CIVIL WAR II
Essential Question: How was the Civil War characteristic of modern total war?
Medicine Medical knowledge primitive No knowledge of infection Twice as likely to die of disease: dysentery, measles, smallpox, pneumonia, malaria, typhoid ( camp fever ) Camp conditions: lack of shelter, polluted water, few doctors, overcrowded Rifle-bore musket created increased mortal injuries Amputation considered best treatment (75% survived) Chloroform + laudanum (a mixture of alcohol and opium derivatives) 10 minutes per amputation
Field Hospital
Clara Barton: Angel of the Battlefield
Northern Legislation Confiscation Act (1862) Ordered seizure of land from disloyal So., freeing of slaves Copperheads: Northern dissenters during war (So. sympathizers) Radical Republicans: Advocated harsh treatment of defeated South Homestead Act (May 1862) 160 acres free for improvements within 5 years Land Grant College Act (July 1862) Est. agricultural & mechanical colleges with money from sale of public lands 13 th Amendment (1865) Freed slaves in U.S.
Foreign Intervention 1. England (neutral) A. Anti-slavery policy B. Egypt becoming source of cotton C. Sold supplies to both side 2. France (neutral) A. Afraid to intervene without British support B. Invaded Mexico, installed Maximillian of Austria as king 3. Russians (supported North) A. Looking for Alaskan land deal B. Way to weaken British power
War at Home Inflation in the South: In May 1861, $1.00 in gold cost $1.10 in Richmond; by June 1863, it had risen to $7; by the beginning of 1864, it was up to $20. Weekly cost to feed a small family had risen from $6.55 in 1860 to $68.25 in 1863. Riots: New York Draft Riots "Four Days Of Terror" July 13-16, 1863 Richmond Bread Riots 1862 Mary Boykin Chestnut "Diarist From Dixie" March 31, 1832 - November 22, 1886
Women in the War Soldiers: Over 400 served on the battlefield Spies Nurses Caretakers
Prisoners of War Elmira (New York) opened 1864 25% death rate, 11% overall 30 acres
Prisoners of War Andersonville (S.W. Georgia) opened 1864 14,000/45,000 prisoners died Captain Henry Wirz (tried and executed) Mismanaged, overcrowded, South starving 30% death rate, 15% overall Execution of Wirz
Black Soldiers Not allowed to join until Antietam + Eman. Procl. Frederick Douglass encouraged enlistment Rarely used in combat units, served in all support units 54 th Mass. (Ft. Wagner, S.C.): Lost 2/3 officers, ½ troops = Glory Women: nurses, spies, scouts 10% of Union army 40,000 casualties 16 awarded Medal of Honor
Weapons Artillery Smoothbore or rifled Weight of projectile (12-pounder) Caliber or size of bore (8-inch) Method of loading: breech or muzzle Inventor (Dahlgren, Napoleon) Path of trajectory: gun (flat), mortar (high), howitzer (medium) Tactical deployment: Field, seacoast, siege Shot: Solid, grape, canister, chain Favorite: Napoleon: smoothbore, muzzle-loading, 12- pounder gun-howitzer (range 1700 yds.) Light, portable Used offensively, defensively
Weapons Small arms (smaller than a cannon) Muskets (smooth), rifles, carbine, pistols + revolvers Rifling increased accuracy to ½ mile: deadly in frontal assaults Favorite:.58 caliber Springfield musket,.69 caliber Harpers Ferry Rifle Minnie Ball (made to be easily rammed into bore, spin through rifling: ½ mile accuracy) Edged Weapons (sabers, bayonets, swords, Bowies knives, pikes, lances)
Machine Gun Weapons Offered to Lincoln ($1300): unsafe & never effectively used 1862 Gatling (N.C.) patented 6 barrel Army didn t adopt until 1866 Greek Fire (spewed 50 radius of fire) Hot Air Balloon (Enterprise) 50 m. radius
Naval Warfare Ships (gun boats, mortar boats, ironclads, blockade runners, subs) Monitor (US) vs. Merrimac (CS) at Hampton Roads, VA., 3/8/1862 Rotating turret, marine screw, semi-submersible Battle of the Ironclads (4 ½ iron plates, wt. of guns 284,000 lbs.)
Naval Warfare CSS Hunley (sub) 22 long iron pipe + 90 lbs. explosive on bow 2/17/1864 sank in Charleston Harbor (Geo. E. Dixon + 7 crew)
Photography: Matthew B. Brady 1823-1896 Met Samuel Morse & learned daguerreotype process Photographed Lincoln + most of Union command Began to lose eyesight (used assistants) Bought Civil War photos = went bankrupt, died penniless Changed photography
Lincoln Assassination April 14, 1865 Ford s Theatre John Wilkes Booth Our American Cousin Sic Semper Tyrannis ( Thus always to tyrants ) Died in boardinghouse