Transcript Chapter 16, Section 2

CHAPTER 16, SECTION 2
LIFE IN THE ARMY
KEY TERMS
• Hygiene – conditions and practices that promote
health
• Rifle – a gun with a grooved barrel that causes a
bullet to spin through the air
• Minié ball – a bullet with a hollow base
• Ironclad – a warship covered with iron
BELL RINGER
• Read the quotation on page 488. What reasons
does the major give for not wanting his brother to
enlist?
• How do you think the major’s 18 year old brother
Jim might have responded to his brother’s warning?
Objectives:
• Explain the characteristics and background of a
typical solider.
• Explain why young men were eager to enlist.
• Explain the conditions soldiers faced in camp.
• Explain how new weapons made fighting the
Civil War more dangerous.
Both sides had their plans, but
challenges presented themselves at
every turn.
When the Civil War began, thousands of soldiers
volunteered for the Union and
Confederate armies.
Many of these soldiers were young
and inexperienced.
When the Civil War began, thousands of soldiers
volunteered for the Union and Confederate armies.
Many of these soldiers were young and inexperienced.
THOSE WHO FOUGHT
• 1. What were the characteristics and background of a
typical soldier?
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18-30 years old
Born in U.S., some immigrants
Farmers
Native Americans (on both sides)
• 2. What obstacles did African
Americans face who wanted to serve?
• They weren’t accepted on either side
until later in the war
TURNING CIVILIANS INTO SOLDIERS
• 3. Why did so many men volunteer?
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Adventure and glory
Escape boredom of factory or farming life
Because their friends were going
Money
Loyalty
• 4. What training did soldiers receive?
• Drills in camp
Other tasks – guard duty, cut wood,
dug trenches, cleaned camp
TURNING CIVILIANS INTO SOLDIERS
• 5. Why did both armies have problems providing
food, clothing, and shoes for their soldiers?
• Contractors took advantage of the need and supplied
shoddy goods.
• States didn’t always cooperate
and share (C.S.A.)
• Supply trains couldn’t reach them
Life in an army camp was harsh. Soldiers faced
boredom, disease, and even death.
The camps were
dirty and lacked
clean water.
Many soldiers died
from outbreaks of
disease.
Captured soldiers
faced harsh
conditions.
Thousands died from
starvation or exposure
in crowded prison
camps.
HARDSHIPS OF ARMY LIFE
• 6. What were the major causes of widespread sickness in
army camps?
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Poor hygiene
Soldiers often wet, muddy, or cold
Unsanitary and dirty camps
Contaminated water or food
Poor diet
Disease-carrying insects
• 7. How did scientific ignorance contribute to the spread of
disease?
• People didn’t know that germs caused diseases
• They didn’t understand why wounds became infected
• Doctors didn’t wash their hands or their instruments
• They saw no need for sterilization or even basic cleanliness
Both the North and the South employed new
technology during the war. This made the Civil
War the deadliest ever fought.
Rifles and cannons were faster to load, were more
accurate, and had better range.
Generals on both
sides found it
difficult to adapt
to the new
technologies.
Thousands of
soldiers died by
following orders
to cross open
fields against
these new
weapons.
Both sides also used warships covered with protective
iron plates, called ironclads.
Confederates used ironclads against Union blockades,
while Union ironclads helped gain control of the
Mississippi.
IRONCLAD BATTLE
• Confederate Virginia (Merrimack) vs. Union Monitor
• Fought off the coast of Virginia in 1862
• Ended in a draw
CHANGES IN MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
• 8. What effect did changes in weapons have on the
way war was fought?
• Changed battle tactics – cavalry charges and traditional
assaults became outdated
• Increased the casualty rate
• 9. What contributed to the high
casualty rate in the Civil War?
• Rifles that used minié balls
• 10. Why were ironclads better than wooden warships?
• More protected
• Guns could fire at the enemy from any angle