During the Civil War, nearly three-quarters of the South's roughly one million men between the ages of 18 and 45 served in the Confederate army, Two hundred and fifty thousand of those who served--one soldier out of three--died. The North's male population aged 18-45 numbered about four million,three hundred thousand, and about half that number served as Union soldiers. Nearly one in ten northern soldiers died during the war. Most of them were volunteers, paid just $13 a month to serve as "Johnny Reb" or "Billy Yank."
The typical soldier on both sides was a teenager or in his early twenties, though a few boys as young as twelve served in combat. Some four hundred thousand women are said to have enlisted by disguising themselves as men. And, although most soldiers were born in America, hundreds of thousands of immigrants fought as well: 200,000 Germans, 150,000 Irish, 60,000 Englishmen and Canadians, alongside Frenchmen, Scandinavians, Hungarians, and Asians. Completing the picture were some 180,000 blacks and nearly 18,000 American Indians.
Daily life for Civil War soldiers was a contrast of extremes. When they fought, entire regiments could be lost in a few hours of deadly combat for which they had prepared by drilling for months.
CAMP LIFE
A soldier's day was monotonous but crowded: he rose at about 5 am at reveille call, ate a quick breakfast, drilled for a few hours, cleaned weapons and uniforms, ate lunch, then did more drilling until dinner followed by a full dress parade, after which the exhausted soldier could attend to personal chores. The emphasis on drill was to teach the undisciplined volunteers how to execute orders in the field. Equally important, the drilling used up a soldier's free time and thus kept him out of trouble.
Boredom and mischief were, nevertheless, commonplace. To break the monotony of camp life, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank played baseball, gambled (their favorite game was draw poker), read their Bibles and newspapers, sang songs ("Dixie, " "The Yellow Rose of Texas," "My Old Kentucky Home, " "Auld Lang Syne," and "Amazing Grace"), engaged in fist-fights and brawls, played tricks on one another, staged races and competitions, foraged for food, and passed long hours writing letters home. In regiments of a thousand men, 600 letters a day were often posted to family and loved ones.
HARDTACK AND STEW
The typical diet for the Union soldier consisted of pickled beef (called "salt horse"), dehydrated vegetable cakes, "hardtack" crackers (so hard they sometimes had to be boiled in order to be chewed), and coffee. Southern soldiers consumed pork and cornbread, which they usually boiled into a kind of stew, but their rations were neither as regular nor as ample Union fare. Both sides supplemented their meager provisions by foraging in the countryside (which mean stealing or, as they put it, "liberating" chickens and hogs and pies and eggs and almost anything edible) and, in the case of Union soldiers, buying food from government licensed civilian vendors called "sutlers."
When not in camp or in battle, the typical soldier spent his time on his feet marching. In the western theater, some regiments marched over a thousand miles a year, each man carrying his rations, shelter (usually his half of a two-man dog tent), blanket, musket, ammunition (40 cartridges), shovel, canteen, mess kit, and personal belongings. Little wonder that a soldier's boots were said to be his most important possession.
For Johnny Reb and Billy Yank, the war--horrible though it was--was likely to be the greatest adventure of his life. Perhaps that is what Robert E. Lee understood when he said, as he watched his men mow down the advancing Union army at Fredericksburg, "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."
The typical soldier on both sides was a teenager or in his early twenties, though a few boys as young as twelve served in combat. Some four hundred thousand women are said to have enlisted by disguising themselves as men. And, although most soldiers were born in America, hundreds of thousands of immigrants fought as well: 200,000 Germans, 150,000 Irish, 60,000 Englishmen and Canadians, alongside Frenchmen, Scandinavians, Hungarians, and Asians. Completing the picture were some 180,000 blacks and nearly 18,000 American Indians.
Daily life for Civil War soldiers was a contrast of extremes. When they fought, entire regiments could be lost in a few hours of deadly combat for which they had prepared by drilling for months.
CAMP LIFE
A soldier's day was monotonous but crowded: he rose at about 5 am at reveille call, ate a quick breakfast, drilled for a few hours, cleaned weapons and uniforms, ate lunch, then did more drilling until dinner followed by a full dress parade, after which the exhausted soldier could attend to personal chores. The emphasis on drill was to teach the undisciplined volunteers how to execute orders in the field. Equally important, the drilling used up a soldier's free time and thus kept him out of trouble.
Boredom and mischief were, nevertheless, commonplace. To break the monotony of camp life, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank played baseball, gambled (their favorite game was draw poker), read their Bibles and newspapers, sang songs ("Dixie, " "The Yellow Rose of Texas," "My Old Kentucky Home, " "Auld Lang Syne," and "Amazing Grace"), engaged in fist-fights and brawls, played tricks on one another, staged races and competitions, foraged for food, and passed long hours writing letters home. In regiments of a thousand men, 600 letters a day were often posted to family and loved ones.
HARDTACK AND STEW
The typical diet for the Union soldier consisted of pickled beef (called "salt horse"), dehydrated vegetable cakes, "hardtack" crackers (so hard they sometimes had to be boiled in order to be chewed), and coffee. Southern soldiers consumed pork and cornbread, which they usually boiled into a kind of stew, but their rations were neither as regular nor as ample Union fare. Both sides supplemented their meager provisions by foraging in the countryside (which mean stealing or, as they put it, "liberating" chickens and hogs and pies and eggs and almost anything edible) and, in the case of Union soldiers, buying food from government licensed civilian vendors called "sutlers."
When not in camp or in battle, the typical soldier spent his time on his feet marching. In the western theater, some regiments marched over a thousand miles a year, each man carrying his rations, shelter (usually his half of a two-man dog tent), blanket, musket, ammunition (40 cartridges), shovel, canteen, mess kit, and personal belongings. Little wonder that a soldier's boots were said to be his most important possession.
For Johnny Reb and Billy Yank, the war--horrible though it was--was likely to be the greatest adventure of his life. Perhaps that is what Robert E. Lee understood when he said, as he watched his men mow down the advancing Union army at Fredericksburg, "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."