15. The Crucible of War, 1861

Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Making Historical Arguments: Why Did So Many Soldiers Die?

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question 15.6

1. Most of the men who died during the Civil War died because of

disease.

enemy fire on the battlefield.

an infected wound.

suicide.

Question 15.7

2. How did military strategy contribute to the high death tolls of the Civil War?

Commanders favored a strategy in which large groups of men rushed out onto the battlefield in an attempt to overwhelm the enemy, but it also resulted in heavy casualties.

Many Civil War battles took place in open fields, and both Union and Confederate troops alike used troops as human shields to protect soldiers firing at the enemy.

Soldiers were taught to stand close together in tight formation, which, in the face of improved gun technology, made the soldiers vulnerable and exposed to advancing troops.

Many infantries relied heavily on artillery, such as canons, which were more deadly than rifles and muskets because they were able to kill a dozen men with each shot.

Question 15.8

3. How did physicians contribute to the high death tolls of the Civil War?

Many physicians were poorly trained and treated their patients with the wrong medicines.

They frequently botched operations on soldiers, removing the incorrect organ or limb.

Some unscrupulous physicians conducted deadly experiments on prisoners of war.

They unknowingly spread infection through their dirty smocks, scalpels, and hands.

Question 15.9

4. One cultural reason that Civil War death tolls were so high was that soldiers peacefully accepted death—a reflection of the nineteenth-century popularity of

the temperance movement.

evangelical Protestantism.

abolitionism.

republicanism.

Question 15.10

5. Which of the following is one reason why so many men died during the Civil War?

The war lasted for a long time, and occurred on a very large scale.

Soldiers in this war hated each other more intensely than in other wars.

Many Southerners refused to provide medical care for wounded soldiers.