What Made The American Civil War so Deadly? | Animated History

What Made The American Civil War so Deadly?

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Sources:
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era ~ James M. McPherson
The American War: A History of the Civil War Era ~ Gary W. Gallagher

[calimarine]

People using outdated tactics with vastly improved technology. Basically a test run for WWI.

[discoveryoutdoorskcfishing]

1.Disease or infection
2. Both sides are American
3. Rifle Technology
4. Repeating Rifles
5. Parrot rounds
Plus you have vastly outdated war tactics with newer, deadlier, longer range weapons.

[BHuang]

Generally, any civil wars are the most brutal kind of conflict because it gets really personal for anyone fighting against their own brothers.

[sterhax]

6:05 my 3x-great grandfather was in the Siege of Petersburg, in the single greatest loss to a unit in a single assault. The 1st Maine Heavy Artillery had been handed rifles for this campaign. About 900 charged, with 632 casualties.

My ancestor survived, but records point to him not being unscathed. I found a record of him in a different unit later in the war. The unit was for injured soldiers who couldn’t do combat service anymore but were still able to do something to help. Seems likely he caught some projectile or another.

[nittanyburg]

“General Pickett, you must look to your division.”

“General...I have no division.”

[benc]

I’ve read some British accounts that mention they were surprised that, during the American civil war, neither side ever charged with the bayonet, which was a very common tactic at the time and usually induced one side to route.
In the absence on bayonet charges, two sides simply kept shooting at each other for far longer periods of time, resulting in much greater casualties.

[lauraf]

Hi, my husband and I are Australians and in our 60s 😨, when we went to school in Australia we were taught about history of all countries as well as our own of important times. We are soo sad that today's school kids are not. We think your short videos should be part of your countries history learning at school. Please keep up your good good 😊

[craigdamage]

When entering a base camp you always knew which tent was the hospital tent. It was the one with huge stacks of arms and legs piled outside of it.

[nudel]

“It’s good that war is terrible, for men might grow fond of it”. -Robert E. Lee

[thesuitedshaggy]

It's crazy how hard the confederates fought with such tactics because they couldn't replace their men as the union could, the union started with 22 Million, and the confederacy started with 5-6 million.

[johnburrows]

They fought using outdated Napoleonic line tactics, while using a lot more powerful rifles and projectiles. Just the conical bullet alone and grape shot were devastating. I wonder who the general was that looked and finally said Gee.... maybe standing all neat in a row 50 yards from the enemy isn’t a good idea, especially when they’re firing rifles with 1000 yard range

[badcooper]

Its like French military schools skipped this chapter when training generals for WW1

[michaelwoods]

You got it right. Weapons improved just enough and tactics didn't keep up. WWI was just a further development. It wasn't until WWII that fire and maneuver became the tactical standard.

[JDthegamer]

2:20 That Wilhem scream was perfectly timed

[giladpellaeon]

The Halifax explosion towards the end of WW1 was probably the loudest man-made sound in North America until the A-bomb, though it was an accident.

[samgibson]

Vietnam: America fears me the most.
Soviet Union: No, America feared me the most.
America:*luaghs in banjo*

[booqueefious]

My History of Warfare teacher was constantly drilling this into our heads: "Generals are always preparing to fight the previous war"

[itsjuan]

Also keep in mind the shape of bullets changed from a ball to the conical shape it is now. Therefore inflicting more damage and going deeper into the body making it all the more difficult to remove if it doesn't kill you.

[JFreitas]

Applying new technology to old strategies

[cowtaplayz]

Nobody: attacking America

America: guess I’ll do it myself