It is suggestive. But it could also be the difference between treating a single VIP casualty and 5,000 in a single day. Imagine how much white wine the Army of the Potomac would have had to carry to cleanup after another debacle against Lee & Jackson?
True, but effective antiseptics were somewhat known at the time of the Civil War. I happened to visit the history tour at Mayo clinic a couple of years ago. Dr. Mayo got his start as a Civil War surgeon. When it was over, he started his clinic in a small sleepy village in the middle of nowhere, Minnesota. However, he happened to use both antiseptics and antiesthetic during his surgeries. He quickly gained a nationwide reputation that not only did his treatments not hurt, they also didn't kill you. It seems quite interesting that it took 250 years, or more, for antiseptics to be put into common practice.