Technology and Medicine During the Civil War By Austin De La Ronde

What will you learn? You will learn about the technology and medicine that people used during the civil war. The technology that they used were a big part in the war because better guns were made to win the war.

Railroads The railroad was “new technology” during the Civil War. The North had about 22,000 miles of railroad and the South had about 9,000. Railroads were used to supply armies with food and water; they also were used to move troops.

Minie Ball The minie ball is a ½ inch lead rifle bullet. The minie ball was responsible for an overwhelming number of deaths during the Civil War. In the year of 1848, French army Captain Claude F. Minie created the minie ball. Captain Minie’s minie balls were very expensive. By 1855, a Harpers Ferry Armory worker named James H. Burton made an even cheaper version of Minie’s minie ball. Burton’s minie balls soon were used as ammunition on both sides of the Civil War.

Small Arms A small arm is a weapon that is smaller than a cannon and can be carried by a solider. Small arms include: muskets, rifles, shoulder guns, hand guns, such as a pistol, etc… Small arms compelled an immense change in infantry tactics.

Edged Weapons Edged Weapons, like a bayonet or a sword, appeared in abundance during the Civil War. Swords were the symbol of an officer’s authority.

Info on the Medical Staff for the Union At the beginning of the war, the medical staff only had the surgeon general, thirty surgeons, and eighty-three assistant surgeons. 24 of those resigned to “Go South”. 3 more surgeons were dropped because of disloyalty. Because of this, the medical corps started out the war with only 87 men.

Info on the Medical Staff for the Confederacy The Confederacy started taking state militias and putting them into service, each of which had a surgeon and an assistant surgeon. Dr. Samuel Preston Moore, a surgeon general for the Confederacy, foresaw shortages in many things, like drugs, surgical instruments, and hospital supplies. He set up laboratories for drug making and bought hospital supplies from Europe. Amputation kit used during the civil war. s.com/binary/f45f/cov erside01.jpg

Medical Care A soldier's chance of not surviving was about 1 in 4. During the time of the Civil War, little was known about what caused diseases or how to cure them. By 1865, almost 13,000 Union doctors and about 4,000 Confederate doctors had served. Almost all of them were undertrained. Almost 4,000 women devoted their time to help. Approximately 620,000 men-360,000 Northerners and 260,000 Southerners-died during the Civil War. Of these, almost 110,000 Union and 94,000 Confederate men died of wounds give during battle. Out of almost 175,000 wounds given to the Federal Army, almost 30,000 led to amputation.

Conclusion Technological advances were a big part of the Civil War. Not much was known about medicine during the Civil War. That is one of the reasons why diseases spread.

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