Why did so many die?

2) What were the two major factors that lead to so many deaths in actual combat?

The combination of mechanized weaponry (i.e. rifles, gunboats, etc.) and archaic Napoleonic battle strategies condemned even the best warriors of this era to their slaughter. This dramatically changed the landscape of modern warfare for generations to come. There were just so many people in each of the battles that they would ignorantly lose countless lives and amass massive casualty counts.

1) What was the biggest cause of death in the Civil War, and why?

The most significant factor in the Civil War that led to 633,000 Americans to lose their lives, included a combination of a lack of medical facilities to treat the casualties that amassed in battle, along with a lack of understanding of the spread of germs (bacteria) in these facilities. As these soldiers lie wounded on the battlefield, some for days, they would often die from bacterial infections before, during, and/or after they were finally treated for their wounds. Ironically, disease claimed twice as many lives as combat itself.

I also believe that there were two additional factors that drove the number of deaths so high. One was the amount of hostility that was shown toward one another as these individuals fought so fervently to preserve their belief systems. Southerners believed that the right to own slaves was God-given and their livelihood was at stake; whereas, Northerners were fighting for the cause of freedom on behalf of black Americans. This rendered it one of the most brutal conflicts in American history as friend fought against friend, brother against brother, and often father against son. They also thought that this conflict would be over in a matter of weeks, but four years later it was rare to find a family unscathed by the ravages of war.