Battlefield Medicine During The Civil War

Gettysburg casualties was a major turning point because of how many people died and how that affected their armies. As stated in the document over 48,000 people were killed in all Gettysburg. With 23,040 from Union and 20,000-25,000 from Confederate. In document B it tells you that the total army size for Union was 918,000 and for Confederate 278,000. The Confederate was hurt most by the losses because their army was smaller. According to the text there were three types of casualties , killed, wounded and missing ;The highest being wounded. Gettysburg casualties played a huge part in the total outcome.

The Gettysburg Battle was known as the bloodiest battle during the Civil War, as millions of lives were lost on both sides of the nation. In 1863 the Confederate and Union armies, both with 75,000 men, marched to face each other. General Robert E. Lee was the General who commanded the Confederate Army, and George Meade was appointed on June 27 as the new Union army general. On June 30, the Union and the Confederate army readied themselves for the battle ahead.(Background Essay) Geography, casualties, and the morales aided to the belief that then Battle of Gettysburg was a time when the tide shifted in favor of the North.

The Civil War was a time of great learning in the medical field. Without these advances, we would live in a completely different world. The question is though, would the same amount of medical supplies and knowledge in both the North or South have changed the eventual outcome of the Civil War? Similar circumstances in medicine would have only affected the mortality rates of both sides, not the outcome of the Civil War. Almost all odds were against the South from the very beginning. It was just a matter of time from the very start.

At this point in the Battle of Gettysburg, both North and South sustained large numbers of casualties. The Southern casualties roughly totaled 7,000 of 22,000 troops. The North suffered even more by losing 15,000 soldiers. Both sides needed to re-evaluate their battle strategies. Lee thought victory for the South was possible with better timing and artillery. Conversely, Meade and his other Union generals decided to stay in their current position and continue the battle (King 22).

On April 12, 1861 in Fort Sumter, SC Confederate troops fired the first shots of the Four Year American Civil War. After the first few battles were fought, both sides faced the realization of how they desperately needed doctors and nurses to care for the injured soldiers. (1) The first nurses were recuperating soldiers (rebel) however; their own illnesses prevented them from providing proper care or returning to full military duties. These soldiers resented being appointed hospital duty. (2)

During the Civil War, they had to have many medicines, operations, and surgeries done to themselves or others in order to survive (Jenny Goellnitz, Paragraph 1). Some of these medicines we still use today. Medical technology and scientific knowledge have changed dramatically since the Civil War, but the basic principles of military health care remain the same. The deadliest thing that faced the Civil War soldier was disease. For every soldier who died in battle, two died from disease.

The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the war. The union suffered 23,040 casualties, while the confederacy suffered 20,650-25000 casualties (Document B). This battle was so big, that American dedicated part of the battlefield as a memorial site, for those who died. Lincoln said in document D, “We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might live.” In document C it says that Robert E. Lee wrote letters to the president saying that his men were dying. All of these horrible events opened Americans eyes to how deadly war can

Union soldiers killed at Gettysburg:23040, Confederate soldiers killed at Gettysburg: 20,650-25,00…... Union Army size: 918,000 men, Confederate Army size: 278,000…(Document B, of the Gettysburg DBQ) . The evidence shows that the loss of life severely weakened the Confederate army. They no longer had the manpower they need in order to fight for their way of life.

On the confederate side, nearly 34% of their soldiers were casualties. Of those casualties, between 2,600 and 4,500 soldiers were killed, 12,800 of the soldiers were wounded, and 5,250 more soldiers were missing ( As shown in the graph on Document B titled “Estimated Casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg.”). That is a big loss to take during a battle when you still have to fight the rest of the war. On the Union side the casualties were about the same, 3,155 soldiers were killed, a whopping 14,350 of the soldiers were wounded, and another 5,365 soldiers were missing. This took a big toll on both sides, they both came in the battle with about 75,000 soldiers and they both lost about 24,000 soldiers.

During the Civil War the only major problem second to getting shot in the face, was a shot to the chest. At the time doctors did not really understand how to treat a wound of that type, and usually the major issue was the negative pressure exerted outwards, leading to the collapse of the lungs and soon after, suffocation. Contributing to this problem, the doctors observed that during their war, the french had an 8 percent survival rate from major damage to the chest, leading to many medical practitioners to simply refuse treating chest wounds. Early into the war, however, soldiers would be blessed with the miracle of knowledge, knowledge of how to close chest wounds. Benjamin Howard, a young assistant surgeon, otherwise known as a cub surgeon,

The Civil War began because of uncompromising differences between free and slave states over the power of government, in April 12, 1861. Most people died in the Civil War because of deadly diseases. The Battle of Gettysburg is considered the most important event in the Civil War. Soldiers fought from July first to July third 1863. Do soldiers really know how to treat an injury during a war? In the book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara’s published in 1974, we are exposed to historical figures that could have treated their injuries and made them minor if they had modern medicine. With the medical training we have today the figures could have saved their limbs and known how to take better care of themselves in such uncomfortable situations.

The battle of Gettysburg was one of the most important battles in the Civil War. If I was a Union soldier on cemetery ridge or little round top, I would be scared. Imagine bullets tearing down your friends around you, blood spattering the ground and yourself. I would be thinking “imgoingtodieimgoingtodieimgoingtodie” over and over. However, I would grasp onto that little light at the end of tunnel, hope. I would feel tortured inside, but I’d have to kill fellow human beings to save my own life. I would wonder if this was the most ethical way to settle a problem. But I would have to kill other soldiers, and that would kill me inside. With the fear of getting killed, the adrenaline rushing through my veins, taking the shot to end one life, and save another. And I would have to face this internal conflict over and over until it was safe, or until another soldier decided to make that same decision and chose me as their target. This is what I would feel if I was a Union soldier in the battle of Gettysburg.

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. As mentioned in the Killer Angels, the hospitals were tents where soldiers were treated for their wounds on the battlefield, in the view of anyone and everyone. Amputations were almost every physician’s immediate response to bullet wounds shattering bones, amongst other types of injuries. Medicine was not as advanced back then as it is now, especially in the battlefield. Often, physicians and other medical professionals did not use proper hygienic techniques, which led to further complications due to bacteria and

Do you think you would have survived if you were a soldier back in the American Civil War? One of the most important turning points in the Civil War was The Battle of Gettysburg. The battle between the Union and the Confederacy lasted three days dating from July 1, 1863 to July 3, 1863. The battle was one of the bloodiest ever with the Union coming out as the victorious side. The medical knowledge and equipment that the doctors and surgeons had during that time were not effective for the types of illnesses and injuries the soldiers had to endure. Those who got shot during the Civil War had to either get that part of their body amputated or get the gunshot taken out and patched back up. Three people from The Killer Angels that got injured and had to be worked on were Buster Kilrain, John Buford, and a runaway slave.

With many soldiers dying from disease on the battlefield, the help of medical advances decreased the mortality rate of all soldiers on both sides. Before the medical advances of the Civil War, many soldiers died from wounds and diseases on the battlefield. In fact, for every soldier that died on the battlefield, two soldiers would die of disease. These diseases included some that appeared on the Oregon Trail and the expansion out West, such as dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid, and the dreaded malaria.