Civil War Topic 14 Essay Example For Students

Civil War Topic 14 Essay The Civil War generated a tremendous leap of progress in the area of weaponry and medicineIn the brief but eventful 95 years between the forging of the UnitedStates and the civil strife that temporarily wrenched it apart, there weremuch advancement in the areas of both weaponry and medicine. One undid theatrocities of the other and both contributed to the bloodiest war yet to beseen. War is a time for countries to show off their latest advancements intechnology in an all out deadly game. Weaponry and war go hand in hand forwithout weaponry, there would obviously be no war. Weaponry can rangeanywhere from a small knife that attaches to the end of a musket known as abayonet, to a 12 pound cannon mounted on the side of a gunship. Eachserves a purpose and is deadly in its own way. During the AmericanRevolution a standard infantrymens weapons consisted of a musket andbayonet of some sort, a tomahawk (usually hand crafted by the soldierhimself), and many different types of knifes ranging from a penknife to ahunting knife.(Wilbur, Keith C. The Revolutionary Soldier p.30) Therewasnt just one type of musket, however, Infantrymen had the choice of 3different types of muskets. A Militiamans Fowler which was a musket ownedby all men who served in the state militia was better for hunting thenfighting and usually made from the scraps of other weapons, a Brown BessMusket was th e standard British musket and was favored by the Continentalsearly in the war and a French Musket which were the standard musket of theFrench army.(Wilbur p.20) All the muskets save the Militiamans Fowlerwere able to be fitted with a bayonet, making it outdated and inefficientvery early in the war. There were two different types of bayonets as well,the British Bayonet and the French Bayonet. Early in the warRevolutionaries patterned their bayonets after the British model but soonchanged to model the French (their new allies).(Wilbur) The models hadvery little differences and bayonets were used very often as a means ofattack. Tomahawks were a standard thing seen among infantrymen as well. Most of these were handcrafted by the user and used almost as much as themusket for there was much close quarters combat in the war.(Wilbur p.35)A soldier carried many knives with him for a variety of different uses. Among these was the Rifle Knife used for cutting grease patches, thedagger which was rarely seen and usually custom made, the hunting, fightingor scalping knife which was a very long knife carried in a leather belt anda trademark of frontiersman and lastly many forms of the pocket knife usedfor carving and making pens.(Wilbur p.39) Although rifles had beeninvented, they were rarely used for a variety of reasons. First thecartridge hadnt been invented yet so it took a very long time to reloadthe rifle after it had been shot. Second there were no bayonet fittings sowhile a sharpshooter was reloading he was completely vulnerable. Becauseof these disadvantages sharpshooters were rare and had to be supported bymusket-bearing troops.(Wilbur p.31)The standard soldier during the Civil War was much better equippedthen that of the Revolution. Since the cartridge had been inventedreloading weapons was a relatively faster and easier process. This allowedfor the rifle to be used rather then the o lder and extremely inaccuratemusket. The difference between a musket and a rifle is the inside of thebarrel of a musket was completely smooth which meant the bullet never wentthe same way, the inside of a rifle however had many small grooves calledrifling (hence rifle) the made the ball spin as it came out of the barrelmaking it highly accurate at a long range.(Coggins p.25) The use of therifle during the war made bayonet charges a thing of the past because witha keen eye behind the sights, a target at 250 to 300 yards was in danger ofbeing perforated.(Coggins, Jack Arms and Equipment of the Civil War p.30). Deforestation EssayRevolutionary Medicine p.16) Methods of amputation were brutal andunsanitary and only crude forms of morphine existed. (Wilbur2 p. 10)During the Civil War to be a surgeon or doctor one had to complete atleast 3 semesters of 13 weeks of medical school.(Wilbur2 p.5) They had adecent knowledge of medicine and human anatomy and saved many lives thatotherwise would have been lost.Amputation methods werent much betterbut they did save many more lives then they killed.(Wilbur2 p.12)Doctors used chloroform and somehow knew to periodically remove the ragwhich kept the soldier from dying from chloroform poisoning. (Wilbur2 p. 30) One naivety of the doctors was when they amputated and pus formed theythought it was good laudable pus and did nothing for it when in realityit was a huge bacterial infection that soon killed the soldier.(Wilbur2p.34) Embalming was a huge discovery as well. Many families wanted theirdead family members body brought back for burial so the surgeons had itembalmed. There was a whole new profession built around embalming duringthe war. Families could hire an embalming surgeon to embalm the body ofthe dead soldier and bring it back for burial.(Wilbur2 p.60)Weaponry and Medicine made huge advancements in many areas in theshort time interval between the American Revolution and the Civil War. They go hand in hand and the war wouldnt have been what it was without thearduous efforts of the individuals responsible for these breakthroughs.