Category Archives: Civil War

Civil War

Bloody Lane

Bloody Lane

Bloody Lane

Before the Civil War, it was known simply as The Sunken Road. In the idyllic farm country of Maryland, the local farmers would take this road to bypass the city of Sharpsburg. To either side lay the fields, the road cutting like a wide ditch between them.

On September 17th, 1862 its name would change forever. The Confederate army had taken positions around the city of Sharpsburg. The Union forces were determined to drive them out. Along this sunken road, Confederate General Daniel Hill placed is 2,600 man division here awaiting the Union soldiers that were sure to come.

As the battle developed Union General William French maneuvered his division, about 5,500 men towards another skirmish down the line. He soon found himself coming within contact of Hill’s men and the battle commenced. From their position in the “trench” of the road, the rebels were able to pour a murderous fire on the Union troops.

For nearly four hours the exposed Union troops were held at bay by the outnumbered Confederates. As more and more Union troops were thrown into the hornet’s nest it became a bloodbath. Finally about 1 PM the Union was able to overrun the position and pierce the center of the Confederate line. Beaten and bloody the Federal troops were not able to follow-up on their success.

In all during those four hours, almost 5,500 men were either wounded or killed outright.  Bodies from both sides stacked as high as cordwood. Forevermore that sunken road that cut through the idyllic countryside would be known as Bloody Lane. The photo above shows a portion of the sunken road, quiet once again with the passing of the years.

Civil War

Minié Balls

Minié Balls

Minié Balls

 

Prior to the Civil War, most of the military was armed with smoothbore muskets that fired round shot made out of lead. This is one of the reasons that accuracy was generally a wishful thought and while getting shot but a ball was not pleasant it was nothing compared to what was coming.

During the Crimean War, 1853-6 (a war we may look at later, but not now) a new shot was being used to great effect. This type of shot was named the Minié ball, after the doctor. In the picture above you can see what the Minié ball looked like, and also a piece of round shot.

The Minié ball was conical with rings around the base and a depression in the bottom, it normally would be slightly smaller than the barrel of the musket to make loading easier. Once fired the soft lead would expand and fill the gap around the bullet making its own sort of wading. When this new kind of ammunition was introduced on both sides during the Civil War, something else became very evident.

The round shot was easily deflected once it hit the target. It would tend to bounce around inside a human body before becoming lodged somewhere. The Minié ball, which was heavier and traveled faster, would simply cut through the body like a ripe melon. If by chance it struck a bone, the bone would simply shatter. Leaving amputation the only way to save the person .

Eventually, the Minié ball would be replaced by something even more deadly. For a time though it reigned and there was nothing mini about it.

Civil War, Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Antebellum

Antebellum Plantation Home

Antebellum

This word refers to the historical era of the United States before the outbreak of the Civil War. It is a Latin word which translates to  “before the war”.  It primarily is used to describe the Southern States and culture of the pre-war period.

To many, this phrase represents a Southern culture that is primarily defined by the plantation system and the growing economy it represented.  This was due to advances in agriculture. These advances created an increased output of cotton which became more of a worldwide commodity. However, it mostly and mainly was caused by the unchecked expansion of slave labor in the region.

It is difficult, and really not necessary, to split the “Antebellum” South from the yoke of slavery. It should never even be attempted. In the economic depression that devastated the South during Reconstruction, and for a time after, the rise of the “Lost Cause” mentality caused many to consider the Antebellum period as the “gold old days”. And for many plantation owners it was, not so much for the human beings the kept in bondage. It is easy to prosper when labor is free and plentiful.

 

Civil War

A Well Dressed Johnny Reb (Confederate Infantry)

Confederate Infantry

A Well Dressed Johnny Reb (Confederate Infantry)

The photo above is a representation of what a regular Confederate Infantry Soldier would have looked like. Notice the nice clean uniform. The musket, canteen, nice hat, bayonet hanging from his belt. There is even a backpack to hold rations and personal belongings. Wow. Looking at this you would think that this fellow was part of a well supplied and outfitted army.

Of course everyone started off with a nice clean uniform. There were a number of regulations that attempted to standardize the type of shirt and pants, the color of the fabric and the hat that should be worn. Unfortunately the South had a difficult time with the mass fabrication of uniforms.  There ended up being a lot of variety.

Once the Southern industrial base caught up to war effort the uniforms became more standardized and better supplied. Being able to access cloth imported from Britain also helped. Some of the CSA units at the end of the war were better uniformed than at the start.

The hat worn here is not the regulation Kepi, but a wide brimmed usually wool hat that provided much more protection from the weather. These hats were popular among the enlisted and officers and were almost always of civilian origin.

Colors

The grey color of the uniforms was chosen for a number of reasons. First, many of the state militias uniforms were of that color. Or at least a shade or two off. Secondly, is was a cheap color to dye the cloth. Third, even though not actually intentional, the grey provided a basic level of camouflage against the tree lines.

Uniforms that came out of the the Richmond facilities maintained their color.  The grey uniforms that were made in the Western and Deep South facilities often faded to a brown or tan color.  Sometimes homespun fabric was used that was a similar color. This “butternut” color became almost as iconic as the grey you see above.

 

Civil War, Uncategorized, Vietnam, WWII

Battlefield Communications

Battlefield Communications

Battlefield Communications

Communication on the battlefield has always been a major concern of armies. In the early days, leaders could shout commands to their troops. Even with a relatively small number of men and close quarters, this became almost impossible.

Some armies developed a system of flags that could be waved during a battle that would pass on the orders of the general to their men. This increased the distance over which the commands could be given. It did rely on the men being able to see the flags. As the size of the battlefields grew the less valuable this method became.

Eventually, music became the standard. Drums and trumpets translated commands down the line and to anyone within earshot. Much more effective than flags, but as the size of armies grew so did the size of battlefields. Battles were being fought over miles now and even relaying orders from the leaders to the men either took too long or were too easily misunderstood.

During the Civil War, the telegraph changed everything. President Lincoln could stand in the War Office in Washington and get real-time updates of a battle in Tennessee. Heck if he wanted (and occasionally he did) he could give orders to Generals commanding on the front lines. (They loooved that.)

Fast forward a hundred years and the advent and proliferation of radios like the one above battles could be fought by men on one side of an ocean commanding men on the other.  Today we have satellites and near instantaneous communications with nearly any point on the globe. We’ve come a long way.

Civil War

The Hardtack Life….

The Hardtack life...

The Hardtack Life….

See that piece of hardtack in that frame there? I bet you could still eat it today. Which is one of the reasons that hardtack and its variations have been since ancient Egypt. A little water, a little flour, some salt if you were lucky and bam! Hardtack.

For this discussion we will talk about its widespread popularity(?) during the Civil War. Both sides produced it as it was quick and easy and the three by three square that came in was packed full of stomach filler. Heck, mix in a little bacon grease and you really had something.

Two things really stand out about the hardtack that you see above.

At the beginning of the war, when people thought it would only last a few weeks, there was not a massive amount of ready to eat provisions ready for either army. So they looked in the military warehouses and found plenty of hardtack from the previous war, ready made provisions on the go. Just one little problem. The previous conflict was the Mexican-American War which ended in 1848, the Civil War started in 1861, so these biscuits were over thirteen years old. Think about that when you see milk a day past the sell by.

The other thing is that bugs really liked it So much so they would live in it. In the card that goes with the picture you can see that it was not unusual for the men to dunk the hardtack in their morning coffee to soften it. Then scoop the bugs out of their coffee. Sometimes though they would just eat the infected squares that were writhing with worms and larvae. Protein wasn’t cheap!

Want to give it a try? The recipe is really easy and can be found here.

Of course they leave the bugs out, but you can add them to your hearts content.

Civil War, Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Copperhead

Image result for copperhead civil war
Cartoon about the Copperheads, published in Harper’s Weekly, February 1863. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-132749)

On Wednesdays we are going to branch out a bit from word origins and talk about some of the unique words that have entered our language. Still with a history and military bent mind you.

Copperhead (American Civil War)

Politics in America has always been divisive, it is the nature of our beast. Never though was it more divisive then leading up to the Civil War. in 1860 Abraham Lincoln won the presidency as a Republican. The Republican Party was fairly young at this point ans was made up of the remnants of several other parties that had come and gone. Free Soilers, Whigs, Know Nothings, etc. The Democratic Party was older and more established at the time of the Civil War, but it was going through some issues. Slavery being one of them.

Southern Democrats, of course believed that slavery was a right and it fought for it. Northern Democrats were a little shaky on the subject and in the lead up to the 1860 election a rift formed in the party. This lead to two conventions and two Democrat nominees for the presidency. (And then some.) The Democrats lost the election and had the party stayed together, that may not have happened.

As the Southern States seceded the great majority of the Democrat Party went with them, but not all of them. Many Northern Democrats supported the cause of the South and became very vocal against the war. These anti-war democrats became known as Copperheads which are known as sneaks and having the ability to strike without warning.

For most of the war they proved a thorn in the side of President Lincoln. One of the leaders of the movement Clement Vallandigham, a member of the House from Ohio, became so outspoken that Lincoln deported him to the Confederacy.

The Copperhead movement lost steam after the 1864 fall of Atlanta. This event pretty much signaled that the war was moving into its final stages.  Though their overall effectiveness was marginal. However they did take a stand against the regimes crack down on civil liberties.  Other than that their main focus was the same as all political parties, winning elections and beating their rivals.

Civil War, Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words and Phrases: Sideburns

Image result for sideburns
General Burnside, bad a war INCREDIBLE at facial hair.

How many of you knew that the term sideburns, those wonderful tufts of hair that cuddle the side of a dapper mans face,  was born from a military origin? Well, kind of at least. See they were named for the guy above.

Union Civil War General Ambrose  Burnside. A man of unquestionable talented facial hair. The problem was that he did have what one would call military talent. He was not a great general and a lot of soldiers died because of that. Prior to the 1864 Battle of the Crater outside of Peteresburg Virginia his style of facial hair was already known as having “burnsides”, a popular style at the time of the war. After the battle though, just one in a long series of catastrophes by his hand, they started calling the whiskers sideburns in honor of the general, who always got things “the wrong way around”.

Civil War

The Devil is in the Details

Devils Den Devil in the Details

The Devil is in the Details

This pic was taken at Gettysburg in 2013 from Little Round Top. Looking to the center of the picture you will see a rock formation (you can make out the cars parked around it). That formation is known as Devils Den.

During the second day of the battle (June 1-3, 1863) this position changed hands several times and was used both for artillery and infantry. Once the Confederates had secured the position it was used heavily by snipers as it gave a great view of the Union positions on Little Round Top and some of the surrounding areas. We could literally talk for days about the actions that happened in and around Devils Den, but we come to this now for  another reason.

You see when I was first studying the Civil War whenever I came across Gettysburg there was always Devils Den. It is not uncommon for certain places on the battlefield to take on  names that denote certain “character”. Bloody Lane, The Peach Orchard, The Sunken Road. To students of the war those names immediately bring up images of the actions fought at those places. Devils Den though was different. That outcropping of rock was called Devils Den before the war.

Before the War

As early as 1856 the rocks were known for a large snake named the Devil. His home became known as the Devils Den. After the war the area was known by a few different variations of it until the original name stuck.

Now I know that sometimes tour guides like to embellish and tell stories, it’s part of the job. A little digging in the archives of the Gettysburg Times seems to collaborate at least a part of the story. In the Jan 23rd 1932 issue a brief paragraph relates a sighting of the famous snake in 1881, right where it had been known to be for at least a quarter of a century. Here is a link to the article. It is easy to forget these battles took place near homes and communities that had a history before the war.

Civil War

A Post About A Post

Post

A Post About A Post

When people start shooting at you it is generally a good idea to find some sort of cover. Tree, fence, big hole in the ground, whatever works. Early in the Civil War the armies matched up in the  Old World Style, line up shoulder to shoulder, get as close as you can and shoot in the general direction of the enemy.

Today we look at the paintings and read the descriptions of such battles and wonder what the heck they were thinking doing that. It is however the only way it would work. See guns at the time, for most of the “black powder” era, were incredibly in accurate. Mainly because they were smooth bore. Basically every time you fired it there was no way to tell where the shot would go. So your only hope of hitting anything was to have a lot of people shooting at it.

As the accuracy progressed and the armies started seeing more rifles (grooved barrels) the idea of standing in lines, getting close and shooting started to be a losing proposition for all sides.  As such more fighting started being done from cover, this would eventually evolve into the precursor of trench warfare that made WWI such a joy.

The pic above is a fence post that has become a bullet catcher. In battles all over the country trees and fences absorbed more lead than a five-year old eating paint chips. Think for a second what it would have been like to be on the other side of the fence. Hearing it whittled down more and more with each shot.  I count seven bullets, how many do you see?