Question

What was the primary killer of Civil War soldiers?

Group of answer choices

the influx of well-intentioned but ill-trained women into soldiers' hospitals

roving mobs of freed slaves and criminal gangs

amputations

infectious diseases

Answer 1

Answer - infectious diseases

Note - Before war in the twentieth century, disease was the number one killer of combatants. Of the 620,000 recorded military deaths in the Civil War about two-thirds died from disease. However, recent studies show the number of deaths was probably closer to 750,000. Crowded conditions, poor hygiene, absence of sanitary disposal of garbage and human waste, inadequate diets, and no specific disease treatments was a formula for disaster.