Preview

Civil War Medicine Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
459 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Civil War Medicine Essay
The civil war has changed modern medicine and it had such a big impact on the war.
Even though our advanced medicine and much of our advanced equipment did not come directly from the 19th century, much of our mistakes came from there so got better in the modern century. Of the approximately 620,000 soldiers who died in the war, two-thirds of these deaths were not the result of enemy fire, but of disease.While trying to fight the diseases and sickness while avoiding gunfire made for a deadly combo and made soldiers rethink everything and indirectly had a large impact mentally on them.
At the beginning of the Civil War, medical equipment and knowledge wasn't very adaptable and good and treating much of these unknown viruses and diseases. Some
…show more content…
Two percent of the population at the time died during the conflict. More Americans died in the Civil War than in all other wars combined. There was about 752,000. Countless other soldiers were left disabled. There was and still is to this day heavy criticism to the medical view during the civil war. It was stated that surgery was often done without anesthesia, many unnecessary amputations were done, and that care was not state of the art for the times. None of these assertions is true. Actually, during the Civil War, there were many medical advances and discoveries.
The medical side of things can be very controversial but my evidence and supports are the best because well it all just comes down to not knowing about medical science. There was simply not enough knowledge about diseases and not enough organizations to keep the soldiers alive. Out of pure disease and illness it doubled the amount of deaths, not including gunfire deaths. Beds and safe havens for soldiers to rest were disgusting, poorly cleaned and sanitized, and unorganized.equipment and knowledge of medicine, Doctors and Nurses are at a surplus and Medicine not only saves lives but it pays very

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    To begin, diseases and illnesses were a big problem at Valley Forge. In February of 1778, 50% of the soldiers were sick out of the entire army, which only had about 8,000 men in it. (Doc. A) It was…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil War had a very large affect on all of the States. It changed men from gentlemen that went to church every Sunday and never cussed to people who rarely went to church and cussed all the time. Some of the people in the war were also very corrupt and did not do things as they should be done. The way that the enemy was looked at was even changed. All of these things were talked about in "The Civil War Diary of Cyrus F. Boyd".…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I was talking to a doctor the other day and he told me that as of “December 23, 1777, 2,898” out of 12,000 soldiers were sick. (Busch 147) There was already a fairly high chance of sickness and we only arrived earlier that year. The doctor also told me that as of “December 1777 1,800” people died from sickness.(Busch 147) This means that if you got sick there was a 2 in 3 chance you would die. Waldo also told me that the army had been very healthy until now, when all of a sudden, there was a massive outbreak of diseases. (Waldo 151) Some of the soldiers were so sick they could barely stand. (Powell 149)This is one reason I will not re-enlist because I value my life, and I won’t be helping my country much if I am…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Role Of Nurses In Ww2

    • 141 Words
    • 1 Page

    The introduction of antibiotics accelerated improvements in American life and led to greater government involvement in public health. New drugs helped to improve the death rate and increased the chances of soldiers being cured. Not only did the soldiers benefit, the nurses did as well.The nurses that had served in the war had learned organizational skills as well as supervisory skills during the war.Army nurses were forced to grow professionally during the war, which allowed for more opportunities when they came home. American society changed where nurses were accepted as professional members of the health care system. Overall, World War Two brought major change to science. Now that nurses were common and new drugs were prevalent in society,…

    • 141 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    By February 1, 1778, about half of the 8000 soldiers who enlisted were ill because of the flu or smallpox. 1800 to 2500 are the death estimates due to illness during encampment.(Doc. A) Soon enough, half of the soldiers will be wiped out by the end of this harsh winter. My chances for surviving are not very high because of the lack of clothing during the harsh winter, the tiny,dirty huts, and the nasty food; all these factors give me a better chance of becoming very ill and dying. All the fatigues that have hit Valley Forge have made many people grow sickly and as for me, I wouldn’t want to be around wheezing, coughing men.(Doc. C)…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Civil War changed the U.S history is when the 13th amendment banned slavery. Then the Confederates retreat from Petersburg and it was over.Also When the Southerners everywhere despaired, cannon fire boomed throughout the North. The Gettysburg battle was the bloodiest battle in American history. In one of the battles 7,000 people died in the and in total there were 1,264,000 that died in total of the civil war that is a lot of people. Also when Jackson died everything changed for that war that they are fighting in.When Lincoln announced that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued January 1 1863. Lee also surrendered the Appomattox Court House. After Abraham got shot everything that he did mostly went downhill. April 3 the Union army was…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Louis Koch Research Paper

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How far did the Two World Wars attribute to arresting the spread of disease between the 1880s and 1950s? –…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The second largest technological advance in the Civil War was the Minie Ball which was used through the entire war. The bullets technology advances lead to greater accuracy, and more damage. Because of these advances there was more casualties, which made the Civil War a very gruesome war for all of America.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When Walt Whitman wrote that he believed the "real war" would never get into the books, this is the side he was talking about (Belferman 1996). Yet, it is important that we remember and recall the medical side of the conflict too, as horrible and terrifying as it was (Adams 1952). Long before doctors and people knew anything about bacteria and what caused disease was the time of Civil War medicine. Doctors during the Civil War (always referred to as "surgeons") were incredibly unprepared. Most surgeons had as little as two years of medical school because very few pursued further education. At that time, Harvard Medical School did not even own a single stethoscope or microscope until well after the war. Most Civil War surgeons had never treated a gun shot wound because they were accustomed to treating minor head colds and sore throats. Many had never performed surgery or even held a scalpel. Medical boards let extremely unqualified students practice medicine due to much needed help for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. "Some ten thousand surgeons served in the Union and about four thousand served in the Southern Confederacy (Cunningham 1958)."…

    • 1798 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Also, throw in the low morale of the troops due to the above factors, and also due to diseases such as dysentery and…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Rose

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Advancements in First Aid took place as time continued and as the militaey began to grow in numbers. The Civil War brought many moe advancements in First Aid such as the development of a ambulance corps. In the civil war times the military treated there wounded based on the likelyhood of survival…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medical care during the civil war changed the world of medicine we now know and use today. It will talk about the main causes of death such as illnesses and different health issues they suffered, and what they did to help the soldiers. We will also be talking about the different types of medicine that they had used along with all of the different types of tools that they used on all the patients during surgery on the patient's. Medical care during the civil war was much different from medical care that we use today, but what they did back then we sometimes still use today. Most medical malfunctions for soldiers were either battle wounds or disease. The things that caused these diseases were due to poor hygiene, this…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil War Essay

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Civil War was the most divisive war in American history. In the early 1800s, the United States experienced a growth of nationalism and unity, but it was replaced by sectionalism, leading to the Civil War. There were many reasons why the South wanted to secede, reasons the North wanted to maintain the Union, and the controversy surrounding slavery and steps taken to abolish it.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The working conditions for doctors during the civil war was terrible. They used unsanitary tools and garments. 66.95372517% of the casualties in the war came from diseases. After the war, they made advances on the working conditions of the medical personnel. Another effect of the Civil War was that 2% of the entire American population died during the Civil War. Most of these casualties were men in their 20’s. This meant that 2% of the population was without someone to love. The worst part was that everybody in the war was American, making the population decrease twice as fast. As you can see, these two, were affected greatly by the war.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firstly, there are many casualties in a war. It is estimated that 378,000 people died due to war each year between 1985 and 1994. Soldiers and civilians are not spared as many of them die due to either war injuries or diseases. Many more are disabled or suffer serious injuries, physical or mental. Even those who managed to survive may suffer from depression, anger or guilt if any of his/her loved ones did not make it. If it were not for the modern medical advances there would be thousands of more dead from disease and infection. For example, in the Iran-Iraq War, 5,000 survivors seek medical treatment regularly and about 1,000 are still hospitalized with severe chronic diseases. Women, children, the old and sick are usually the ones who suffer the most.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays