16.2 LIFE IN THE ARMY
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Understand the impact of new military technologies.
Understand the hardships faced by Union and Confederate
soldiers
HYGIENE, HARDSHIPS AND LIFE IN CAMP
THOSE WHO FOUGHT
Most soldiers were farmers
 Very few had any military training or experience
 Most volunteered
 Many were immigrants (esp. from Germany and
Ireland)
 About 10%+ were African Americans after
1863
 Native Americans fought on both sides

LIFE IN CAMP
620,000 soldiers died during the Civil War. 2/3
died from disease, not battle wounds, because of:
 Poor hygiene
 Garbage
 Polluted water (often from latrines)
 Ignorance about germs
 Poor clothing and housing
 Lack of trained surgeons, nurses
 Few medical facilities
HYGIENE
Surgery from battlefield wounds often was not sterile, exposed
the patient to germs, and was often done with saws and knives
that were not clean and not always sharp. Anesthetic was rare.
Surprisingly, most survived amputation, but later succumbed to
disease.
HYGIENE
Especially early in the war, battlefield medicine was crude, hospitals rare, and nursing
almost nonexistent. Soldiers often were treated and hosued in barns, schools, and
churches. Note the crude and dirty conditions of the men in the photo on the right.
The South had even fewer resources than the North. By the end of the war, through the
efforts of women like Clara Barton and Dorothy Dix, there were more and more hospitals
and nurses to care for the wounded, such as in the image to the right.
CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY
RIFLES AND THE MINIE BALL BULLET
Prior to the Civil War, most combatants
used smooth-bore muskets which had a
maximum range of about 300 feet.
However, shortly before the start of the war,
the invention of rifling (grooves in the
musket barrel) meant bullets could spin
and travel up to 900 feet. This was an
important defensive development and
increased the range and accuracy of
muskets.
The Minie bullet made defense even safer.
When used in the rifled musket it spun
faster, traveled further and was five times
more accurate than any single-man
weapon. Able to kill at half a mile, it was the
largest contributor to battle wounds (more
than 90%).
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/ http://www.historianinresidence.com/Civil%2
0War/Shooting%20minie%20ball.JPG
feature/civil-war-innovations/
THE BLOCKADE
Union extends blockade (Anaconda Plan)
 Begins to have success by targeting cotton ports
 Risks war with Britain by seizing British
merchants, uses “ultimate destination” as legal
cover to avoid war
 Blockade Runners earn profits of up to 700%
 3/9/1862: Monitor v. Merrimack  end of
wooden-hulled warfare, beginning of the
“Ironclads”

VIRGINIA RAMS CUMBERLAND
IRONCLAD WARSHIPS
At the start of the Civil War the North had a distinct naval advantage as
the South didn't have a dedicated Navy. Both recognized the
importance of armor-cladding their ships. The first engagement
between two iron-clad ships was between the USS Monitor and the
CSS Virginia. The first fight between iron clad ships of war, in Hampton
Roads, March 9, 1862, in which the Monitor whipped the Merrimac
and the whole school of Confederate steamers.
MONITOR AFTER THE BATTLE WITH THE
VIRGINIA
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/cwar-pix/monitor.jpg