Essay about The Soldiers of The Civil War
The Civil War was the deadliest for American soldiers. From 1861 to 1865, the Union and Confederate would be at war with each other. The war would cause half a million deaths, making it the worst war for America. There were battles that killed many soldiers of both armies. Most of these deaths were from diseases from wounds. Both The Union and Confederate armies’ soldiers also fought against drug addiction. African American soldiers would be treated harshly. Most soldiers would have dreams of the events in the war that caused them to have trauma. The soldiers of the civil war would face all these problems showing why the war was terrible.
The lives of many soldiers were lost in the civil war. The number of deaths is around 600,000 men. The two deadly battles were the battle of Gettysburg and Antietam. The battle of Gettysburg would be in Pennsylvania and last for three days. The Commander of the Union would be George Gordon and Robert E. Lee of the Confederate. Both men would survive the battle but, the result would be the most deaths of the war. The article Battle of Gettysburg by Hughes, by M. Johnson show, talks about how both the Union and Confederates would lose around 20,000 each. Together both armies lost around 40,000 Americans. The North would win the battle, but the lives of many soldiers were lost. The battle of Antietam would be deadly because it only happens in one day. The battle was in Washington and, the North would win this battle too. The numbers of life loss in this battle on both sides were around 20,000. Many other battles cost death to soldiers during this war. The number of deaths would cause the Civil War to be the deadliest to soldiers in American history.
Other problems that impacted soldiers in the war were disease and infections. The Civil War would have the most deaths by diseases than any other American war. In the article Disease and Infection in the American Civil War by Gilchrist Michael states that “Nearly 63% of the Union fatalities were due to disease (222,586 deaths) and nearly 12% due to wounds (43,012 deaths)”. This article shows that the North had the most death from diseases. A Union soldier had more than a half-chance that he was going to die from diseases. And the article also states that “It is estimated that the Confederacy lost more than 250,00 men with more than 160,000 dying from disease or infection” (Michael) . The Confederacy would have the same problem with a massive amount of their soldiers dying from disease/infection. The data show that most soldiers that fought in this war did not die on the battlefield but by disease/infections. It also shows that the doctors during the civil war had a small amount of knowledge on disease/infections. Without this knowledge, soldiers were doom from the start and, their chances of surviving the war were low.
During the Civil War soldiers, were introduced to drugs that caused enormous addiction. The war would be America's first major opioid epidemic. The two main medicines in the war were opium and morphine. Addiction was possible by hypodermic syringes that allowed soldiers to take drugs easily. In the article The Army Disease: Drug Addiction and the Civil war by Jonathan Lewy Morphine states that “After the war, Yankee physicians recalled that syringes had been unavailable to them in the field, but contradicting evidence suggests that physicians often used syringes, especially towards the end of the war”. (Lewy) This statement shows that hypodermic syringes were used by the doctors if they were available. The Confederacy during the war would have a small number of hypodermic syringes causing them to take drugs by mouth. In the war, both armies’ soldiers used morphine so much that they got the name “Army disease”. The Physicians at the time did not know about drug addictions that cost many men their lives. American soldiers in both armies would have to deal with the problem of drug addictions for many years after the war.
Another main topic during the civil war was the black soldiers that fought in it. At the beginning of the war, only whites were allowed to join the union army. As the war went on, there was more of a need for soldiers causing the union to pass the Militia Act of 1862. This allowed blacks to enlist in the army for the first time in American history but, still in the union army blacks would be treated hardly with low wages and hateful talk from fellow whites’ soldiers. The article Unwelcome Allies; Billy Yank and the Black Soldier by Randall M Miller shows “ For example, one Sergeant Enoch Baker confided to his wife Sarah in July 1862 that he witnessed a "grate Controversy" among the soldiers over the "Black Question," and that if the government continued to send blacks to fight, "it Will raise a rebellion in the army that all the abolitionist this Side of hell could not Stop” (Miller). The quote shows that the North soldiers that were fighting to end slavery did not want any blacks on their side to help them. African Americans would also be hated because many Americans in the North were dying for their freedom. The Confederacy would mainly use African Americans as slaves for their agriculture and building bases. Sometimes they were used as cooks for the Confederate army. With the end of the civil war, slavery would end but, when they return home, they face Jim Crow and other laws that enforced segregation.
Soldiers on both sides of the civil war face the problem of mental health. During the war and after, soldiers would dream of the past battles. These dreams were traumatic for the soldiers. The trauma was PTSD but, during this time, doctors would call it nostalgia or soldier heart. In the article Civil War Soldiers and dreams of Way by Dillon J. Carroll talks about James William who, fought in the war. William would say "I've had great and exciting times at night with my dreams since the battle, some of them are tragedies and frighten me more than ever the fight did when I was awake”. The quote shows that soldiers were traumatized by past battles. The article also talks about William T Shepherd that was a nineteen-year-old soldier in the war. One letter he wrote said "As the booming of the artillery and roar of the musketry comes to our ears—and we see with our minds eye the dead and dying on that field—We wonder more than ever that we are yet alive and unharmed” (Carroll). This shows that soldiers of all ages were impacted by trauma from the war. Other soldiers would overcome the trauma by thinking of the positive aftermath of the war. Many soldiers after the war would never overcome the trauma and still dream of the bloody battles that they fought in.
No matter what side a soldier was on, they faced many problems from the war. With the issues of trying to survive battles that were against their fellow Americans. To the cause of death from diseases from both sides of the Civil War. And the soldiers that did survive the battles had to fight drug addictions from their wounds. Even when the war was over soldiers, had problems with dreams of the trauma from the bloody battles. During the war, African American soldiers would be fighting for their freedom. The Civil War destroyed many lives and took many soldiers that fought on the battlefield.
Bibliography
Carroll, Dillon J. “Civil War Soldiers and Dreams of War.” Civil War History, vol. 66, no. 2, June 2020, pp. 103–124. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/cwh.2020.0029. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.chaffey.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=819bc64d- ab64-451a-bb45- 8f0ef17a22b4%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=143042332&db=31h
Glatthar, Joseph T. “‘Glory," the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, and Black Soldiers in the Civil War.” The History Teacher, vol. 24, no. 4, 1991, pp. 475–485. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/494706. Accessed 21 June 2021.
Hughes, M. R.Johnson, E. C. Battle of Gettysburg. JSTOR, stor.org/stable/10.2307/community.29356475. Accessed 2 July 2021.
Lewy, Jonathan. “The Army Disease: Drug Addiction and the Civil War.” War in History, vol. 21, no. 1, 2014, pp. 102–119. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26098368. Accessed 21 June 2021.
Michael R. Gilchrist. “Disease & Infection in the American Civil War.” The American Biology Teacher, vol.60, no. 4, 1998, pp. 258–262. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4450468. Accessed 19 June 2021.
American Women and the American Civil War. Miller, Randall M., and Jon W. Zophy. “Unwelcome Allies: Billy Yank and the Black Soldier.” Phylon (1960-), vol. 39, no. 3, 1978, pp. 234–240. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/274519. Accessed 7 July 2021.
