How the diet affected the strengths of both the armies

How the diet affected the strengths of both the armies

Thesis statement

Both the armies suffered more casualties on account of improper diet and hygienic conditions than due to bullets. The distress that the soldiers suffered on account of the shortages in proper nutrition had an impact on their morale if not on the outcome of the war. Having better nutritional supplies available for its soldiers was one of the advantages that the North came to have in the course of the war, even though this factor did not decisively influence the result of the war.

Introduction

The toll of life in the civil war surpassed the 250,000 mark, but more deaths were the result of diseases and illnesses than combat. Deaths due to illnesses accounted for 60 percent of the death victims on the side of the Union army and almost 67 percent on the side fog the southern troops. The main killers turned out not to be bullets, but poor diet, unsanitary environment, poor hygiene and infections. However, the main role among these causes was played by the food available to the soldiers that consisted of a poor diet and often proved to be inadequate. These factors accounted for as many deaths as the diseases did. In fact, the poor nutritional diet came out having a close correlation to the sicknesses prevalent among the soldiers during the war. The impact of poor diet was to such an extent that none of the soldiers were able to entirely escape the effects of rotten meat, worm-infested breads or illnesses emancipating from lack of fruits or vegetables (Davis, 2003).

Discussion

The type of food available and the form it was given to the soldiers depended on their ranks. Both the Union and Southern army provided its soldiers with food through their commissary department. However, the daily rations which the soldiers receive were uncooked. This is how the average soldiers, the non-commissioned officials of the army were treated. In contrast to the soldiers, the officers were better off. They had access to better diet, and the higher the rank an officer held, the better diet he received. The officers usually rode horses as compared to the soldiers who would be marching instead. This meant that the soldiers needed a better diet than the officers, but this was never taken into consideration while the food was being provided. Other than this, the soldiers had to cook their meat themselves. They were merely allotted daily rations instead of cooked food. A greater part of the soldiers would cook their food in the evening after the day's long war in groups which were referred to as “messes.” An open camp fire was used to cook food and soldiers took turns watching after the cooking of food. Attempts were made to keep the diet as much varied as possible. To have a variety of diet, soldiers would occasionally pluck wild berries and vegetables from the nearby ...