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Food and medical care (more accurately, the absence, there of) afflicted both sides of the American Civil War. The Union faired better overall but not by much initially. A poor diet and less than sanitary conditions conspired to hurt both sides. Forsustenance,Union soldiers had hardtack (a kind of hard, slowly digested cracker) and coffee which helped quell hunger but didn't do much nutritionally. Confederates ate rather well early on. But as the war progressed supplies dwindled quickly, even for the civilian population. By wars end starvation was rampent in the South.

The practice of medicine was dismal for both sides. Though the Union had more doctors overall and better access to what little real medicines were available, medicine of the time was terrible, even by standards of the day. If a limb was wounded, it would likely be removed soon after. The sanitary conditions meant that infection was almost assured and when that happened amputation was usually the only recourse. Even then, you were more likely to die than live. Belly wounds were death sentences. Coupled with desease and other infections, such asdysentery, war was indeed hell.

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How were the Union engineers assigned between generals Grant and Sherman in the US Civil War?

In 1864, the US Army Corps of Engineers were divided to various Union armies on the basis of perceived need. Of the 86 engineers on duty in 1864, 21 were assigned to the eastern theater and 9 were assigned to General Sherman's forces in Georgia. The remaining engineers were scattered from Washington DC to West Point.


What was the basis for the secession of the Southern states?

The Southern states seceded from the Union shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. This is because they knew he would be in opposition to slavery and supported the idea that the nation's rights should outweigh state's rights. In order to protect their way of life and what (who) they considered their property, they seceded and formed the Confederate States of America (CSA).


What was the aim of total war as practices by Union generals Grant and Sherman?

Basically the goal was to force the Confederacy into a War of Attrition. With more people and an industrial structure, if it came down to it, the Union could outlast the Confederacy. It was actually taken from Fabien's strategy to deal with Carthage.


Why did South Carolina secede from the union other than slavery?

States joined the Union on a voluntary basis.


Why is the northwest ordinance important?

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the most important of the three acts, laid the basis for the government of the Northwest Territory and for the admission of its constituent parts as states into the union.

Related Questions

Is North Carolina part of South Carolina?

Yes, North Carolina was part of the Union from 1789. In 1861, North Carolina declared secession and tried to leave the Union, joining the Confederate States of America. But that effort failed when Union armies defeated Confederate armies. One could therefore argue that after 1789, North Carolina was never not part of the union, but it has clearly been part of the Union from 1789 to 1861 and since readmission in 1868.


What were the conditions of peace offered by Lincoln at Hampton Roads?

No conditions were offered by the Federal government to the three representatives of the Confederacy who appeared. The conference was initiated by the Confederate government, who indicated a desire to end the war, which by this time had consumed 300,000 lives on both sides and wounded, incapacitated or otherwise devastated hundreds of thousands of others. Lincoln authorized the talks simply to find out what the Confederates had to say, but he had already made it clear in numerous speeches and other statements that there was no basis to end the war except on the return of the southern states to the union. The Confederate representatives had to pass through the Union lines in and around Petersburg in order to get to the conference location; many soldiers on both sides who witnessed it became hopeful that the terrible bloodshed would soon be over as a result. They quickly discovered that nothing came of the conference. During the conference, the representatives of the rebellious states sought some indication from the Federals that they would be willing to end the war on the basis of recognition of the Confederacy. At the time, most of the Confederacy was already under occupation by the Union army, or about to be. Getting no indication from the Federal representatives that they had anything to offer except surrender of the Confederate armies - by this time badly depleted - and the voluntary end of the rebellion, the Confederate representatives departed. The Civil war was never formally concluded with a treaty. One by one, before and after Appomatox, the remaining Confederate armies crumbled, surrendered or scattered. The south was under virtual military occupation for the next 11 years.


What was an argument used by South Carolina in support of the idea the secession was fair?

States joined the Union on a voluntary basis.


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How were the Union engineers assigned between generals Grant and Sherman in the US Civil War?

In 1864, the US Army Corps of Engineers were divided to various Union armies on the basis of perceived need. Of the 86 engineers on duty in 1864, 21 were assigned to the eastern theater and 9 were assigned to General Sherman's forces in Georgia. The remaining engineers were scattered from Washington DC to West Point.


What hampered the Union's military to fill troop vacancies in a timely manner early in the US Civil War?

During the first two years of the US Civil War, the Union's military forces were hampered in filling all the vacancies of their armies. Adding new soldiers to their armies became difficult due to short term enlistments, death, desertion and illness more rapidly than they could recruit men through the state administered enlistment programs. Various monetary inducements were attempted to fix this problem Ultimately a conscription act was passed by the US Congress to increase the number of soldiers fir their armies. Prior to that the Union War Department pressured fourteen states to report on their recruitment efforts on a regular basis .


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What were the strengths and weakness of the union?

During the American Civil War, the Union side enjoyed the advantages of superior numbers of people and of soldiers, vastly greater industrial resources and arms, a well-trained and active navy, and a fully organized and operational political administration, among other strengths. Its primary weakness was its need to invade the South, defeat Southern armies, and occupy Southern strong-points as the basis for forcing the South's surrender.


How many Union troops entered the US Civil War through the draft laws?

Only 50,000 Union troops were enlisted on the basis of the draft laws. The Union states continued to raise troops who were volunteers.


What was the basis for the secession of the Southern states?

The Southern states seceded from the Union shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. This is because they knew he would be in opposition to slavery and supported the idea that the nation's rights should outweigh state's rights. In order to protect their way of life and what (who) they considered their property, they seceded and formed the Confederate States of America (CSA).