Know someone at church who had a recent deep wound on his leg. One of the things they’ve done is pack it with cooked onions which did wonders to remove black infected tissue and apparently is a Ukrainian remedy.
Better links:
“Joseph Lister: father of modern surgery”, by Dennis Pitt, MD MEd and Jean-Michel Aubin, MD
Salt?
Leopold Bloom looks at a room, thinks of when he found his father:
What suggested scene was then reconstructed by Bloom?
The Queen’s Hotel, Ennis, county Clare, where Rudolph Bloom (Rudolf Virag) died on the evening of the 27 June 1886, at some hour unstated, in consequence of an overdose of monkshood (aconite) selfadministered in the form of a neuralgic liniment composed of 2 parts of aconite liniment to I of chloroform liniment (purchased by him at 10.20 a.m. on the morning of 27 June 1886 at the medical hall of Francis Dennehy, 17 Church street, Ennis) after having, though not in consequence of having, purchased at 3.15 p.m. on the afternoon of 27 June 1886 a new boater straw hat, extra smart (after having, though not in consequence of having, purchased at the hour and in the place aforesaid, the toxin aforesaid), at the general drapery store of James Cullen, 4 Main street, Ennis.
As recently as WWI, things were surprisingly primitive. Something called “Dakin’s Solution” was a major advance, cutting down infections in wounds dramatically, by either irrigating wounds with the solution, or soaking them in it.
What was Dakin’s Solution? Nothing more than a specific dilute mixture of household bleach (sodium hypochlorite and water, as fantastically ridiculous and probably bad for you as that sounds.
Prior to that, it was stuff like honey, sphaghum moss, boiling vinegar, fire, etc…
Often the musicians would turn into medics.
The herb Yarrow(Achillea spp.) has been used to stanch wounds for centuries. It had a wide distribution, being known from the British Isles to China. Was also prepared to be taken internally. Would Achilles lie?
Don’t answer that. 
I know a lot of the prisoners working on the Death Railway here in Thailand near the Burmese border in WWII would soak in the river to let the fish nibble at their open sores. That seems to have had some sort of cleansing effect. That was probably done in ancient times too.
In the past (and even today occasionally) people were known to use maggots to cleanse dead flesh out of an infected wound - sort of like fish, but different.
Of course, you want to use the sort of maggots that only eat dead flesh, not the sort that eat live tissue.
Cite? Or is this a whoosh to be?
Dakin’s Solution is still used extensively, usually for bedsores and diabetic ulcers. It’s almost a homeopathic strength, usually 0.05% or even 0.005%. I’ve made it many times; you literally put a few drops of bleach, or a tiny amount of Chloramine-T powder, into a liter bottle of sterile water or NS for irrigation.
War wounds were like anything else back in the day: you either got better, or you died. They would have used herbs, honey, cauterization, etc. in the meantime.
Those are also used as a last resort to treat non-healing wounds. Medicinal leeches are also used to promote blood circulation in reattached small parts. When I was in college, I prepared a batch for use on the floor, and my roommate didn’t believe me. 
“Fish spas” have even become all the rage in Thailand now. You pay to soak your feet in a tank of fish that will suck at your feet. Apparently it it’s odd tingling sensation. Haven’t tried it myself.
Some places in the United States were doing it too, and the health department and cosmetology licensing boards banned this procedure.
Why was it banned? Cruelty to fish?
Common misconception. Maggots will mostly eat dead flesh first, because it’s nice and soft and well marinated in human juices…but leave them on long enough, and even the carefully chosen and lab raised sterile wound maggots will start eating the healthy flesh too - unless they can escape the dressing, which is what they’d prefer to do. We create a little fence out of wound care products to keep them corralled, and remove them when they start to want to go walkabout, usually after 48 hours of application.
(Don’t tell anyone I admitted this, but wound care nurses kind of love “volunteer” maggots when they show up and munch on a poorly healing wound. You don’t have to get insurance approval and patient consents for them.)
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_23571973/gettysburg-150th-musicians-were-part-civil-war-battle
Often, during battle, the musicians would retreat to the rear and serve as stretcher bearers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_and_Processional_music
The role of stretcher bearer is found with musicians and bandsmen worldwide, however, in the British Army, they are properly trained medical assistants, able to serve in field hospitals, and performing minor surgery (as required), as well as first-aid, and administering injections and medicines.
Bandsmen were sometimes detailed as stretcher bearers and hospital assistants.
No, the risk of infection to the people having it done.
Can you imagine the pain from a sword or axe wound?