To Kill A Civil War Soldier It all ended on May 9, 1865. Over 620,000 soldiers, combined from both sides, died during the Civil War ever since the Confederates had bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. It is a common misconception that most of those soldiers died during the bloody battles in action. In fact, twice as many of Civil War soldiers died from infection and disease than the various battle wounds one could receive, from getting shot clean through from a Minié ball to being blown to smithereens by a cannon. The point of this paper, however, is not to give you calculations of the deceased, but to give you some information about the medical treatments that were used at the time for the wounded. The book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara touches upon some medical treatments amidst fictional first-hand accounts of a few of the men from both Union and Confederate sides. Confederate General Robert Edward Lee had been plagued by heart disease even before his service in the Civil War, which would later be the death of him (p.xvi). There is much controversy involving …show more content…
328-329). Unlike Reynolds, Armistead had the unfortunate experience of dying from an infection that had set in. As stated earlier, infectious wounds were a major cause of death in patients, even in those who had acquired non-fatal lacerations. The reasons behind infections and disease being a type of epidemic were the fact that army camps themselves were filthy and crowded, the hospitals nursing downed soldiers hardly any better. Hospitals were usually makeshift and always understaffed, and the use of antiseptic or sanitizing surgical tools were rare if at all, allowing germs to fester everywhere and anywhere. Another reason was that characteristics of infection were thought to be signs of healing, for example,
They started descending down the hill. Herold walked up to them and realized that they were Confederates. After a few questions, Booth and Herold discussed a plan with the soldiers to get across to the other side. The soldiers, Booth, and Herold went to the farm of Richard H. Garrett for a night. Meanwhile, in southern Maryland, Lafayette Baker, a detective and a War Department Agent, was brought news about men crossing the Potomac and started investigating.
Angels on the Battlefield In the Battle of Gettysburg that took place on July 1, 1863, and ended on July 3, many casualties and injuries resulted from the fighting between those few days, leading to the victory of the Union Army. It is roughly estimated that 620,000 men lost their lives fighting, many for liberty and freedom, others for new opportunities. The Civil War was considered the deadliest and bloodiest battle. Medicine has come a long way now, in comparison to the 19th century, although many lives were lost on the way.
August 1st, 1863 one of the worst prison camps for confederates in the civil war was created. Point Lookout was established right after the Battle of Gettysburg to take confederate soldiers. Point Lookout had caused many conflicts for prisoners in camp. Some conflicts that Point Lookout caused for soldiers was disease, hunger, and even death. Nearly 50,000 soldiers became prisoners and 4,000 died in the process.
The Battlefield Heart and Open Wounds The three soldiers that were wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg were Robert E. Lee, Joshua L. Chamberlain, and John Buford. The wounds of each of these soldiers were Robert E. Lee had a heart disease, Joshua L. Chamberlain had a gunshot wound that went through both hips, and John Buford had a gunshot wound in his left arm. The main reason for the occurrence of the American Civil War was the controversy over slavery, this caused the division of the U.S. and formed the North and South. The South allowed slavery while the North didn’t.
Access to knowledge is a right that is being slowly, but surely, restricted among readers across the globe. The book I chose, Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers, is one of the textual pieces that is receiving criticism for the use of “graphic and disturbing language,” as well as “derogatory” terms. Fallen Angels is a story describing the life of the Vietnam war of a young teenage kid, Richie Perry, using a collection of journal entries that were tied together with dialogue, forming a coherent story. This book shows all sides of the fight for life and livelihood through transparent and descriptive writing, leaving some readers astonished at the atrocities of war. These exact atrocities, however, argue for the book's historical relevance and
A soldier dreaded being on the battlefield more than being in the field hospital, right…? Field hospitals were usually very, very crowded. There were never enough beds for everybody and people that couldn’t get a bed were laid outside of the hospital on the ground. Doctors were always overworked and went to the soldiers who needed the most help first. So, if you had a broken bone, chances are you would be stuck waiting for hours and maybe even days.
In the civil war novel Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen, within pages 52- 57, Nelson, a fellow soldier was wounded in the stomach. This made it difficult for him to fight or even breathe. Stomach wounds were known as untreatable injuries meaning that when a soldier got one they were practically left to die. When soldiers were super injured like in this situation and didn’t have enough strength to keep fighting, they had to be left on their own to die.
Downs wrote, “there were no general hospitals, when the war began, and ‘hospitals had to be improvised, in hotels, halls, and other unsuitable buildings. ’”3 The focus of both Union and Confederate governments and officials were not on medical and health concerns, making the casualties of battle more dire, as “no one was prepared to treat the hundreds of soldiers who were severely wounded, nor were they prepared to bury the dead bodies… the military lacked the infrastructure and manpower necessary to reduce many of the dying and wounded. ”4 The few scenes that involve injury and medical assistance do not reflect the extent to which there was a lack of medical infrastructure in place during the war, nor does it show the illness that plagued camps.
Disease impacted the mobility and effectiveness of Union and Confederate armies. Medical personnel and others who encountered the military bands, such as contrabands and civilians, contracted some of these diseases also. Death followed military encampments but also led to changes in military practices and advanced medical knowledge of disease symptoms, treatment, and prevention. The diseases of typhus, scurvy, chronic diarrhea and/or dysentery, malaria and yellow fever impacted the effectiveness of both armies by cutting the number of soldiers available for battle. All involved fought despondency which was enhanced by malnutrition.
In the American Civil War the advancement of weaponry caused many injuries and deaths. This led to infection and the advancement of surgical procedures and amputation. The most common Civil War surgery was amputation. Anesthesia was used in 95% of Civil War surgeries. By the Civil War anesthetic qualities of chloroform and ether were well known (Reimer).
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier follows the story of Inman and shows his struggles of being a soldier. This takes place during the civil war of 1861–1865. There are three main stories that test the accuracy of the historical events of the civil war in the book including the main character and his experiences. Cold Mountain is a real place. At its highest point it is 6,030 feet.
The confederacy, led by Robert E. Lee, suffered more of a loss even though they had less casualties then the union, having 10,320. Oh those casualties, 1,550 died, 7,750 injured and 1,020 missing. just from 6 to 10 am, over 8,000 confederate soldiers had died. (education-portal.com) The north won and it was the bloodiest single day in American history.
The life of a union soldier in the civil war is not easy, not only do they face the possibility of getting killed in battle, but their daily lives are full of hardships. They have to deal with hunger,bad weather, poor clothing, and even bordrem between battles. First, their woken at dawn to begin their day. They have drills in the morning and afternoon where they practiced for battle. Each of them have to know their place in the unit so the army would fight as a group.
This changes a lot what they show. Drumbeats and bullets says "Fighting in the Civil War was particularly bloody. Of the 900 men in the First Maine Heavy Artillery, 635 became casualties in just seven minutes of fighting at the Battle of Petersburg. A North Carolina regiment saw 714 of its 800 soldiers killed at Gettysburg. At such a time, these boys put down their drums and took up whatever rifle was handy."
“It was a horrible night, and by dawn 32 of my 44 stretcher bearers were casualties, mostly gassed, ultimately 16 of them died, including Sachs, a good man, whom probably my order killed” solemnly wrote Eric Payten Dark, army doctor of the first world war. World war One: a seemingly endless massacre of emotionless soldiers killing under the impression of protecting their country. Along with this massacre came gruesome and morbid injuries which had to be treated in some way. This was the heavy responsibility of army doctors new to the idea of battle who had to face unimaginable challenges and dangers presented by the war as they dealt with injuries of such despondent nature. Acting silently, doctors rest unappreciated for their crucial and