Medicine in the American Civil War
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- Category: History: American
- Date Submitted: 07/12/2016 08:58 PM
- Pages: 6
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Assessment task report on medicine and surgery in the American civil war
7/2/2016
In the American civil war, medicine and surgery made a big difference to the amount of deaths, without medicine and surgery, probably everyone who was wounded would not have not survived. Although, this statement also goes for how many deaths it did not save,while weaponry science was becoming more advanced with the invention of the minie ball and the repeating rifle, medicine and sanitation was still at the level of around the middle ages[1] which meant that a lot of wounded soldiers were dying from infection and disease.
Many countries had a civil war but none were as bloody as the American civil war. There were many reasons to fight for each side and many did. Approximately one in every four soldiers were killed in the action of the war. The American civil war had the greatest death toll for Americans in history, it killed more Americans than world war one, world war two , the Korean war, and the Vietnam war put together (world war one: 116,516 deaths, world war two: 405,399 deaths, Korean war: 36,516 deaths, Vietnam war :58,151 deaths. Total:616,582 deaths )[2]During the American Civil War approximately 620,000 men lost their lives[3] On the Union side alone there were 360,000 deaths and 3 out of 5 of those were from disease. There were 260,000 on the Confederate side and 2 out of 3 deaths were from disease. Even with all the weapon advancements in the war a soldier was more likely to die from disease than of being shot.[4]
As was mentioned, in the American civil war weaponry was advancing faster than medicine, which meant that when a soldier was wounded even in a place that was not vital the soldier would be lucky to survive. ''In 1848 French army Captain Claude F. Minie created a smaller, hollow-based bullet that could far more quickly and easily be rammed into the bore'' [5]. This bullet increased the deadliness of warfare because of its increased range...
7/2/2016
In the American civil war, medicine and surgery made a big difference to the amount of deaths, without medicine and surgery, probably everyone who was wounded would not have not survived. Although, this statement also goes for how many deaths it did not save,while weaponry science was becoming more advanced with the invention of the minie ball and the repeating rifle, medicine and sanitation was still at the level of around the middle ages[1] which meant that a lot of wounded soldiers were dying from infection and disease.
Many countries had a civil war but none were as bloody as the American civil war. There were many reasons to fight for each side and many did. Approximately one in every four soldiers were killed in the action of the war. The American civil war had the greatest death toll for Americans in history, it killed more Americans than world war one, world war two , the Korean war, and the Vietnam war put together (world war one: 116,516 deaths, world war two: 405,399 deaths, Korean war: 36,516 deaths, Vietnam war :58,151 deaths. Total:616,582 deaths )[2]During the American Civil War approximately 620,000 men lost their lives[3] On the Union side alone there were 360,000 deaths and 3 out of 5 of those were from disease. There were 260,000 on the Confederate side and 2 out of 3 deaths were from disease. Even with all the weapon advancements in the war a soldier was more likely to die from disease than of being shot.[4]
As was mentioned, in the American civil war weaponry was advancing faster than medicine, which meant that when a soldier was wounded even in a place that was not vital the soldier would be lucky to survive. ''In 1848 French army Captain Claude F. Minie created a smaller, hollow-based bullet that could far more quickly and easily be rammed into the bore'' [5]. This bullet increased the deadliness of warfare because of its increased range...