US History
And You Thought Homework Was Bad!!
The Living Conditions for Civil War Soldiers
The life of a soldier who is engaged in any war is horrendous. Soldiers are constantly
at risk – they could be killed at any moment. It’s difficult to imagine the stress that comes
along with living in that situation. Soldiers are separated from their families and their lives
back home. In addition to worrying about their own welfare, they constantly think about
their loved ones back home. Soldiers are often put in “kill or be killed” situations, where they
are forced to take the life of another human-being or lose their own life.
Food and Clothing…
The conditions for the 3 million soldiers that served during the American Civil War
were horrific. A vast majority of those men serving in the army were volunteers – many had
never even fired a gun before. After enlisting in the army, soldiers were sent to training
camps. At these training camps, soldiers were introduced to the grueling, regimented life of
the army. They awoke at early hours in the morning to train and they were fed horrible food.
The staple ration (main food) of a Union solder was hardtack (salt pork) and coffee beans
that needed to be crushed and boiled. Many had heard rumors that the hardtack had been
sitting in government storage for 30 years. The fresh meat that they were served was often
fly-infested!
A typical soldier would spend nearly 10 hours per day training – learning how to
march and learning how to load and fire a gun quickly. Marching was an important part of the
training – it was expected that soldiers would move together in a synchronized fashion.
Soldiers would spend countless hours of their training learning to move in time with those
around him. At the end of the training sessions soldiers were given uniforms – blue for Union
soldiers and grey for Confederate soldiers. Even though most of the nation’s mills and
factories were located in the north, the Unions still found it difficult to provide their soldiers
with all the supplies they needed. The Confederate found it nearly impossible to sufficiently
supply its troops. Many Confederate soldiers did not even have a complete uniform!
Living Conditions for Soldiers….
The living conditions for soldiers were terrible too. While in the camps, soldiers lived
in tents with 20 men. In the winter, some soldiers would live in log cabins, but most still
lived in canvas tents that were made of heavier material. One Union soldier wrote of the
living conditions in his diary,
The hides and waste parts of the cattle for miles upon miles around, under the sweltering sun and sultry
showers, would gender such swarms of flies, armies of worms, blasts of stench and oceans of filth to
make life miserable.
The soldiers often went weeks without bathing or washing their clothes. Their bodies often
became infected with lice and fleas. The stench from the latrines (trenches dug to serve as
toilets) was overpowering. The soldiers would slaughter cattle for food and the cattles’
remains were never properly disposed of – they would be left to fester at the campsite.
Obviously the camps were very unsanitary which resulted in widespread sickness. A
high percentage of soldiers developed intestinal disorders from contaminated food and water
(or from germ-carrying insects). The doctors on site rarely washed their hands before
surgeries and often failed to clean their surgical instruments between operations. A practice
which did more harm than the surgeries did good. The medical care for both the Union and
the Confederacy was horrible. Many patients developed sores and gangrene which resulted in
the need for amputations. Unfortunately for the soldiers, medical science was not nearly as
developed as it is today. The Confederate doctors had even fewer supplies than the Union
doctors, which actually benefited the Confederacy (by accident). Many Confederate soldiers’
wounds were not properly cleaned, resulting in an infestation of maggots. While this sounds
disgusting, the maggots actually fed on bacteria which would have made the soldiers even
sicker! The maggots prevented the soldiers from contracting more deadly parasites! At the
end of the Civil War it was estimated that twice as many soldiers died from disease than they
did from actual wounds sustained in combat.
The Role of Women in the Civil War
Women played an important role in the American Civil War though it is one that is
often overlooked. While women did not serve in a combat role, they still proved very
valuable to both the Union and the Confederacy. While many men were away fighting, the
responsibility of maintaining the home (and business) fell to the women. Women worked
the fields on farms and took over jobs in offices. Thousands of women served on the front
lines of combat as volunteers and nurses. Women would provide soldiers with clean clothes
and warm food (when supplies allowed for it). With the Civil War came the start of nursing as
a respectable profession for women. Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix are two of the most
famous nurses to serve in the war. It may surprise you to learn that women also served as
spies. Harriet Tubman served as a spy for the Union Army along the coast of South Carolina.
Name:
Date:
Core:
U.S. History
Life of a Soldier:
Reflection Questions…
Directions: Use your class notes and today’s reading (And You Though Homework Was
Bad!!) to answer the following questions.
Fact Check…
1. What color were the uniforms worn by the Union Army? _____________________
2. What color were the uniforms won by the Confederate Army? _________________
3. Why was it common to find Confederate soldiers who were shoeless and wearing red
(or other colors)? ________________________________________________________
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4. True or False. Most Civil War soldiers died as a direct result of the wounds that they
sustained on the battlefield.
I think that this statement is ____________ (true or false) because: _______________
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5. Explain how “maggots” actually helped injured Civil War soldiers in the Confederacy.
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6.
What role did Clara Barton play in the Civil War? ______________________________
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More on the Back!
Viewer/Reader Response…Use your notes from the film (America: Story of US),
today’s reading and last week’s reading (The Turning Tide) to answer the following
question.
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Technology had a paradoxical effect on the American Civil War. In some ways
technology had a harmful effect on the war and in other ways technology had
a beneficial (helpful) effect on the war. Do you think technology was more
harmful or helpful during the war. Support your response using historical
facts. (ATITIC)
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