ipl-logo

Medicine In The Civil War Essay

884 Words4 Pages

Diseases affected the Civil War doctors, types, and the medicine used. Doctors and medicine affected the evolution of progressing diseases that Americans have. Also, the diseases helped make some of the most important medicine used in the Civil War and today. Civil War diseases affected the growth of modern day medicine in American and all around the world.
First, doctors in the Civil War affected the war in many drastic ways. In total, there were about 13,000 Union and 4,000 Confederate doctors. However, more than 4,000 women served as nurses because they wanted to serve their country, support antislavery cause, pity for suffering men, and a chance to work. One of the most well- known nurse was Clara Burton, also known as the “Angle of …show more content…

The North camps were poor and were made up of strangers who did not know much about the medical side of war. However, the South was more advanced in medicine, but they had less resources. According to Intisar K. Hamidullah, “with the advancement of medicine, treatment, prevention, and vaccinations the impacts of these diseases are not as harmful today as during the Civil War..” This quote showcases the advancements of medicines in the United States. Some of the common medicines were anesthesia, chloroform, and sulfuric ether. Anesthesia was used for amputations and hurt very badly. Ether was a combinations of alcohol and sulfuric acid and was common anesthetic during the war. A shot of whiskey also helped to deaden the pain of a soldier being operated on (The Civil War Society, PAGE NUMBER). Amputations were one of the most common procedure because of the terribles diseases that spread throughput bodies. Medicine helped cure some disease, but not all. Many diseases spread from soldiers being unsanitary, which lead to the process of medicine. There were not a lot of advancements made, as said in the article “Medicine in the Civil War.” During the 1860’s, doctors had yet developed bacteriology and were generally ignorant of the causes of disease. In conclusion, diseases in the Civil War impacted the growth of American doctors, types of disease, and medicine. These factors changed

Show More
Related

Book Report On The Killer Angels By Michael Shaara

615 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Summary Of Six Ways The Civil War Changed American Medicine

539 Words | 3 Pages

The article entitled “Six Ways the Civil War Changed American Medicine” discuss the progress in medicine due to the depths of trauma and fatalities in which many doctors during that time were not prepared for. The Early Field Medics were not an combat medical team instead there were men pulled from ranks to serve as what was called hospital stewards. In 1862, U.S. Top health spokesperson William Hammond put out a call to restorative field officers in the Union Army: At the start of the war, the prerequisites for turning into an armed force doctor or specialist were negligible, best case scenario. Hammond initiated compulsory preparing in general wellbeing, cleanliness and surgery for all Union Army medicinal officers. His call for examples likewise gave a course reading of contextual investigations to prepare specialists after the war.

Read More

Essay On What Did The Continental Army Have To Suffer In Their Six-Month Encampment

213 Words | 1 Pages

What horrible things did the continental army have to suffer in their six- month encampment? They experienced hunger, diseases, and death. Since it was cold some couldn 't bathe causing them to have bad hygiene. Also at the time smallpox and pneumonia was being spread. Since there weren 't many medical supplies, some couldn 't be treated.

Read More

Killer Angels By Michael Shaara

872 Words | 4 Pages

To help with the pain, morphine was given which is an extraction from opium. During the Civil War, surgeons were not yet introduced to bacteria so gunshot wounds were drained with boiled oil because they believed the infection was a result of the poisonous

Read More

Malnourishment In The Antebellum South

285 Words | 2 Pages

The physicians thought that malnourishment affected the growth of the slaves, therefore it created problems in their development (Smith 1). The Antebellum South lacked physicians and these physicians had an insufficient

Read More

Brief History Of The Kokoda Campaign

1123 Words | 5 Pages

Their boots would get stuck in the mud so they would have to go bare foot and they would get infected cuts and blisters on their feet. There were multiple illnesses going around, such as malaria and dysentery, people were collapsing because of their knees giving way, and even with rationing their food, there still wasn’t enough for everyone. “One man shows signs of dysentery. Age about 48. Oldest man in company - first war also.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Medical Advancements During The Civil War

1660 Words | 7 Pages

As soon as the Civil War started, injuries increased and diseases spread at a rapid pace. Sickness spread to millions. In fact, disease caused 65% of deaths, while war injuries caused up to 100% (“Disease”). Abundant amounts of medical issues caused medical procedures to evolve at a rapid speed. The medical advancements during the Civil War led to future medical technologies and procedures.

Read More

How Did The Letterman Change Throughout The Civil War

1147 Words | 5 Pages

During the beginning of the of the Civil War, there were many medical advancements, like the quinine a drug that helped fight Malaria. The doctors had just recently discovered bacteria and antisepsis. With this new knowledge, they began to change the way they treated patients and organized areas for treating the wounded. They started to think about things like cleanliness and how to set up a hospital. As the Civil War went on, it was less of a battle to see who was winning the fights and more to see who could keep their men healthy.

Read More

Experiences Of Men And Women In The First American Army By Bruce Chadwick

824 Words | 4 Pages

The experiences of the men and women of the First American Army reveal that they all had a rough time during the war, even the Commanding Generals of the army. One example was the major smallpox epidemic that hit. The pain and suffering of those afflicted with smallpox took a heavy toll on the clerical duties of ministers such as Reverend Robbins (Chadwick, 120). Robbins also said before the epidemic hit that he and the troops did not fear the British but the smallpox disease.

Read More

Medicine During The Civil War Essay

1911 Words | 8 Pages

The Civil War was filled with many diseases and deaths. Over 620,000 men lost their lives during this war; roughly two thirds of the casualties were caused by the lack of medical knowledge of many diseases. The remaining one third of the casualties was from the actual battle itself. The war became a turning point for many women interested in the medical field. The knowledge of medicine was the beginning of a new age during the Civil War, and the lack of it led to many gruesome deaths.

Read More

Impact Of Medicine And Hospitals During The Civil War

799 Words | 4 Pages

Kaitlyn Lehane May 22, 2017 Civil War Research Paper Impact of Civil War Hospitals and Medicine 76,000 men were treated during the 4 years of the Civil War in hospitals. Medicine was a critical part of the Civil War during the late 1800s. The Civil War was broken up into two separate sides of the United States, the Union which was the North and the Confederacy, which was the South. During the war, many people became wounded badly or killed. Medicine was a practice of the treatment for infection and disease.

Read More

Union Soldier Life

887 Words | 4 Pages

Life for the Union Soldier was not only brutal on the battlefield, but the camp life for a Union soldier was just as cruel. With the lack of personal hygiene, unsavory and repugnant food, and the shortage of clothing made living, a very difficult thing to do. Growth in the number of people with diseases was also a contributing factor to the massive amounts of death within the camp and as well as the post-battle wounds that often left either a man with one less limb or put in a mental institution. A Union Soldier’s life during the Civil War was cruel and horrific during their stay at the camps.

Read More

The Role Of Medicine In The Civil War

277 Words | 2 Pages

In recent discussions of Civil War technology, a controversial issue has been whether medicine or telegraph were more critical to winning the war. On one hand some argue that the telegraph was essential to the war effort. On the other hand, however, others argue that medicine was more essential in winning the Civil War. Based on the article Modern Medicine’s Civil War Legacy “During the Civil War, both sides were devastated by battle and disease” (OneNote). Based on this evidence, disease took more lives during the Civil War than conflict did therefore medical advancements were essential to win the Civil War.

Read More

Harriet Tubman Accomplishments

811 Words | 4 Pages

The Civil War was a fight for freedom, it was a fight between the Union or the North, and the Confederacy or the South. Abraham Lincoln was president at the time of the North, he believed in freedom of the slaves. On the other hand Jefferson Davis the leader and President of the Confederacy, this led to the Civil War where the Union fought because they wanted to free the slaves held in the South for labor because Lincoln quotes “All men shall be created equal” and stood by that conquering the South and eventually winning. Change, Political leadership, and overall freedom were the three significant pieces that led to the success of the war. There were many advancements throughout and after the war, including medicine, weapons, and roles in society.

Read More

Dr. Josef Mengele: The Auschwitz Concentration Camps

816 Words | 4 Pages

People starved, acquired diseases, or worked to death in nearby war factories. The people who had diseases had to go to see Dr.

Read More

More about Medicine In The Civil War Essay

Related Topics

Open Document