Cold Mountain is a movie that depicts the lives of a small village during the Civil War. It shows the lives of those who went away to fight, and the lives of those who stayed home. This movie depicts how the Civil War affected the lives of all of those living in the colonies. Cold Mountain is a film with historically accurate themes due to young boys who fought in the war, soldiers who took what they wanted when they went through the towns, and the conditions under which injured soldiers were treated. In the film Cold Mountain the main character Inman states, “That’s Moe Oakley’s boy. He can’t be old enough to fight.” This depicts the fact that boys under the age of 18 were serving in the war even though they were not old enough to fight. …show more content…
They would take the livestock that was useful to them. The soldiers would take hogs, cows, and more to use as food. Horses were also taken to use as a means of transportation. They would assume their right to it since they were the ones doing the fighting. “A group of soldiers passed this neighbors, she tied a hog to the bed post so they would not see it, but they stopped for a drink of water and heard the hog grunting and so came into the room and took the hog and barbecued it, out in the year and ate it before the neighbor's very eyes.” (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/civilwar/soldiers/faudie.html) The movie has a scene where a group of Union soldiers stop by a house to take the food and livestock that the owner has. They were as vicious as those in the quote, for they held her captive and left her baby not swaddled in the cold until she told them of all the livestock that she had on the farm. This goes along with witness accounts of soldiers taking whatever food they can no matter how hard the owner tried to hide it. The food supplied to soldiers during the war, soon became grew fewer and less nutritious. This was due to lack of farmers and the difficulty of getting the necessities to the soldiers. Many were underfeed and poor that they turned to food as their only way of getting a decent, fulfilling meal. “He …show more content…
There was also little knowledge into how infections and viruses were spread, causing to high contamination among the injured, and lack of sterility when dealing with patients. This caused injured soldiers to have to wait for a day or longer for the ability to be seen due to the lack of physicians. It also caused for multiple surgeries to remove infections from improper sterilization. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/lifeandlimb/maimedmen.html) In the film, Cold Mountain, the main character Inman is shot in the neck. During his time in the hospital, he over hears a conversation of one of the heads of the hospital not to take too long on those that were dying, because there were more soldiers waiting outside. This is also seen in history due to the lack of trained physicians and the lack of hospitals to treat all the wounded soldiers. Also on his travel back home he encounters a woman who treats him with a salve and medicine to treat the infection that was growing in his neck, probably due to the poor conditions of the hospital setting. The lack of knowledge in the medical field, led to the inability to treat some of the common injuries. Gunshot wounds to the torso almost always meant a death sentence during the Civil War. “The huge carnage that resulted from these frontal attacks, combined with a relatively few number of poorly equipped surgeons led to
The Civil War had a tremendous death toll. In fact, it had more deaths than any of the previous wars combined. At the time, it was thought that the soldiers in battle died from the wounds or amputations they received. The true cause of death came from disease. These harsh conditions were contributed by unqualified doctors and non-sterile equipment. During the Civil War, the true issue was not only the wounds received in battle but the infectious diseases that ultimately led to the soldier’s death. When this was discovered, doctors knew some action needed to take place. Hospitals and sanitation standards were improved. The Civil War contributed to an evolution of medicine and how to combat victims plagued with disease.
John Burford, a Brigadier General, had received a bullet to the knee during the Second Battle of Manassas. Luckily Buford’s bullet wound wasn’t too serious. If the wound had been serious, it would have been treated with amputations and since there were no anesthetics back then, the person getting amputated on would feel all the pain. Surgeries during the Civil War were performed unsanitary. Surgeons would not wash their hands before operating and would wear blood splattered clothing. The instruments used for operating were never disinfected properly. Instead, they would dip their instruments in cold water, often bloody from the prior operation. Buford had died in December 1863 of
Of the 22,200 people killed during the war, it is estimated that ¾ died of something other than a bullet would (MILITARY). Illnesses like dysentery, typhoid or “lake” fever, pneumonia, malaria, measles and smallpox were all present in the camps of soldiers (MILITARY). People were dying so fast in fact, that the hospital tents would be forced to hold dead bodies as many camps were facing coffin shortages (Newfield). The amount of people packed together in such a small space and the fact that the hospitals, the place they sent sick and wounded, were storing bodies, both added to the problem of spreading disease. Observers of this horror, like Capt.
Staple foods were hardtack for Union soldiers and cornbread for Confederates. Fresh fruit and vegetables were rare. Soldiers received some meat, but, often, it spoiled or too full of preservatives to eat. It was estimated that 995 of 1000 Union troops eventually contracted chronic diarrhea or dysentery. Disease was particularly uncontrolled in the prisoner-of-war camps, whose conditions were generally worse than the army camps.
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.
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
They didn’t know about germs or anything like that. All they knew was that people were getting sick and dying, about 2/3 of people died from disease (civilwar.org). They didn’t even keep hospital reports until later in the war. Probably the most important nurse in this time was Clara Barton, she was also known as an angel. For instance she was the founder of the American Red Cross in 1881. She was the one who also wanted to clean up the horrible, terrible mess of the hospital (civilwar.org). Example they started to clean themselves and their equipment more often. Also they cleaned up the limb pile, and they started to keep records of their patients’ and what they did to them. Lastly they started to give their patients’ clean bandages and they gave them more water. Giving them more water just helped them stay more hydrated thus making them heal faster. There were three categories of wounded soldiers. There was mortally wounded, slightly wounded, and surgical case (civilwar.org). For instance if they got hurt on the battlefield they wound be given whiskey to help sooth the pain. Well at least until they got to a hospital. The Union army could get to the hospital by horseback or train, while the Confederate army only had horseback. For the Union army there was about 10,000 doctors, while for the Confederate army there was about 4,000. They treated about 10,000,000 people during the civil war (pacivilwar150.com). Their assistants were the ones who gave them their equipment, and they were the ones who had the chloroform. One of the military hospitals were called Fairfax Seminary and it housed over 1,700 sick and wounded soldiers right when it opened
Amongst almost 3 million Civil War soldiers, over 600,000 lost their lives defending their notions of freedom and liberty in America. Approximately two-thirds of these soldiers, nonetheless, died from disease rather than wounds received on the battlefield. Lack of efficient medicine and health care caused much more impacting damage, as well as scarce, not up-to-date resources, and social divisions between the soldiers. Typically, an average Civil War soldier could expect to face extreme hardships and difficulties in their wartime lifestyles, including bad weather, unprepared, inappropriate clothing, spreading infections, and tensions regarding race and gender. Across
Doctors and surgeons involved in the war were high in demand and were often sent to the battlefields untrained lacking the fundamentals of medicine and understanding of the importance of sanitation. “It was the tragedy of the era that medical knowledge of the 1860’s had not yet encompassed the use of sterile dressings, antiseptic surgery, and the recognition of the importance of sanitation and hygiene".2 This made it extremely difficult for doctors and surgeons treating injured soldiers because outbreaks of diseases spread quickly and easily due to lack of implementing basic sanitation rules. Things like changing clothes with vomit or bile on them, having clean water and food, sterilizing equipment, or keeping the treatment areas clean could have prevented many deaths. Unfortunately, because the doctors of the era were lacking the knowledge and expertise we have now, many soldiers with gunshot wounds would have had an amputation. Since there were no antibiotics during this time, it was easier to amputate an arm or leg than treat a gunshot wound to the area because the bullets were made from a solid ounce of lead and would shatter into many small pieces on impact. Performing amputations allowed for surgeons to move quickly from patient to patient and treat a larger number of soldiers increasing the number of lives
There was limited supply of medical equipment as a result they were using saws, scalpels, and knives to operate surgery in the field. It was long ago before the introduction of sterility of medical instrument and so the instrument became bridge of contamination of disease between soldiers. “Recalled on surgeon; ‘we operated in old blood-stained coats with infected hand” (Oates, 362). It was a head of discovery of antibiotic, wounds and scars could easily develop to infection and therefore limited their survival. Doctors and nurses were limited in number as well their distribution center around the battle. Soldiers were wounded so badly and doctors knew nothing except to devise amputations. They did all they can to alleviate the pain of the wounds by amputation but they were too surpassed by patients. There were no ambulances to carry victims to the medical centers nor had the doctors to see every patient with special
At the time, medicine in both countries (truthfully worldwide) was still very primitive. There were surgeons who were part of the military, and medics were very sought after. There was little they could do to help, however. According to the Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, “the great majority of wounds and of sickness should be treated by the regimental surgeon,” (Sherman 393). The treatment given back then to a wound from a gunshot wound was amputation without anesthesia- as it would not be invented yet for about a century- and after surgery, doctors did not wash their hands or instruments, exponentially increasing the likelihood of infection of a wound and lowering the likelihood of survival. The Union had an advantage in this, though not due to superior doctors or medicine. The Union had roughly four and a half times as many citizens as the
Cold Mountain is a tale about a man named Inman who gets injured in war and wants nothing more than to return to his wife, Ada. Inman ends up deserting the Confederate Army after being wounded, and goes through many trials and tribulations in journey back to Ada. The main antagonist, besides nature, is Tague. Tague is the leader of a group that tracks down Confederate soldiers that have gone rogue. However, Tague and his team kill more soldiers than they bring back, causing Inman to be on his toes the whole time.
This research paper will investigate the historical facts regarding what transpired during the events of the Civil War versus what happened in the novel Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. This will provide more insight and understanding of both the Civil War and the book. Because it is a story, Cold Mountain would likely have events that never occurred during the Civil War and thus only serve a more immersive function. This paper’s thesis that the novel and the specific events of the war contain facts that conflict with each other will be analyzed. The paper will compare both the history presented in the novel and the facts of the Civil War in order to provide as much insight into historical accuracy as possible. Using sources that defend the thesis will allow for a greater understanding of both the novel and what took place in reality.
The Civil War was a four year armed conflict between northern and southern sections of the United States. The Civil War cost more American lives than any other war in history. There were bout 3 million people who fought in the beginning of the Civil War and about 600,000 people’s lives were lost at the end of the war. What began for many as a romantic adventure soon became a heartbreaking bitter struggle between the two parts of a divided country. This, however, was more than the industrial North fighting against the agricultural South. There were divided families with brother fighting brother. Some Northerners joined the Southern ranks and some Southerners were in the Union