I'll give my humble opinion; I am not a poet or a student of poetry, or of Ms. Plath. But--to me this reads like the tip of her thumb was cut nearly off; this reminded her of scalping, and the ensuing blood and bandaging reminded her of wars she had studied. In other words, the present injury was the primary focus that just happened to make her think of certain war images. I don't get the impression at all that historical ref.'s were of much importance.