CHAPTER 16-2: LIFE IN THE ARMY

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Main IdeaBoth Union and Confederate soldiers endured many

hardships while serving in the army during the Civil War

THOSE WHO FOUGHT• Civil War soldiers were usually between 18 and 30 years, but both of the armies had

some much younger and much older

• Farmers were the predominant members in both armies

• They viewed going to war as an exciting experience

• The majority of soldiers were American, but immigrants from overseas also served

• The predominant number of the immigrants were the German and the Irish

• At the beginning of the war African Americans were not allowed to serve, but as the war dragged on both sides accepted the African Americans as soldiers

• Union- 2,000,000 soldiers

• Confederacy- 1,000,000 soldiers

• Almost all volunteers

• Joined because of adventure, glory, escape from farms and factories, to go along with friends and loyalty to their country

TURNING CIVILIANS INTO SOLDIERS• After joining soldiers were sent to army camps to train

• These camps looked like seas of tents

• Tents grouped by company

• Tents held 2-20 men

• In winter lived in log huts or heavy tents

• Company officers were elected by the soldiers

• Recruits followed a specific schedule

1. Bugle call awakening

2. Roll call and breakfast

3. Drill sessions

• Had many duties in between drills like guard duty, cutting wood, digging latrines and cleaning the camp

TURNING CIVILIANS INTO SOLDIERS CONTINUED• All recruits received uniforms

• Union- Blue

• Confederacy- grey or yellowish brown

• Uniforms almost never right size had to trade to get correct sizes

• Northerners received poor quality clothing

• Confederate states sometimes did not even had enough uniforms and some had extras

• Some Confederate soldiers didn’t even have shoes

• At beginning of war soldiers got plenty of food

• This included beef or salt pork, veggies and coffee

• In the field rations were limited and some soldiers went hungry during battle

CIVIL WAR UNIFORMS

Union Confederacy

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HARDSHIPS OF ARMY LIFE• Soldiers in the fields were usually wet, muddy, or cold from

marching outside and living in harsh shelters.

• Camps-

• Unsanitary

• Smelled from odors and latrines

• Cattle was killed for meat to feed the troops

• Soldiers-

• As filthy as the camps

• Went weeks without bathing or washing their clothes

• Bodies, clothing, and beds became infested with lice and fleas

• Most had chronic diarrhea or other intestinal problems- caused by contaminated water or food or by germ-carrying insects

• Doctors failed to clean their hands or tools

• Poor hygiene

• Hygiene- conditions and practices that promote health

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CHANGES IN MILITARY TECHNOLOGY• War technology advanced during the Civil War; as a result, tactics changed, and deaths

increased

• Rifle- a gun with a grooved barrel that causes a bullet to spin through the air

• Rifles shot bullets farther and were more accurate than previously used muskets

• Minié ball- bullet with a hollow base

• Minié ball technology resulted in farther, more accurate shots

• Ironclad- warships covered with iron

• War technology was so advanced at this point that medical technology couldn’t catch up with it, resulting in many fatalities

Minié Ball Ironclad

Musket Ball

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