The Union had more manpower and better medical supplies. They also had trained ambulance corps first. Their disadvantages were that they were not prepared for the large scale medical problems and that they didn't grasp the concept of being sanitary until after the Confederate Army did. The Confederate tried to combat illnesses and improve medical care for their soldiers. Disadvantages for the Confederate Army was their field of medicine was not organized, the medicine needed a great deal of supplies, ambulance corps weren't available to the South for some time, and doctors couldn't get a bough silk. Both had their advantages and disadvantages. Towards the end, both sides realized that enforcing sanitary standards and improving how sanitary hospitals and tools were, would help stop the spread of disease and postoperative infection.
Medical of the Civil War