The purpose of this article is to review the concepts behind, and practice of, wound surgery. The techniques of wound surgery, born of necessity in the art of military surgeons, have found their renaissance in the modern age of wound care driven by the economic and functional considerations inherent to the outcome-based management of chronic disease. Over 300 years of literature on wound healing has shown an innate ability of the wound (in the absence of infection and repeated trauma) to control its progress, largely through the local inflammatory cells. This article discusses several historical works on wound surgery and healing, topical wound therapy, minimal intervention, and emphasizes the closure of chronic wounds.