Union Soldier Life

They also had bathrooms but not typical bathrooms they would have to make holes in the ground or have to do it in their wooden bunk. So when entered to their bunk it would smell really bad. The way the Jews were treated when coming to the camp. They forced out the box cart and then rushed to get their number.

Since this wasn’t an exterior wound the doctors could rarely do much unlike gunshot wounds. The only problem with this medicine was it didn’t help stop the disease only limit or tolerate the pain, so the patient was still very vulnerable to the disease. Robert E. Lee’s heart disease did eventually kill him due to the lack of medical technology. The second soldier was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and he was shot with a bullet that went through both of his hips, this can be found on page 354.

In total, over 600,000 soldiers lost their lives in battle and to disease. While many soldiers anticipated the honorable death of dying on the field, there were twice as many soldiers that died from disease in the camp as that that died in battle. During the 19th century, medicine was relatively primative, and the lack of the germ theory or knowledge of antiseptic resulted in rapid disease spreading. Lack of general resources such as adequate clothes, nutrition, clean water, and santitary stations also contributed to the spread of common diseases like measles, typhoid fever, and malaria. Most commonly, soldiers suffered from diarheia and disentary, which combined with lack of clean water resulted in many cruel deaths.

The United States Civil War is possible one of the most meaningful, bloodstained and controversial war fought in American history. Northern Americans against Southern Americans fought against one another for a variety of motives. These motives aroused from a wide range of ideologies that stirred around the states. In James M. McPherson’s What they fought for: 1861-1865, he analyzes the Union and Confederate soldier’s morale and ideological components through the letters they wrote to love ones while at war. While, John WhiteClay Chambers and G. Kurt Piehler depict Civil War soldiers through their letters detailing the agonizing battles of war in Major Problems in American Military History.

“Prison camps during the Civil War were potentially more dangerous and more terrifying than the battles themselves. A soldier who survived his ordeal in a camp often bore deep psychological scars and physical maladies that may or may not have healed in time. 56,000 men died in prison camps over the course of the war, accounting for roughly 10% of the war 's total death toll and exceeding American combat losses in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. “

I believe I would quit and not renew my enlistment in the Continental Army. My reasoning for this is that there were very bad conditions that the soldiers had to live in. One of the conditions that the soldiers in the Continental Army had to suffer through was their shelter situation. The soldiers were sleeping and living in log “huts”.

The Civil War was filled with many diseases and deaths. Over 620,000 men lost their lives during this war; roughly two thirds of the casualties were caused by the lack of medical knowledge of many diseases. The remaining one third of the casualties was from the actual battle itself. The war became a turning point for many women interested in the medical field. The knowledge of medicine was the beginning of a new age during the Civil War, and the lack of it led to many gruesome deaths.

The Patriots were feeling defeated after the first 2 years of war, and the makeshift Pennsylvania winter camp didn 't add to their spirits. Valley Forge was a tough time for the American Army, and many soldiers wanted to quit because of the hardships. If I were a soldier, I would have quit Valley Forge for a multitude of reasons. The living conditions were inadequate, there was a minimal amount of supplies, and illness and death was common in the camp. In essence, the cons of staying at Valley Forge outweighed the Pros.

With the lack of food, many saw the development of skin sores, ulcers, diarrhea and dysentery. As the POWs acquired those diseases it became difficult to maintain hygiene. They also acquired cholera from contaminated water, cholera caused severe diarrhea and dehydration. “Another disease was beriberi which is a severe vitamin B1 deficiency. Symptoms include pain, loss of sensation in the hands and feet, vomiting, strange eye movement, mental confusion, difficulty walking, coma, and death.

There was very little food and water. People were crammed into very small spaces to sleep and they were infested with diseases and lice. It stunk horribly from the dead bodies laying around in piles everywhere and there were no showers. When the Jews first got to the camps they went through selection. The Nazis would choose whether they were capable of doing difficult outdoor work or if they should be sent to the gas chambers.

Additionally, they had to undress in their own barracks before doing so and, regardless of the weather, walk naked to the bathhouse,” (Life in the Camp 2). This created two problems, leading to diseases within the camp. Fist of all, the prisoners never bathed, therefore creating dirt everywhere and unsanitary living conditions. To add to that, they had to walk naked in any weather conditions causing colds, hypothermia, and with the unsanitariness of the people diseases were everywhere. As bad as the living conditions were, the working conditions seemed to be a lot

At Valley Forge I can smell the stench of the nasty cooking and hear the angry soldiers crying out that there is more meat. Members of the Congress didn’t trust in General Washington. There is a soldier that has worn out shoes, his legs are bare and half naked. Soldiers were healthy but started to grow sick. Deciding not to re-enlist is a choice I made because of the lack of trust, living conditions, illness at Valley Forge.

In chapter one of What They Fought For, I learned about the letters and diaries of the Confederate soldiers. The themes of the letters were home-sickness, lack of peace, and the defense of home against their invading enemy. The thought of soldiers fighting for their homes and being threatened by invaders, made them stronger when facing adversity. Many men expressed that they would rather die fighting for a cause, than dying without trying and this commitment showed patriotism. Throughout the letters, soldiers claimed their reason for fighting, was for the principles of Constitutional liberty and self-government.

I live out in the deep woods where the other soldiers can’t find my Grandmother or myself. My family is in great danger because the Union is attacking us. My Grandfather is in the Confederate Army. My Grandmother and I are trying to survive without my Grandfather. We have to sleep on the ground because we have no beds.

When I was in Basic Training, I got into a major argument with another soldier in my unit. The specifics of the argument are somewhat vague, I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day. I was so convinced that “I” was right and “she” was wrong – and she was just as convinced that “I” was wrong and “she” was right. The majority of the soldiers in training with us were so tired of us bickering that our drill sergeant got involved; he decided to teach us a very important lesson. He brought us up to the front of the class and placed her on one side of his desk and me on the other.