Status Updates From This Republic of Suffering:...

•naming was difficult due to many completely obliterated bodies
•families were striped of the ability to even mourn because of the uncertainty of whether the soldiers were still alive
•prisoners size exceeded both north and south’s ability to supply food and medical care; regular prisoner exchanges

•personal efforts to communicate info about soldiers’ status
•dog tags, pre-written letters, bible inscribed with name and address

•sanitary commissions size far exceeded Christian commission; more importance on modern warfare realism rather than sentimentalism
•sanitary commission created Hospital Directory which acted as communication agency for families about soldiers’ conditions

•acknowledgement of the importance of information, whether a soldier is dead or alive
•wrong and confusing info in casualty lists

-embalming and the entire funeral industry started during civil war
-embalming as a way to “defy death” and grieve