The Civil War by Zachary Kent

Author:Zachary Kent [Kent, Zachary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4645-0414-3
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2011-03-11T05:00:00+00:00

Image Credit: © Military and Historical Image Bank

This “housewife” sewing kit belonged to a Union soldier in the 8th Indiana Volunteers.

A typical Confederate soldier wore a soft felt “slouch” hat of gray or “butternut” brown and a homespun uniform of the same color. Instead of a heavy knapsack, he rolled all his personal items into his blankets, which he slung over his shoulder. His weapon was either the Springfield rifle or a British-made Enfield rifle. Dangling from his belt was a cartridge box large enough to hold forty rounds of ammunition, a bayonet, a canteen, and a tin cup. Often he used gear captured from the enemy.

Union quartermasters fed Yankee troops cornmeal, beans, bacon, pickled beef—called “salt horse”—and always a hard, square biscuit called “hardtack.” Confederate troops often ate “sloosh,” cornmeal swirled in bacon grease, then wrapped around a ramrod and cooked over the campfire.

Soldiers made their long winter encampments as comfortable as possible. In winter camps, Union soldiers often built regular huts of wood with wooden barrels for chimneys. Confederate soldiers threw together “shebangs,” crude shelters made of pine branches and oilcloths. The idle troops read newspapers, magazines, and books. Many homesick soldiers wrote letters, while others kept diaries. For entertainment, soldiers wrestled, held boxing matches, ran races, and played baseball. Around campfires at night, the armies sang such sentimental songs as “Lorena,” “The Vacant Chair,” “Tenting Tonight,” “All Quiet Along the Potomac,” and “When This Cruel War Is Over.” “Dixie” became the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy, while “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” written by Julia Ward Howe, thrilled Union soldiers.

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