Death And The Civil War-The Dead The Dead The Dead

750,000 Americans died during the Civil War, a massive and unprecedented amount of death.   That was about 2.5% of the U.S. population then.  Comparably that would be about 8 million dead people today.  The US was forced to confront death on a large scale.  Americans were shocked and everyone was affected by the war.  At the outset of the war everyone thought that the fighting would be brief and casualties minimal.
We own our own bodies and our own mortality.  It is the obligation of the living to care for the dead.  When the Civil War started there were no national military cemeteries, no ambulance service, no Arlington, no dog tags, no adequate hospitals, no understanding of disease, no embalming, no burial details, no benefits for the families of those killed, etc.  Hundreds of thousands of those killed are buried as "Unknown."  In the 1800's death was a part of life:  you lived well to die well.  You died at home and you accepted death surrounded by loved ones.  There will be a big family reunion in heaven in the future.  Your body will be whole in heaven.