Photography

In the Civil war, photography had become a way to inform and record the entire conflict. Photos of battlefields, dead soldiers and more were now able to be printed into newspapers and the entire nation was up to date on the war, with pictures straight from the bloody battle fields. I'm not sure I have the stomach to be able to handle that.. but back then they didn't have any regulations for what ended up in the paper, and all of the war and its darkness was depicted in these photos. I have one of them in my blog under Battles and Significant Events. It is for Antietam, go check it out- if you have the guts for it. I'm just kidding, it isn't that difficult to stomach but it is pretty brutal.

Girl Power

Women helped the war effort just as much as the men did, if not, even more. Women started becoming nurses, tending to the wounded from the battle fields. One such woman, Clara Barton was famed for her brilliance in taking care of the hurt soldiers. She was a great thinker and came up with simple solutions, and the concept that less important wounds can wait. This saved many lives, as the people who were in dire need of help were able to receive attention first. She made sure hospitals were clean, and greatly improved the concepts of medical practice before the Civil War. After the war she started the Red Cross, and seeing how common this symbol is now, we know just how successful she was.

The North's Secret Weapon

The railroad: Lincoln's secret weapon in the Civil War. For the first time in history, industry is put behind the war effort. The railroad systems were greater in number in the North than in the South. The significance of this was that transportation helped move supplies, food, and even people around. Lincoln being the intelligent man he is, realized that the railroad could help soldiers move from one location to another without needing to march all the way. This was a pretty big strategy used by the North, and the South hadn't even thought of it. Their loss, they ended up with weary soldiers and quickly ran out of supplies with had no way to receive large shipments of food and weapons. Who says fighting is all about brute force? Sometimes using your head can get you a one up on your opponent.

Communication

The telegraph and invention of morse code meant instantaneous communication. Abraham Lincoln realized the usefulness of the telegraph and put all telegraphs under military control. Lincoln obsessed over the telegraph, he drank in any information he could receive and extended the telegraphs across the north to receive even more information. Lincoln could be every where at the same time, he was able to gain information about battles, and give advice how wars should be fought. This gave the Union an advantage over the Confederacy and helped them win.

Gore of the War

Terrifying wounds caused by the minie ball bullet caused unbearable pain and in many cases, Gangrene. Gangrene basically is an infection that starts in an open wound. This would may have dead tissue in it, and bacteria thrives here as it loves in unsanitary conditions and, well, food, basically. The open wound and dead cells become a source of sustenance for the bacteria and they hole up here, causing the owner of this "hole" to endure this disgusting killer sickness known as Gangrene. This disease spreads quickly and can initially kill a person if not treated. During the Civil War, the best form of treatment for this was amputation. The patient would be given chloroform or ethanol as an anesthetic before the surgeon would hack of the infected limb. Many times there would be no anesthetic left and the poor solider would have to stay alert and bare all the pain. Can you imagine?

The Minie Ball

Invented in France, the minie ball bullet became a weapon of mass destruction... that every soldier was equipped with. This soft lead bullet killed, caused horrifying wounds, irreversible damage at an incredible rate. Gangrene was the number one problem caused by these bullet wounds. When a solider was hit, but the wound was on a limb, usually the open wound got infected due to the lack of cleanliness and treatment. Gangrene soon set in, the amputation is the only way to get rid of this killer sickness. Gives me the shivers just to think of getting a limb sawed off, all because of a small lump of seemingly harmless metal! Of course, when this lump of metal was inserted into the barrel of a gun, THEN it became dangerous. What made it worse, was that these weapons were a lot quicker to load and fire. So basically it was a competition to see who could load their gun faster and shoot. Think you could win such a competition? Only thing at stake here is your life. No biggie.

Death by Cherries

Fun fact: Zachery Taylor, the 12th president known as a war hero to Americans, supposedly died from eating a bowl full of cherries... And washing it all down with a nice, big, glass of unpasteurized milk thick with cream. Back in the 1800s the technology to make sure milk was pasteurized and safe to drink was yet to be invented. Taylor died from stomach related sickness caused by this bad culinary combination. Nowadays, we can probably eat as many cherries as we want and drink a gallon of milk after and survive- although I do not recommend testing this theory.