A Basket Case

"The limbs of soldiers are in as much danger from the ardor of young surgeons as from the missiles of the enemy." Surgeon Julian John Chisholm, 1864 ... Although the exact number is not known, approximately 60,000 surgeries, about three quarters of all of the operations performed during the war, were amputations. Although seemingly drastic, the operation was intended to prevent deadly complications such as gangrene. Sometimes undertaken without anesthesia, and in some cases leaving the patient with painful sensations in the severed nerves, the removal of a limb was widely feared by soldiers....... The American Civil War was the largest and most destructive conflict in the Western world between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the onset of World War I in 1914....... In the foregoing sketch of the history of the social attitude toward the crippled and disabled individual, no mention has been made of the care of the war cripple, the disabled soldier. The subject deserves a section to itself, despite the fact that in its broad outlines it parallels the tragic history of the care of the cripple in general..... http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/dhm/lib/detail.html?id=3013&page=all

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: On many occasions I have watched the workmen in the latter factory. The men get so expert that, like knitting. the work can be done by blind men. It appears to me that basket work, etc.would be very suitable for invalided soldiers, as the work is done seated on the floor, and is not laborious ... https://willowweaverstasmania.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/letter-to-editor-launcestons-willows.html

In February 1916 the Germans attacked the French defensive positions at Verdun. Lasting until December 1916, the battle saw initial German gains, before French counter-attacks returned matters to near their starting point. Casualties were greater for the French, but the Germans bled heavily as well, with anywhere from 700,000 to 975,000 casualties suffered between the two combatants. Verdun became a symbol of French determination and self-sacrifice..... The Battle of the Somme was an Anglo-French offensive of July to November 1916. The opening of this offensive (1 July 1916) saw the British Army endure the bloodiest day in its history, suffering 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead, on the first day alone. The entire Somme offensive cost the British Army some 420,000 casualties. The French suffered another estimated 200,000 casualties and the Germans an estimated 500,000.

While the euphemism of 'A Basket Case' may well have once belonged to the American Civil War with advent of WW1 it was soon to become globalised, much more ambiguous...... Basket Case:  

1. countable noun If someone describes a country or organization as a basket case, they mean that its economy or finances are in a seriously bad state. [informal] The country is an economic basket case with chronic unemployment and rampant crime.
2. countable noun If you describe someone as a basket case, you think that they are insane. [informal , disapproval] You're going to think I'm a basket case when I tell you this. 
Advanced English Dictionary. – basket case in British noun slang
1. a person who is suffering from extreme nervous strain; nervous wreck
2. mainly US and Canadian taboo a person who has had both arms and both legs amputated
3. a. someone or something that is incapable of functioning normally
b. (as modifier) a basket-case economy
Collins English Dictionary.  basket case in American Slang
1. a person lacking all four limbs
2. a person unable to function, esp. because of emotional disturbance
3. anything that does not function properly