Understand the impact of new military technologies. Understand the hardships faced by Union and Confederate soldiers

 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

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

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.

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.

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%). feature/civil-war-innovations/ 0War/Shooting%20minie%20ball.JPG

 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”

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.