Austere living conditions, malnutrition and exhaustion all took their toll on the soldiers. Hygiene, primitive at best, was further compromised during the winter when thorough cleaning was more difficult. As a result communicable diseases, such as measles, dysentery, influenza, tuberculosis, and a variety of fevers were rampant in the overcrowded military camps. Military doctors treated these illnesses as best they could with their limited drug supplies.

Battle injuries were less common than disease but considerably more terrifying. Considering the crude and painful treatment available in the 19th century military field hospitals, soldiers who died on the battlefield were probably the fortunate ones. Overworked surgeons performed a limited number of operations, all without the benefit of either sterile tools or anesthetic drugs. The amputation of limbs was a very common operation. The surgeon sawed through the limb as quickly as possible, sometimes in as little time as forty seconds. The patients, who were lucky if they had been given a shot of liquor, bit down on blocks of wood to avoid biting off their tongues. The wound was then sutured and packed with dry lint.