While the American Civil War is often portrayed as a conflict of bullets and bayonets, the reality is that many more soldiers met an unpleasant end because of sickness. A proper understanding of the Civil War, the experiences of the men who fought it, and the conditions under which it was waged is impossible without an understanding of the diseases that ravaged Billy Yank and Johnny Reb.
Time Frame
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, with the attack on Fort Sumter. While Confederate resistance continued after General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, that date is generally counted as the end of the war, and certainly was the beginning of the collapse of resistance in general.
Significance
Prior to the mid-20th Century, disease and malnutrition almost always killed more soldiers than battle. The Civil War was no exception. In the Federal Army, three-fifths of the deaths were due to disease. In the Confederate ranks, that proportion was two-thirds. Disease was the single most important contributor to the ultimate death toll in the conflict.
Types
Common diseases in the Civil War were the camp diseases like measles and small pox, which were contracted by unexposed farm boys who were suddenly introduced to them in the jumble of humanity that was a military training camp. In the hot and swampy regions of the South, malaria was a common scourge. Bad water and improper sanitation could cause rampant dysentery, and exposure to the elements frequently led to pneumonia. Typhoid fever, mumps chicken pox, whooping cough, and tuberculosis were also severe problems. When fresh fruits and vegetables were not available, a frequent occurrence for even the well-supplied Federals, scurvy could break out in the ranks.
Expert Insight
A good example of the role that disease played in taking men out of the ranks is what would happen to a volunteer regiment before they reached active service. A regiment was supposed to be 1,000 strong, and often regiments were mustered at that strength or a little higher. However, there was nothing like the medical screening of the modern military to keep out the unfit. That combined with poor sanitation, poor diet, exposure to the elements and exposure to new viruses, bacteria and parasites would result in a dramatic loss rate before the regiment even left camp. It was not uncommon for a Civil War infantry regiment to lose between 25% to 50% of its strength to disease and infirmity before it ever left camp, let alone faced enemy fire.
Considerations
Medical knowledge at the time of the Civil War was primitive. For example, while things like basic inoculation were understood (Washington ordered the Continental Army inoculated during the Revolution, almost 90 years prior to the Civil War), the role played by microorganisms in propagating disease was unknown at the time. Therefore it was not understood that mixing men from towns, who had been exposed to the measles and the mumps in childhood, with isolated farm boys who had not, would inevitably result in infecting the latter.
However, there were elementary sanitation procedures which went unenforced throughout the course of the war. The basic step of locating rubbish heaps and latrines downstream from a camp's water source had been in practice since ancient times. Yet it was often ignored by volunteer soldiers and their officers, even after they were instructed to the contrary. As late as 1864, General Joe Johnston found it necessary to issue General Orders regarding basic camp sanitation upon assuming command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
Considerations
Another consideration in Civil War diseases is the role of malnutrition. The typical diet of the Civil War soldier, especially the field rations, were terrible. While better fed that his Southern counterpart, the Northerner merely enjoyed superior quantity rather than quality. The typical diet of a Union soldier on the march was hardtack, salt pork and coffee. Sometimes the camp rations were not much better. The awful, innard-destroying diet not only led directly to diseases such as scurvy, but also weakened the immune system in general.
Tags: American Civil, exposure elements, farm boys, However there, left camp, more soldiers
