October 27, 2010
History

Chapter 11 Essay – The Bloodiest War of All Time During the American Civil War over 600,000 men died during within the four years of war. Soldiers from both sides of war suffered the same. Many of the casualties of the Civil War were not caused from injuries during battles or even death on the battle fields. Even with new technology, more soldiers died from disease, or not having the correct treatment. Medicines used during the Civil War were not ideal for fixing a medical condition. If a soldier had a chance of surviving those chances were cut because doctors were not able to dedicate the time needed on one patient because of so many others. The Civil War is known as the first moderate in American history. The reason behind this is war technology within the United States had changed greatly. By the time of the Civil War railroads had been put in both the North and the South. The North had twenty-two thousand miles of railroad with standard gauge. The South had less than half the amount with only nine thousand, and non-standard gauge. Railroads played a major part in new technology by not only transporting soldiers quicker, but food, medical tools, and communication faster than before. New weapons were another cause of so many casualties. During the Civil War the rifle was used. The rifle tripled the accuracy of the shooter being able to hit his target. With the rifle soldiers were able to load faster and shoot more than before. Along with the rifle came a new bullet. Instead of lead balls the rifle shot the minié ball. With the minié ball more soldiers needed amputations because of the bullet damaging tissue in the body. Enhancement of medicine was very important with the new technology. One thing President Lincoln did early in the war was ban exportation of medicine from the North to the South. But that didn’t stop the South from having decent medicine. The only thing that hindered the South was its limited service. With limited services in the South, disease and wounds were harder to handle. Many soldiers became sick with pneumonia to diseases such as malaria. For