Long-term post-care for amputation

Let me Google that for you...

The stages of amputation
What to expect from your amputation (lols, what a title)
The first twelve months
Slightly dated guide to amputation.

You could do some research into British Naval activity of the period and the Greenwhich Hospital, not an uncommon injury among sailors. eg. Admiral Nelson.

Since you're talking late 1800s - remember that infection would be a major concern. Penicillin was not discovered until 1928. I know lots of men died in the American Civil War (1861-1865) from infections secondary to their injuries. Because of that I would imagine that they would change bandages frequently (though I have no source to back this up).

I don't know exactly when your character has his amputation, but also remember that germ theory (that is, the idea of diseases spread by microorganisms and the importance of cleanliness in medical care) didn't really take off until the 1880s or 1890s. In the American Civil War, doctors didn't wash hands or clean instruments between patients. When President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881, again, they did not wash hands or worry about clean instruments or dirt in the wounds, and he died from infection. But by the 1890s or 1900, you could pretty reliably count on the doctor keeping things clean.

Snarkypants, you may want to read up on John Wesley Powell, who lost his right arm at Shiloh. He led an expedition rafting the Colorado River and exploring the Grand Canyon only a few years later. It sounds like his amputation was very similar to your character's.

FYI, my WIP is set after the Civil War but before Garfield's assassination, so germ theory and antiseptics had been discovered but not widely accepted. I need to figure out how much my characters know. I'm tickled to think that an anarchist street-doc might know more about germs than the fancy doctors...

I have an acquaintance who is an ERTL amputee (lower leg) after a fall from a ladder. He reports that his phantom pain comes and goes, with not much of a detectable pattern, although stress doesn't help.