Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made at least thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved people, including some of her family and friends, using the network coined the Underground Railroad.
During the Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman served as an activist in the struggle for women’s rights.
Amputations in the Civil War
On June 18, 1864, a cannon shot took both of Alfred Stratton's arms. He was just 19 at the time. It is said that one in 13 soldiers became amputees during the Civil War. Battles weren't the only reason soldiers lost limbs. Military advances during the Civil War meant more powerful and destructive weapons, which led to more devastating injuries. Most of the doctors in America at that time were unprepared to treat such horrific wounds. Furthermore, because they weren't aware of bacteria and germs, they didn't recognize the need for sanitation- bandages were used again and again on different people. So, even wounds that could be treated easily today became very common.
A common operation was an amputation, where a person's limb was removed by cutting it off quickly—in a circular sawing motion to keep the patient from dying from the pain or shock. Surprisingly, most patients survived this procedure.
Francis E. Brownell
Union soldier and Medal of Honor recipient Francis E. Brownell, also known as "Ellsworth's Avenger," in a Zouave uniform, a rifle, and a bayoneted musket. He has a black cloth tied to his left arm in mourning for Col. E. E. Ellsworth, the first Union officer to die in the American Civil War.
In the Union army, 6 percent of the soldiers were in artillery, 14 percent in the cavalry, and 80 percent the infantry. Opposite to them, in the Confederate army, 5 percent were in artillery, 20 percent in the cavalry, and 75 percent of the soldiers served in the infantry.
The Anaconda Plan
This military strategy proposed by Union General Winfield Scott early in the Civil War aimed to strangle the South via Union land and naval forces. It aided the Union's victory of the Civil War.
The plan had two main objectives: to build a naval blockade of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports that were then controlled by the Confederacy and to transport 60,000 Union troops in 40 steam means of transport down the Mississippi River. They would also capture and hold forts and towns along the route.
Drummer Boys in the American Civil War
Historically, field drummers played the army drums used on the battlefield. Not only were they used for the men to march in step, but they were also an important part of the battlefield communications system, as various drum rolls signaled different commands from officers to troops. In the 18th century, most Western armies had a standardized set of marches and signals to be played, which were often accompanied by battlefield fifers.
These three young Fort Hamilton drummers of the Confederate army pose in their uniforms sometime in 1863, by then these boys were veterans of nine battles.