Life+of+a+Soldier

= **__ Life of a Soldier during the Civil War __** =

Soldiers that participated in the Civil War had to leave their home and family members. Most soldiers were chosen to fight against their will. The citizens who paid a fee of three hundred dollars didn't have to fight. They had to sleep in tents that are called dog tents. The tents were two pieces of canvas buttoned together. Two men could fit inside. Confederates would steal the Union's blankets to sleep on. They marched and did fighting drills daily. Some people used drums to announce the next activity that the soldiers would participate in. Drums were also used during the war to tell people to reload and fire their weapons.

Northern soldiers wore wool uniforms with a belt with a cartridge box. It also has a cap box, bayonet and scabbard, haversack, canteen, and a knapsack. Inside the knapsack was a blanket, or poncho, socks, paper, stamps, envelopes, ink, pen, razor, and anything else that's personal. In the winter the Union soldiers wore a heavy, wool uniform over the regular uniforms. In the North, good quality clothing wasn't hard to find because there were a lot of mills that could make clothing. They could import materials from Europe. The Union usually wore blue uniforms and the Confederates usually wore gray uniforms. They wore poor quality clothing. The Confederates wore a jacket and trousers made out of jean materials. Confederates wore gray jackets with blue trousers, but there wasn't enough Southern factories to make the uniforms so soldiers asked family members to make the uniforms for them. The uniforms that family members made was a butternut color. In the South, shoes were made poorly and was very hard to have them.

Soldiers wrote letters to home at every opportunity they had. Some soldiers sent their family members money to help support them. If a soldier received a package it was usually stuffed with food, socks, shirts, underwear, soap, towels, combs, and toothbrushes. When the soldiers didn't have anything to do, they would play card games, read, play baseball, or played football. In their version of football, some people would wind up breaking a nose or partially broken limbs. O n holidays they would have feasts, foot races, horse races, box matches, play music, and other festive contests.

Some soldiers kept pets for company. They would have dogs, cats squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals. One soldier even had an eagle for a pet. They even had chickens for pets. The most common pet was a dog. Soldiers thought having a pet would remind them of home and would give them comfort.

It was very easy for soldiers to get diseases and more people died of diseases than fighting during a battle. The diseases mainly came from mosquitoes and ticks and fleas. Soldiers often exaggerated that there was at least a small army of tick or fleas on one solider when they finally got rid of most of the infestation. Some soldiers lost a limb from a bullet shattering their bone. Doctors didn't have anything to replace lost blood. They also didn't have anything to stop diseases or infections.

//This is a map of prison camps during the Civil War //
Camps had people that were assigned to be cooks. The camps that were always moving around, soldiers had to get their food themselves.Normally soldiers ate a biscuit called hardtack. Hardtack was made out of water and flour. It was normally three inches long and wide and half an inch thick.Although it was a good solution worms often made their way into the crackers. One soldier counted 32 worms in a piece of hardtack.During the first year of the war food had started to become scarce. To preserve meat they sprinkled a bit of water and salt but eventually they got so salty that they soaked the meat in water for a while before they started cooking it.Most soldiers liked tobacco.They didn't care what form it was in just as long as they had some. They also wanted coffee and they said they wouldn't fight until they had some. Sometimes the North and the South talked to each other. The North had more sugar and coffee when the South had more tobacco. They would exchange those items for the benefit of both sides. Women would sometimes dress up as men so they could fight in the war. Mostly they just helped the wounded. Soldiers were buried in the trenches on a battlefield or proper cemeteries. The grave of the soldier was marked with a headboard.

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//This picture shows soldiers standing in front of one of their tents.//  //These people are waiting for orders//.

//This is a picture of a dead Confederate after the war.//

**__RESOURCES: __**


 * author: John Heiser
 * Gettysburg National Military Park May 1, 1998
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 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|www.vgsd.org/~kgallagher]
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__The Civil War Chronicle__ by William C. Davis
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Behind The Blue And Gray__ by Delia Ray
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