the spring of 1847 during the Mexican-American War and under the direction of American military surgeon Edward H. Barton. His experiences with either, and those of fellow surgeon John B. Porter, are described.