Tag Archives: CivilWar

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

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 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”.

American Revolution

A Gabion in the Hand…

A Gabion in the Hand...

A Gabion in the Hand…

The picture above is of a gabion, basically sticks woven together to form a rough barrel. These structures were originally used during the Middle Ages as a sort of mobile fortification. They were light weight and easily transported. Often various sizes would be made to fit within each other so they would stack like plastic cups.

When they arrived where they were intended to be used they would be filled with dirt, rocks, or anything. Suddenly they would transform into a strong fortification. They would be used to protect artillery and infantry positions and could even be found along the edges of the trench works during a siege. If they needed to be moved that would simply be emptied and moved. True mobility.

Used in conjunction with fascines and even bales of wool or cotton, these were commonly used in the Americas during the American Revolution up through the Civil War. In fact, in some places around the world gabions are still used to protect military bases. When used with a little imagination they could also be used to build actual structures. Small houses and even latrines!

Today the gabion is used in various forms for landscaping and erosion control. Whether still made of sticks and dirt, or hi tech plastic and metal, the gabion is still a fixture in the modern world.

The gabions you see above are from the model Continental Army camp at Colonial Williamsburg. Scattered throughout the camp are various examples of fortifications and battlefield accouterments from the period. We’ll see more of those later.

 

Uncategorized

The Weight of the World

Average Weight Carried by a Union Soldier

The Weight of the World

A soldier during the Civil War. heck all wars, have to carry their entire world on them. Everything the need to live and fight needs to be within reach. Sure when times were good units would have supply wagons to take some of the burden, but when speed of march is an issue it would not be unusually for the men be a day or two ahead of the wagons. This diagram breaks down how much each piece of a soldiers kit weighed. A little hard to read, so I will break it down here.

Knapsack that contained a wool blanket, gum blanket, shelter half and personal items 16 lbs

Canteen with one quart of water 3 lbs

Haversack with 3 days marching rations 7 lbs

Cap pouch, Waist belt, Bayonet and Scabbard 3 lbs

Shoes and Clothes 5 lbs

Cartridge box and 40 rounds of ammunition 5 lbs

Extra Ammunition (In pockets) 2 lbs

Rifle-Musket 9 lbs

In total about 50 lbs of kit. A normal march would be between 6 and 8 miles a day (sometimes up to 20 or more). In the warm weather of campaign season wearing a wool uniform that does not make for a comfortable day. One thing that the Union troops found out early in the war was that all that equipment tended to make running away much more difficult, so they would ditch anything they could. A long trail of debris would mark the path of a retreating unit. Of course to the pursuing Confederate forces this was a windfall as they could pick up the leftovers and do pretty well.

 

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?

 

 

 

Civil War

Surgeons of the Civil War

Civil War Surgeon Kit

Surgeon of the Civil War

The topic of Civil War medicine is one that there have been many, many books and museums dedicated to. This is just a brief  look into the kit of a typical surgeon of the time.

The first thing you notice above and a preponderance of saws alongside the knives.  While a grisly thing, such tools became a necessity . Without a doubt the number one most practiced procedure during the war was amputation. The Minie ball that was in use by both sides during the war was slow-moving and soft lead. When it impacted with the body it caused terrible wounds. If it connected with a bone it would often shatter it spread a grisly form of shrapnel inside the body.

During the fighting arms and legs took the majority of the hits. Most of the time due to the limited knowledge of the day amputation was the only way to save the soldier’s life. While a good surgeon could perform an amputation in ten minutes, bad ones would take much longer.

More Tools of the Surgeon

Among the knives and saws there are a number of probes and forceps. The surgeon used these to pull bullets out of the bodies when time permitted.  In the back of the kit you will see a bottle of chloroform, the  closest thing to a general anesthetic at the time.

Now that we have taken a look at the tools, in another post we will look at what it took to become an army surgeon. That will be almost more shocking than looking in your doctors kit and finding a half-dozen different saws…

Civil War, Uncategorized

You Don’t Know Jacks

Navy Flags or Jacks

You Don’t Know Jacks

Yes, I know the picture is not in that great a focus. I had to be sneaky at this place OK?

What I think makes it interesting is that it breaks down all the different flags you would see on a warship and what they mean. I’ll provide the definitions, the picture can give you an idea of what the flags look like. While this is showing US and Confederate examples, these should be pretty universal for the time.

The definition for the terms we are going to define will be based on what is provided at Sea Talk Nautical Dictionary. The are a free site that takes donations (what a great idea!) so feel free to visit and toss them a few bucks.

Ensign

In flag terms, the ships ensign is the flag of the nation that the ship is sailing under. Sometimes it is the same as the normal flag, but with nautical symbols (like anchors) or a slightly different design. Sometimes it is just a bigger version of the normal flag. It will be the biggest flag on a ship. From far away you will know who you are dealing with.

Jacks

The smaller flags, or jacks, usually flown on the front (bow) of a ship. Again, this is a national flag and where you will see some of the cooler designs.

Commission Pennant

This long streamer designates the ship as being “commissioned”, or on active duty. It is flies at all times. With the advent of professional navies, these pennants distinguish military ships from merchant ships. They remain a source of great pride among the navies of the world.

Officers Flag

Naval officers over the rank of Captain get to fly special flags that denote their rank. If you saw a ship flying one of these you would know immediately who was in charge. Interesting enough, if you ever have heard the term “Flag Officer” this is where it comes from.

The purpose of all of these flags was to provide as much information as possible. In a time  of limited communication these visual cues were important That is of course assuming the ship is playing by the rules.

 

Civil War

Loyalty Oath

A copy of the loyalty oath former Confederates were forced to sign.

Loyalty Oath

In April 1865 the Civil War ended and the time had come to try to rebuild the nation. For the victors in the North the times ahead would be difficult. In the South the struggles were to continue for many years. Reconstruction in many ways prolonged the conflict into the 1870’s.  The story Reconstruction is long and difficult. Winners sought to punish and losers sought to protect some semblance of the life they had before. None can argue that what happened during that time would have been very different if President Lincoln had lived to see it through.

President Lincoln, in December 1863 set out the terms by which he expected the post war period to be. In his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction he laid out the future as he saw it, so sure was he at this pint of a victory, he began to plan the peace. Pictured above is a loyalty oath that each former Confederate soldier had to sign. They then had to to carry with them as proof that they were done fighting.  See, under Lincolns plan, the men who fought were pardoned of treason and could be considered citizens again. To Lincoln the only way forward would be forgiveness.

The Oath

Below is the text of the Loyalty Oath from his original proclamation:

“I,                  , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by congress, or by decision of the supreme court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the supreme court. So help me God.”