Conditions And Hygiene During The Civil War

April 12, 1861, bombarded Fort Sumter. The day before, on Thursday, April 11, 1861, General

The diseases soldiers tended to face were small pox, measles, mumps, dysentery, and so on. The list is endless. Dysentery was by far the most lethal during the Civil War (Civil War Diseases 1). There was a 75% chance that if a soldier was injured, an amputation would occur (Civil War Medicine 1). This led to a tremendous death toll due to the bacteria into the wound. There were plentiful reasons as why a soldier contracted these diseases other than a gunshot wound. These reasons included, poor physical upon entering the army, the doctors lack of knowledge when it came to medical information, terrible hygiene, disease causing parasites, and lack of the basic necessities for survival. As you can see, this is a recipe for failure and death. For example, in order to

The medicines and medical techniques used during the Civil War were very primitive for their time. Extremely little was known about germs and the dangers of infections. In Recovery, it is stated that, “Treating wounds and illnesses with medication had become common—opiates, stimulants, sedatives, diuretics, purgatives, and more were widely available and used. The first pills had been made in the early 1800s. The stethoscope and the

The army was undernourished and living in crowded quarters. They were also getting sick with disease such as typhoid, typhus, smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia. These diseases contributed to the death of 2,500 soldiers by the end of winter. Women of enlisted men provided valuable services that the army needed,such as laundry and nursing.

Dysentery and diarrhea were a result of poor hygiene, close quarters with other sick soldiers and food not properly stored or prepared. Almost thirty percent of the population with chronic diarrhea died, while the survival rate for acute diarrhea was much higher. (Schoeder-Lein 86). Typhoid fever could mimic the symptoms of classic diarrhea and it was at times, hard to diagnose. According to CDC.gov, a person can get typhoid fever if they eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding Salmonella Typhi or if sewage contaminated with Salmonella Typhi bacteria gets into the water they use for drinking or washing food. Considering the sources of transmitting typhoid fever, it is understandable that this was one of the top killing diseases during the Civil War. Malaria and Yellow fever were both mosquito borne illnesses. Mosquitoes are a nuisance to us today, but during the Civil War they wreaked havoc on the population and caused widespread devastation across the entire land, but primarily in the South. Not just because of the warm climate but the lack of cold weather severe enough to kill the mosquitoes themselves. Yellow fever is a horrific illness that has multiple

The soldiers undertook many different diseases and sicknesses, mentally and physically. The faced outbreaks of measles, small pox, malaria, pneumonia, or camp itch. Soldiers would get malaria when camping in damp areas surrounded by mosquitos, while camp

In the most suitable cases, the soldiers had cabins, which were crude, small, and very unsturdy. In most instances, however, they got tents made out of canvas, which frequently ripped and did not help keep out cold in the dead winter. Because of this, many men got illnesses such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and dysentery. In fact, so many got sick that the hospitals were overflowing, even though each section had a hospital for itself. Some soldiers’ wives agreed to be nurses to help, but there were not enough medical supplies, so many died. Out of 12,000 men, 3,000 died and 2,000 left because they were sick.

If you were a soldier in the Battle of Gettysburg do you think that you would’ve survived? The battle between the Union and the Confederacy lasted three days, from July 1, 1863 to July 3, 1863 and in the end the Union was victorious. The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. The medical knowledge and equipment that the surgeons had back then were no match the types of illnesses and injuries that the soldiers had. The people that were that got shot during the Civil War, either had to get a body part amputated, got their gunshot wound covered with a bandage, opened up the wound to get the bullet out and then patch them up. Three people from The Killer Angels that got shot and just got their wound wrapped with bandage were John Buford, Buster Kilrain, and a runaway slave.

On April12th 1861 a confederate general conglomerated around Charleston harbor. They rained fire upon the union soldiers at Fort Sumter. At 2:30 in the afternoon the next day the garrison commander surrendered the fort. The next day the fort was

After Fort Sumter was fired on April 12, 1861, President Lincoln issued a call to arms.

The battle for Fort Sumter was the battle that started the American Civil War in 1861 when the first shot were fired that signal the beginning of the war. General Beauregard sent Major Anderson a message saying that he would fire in one hour if he didn’t surrender prior that day Adj. Gen. Of the Secretary of War Samuel Cooper, Anderson composed, (1) The progression I have taken was, as I would like to think, important to keep the emanation of blood."

(Dixon, Ina) It was a treacherous act to transport the fallen off of the battle field, and the task to keep the wounded alive was even more arduous due to the unsanitary conditions. Wounds and disease were the biggest killer during the Civil War. (Richards, Rebekah) The deadly minnie balls, which were designed to cause maximum damage, devastated limbs and bone - wounds that were near “impossible to mend.”

The men fighting in the Civil War endured very harsh conditions. The soldiers on both sides not only had to witness bloody carnage on a daily basis, but also had to cope with subpar living conditions such worm infested rations and the spreading of diseases among the camps. Soldiers sometimes had to march hundreds of miles with 40 pound packs on their backs. I found very interesting through my reading of the material that soldiers only carried half of a tent and had to

Civil war medical treatment was rather unsafe. The popularization of anesthetics during that era would be a prime example. At that time chloroform and ether were two popular forms of anesthetic. Chloroform took about nine minutes to knock you out and was commonly used. Today however, it has been labeled as possibly carcinogenic (causes cancer), and it affects the liver, kidney, and CNS (central nervous system). Sanitation was also an issue. Doctors were known to move on to patient after patient without wiping the blood off their blade from the last one. New of sanitary practices, while known in Europe, hadn't quite gotten to America. Which lead to many soldiers having infections.

Medical care was as scarce as clean water. Basic medical care was rudimentary. Describing the situations as “incredibly unhygienic” would be an understatement. War fatalities were the immediate effects of the Great War and the incredible spread of a disease was a later one. As a matter of fact, more people died from the Great Influenza Pandemic than from World War One (Tauenberger1).