The Civil War; A Battle of Morals

In a persons life, some of the hardest decisions one must face involve whether a person is willing to put their body, their life on the line in order support a cause. The ability to do so shows incredible courage and selflessness, along with proving just how loyal they are to the specific cause. During the civil war, many men and boys had to make this very decision as did the men before them in the wars long before them. The difference this time was that the war hit much closer to home, turning brother against brother, father against son as men chose which side they believed fought for the greater good. Yet, men on both sides of the conflict still lined up for a chance to defend the rights they believed in. This is also incredible when you take into account that the weapons of the time were far more powerful and advanced than the soldiers and tactics used to put them into action, which would mean a much higher mortality rate on both sides. Weapons like grenades, Minie balls and ironclads were used to making the job of manslaughter easier in a technical sense than it had been before. The Minie balls were especially brutal as they did not just pierce a body that had been hit, but almost completely destroyed any part of the body they touched, ripping through flesh and shattering bone on contact. The major problem with the development of this technology was that it far surpassed the fighting tactics used at the time. This lead to an enormous amount of casualties as the new weapons were able to decimate soldiers who had no chance against such things as the minie ball and other developments such as grenades.
As the weapons had advanced beyond their time, medical personnel were tasked with the job of keeping up with the gruesome injuries and casualties caused by the advancement of technology. Unfortunately, medicine had evolved nowhere near as far as weapons had which made treating the wounds terribly barbaric and brutal for anyone involved. Amputation was one of the most common ways to try and treat wounded soldiers. At least 30,000 men on both sides of the war were amputees by the end of it. Amputation involved the complete removal of the afflicted part of the body and was used when field doctors thought there was no other way to prevent an infection from spreading from the wound through the rest of the body. This happened way more often then it should have because of how little supplies field doctors had at the time and even fewer supplies that allowed for safe removal of shrapnel and other alien objects from the body. Many times, although the amputation was successful, soldiers would just perish from another infection that entered through the large open wound left by the amputation. Yet, though survival was such a slim chance during the war, men still volunteered to fight for their side, to fight for the rights they believed in. These soldiers believed that service to their country was more important than anything, even their own safety and would sacrifice their very lives if it meant gaining an edge in the war.

sources:
NOVEMBER 17, 2012, 9:30 PM, Under the Knife By TERRY L. JONES
Strategies review article
http://www.history.com/photos/civil-war-gettysburg/photo4