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Quiz for Thinking Like a Historian: Military Deaths — and Lives Saved — During the Civil War

Question

1. The high level of serious injuries sustained by American soldiers on both sides of the Civil War—such as those shown in the femur depicted in source 2—can be attributed to the effects of which of the following developments?

The transportation revolution

The American Revolution

The print revolution

The Industrial Revolution

Correct. The answer is d. The Industrial Revolution made it possible for American manufacturers to produce new weapons and ammunition for use by the American armies during the Civil War. The development of the musket-rifle and the minie ball allowed soldiers to fire on one another more easily and more accurately, and with greater effectiveness, causing the high level of serious injuries that soldiers from both armies suffered.

Incorrect. The answer is d. The Industrial Revolution made it possible for American manufacturers to produce new weapons and ammunition for use by the American armies during the Civil War. The development of the musket-rifle and the minie ball allowed soldiers to fire on one another more easily and more accurately, and with greater effectiveness, causing the high level of serious injuries that soldiers from both armies suffered.

Question

2. What do the descriptions in sources 3 and 4 reveal about why Civil War soldiers also died in large numbers from diseases like typhoid and dysentery?

Doctors spent their time performing surgery and not on other medical problems.

Attention to sanitation issues was minimal in the Civil War’s military settings.

Military medical facilities and methods were generally inefficient and poorly managed.

Medical personnel had little training in or understanding of how to treat their patients.

Correct. The answer is b. Sources 3 and 4, which describe the methods and efficacy of surgical techniques used in military hospitals during the Civil War, reveal that modern sanitation practices that would have limited the spread of disease had not yet been introduced.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Sources 3 and 4, which describe the methods and efficacy of surgical techniques used in military hospitals during the Civil War, reveal that modern sanitation practices that would have limited the spread of disease had not yet been introduced.

Question

3. Jonathan Letterman, the Union surgeon known as “the Father of Battlefield Medicine,” decreased battlefield casualties by employing strategies pioneered by

British and French army hospitals.

industrial operations.

the U.S. Congress.

the Roman Catholic Church.

Correct. The answer is b. Letterman borrowed strategies pioneered in industrial settings to organize and administer an effective system of triage, transportation, and treatment of battlefield casualties.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Letterman borrowed strategies pioneered in industrial settings to organize and administer an effective system of triage, transportation, and treatment of battlefield casualties.

Question

4. According to source 2, the Civil War’s particularly high casualty levels resulted from the combination of new technology in weapons and ammunition and

minimal government expenditures for military food and medical treatment.

decreasing regard for the sanctity of human life among soldiers.

the persistent use of military tactics developed for the preindustrial era.

a lack of military leadership in Washington, D.C., and on the battlefield.

Correct. The answer is c. Source 2 suggests that the Civil War’s particularly high levels of serious and fatal casualties resulted from the use of new military technology—especially the minie ball—and the persistence of traditional military tactics that had been perfected during the heyday of the musket and bayonet charge.

Incorrect. The answer is c. Source 2 suggests that the Civil War’s particularly high levels of serious and fatal casualties resulted from the use of new military technology—especially the minie ball—and the persistence of traditional military tactics that had been perfected during the heyday of the musket and bayonet charge.