9.3- LIFE DURING THE CIVIL WAR

BLACK MEN IN THE WAR Emancipation Proclamation allow AA to enlist in Union military

Nearly 180k free black men & fugitives slaves served in the Union army 1st all-black Regiment 54th Massachusetts

Another 15k served in the Navy

Black Soldiers wereCommanded by white officers Paid LessSegregated from white troops

South refused to accept black soldiers until the end of the war Used for digging, cooking, driving wagons, etc.

54TH MASSACHUSSETTS

A SOLDIER’S LIFE Confederates

Slept without blankets Scavenged for shoes Food cornmeal bread, potatoes, beans, fruits, & vegetables

Union Many not used to life in battle

Living without luxuries Food hardtack, dried salt pork, potatoes, fruits, & vegetables Hard biscuit made of wheat flour

ODDS OF DYING Soldiers were not prepared for

horrors of battle “Yankee” (Union soldier) stood a 1 in 8

chance of dying due to illness & a 1 in 18 chance of dying in battle

Rebel faced a 1 in 5 chance of succumbing to disease & a 1 in 8 chance of dying in combat.

BATTLEFIELD MEDICINE Mid-19th century Doctors had little knowledge of infection & germs Used same unsterilized instruments on all patients Infection spread rapidly in field hospitals

Disease killed thousands of men during the war Crowded camps + unsanitary water = rampant illness Small pox, dysentery, & pneumonia were common

Doctors constantly used amputation because: Wounds so severe that limbs were useless Prevent gangrene & other infections

PRISONER CAMPS Place for captured enemy soldiers (POWs)

Poorly planned and managed Horrendously overcrowded Disease infested lack of hygiene

1863 prisoner exchange breaks down After EP South would not exchange captured AA soldiers (treated

black soldiers as “rebel slaves” and punished them by death; Lincoln says they are federal soldiers and will execute a confederate soldier for every federal soldier put to death.) Re-enslave or execute them

Lincoln stops prisoner exchange: Causes MASSIVE overcrowding South could barely feed Union POWs

ANDERSONVILLE PRISONConfederate Prison Camp

Opened in February 1864 (14 months)Purpose- move federal prisoners from Richmond area to place of greater security

45,000 POWs 13,000 deaths (100 per day)Disease, Starvation, Exposure, CrueltySevere overcrowding: at one time, 33,000 men were imprisoned in a space meant for 10,000

Prison Commander Captain Henry Wirzonly man executed for war crimes in the Civil War

“FORTUNATE” SURVIVORS

SOUTH LOSING MORALE End of 1862 South’s economy began to suffer b/c of severe food

shortages Collapse of transportation system Blockade of Southern ports Union presence in major agricultural regions

Confederate soldiers began to desert to tend to families suffering from hardships of the war

Spring 1863 food shortages led to riots Richmond, VA several hundred women loot stores for food &

clothing Davis sends in troops to confront & disperse

UNION WAR BOOMUnion’s economy expanded during the war

Industries supported by the banks

Northern factories operated continuously to provide troops with uniforms & supplies

Need for workers created jobs & increased circulation of money

WOMEN IN THE WARFilled labor positions vacated by men

FarmersFactory workers

Operated sewing machinesGovernment clerksAccompanied men in the fields

Cooking, sewing, and washingSome Confederate women acted as spies against the UnionSome women went into combat dressed as men: Love, Money, Boredom, Gender Identity

CIVIL WAR NURSES Women gradually replace men at army nurses

Inspired by famous British nurse Florence Nightingale Elizabeth Blackwell 1st female physician in US

Started 1st training program for nurses Created US Sanitary Commission

Provided medical assistance & supplies to army camps & hospitals

Raised money to send clean bandages, medicine, & food to soldiers

Southern women used their houses to found small hospitals for Confederate soldiers

CLARA BARTONCalled the “Angel of the Battlefield”

Led search parties to look for wounded Insisted on constantly using clean bandages to help protect wounds from infection

Used own knife to dig out bullets from soldiers

Established American Red Cross in 1881Today provides emergency assistance, disaster relief & medical education to US