The Confederacy
Well, where do I begin? The food rations were small for the men. Confederate soldiers ate: 12oz of bacon or salted beef, 20oz of cornmeal or bread, peas and rice. They ate these daily. It may sound like alot when you read it, but It was really a tiny portion. If we served our soldiers that now, they would still have half empty stomaches by the end of the day. Many men wrote in journal entrys and letters to family like "Up to date (August 23rd-26th of 1862) didn't get half enough to eat!" said L. Lion, a Confederate Soldier. Most men that signed up for the army were around the ages of 18 to 29, many were some sort of farmer. White male soldiers got paid $11 in 1861, and in 1864 it got raised to $18. African-American's were not allowed in the army.
Most men got 30-40 lbs. of supplies that they carried in knapsacks on their backs or they'd hold it. They got around 7lbs of ammo, a musket or a rifle, and bayonet and a scabbard, a haversack for their rations, a canteen and a blanket or "shelter half." There were many officers in each ranking of the military. There were around 900,000 men in the Confederate army, about 4,460 sailors and 539 marines. There were many casualtys on the Confederate side, you were more likely to die from disease and infection than you were to die in actual battle. The odds of surviving a wound was 7:1. The most common amputation to die from is the hip, and close behind is the knee.
Many soldiers wrote in diarys and wrote letters to their familys. A soldier named Theodore Winthrop wrote in a book, "Boom! I would rather not believe it; but it is- yes- it is - the morning gun, uttering its surly "hullo!" to sunrise. Yes- and to confirm my suspisions, here rattle in the drums and pipes in the fifes, wooing us to get up, get up, with music to prempertory to be harmonious!" This was his account of the morning wake up routine.
Army regulations required camps to be laid out in a grid pattern, with officers' quarters at the front end of each street and enlisted men's quarters aligned to the rear. The camp was set up some what along the same lines as the line of battle, and each company proudly displayed its colors on the outside of their tents. During the summer months, most soldiers slept in canvas tents. Otherwise, they used the Sibley tent. The Sibley tent was a large canvas cone, supported by a center pole. It had a circular opening at the top for ventilation and was heated by a cone-shaped stove, usually 12 men would share, but a shortage of supplies often increased it up to twenty men per tent. As expected, the conditions within these tents were concidered intolerable; bathing was rare.
The morning routine was often much like the Union, awakened to drums and they'd take roll call at 5:00am before their breakfast. To cope with boredom between long drills and meals, men would often sing and dance to keep their spirits up. Hair cuts and other common things like bathing were rare. Most men also seemed to get homesick, which you would expect if you were taken from home for years at a time.
Most men got 30-40 lbs. of supplies that they carried in knapsacks on their backs or they'd hold it. They got around 7lbs of ammo, a musket or a rifle, and bayonet and a scabbard, a haversack for their rations, a canteen and a blanket or "shelter half." There were many officers in each ranking of the military. There were around 900,000 men in the Confederate army, about 4,460 sailors and 539 marines. There were many casualtys on the Confederate side, you were more likely to die from disease and infection than you were to die in actual battle. The odds of surviving a wound was 7:1. The most common amputation to die from is the hip, and close behind is the knee.
Many soldiers wrote in diarys and wrote letters to their familys. A soldier named Theodore Winthrop wrote in a book, "Boom! I would rather not believe it; but it is- yes- it is - the morning gun, uttering its surly "hullo!" to sunrise. Yes- and to confirm my suspisions, here rattle in the drums and pipes in the fifes, wooing us to get up, get up, with music to prempertory to be harmonious!" This was his account of the morning wake up routine.
Army regulations required camps to be laid out in a grid pattern, with officers' quarters at the front end of each street and enlisted men's quarters aligned to the rear. The camp was set up some what along the same lines as the line of battle, and each company proudly displayed its colors on the outside of their tents. During the summer months, most soldiers slept in canvas tents. Otherwise, they used the Sibley tent. The Sibley tent was a large canvas cone, supported by a center pole. It had a circular opening at the top for ventilation and was heated by a cone-shaped stove, usually 12 men would share, but a shortage of supplies often increased it up to twenty men per tent. As expected, the conditions within these tents were concidered intolerable; bathing was rare.
The morning routine was often much like the Union, awakened to drums and they'd take roll call at 5:00am before their breakfast. To cope with boredom between long drills and meals, men would often sing and dance to keep their spirits up. Hair cuts and other common things like bathing were rare. Most men also seemed to get homesick, which you would expect if you were taken from home for years at a time.