The smell of feces and blood fills the air. Some soldiers escape into the woods to relieve themselves one and a half meters from their only water supply. The wounded and dying lie groaning in tents as medics work diligently to save as many soldiers as possible. A group of four soldiers sit around the camp fire picking off lice and fleas and throwing them into the fire. A soldier dies of typhoid fever and is lifted out of bed. During the Civil War, scenes like this occurred on both sides of the fight as soldiers faced death from campsite diseases. In fact, 221,791 Union soldiers died of disease compared to 62,916 killed in action. Confederate Army medical records do not provide this precise number, along with how many men died from a particular disease, but an estimated 160,000 men died from disease or wound infections. Soldiers suffered most from diarrhea or dysentery, but typhus, malaria, typhus, sexually transmitted diseases, and scurvy were also rampant in the crowded camp grounds. Although, at first glance, these diseases appeared to kill all those infected, certain medical treatments could spare a life or two. Civil War doctors lacked scientific information about the cause and spread of the disease that could have saved thousands of men. Ultimately, the men were more likely to die from biological causes than from the bullets themselves. A soldier's first year turned out to be the most difficult. Soldiers were crammed into overcrowded camps in a highly contagious environment.3 Especially men from rural areas did not have the same immunity as urban soldiers and, as a result, fell ill early. Even if a soldier recovered, he would still have to deal with a supply of dirty, human-contaminated water... half of paper... instructed the Union Army, led by General Henry Halleck, to take control of the island. Mississippi to Corinth, also with a force of 100,000 men.10 Dysentery and malaria delayed the Union march to Vicksburg delaying the inevitable capture until July 1863.10 While these diseases were not always deadly, they are powerful enough to stop armies on their path. The diseases themselves can be considered the unexpected hidden army fighting against both warring sides. “In fact, twice as many Civil War soldiers died of disease as were killed and mortally wounded in combat. It can be argued that some victories or defeats could have occurred earlier only if all soldiers had been in good health. If the medical knowledge available in subsequent years had been available, more soldiers would have survived the Civil War and perhaps the conflict would have ended much earlier saving even more lives.