Did you know that the death toll of the Civil War recently went up? For the past 100 years historians have used the figure of 620,000 (5.9 million people based on today’s population ratio). Yet in a December 2011 issue of the journal Civil War History, historian J. David Hacker argued that the number is far higher, perhaps as many as 850,000. The reality is that records keeping was poor. The real range of deaths is between 650,000 and 850,000, and this does not include civilians. Hacker concludes that the new working figure should simply fall in the middle – that’s 750,000 dead – a full 20% increase over the number historians have been using. (This is 7.8 million people based on today’s population ratio). Remember that the majority of these people died as a result of disease rather than battlefield deaths. The failure to understand the germ theory of disease and the lack of antibiotics was devastating. Is there any wonder why the Civil War has had such a lasting impact on our nation? Want to learn more? Join the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission and Bauer Park for an intriguing look at Civil War medicine A two-day Civil War Encampment featuring a medical field hospital 9 a.m.- 5p.m. Sept. 28-29, 2013 Madison, CT Battle Re-enactments Amazing Medical Exhibits CT National Guard and 21st Century Battlefield Medicine Musket and Cannon Firing Demonstrations ccsu.edu/civilwar For a schedule of events see finalsite.ccsu.edu/uploaded/CT_Civil_War/Events/Bauer_Park_Activity_List.pdf
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 20:23:16 +0000
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