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American Civil War: The Soldier's Life
"The singular purpose of the soldier was to fight a battle and win"
The average American Civil War soldier was 5'8'' and weighed 143 lbs. 1 in 65 died in combat, 1 in 10 was wounded in combat, and 1 in 13 died from
disease. The average age of the soldier was 25. In the Union Army, it is estimated that 100,000 soldiers were less than 15
years old. It is believed that the youngest soldier wounded in combat was William Black,
age 11 (almost age 12). He was wounded in his left arm. Drummer boys were as young as 9 years. And some regiments, unknowingly,
recruited female combatants.
The combat
fatalities, diseases (including: mumps, measles, smallpox, influenza, malaria, typhoid, dysentery, cholera, chronic diarrhea, gangrene, tuberculosis,
pneumonia, yellow fever, and venereal diseases), wounds (lack of medication and medical care), prisoners of war, poorly armed, grueling marches, no pay or shoes, harsh
winters, heat stroke receptive summers, sleep deprivation, and very little food and water were a definite reflection
of the war's arduous toll in the Confederacy. Scurvy was common due to a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables and, with weakened immune systems,
soldiers easily succumbed to diseases. It was common for the soldier to experience weeks or months without bathing. Moreover,
to imagine each of the five human-senses taxed beyond the worst imaginable nightmare
would only begin to allow one to identify and depict "the soldier's life." Regardless, the soldier continued to fight
in numerous battles during four extremely exhaustive years.
The weather was very cold and we were thinly clad in the clothes we had worn all summer.
We had no underwear or socks and our shoes were badly worn. —Private John H. Stewart, Infantry Regiment, Thomas' Legion, while campaigning in the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864
I
am not as brave as I thought I was. I never wanted out of a place as bad in my life. The balls hurled, the shells sang, and
the grape shot rattled. I want in no more battles. —Captain Alfred W. Bell, Company B, 39th North Carolina Infantry, after the Battle of Stones River
The soldier experienced various traumatic stressors such as: witnessing death or dismemberment, handling dead bodies, traumatic loss
of comrades, realizing imminent death, killing others and being helpless to prevent others' deaths. Rare soldiers' letters allow the reader the most detailed insight to their experiences. Intimate and personal: diseases, privation, wounds,
loneliness, exhaustion, heartache, and death are all explored. Furthermore, in their blood soaked Confederate uniforms, many
were shielding numerous letters from loved ones pertaining to the so-called hellish conditions at home (these conditions assisted
in the complexity of maintaining accurate military service records).
Diseases and Napoleonic Linear Tactics, consequently, were the contributing factors for the high casualties during the American Civil War.
It was common practice
for family and neighbors to serve in the same regiment and many believed this unity made it unthinkable to coward in the presence of the enemy. Overall, many entrusted their
loved ones to enlist and serve with relatives and neighbors, with the common belief that they maintained their
loved ones' best interest in mind. During battle, it was typical for father and son to advance into enemy shot
and shell, and this was a contributing factor in the high death toll during the "fight." During the Aftermath, many suffered from the war's most terrible destruction and devastation. Countless veterans were pervaded with diseases,
wounds, destitution, and mental illnesses. Many soldiers recovering from wounds were referred to as having the Old Soldier's Disease, a term applied to soldiers
addicted to pain killers. Hearing loss was common due to the horrendous sounds associated with cannon and
weaponry in combat. Furthermore, during the American Civil War, there was no shell shock, battle fatigue, or Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) to help explain and legitimize a mysterious condition. The aftermath witnessed tens-of-thousands of homeless veterans.
The veteran either had no home to return to or a disability prevented him from enjoying life's basic tasks and responsibilities. Union soldiers and veterans didn't
receive the Department of Veterans Affairs' benefits and assistance, which fortunately was created
in the twentieth century.
The hardest work I have had since we got
here was standing guard duty six hours night before last. —Private
John T. Jones, Company D (Orange Light Infantry), First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers, May 8, 1861
While not in battle, drilling, or standing guard the troops read, wrote letters (audio, adjust volume) to their loved ones and played any game they could devise, including baseball, cards
and boxing matches. One competition involved racing lice or cockroaches across a strip of canvas. The soldier's favorite beverage was coffee; however,
alcohol was occasionally smuggled into camp.
"Penicillin had
not been invented, so soldiers treated venereal diseases with herbs and minerals"
Thousands of prostitutes
thronged the cities in the war zones and clustered about the camps. By 1862, for instance, Washington, D.C.,
had 450 bordellos and at least 7,500 full-time prostitutes; Richmond was
the center of prostitution in the Confederacy and had about an equal number of bordellos and prostitutes. Venereal disease
among soldiers was prevalent and largely uncontrolled. About eight percent of the soldiers in the Union army were treated
for venereal disease during the war; many cases were unreported. Penicillin had
not been invented, so soldiers treated venereal diseases with herbs and minerals. Union General Joseph "Hooker" was widely known for his endorsement of prostitution;
hence, his name is credited, associated, and synonymous with "prostitutes and prostitution."
We have a revival going on in our Regt. & it is general
through the army. Our Chaplain is doing much good. —Lieutenant
Colonel William Henry Asbury Speer, Twenty-eighth Regiment North Carolina Troops, April 28, 1863
Life as a Prisoner of War
I do not exaggerate when I say that it [Johnson's
Island] is worse than a hog pen. —Colonel Robert F. Webb,
Sixth Regiment North Carolina State Troops, February 25, 1864
Camp life as a Confederate soldier was hard, but prison life
in Camp Morton was harder. —Confederate Prisoner of War
Eighty Acres of Hell, a.k.a. Prisoner of War Camp Douglas, reveals
that the Union was more than capable of matching the Confederates atrocity-for-atrocity. While 12,000 prisoners entered Camp
Douglas, only 6,000 survived. The rest were victims of calculated cruelty, torture and neglect. And Southern soldiers were
not the only targets of this treatment--many prominent Chicago citizens were incarcerated under the banner of martial law,
unjustly convicted of imagined offenses by ruthless military tribunals. According to Official Records of the Union and
Confederate armies, Series ii - Vol. 8, p. 348, Confederate prisoners were placed in condemned Union Prisoner
of War Camps Douglas and Chase; they were condemned because they were infected with smallpox. The Official Records
further state that several Union officials protested and called Camp Douglas an atrocity. However, Union prisoners
of war were in equally atrocious conditions (American Civil War Prisoner of War Camps).
We Were Brothers
During the last months of the American Civil War, when the "Lost Cause" was embraced,
many soldiers were unofficially promoted by their peers to fill vacancies. This explains why the officially
mustered out rank/grade was often times a lesser rank than claimed via soldiers' diaries, memoirs and papers (during the last months of the War, privates were being unofficially appointed
to the rank or grade of lieutenant). Concurrently, some
Confederate commanders were destroying all, or what remained, of the regimental records. These conditions also make
it difficult for Civil War researchers and genealogists.
"I apprehend
that if all living Union soldiers were summoned to the witness stand, every one of them would testify that it was the preservation
of the American Union and not the destruction of Southern slavery that induced him to volunteer at the call of his Country.
As for the South, it is enough to say that perhaps eighty percent of her armies were neither slave-holders, nor had the remotest
interest in the institution...both sides fought and suffered for liberty as bequeathed by the Fathers--the one for liberty
in the union of the States, the other for liberty in the independence of the States." Reminiscences of the Civil War, by John
B. Gordon, Maj. Gen. CSA
(General
Gordon was shot 5 times during the Battle of Antietam but did not die until January 9, 1904. Regarding General John Gordon, President Theodore Roosevelt
stated, "A more gallant, generous, and fearless gentleman and soldier has not been seen by our Country.")
The Aftermath and Reconstruction proved that the scars from the American Civil War deeply affected veterans and civilians for years.
Recommended Reading:
The American Civil War Soldier; Life as a Civil War Soldier
Sources: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Walter Clark,
Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865; National Park Service: American
Civil War; Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis H. Manarin, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865; D. H. Hill, Confederate Military
History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865; Library of Congress; North Carolina Office of Archives
and History; North Carolina Museum of History; State Library of North Carolina; North Carolina Department of Cultural
Resources; North Carolina Department of Agriculture; National Archives and Records Administration; and Tennessee State Library
and Archives.
© 2005, 2006, 2007 Matthew D. Parker. All Rights Reserved.
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