War can bring positive or negative results depending on the perception of the viewer. However, the stuff that happens in between can be quite abysmal. There were a lot of things going on in the Civil War, but the livelihood of people was the main concern. Here are the 6 darkest moments in the American Civil War.
Union and Confederate Soldiers Were Burned Alive
During the “Battle of the Wilderness,” it was literally an inferno because of the forest environment getting caught on fire. The thick dead leaves on the ground just made it worse because it added fuel to the flame. You could see the ground blacken up with dead bodies.
Smallpox Became a Problem
For the Union army, it wasn’t the Confederate soldiers boosting up the death rate. Diseases killed ⅔ of the Union force. A lot of newly freed slaves were getting hit left and right. And honestly, the Union would let them die this way because they thought the freedmen were phasing out.
Poorly Led African-American Soldiers Got Stuck in the Trenches
“The Battle of the Crater” was one of the bigger mistakes of this war. The Union had a plan to place explosives beneath the enemy lines and blow them up. They were going to lead an attack with the black Union soldiers. However, things went sour as the plan went into place. Instead of allowing the black soldiers to escape, the Confederate army slaughtered them.
Pro-Confederate Tonkawas Lost Nearly Half Their Tribe
There were differing opinions when it came to helping the confederate. The Tonkawas supported them by being spies and even fighting for them. Other surrounding tribes denounced the Tonkawas’ involvement. As a result, anti-Confederate tribes banded together and took out 137 of 300 Tonkawas.
Anti-Draft Riots Occurred All Over New York
The Irish community in particular were against African-American involvement in the war. They feared their jobs would be lost once this happened. This led to them attacking blacks as well as city businesses that hired them.
Andersonville Prison Became Infested With Disease
The conditions were so bad because it took in 3x its capacity. As a result of these close quarters, outbreaks could easily happen. It held 33,000 prisoners and there was death literally every 11 minutes. By the time the prison was liberated, 13,000 soldiers passed.
