Civil War Medical Changes Essay

Should I Stay or Should I Go It was freezing, feet and hands numb, stomach growling at me like a bear. I needed to leave. It was 1777, George Washington and his troops arrived at Valley Forge. It was “1 mile away from Pennsylvania” (Background Essay) and nowhere to really go, and no one really wanted to go.

The Civil War was filled with many diseases and deaths. Over 620,000 men lost their lives during this war; roughly two thirds of the casualties were caused by the lack of medical knowledge of many diseases. The remaining one third of the casualties was from the actual battle itself. The war became a turning point for many women interested in the medical field. The knowledge of medicine was the beginning of a new age during the Civil War, and the lack of it led to many gruesome deaths.

March 9, 2017 Aspen Wayment History of Physician Assistants There were many events leading up to the origination of the physician assistant. The military necessity in times of war was one of these events that induced the use of “non-physicians” and helped pave a pathway for physician assistants. In 1940 a highly respected physician trained his own “doctor’s assistant” to tend his patients while he was away receiving further medical education. This event was a major success and a brief example of what was to come a mere fifteen years later.

A soldier dreaded being on the battlefield more than being in the field hospital, right…? Field hospitals were usually very, very crowded. There were never enough beds for everybody and people that couldn’t get a bed were laid outside of the hospital on the ground. Doctors were always overworked and went to the soldiers who needed the most help first. So, if you had a broken bone, chances are you would be stuck waiting for hours and maybe even days.

A war of wars, between brothers. Such a war it came to be. Fought over freedom, sacrifice, and civil rights. It killed thousands, a bloody group of battles indeed. But, what caused this, why did this come to be?

The north was able to use the devastating amount of resources against the South to win the war. The northern resources even allowed there to be effective transportation for the Union soldiers. Union troops could use the higher mileage of railroads to there advantage to transport soldiers quicker during the war as well. The creation of Ironclads was possible with the north’s resources. Document three displays one of the first Ironclads built.

During the feud between the North and South, the South were establishing a military that seemed to be well-built and stronger, in comparison to the forces of the North. However, the South had many inexperienced troops that were very unorganized and ill prepared. Also, in comparison to the North, the South's food supply and resources, were minimal. In the North, manufacturing gave them the upper-hand,

The North had a far better economy than the south, with about twice as many soldiers, factories benefited the North’s economy rather than the South, increasing tensions between the two regions. Southerners relied on their plantations and slaves to work on them, so the fact that the Northerners wanted to take away their slaves just pushed the South to the edge. By 1860 the North had over twice the amount of railroads as the South; despite the fact that the South had a larger population due to slaves (Doc A). The mass amounts of railroads in the North upheld the large amounts of deliveries between factories. While the North was mostly industrial and the South was more agricultural.

Many battles were fought during the civil war. I was a rough time in American history. Even though there were quite a few battles in the civil war, the Battle of Shiloh was the greatest. The battle of Shiloh is one of the most known battles because up until that time in the Civil War it was the bloodiest of the battles, it was also well known for how many soldiers were lost on both sides, The battle of Shiloh was unique because of the diseases the soldiers endured, the arduous terrain, weather conditions, the soldiers relied upon. Death by combat was not the only reason so many soldiers died, from the beginning to the end of the civil war disease was a big problem.

More than half of the Railroads were in the North which allowed for easy travel. The railroads allowed for the north to easily transport soldiers, food, and weapons to the south. This made the North more prepared than the South. Not only was the south able transport items quickly they were able to produce the necessary items quickly. The north was filled with many factories and industries that hired cheap labor whether it was females or immigrants.

During the beginning of the of the Civil War, there were many medical advancements, like the quinine a drug that helped fight Malaria. The doctors had just recently discovered bacteria and antisepsis. With this new knowledge, they began to change the way they treated patients and organized areas for treating the wounded. They started to think about things like cleanliness and how to set up a hospital. As the Civil War went on, it was less of a battle to see who was winning the fights and more to see who could keep their men healthy.

However, they could not fight as well with just cotton. They did not have a lot of weapons just what was in their closets basically. The North had a ton of people that were fighting against the South and although the South had motivation and the battle was in their backyard it just wasn’t enough to win. The North basically had everything needed to win where as the South had nothing. If the South had somehow gained more people to fight and better weaponry there is a good

Being part of the Civil War brought many hardships to many soldiers. The men would risk their lives and end up killed or wounded during battle. Do you ever wonder how a wound would be treated during that time? Maybe you have not given much thought to that. For that reason, the following information will help you understand what type of wounds army men received during the Civil War and how those wounds were treated and cared for.

Drew Gilpin Faust, wrote the book This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, this book was about the suffrage in the Civil War. Although more specifically the book goes in depth about the death of the ones who was in the war as well as the spiritual. Since this was back in the nineteenth century, they have not had the access to the medical technology that we do today. This then led to many deaths from “infections, disease in the camp, and that doctors did not have the knowledge to use clean instruments when treating a wound properly” (Faust 4). Though just from 1861 and 1865 it was estimated about 620,000 soldiers died in the Civil War, this is a time expand of approximately four years.

1861-1863 Epilogue- Isabelle Robertson a young woman her country within the rough time occurring. It's 1862 and war has started on April 12, 1861, and it's been a brutal time for her and her family. Her father, Devin Robertson died in the Battle Of Bull Run as a hero, when he tried to save general Brig. Gen P.G.T Beauregard from a subtle attack but failed and died in the attempt.