Medical Care in the Civil War

Doctors Received little training (2 years or less) and little practice before being thrown into helping soldiers At the start of the war: Union had approx. 98 medical officers Confederates had approx. 24 medical officers By 1865, 13,000 Union medical officers 4,000 Confederate officers Also called “butchers”

Total Civil War Deaths Approx. 360,222 Union soldiers died Approx. 258,000 Confederates died Total: 618,222 More died in the Civil War than all American Wars combined!

Minie Ball Could shatter any bone Carried dirt that could cause bacteria and germs that would infect the wound Had rings around the bottom that caused the bullet to spin when shot. This gave it a “football throw affect” which made it more accurate << Civil War Bullet Compare to Revolutionary War bullet >>

Amputation

Amputation Of the approximately 175,000 wounds to the extremities received among Federal troops, about 30,000 led to amputation If a soldier was hit in the arm and leg, on most occasions the doctor would simply cut off that limb. Some were able numb the pain through chloroform which temporarily numbs the nerves in the body The survival rate for amputations done in the first 24 hours after an injury was very good, with only 25% mortality.  When amputations were done after the first 24 hours, the mortality rate doubled to 50%

Those that did survive still had to fight against infection Most doctors did not quite know the relationship between infection and dirty equipment. They rarely, if ever, cleaned their equipment or hands from patient to patient

Disease About half of the deaths from disease during the Civil War were caused by: Intestinal disorders Which was caused by typhoid fever, diarrhea, and dysentery (inflamed colon) The remainder died from: pneumonia- inflamed lungs tuberculosis- bacterial infection of the lungs Younger soldiers also struggled with measles, chickenpox, mumps, and whooping cough.

Ambulance

Pictures of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln

Musicians

Union Army

Stacked Cannon Balls

Fort Richardson

Navy

Weapons

Ironclad