CivilWarLife

Duringthe1800'stheoncethirteencoloniescontinuedtogrowtheirowncountry.
EventuallytheAmericanpeoplewouldbegintoformtheirownideasaccordingtooneofthe
mostcontroversialtopicsinthehistoryofAmerica.TheNorthandtheSouthwouldsplitintothe
UnionandConfederacyandwouldfightanddisputeoverslavery.Manycitizensvolunteeredto
participateandbecomesoldiersintheCivilWar.Conditionsforsoldiersinthewarwerevery
brutalandharsh.DeathwasprominentasAmericancitizensdefendedtheirbeliefsofantislavery
orproslavery.
Oneofthemajorcomponentsofasoldier'slifeduringtheCivilWarwastimeatcamp.
Accordingto
HallowedGround
Magazine,asoldier'slifeduringtheCivilWarwasmostlyspent
atcamp,veryrarelyweresoldiersactuallyonthefrontline(Helm).Tomanypeople,thisfact
mightbesurprising.Tobecomestrongcomponentsinthewar,soldiershadtoestablishsuitable
livingquartersincamps,thiswouldeventuallyprovetobeverydifficult.Mostsoldierswerenot
preparedforthevigorouswarlifethatwasaheadofthem.Helmwritesthatmanysoldiers
thoughtlightlyofthewar.Theybelievedthatthewarwouldbefairlyeasyandofshortduration,
afterstoriesofvictoryagainstMexicocirculated.Hedescribeshowlifewouldhavebeenharder
becausesoldiersjustweren'tpreparedmentallyorphysicallyforthedifficultiesofwar.
Fromthesoldierseyes,theyviewedtheFrontLineasaplacetoshowone'sdevotionand
libertytowardstheircountry.Soldiersdidn'tunderstandthelosstotheirfutures,becausethey
believedthewarwouldonlylastafewmonths,andthattherewouldnotbemuchdeath,where,
writesGaryHelmofthe
HallowedGround
Magazine,

twiceasmanyCivilWarsoldiers
succumbedtodeathfromdiseaseasfrombullets,shellsandbayonets."Helmdescribesthat

hundredsofthousandsofsoldiersdiedfromthislesshonorableway.Thishelpsprovethat
conditionsoftheCivilWarwereworsethanexpected.Notonlywerehundredsofthousandsof
soldiersdyingonthebattlefront,buttwiceofthatnumberweredyingfromotherconditionssuch
asdiseaseandstarvationbackatcamp.
Notonlywaslifeatcampunexpectedlylongforthesoldiersbuttheconditionsatcamp
wereactuallyveryharshandbrutal.Asstatedin
civilwarhome.com
.,camplifeforthesoldiers
wasterrible,thesoldierswerepoorlyorganized,poorlyfed,poorlyclothedandpoorlytrained.
Atmanytimesthesoldiershadnothingtodoandwentwithoutcomfortmaterials(Commager).
Commagerhelpsillustratehowawfulcamplifewasforbothpartiesofthewar.Camplifewas
harshforboththeConfederatesandtheUnion,theseconditionswereahugefactorinthenumber
ofdeathsfromdiseaseforbothPartyssoldiers.
AssoldiersperseveredthroughouttheCivilWartheytriedtomakelifeatcampthebest
thattheycould.AnarticlebyHenryCommagerin
civilwarhome.com
states,"theCivilWar
armieswereyouthful,highspirited,sentimental,andforthemostpartmoral."Hestatesthat
soldierstriedtocreatetheirownrecreationalactivitiesandkeeptheirhopeshigh.These
dedicatedsoldierssoonrealizedthatthewarwouldlastlongerthantheyhadexpected.Theyhad
tospendmoretimeattheircampandtheytriedtomakethebestoutofthedifficultsituation.
Sinceconditionswereharshandmanypeopleweredying,soldierstriedtokeeptheirheadsup
andlookpasttheawfulthingsthatwerehappeningduringthewar.Overall,theCivilWar
soldierswereextremelybraveandcourageousastheycontinuedthroughouttheseterrible
circumstances.

Althoughsoldierstriedtokeeptheirhopesandtheirspiritshigh,theywerestillinthe
middleofawarwithharshcruelconditions.AccordingtoanarticlebyHenryCommagerin
civilwarhome.com
,"Monthsandmonthstheywerewithoutachangeofunderclothing,ora
chancetowashthattheyhadwornsolong."Commagercontinuestodescribehowthesweatand
dustmadeitswayintosoldiersclothing,mostsoldierswouldgoforweekswithoutaproper
cleaning.Mostpeopledidnotrealizeallthehardshipsthatthesoldierswentthrough.As
describedbefore,moresoldiersdiedfromdisease,famineandconditionsthanthosethatdiedin
battle.
AnothercomponenttosoldierslivesduringtheCivilWarwastheirtimeatthe
battlefront.Thoughbattlefieldtimewasnotascommonastheirtimeincamp,lifeonthe
battlefrontwasstillverydeadlyandhorrific.OntheFrontLine,soldiersexperiencedfirsthand
eithertheircomradesdyingorbeingcapturedinfrontofthem.AjournalentrybysoldierW.
Adamsin
nps.gov
describesthatmanysoldiersinAdamsRegimentwerenotkilledorinjured,
butthemajortyofthemweretakenawayasPrisonersofWar.Thiswasabrutalpartofthewar,
wherenotonlyaresoldierskilledandinjured,butmanyarecapturedandtorturedbytheenemy.
Thereareseveralaccountsofsoldierswritinghometotheirwivesandchildrenafter
tragicexperiencesonthefrontline.AjournalentrybyBirdBWrightin
nps.gov
.explainshow
Birdiswritinghometohiswife,heexplainsthatheisbadlywoundedanddoesn'tknowifheis
goingtomakeit.Hewritestohiswifeandexpresseshisloveforher.Therearemanyother
journalentriesjustlikethisonefromdesperatesoldierswritingtotheirworriedfamiliesand
lovedones.Notonlyhavethesoldiersfacedhardshipsandsadnessbutsohavetheirfamiliesat
home.

Soldiershaverelationshipswiththeirfamiliesandlovedonesbuttheyalsoform
relationshipswiththeircomradesincampandoutonthebattlefield.The
RedBadgeofCourage
byStephenCraneillustratesthesorrowofasoldierwhoislayingdownonthebattlefieldlooking
intotheblankstaresofhisfallendeadcomradesandtheirburntfaces(73).Soldiersareputinto
regimensandareforcedtospendalldaywitheachother,eventuallyovertimethesemengrow
closeandformedstrongbonds.Thedeathofthesesoldierfriendswasabrutalconsequenceof
theCivilWarthatsoldiershadtoface.Thesemencouldnotescapewhattheyweregoing
throughorwhathorriblethingstheyhadnotyetexperienced.
ManytimesduringCivilWarbattles,soldierswerefacedwithlifeordeathsituations.A
soldiercoulddieveryquicklyandeasilyduringbattleinthewar.The
RedBadgeofCourage
by
StephenCranestatesthatmanytimestroopleadershadtograbsoldiersandpullthemaway
becauseinsomecircumstancesifsoldiersstayedputbecauseoffeartheywoulddie(80).The
fearofdeathwasallaroundthemduringthewar,soldierswhowerenotpreparedweremost
likelytodieeitherfromdiseaseorbattle.
TheCivilWarinvolvedmanyseriesofverybloodyandviolentbattles.Soldierswere
facedwithextremelypoorconditionsallaroundthemmanyoftheseleadingtodeath.Notonly
weresoldiersinjuredorkilledbutmanywerePrisonersofWar.Moresoldiersdiedfromdisease
thanthoseonthebattlefront.Soldierswereforcedtowritehometolovedonesandexplainto
themhowtheyweren'tgoingtomakeithome.Bothcamplifeandlifeonthebattlefrontwere
horribleconditions,soldiersfacedpoor,harsh,andviolentsituationsleadingtohundredsof
thousandsofsoldiersdyingduringtheCivilWar.

WORKSCITED
Adams,W.AntietamNationalBattlefieldLettersandDiariesofSoldiersandCiviliansnps.gov,30
Sep.1862web.29Nov.2015
Commanger,HenrySteeleHowtheCivilWarSoldiersLived
TheBlueandtheGrey
CivilWarHome,
2Oct.2002,Web.29Nov.2015
Crane,Stephen.TheRedBadgeofCourage.1895.FourClassicAmericanNovels.Ed.SandraNewman.
NewYork:SignetClassics,2007.
Helm,GaryLifeoftheCivilWarSoldierintheArmy
HallowedGroundMagazine
,2013web.29
Nov2015
Wright,BirdB.AntietamNationalBattlefieldLettersandDiariesofSoldiersandCiviliansnps.gov,21
Sep.1862web.29Nov2015