The Daily Life in a Civil War Camp :: essays research papers

Officers in the field lived much better than enlisted manpower. They generally assigned one or two officers to a tent. Since they bring home the bacond their own personal gear, items varied greatly and reflected somebody taste. Each junior officer was allowed one trunk of personal place that was carried in one of the baggage wagons. Higher-ranking officers were allowed more baggage. Unlike infantrymen, who slept and sit on whatever nature provided, officers sometimes had the luxury of furniture.Enlisted men, unlike their officers, had to head for the hills all their belongings on their back. On long marches men were unwilling to carry more than the absolute essentials. Even so, soldiers ended up carrying about 30 to 40 pounds. Each soldier was issued half of a tent. It was designed to join with another soldiers half to make headway a panoptic size tent. The odd man lost out. When suitable wooden poles were not available for tent supports, soldiers would sometimes use their wea pons. Soldiers endured the daily round of entwine calls, meals, drills, inspections, and fatigue duties. Throughout this tedious and seemingly endless routine, it was often the personal necessities sent or brought from home, or purchased from sutlers (licensed provisioners to the army) that made camp life tolerable. numerous of these items were used for personal hygiene, grooming, and keeping uniforms in repair. Today these diminutive legacies provide us with a very personal and tangible connection to the soldiers of the civic War.Confederate and fusion soldiers added various clothing and equipment to their military issue . To make their life more tolerable, they brought various personal items to camp or were presumption them by family and friends. Few soldiers owned all the items in this exhibit, although most had at least some of them.A variety of personal items were used by Civil War soldiers.Confederate and Union soldiers often wore civilian-style underwear that they provide d themselves. Officers and blind drunk individuals frequently wore linen undergarments purchased from commercial houses. Junior officers and enlisted men, on the other hand, normally wore military issued cotton and wool garments.Confederate "haversacks" were used to carry solid food rations. These bags were typically made of linen and lacked the waterproofing found on Union counterparts. Personal effects grew in number during long encampments and were reduced to a minimum during long marches and battles.Items would generally be boxed and stored in military bases or shipped to quartermaster storehouses to be held until the campaigning season was over.