InsideHistoryDigital

When the Springfield Musket arrived on the scene
in 1861 it had become the weapon that effectively
changed warfare. Accurate to more than 500 yards,
the Springfield would get its first real outing during
the American Civil War with devastating
consequences.
Whist the technology had advanced, the tactics
operated in the battlefield had yet to catch up.
Lining up in traditional formations, the armies of
the Union and the Confederacy would charge each
other head-on in the same manner as armies had
fought for years prior. It provided the Springfield
Musket with plenty of targets and it duly delivered
resulting in massive casualties as the 0.58 calibre
bullets, weighing nine pounds, penetrated the
enemy. More than a third of any unit would fall
victim to the Springfield once the whistle was
blown. Back in 1861, the Springfield was a weapon
of mass destruction.
Yet, the advance in technological warfare was not
the only thing to be concerned about. Those who
had survived the onslaught of the Springfield
would be transferred from the battlefield to the
camps. Here, thousands of men would suffer as
dysentery, scurvy, typhoid fever, pneumonia,
smallpox, tuberculosis, measles, and malaria took
hold. It is believed that 60% of Union soldiers would
die from non-battle injury disease.
"It provided the Springfield
Musket with plenty of
targets and it duly
delivered resulting in
massive casualties as the
0.58 calibre bullets,
weighing nine pounds,
penetrated the enemy."
For those who depended on medical care from
either battle wounds or disease, there was another
concern. In 1860, the U.S Army had 100 doctors for
every 16,000 soldiers. With the country now divided
and the escalation of the war taking hold, it was
virtually impossible to maintain that ratio. At its
peak, the Union had two million soldiers with only
10,000 surgeons operating.
Jonathan Letterman was one of those surgeons. His
army career was already well established before the
first shots were fired at Fort Sumter. 11 months later,
he was promoted to the rank of Major and named
medical director of the Union Army. The soldiers
may not have known it yet but Letterman was
about to change their lives.
Using his experience from his pre Civil War service,
Letterman started to make sweeping changes. He
began with the soldiers themselves and in
particular, their diet. From the preparation of food
and the handling of waste, soldiers were given
larger and more nutritious rations prepared in
more hygienic conditions. The camps became
cleaner with the men well-fed and rested. In
improvement in morale was clear but more
importantly for Letterman, there was a reduction in
the disease rate by nearly one third.
Jonathan Letterman (second left) with staff .
Credit: Wikmedia Commons
The conditions and wellbeing of the soldiers were
only the first part of his plan. Letterman saw the
devastation on the battlefield at first hand
witnessing the deaths of thousands of men. Many
would die on the battlefield from wounds and thirst
as there was little that could be done to remove
them to safety. The wounded were often left to
their own devices depending on comrades to
remove them. In some cases, it could take up to
one week to remove the wounded from the
battlefield as was the case at the Second Manassas.
For this reason, Letterman established the first
Ambulance Corps.