Technology has changed the way that soldiers work on an everyday basis. Technology helps the soldiers function in everyday life. There are many ways that life as a soldier during the Civil War is different than life as a soldier during the War in Iraq. Life as a soldier during wartime is extremely different now than it had been over a century ago.
The Revolutionary War brought great hardships to American soldiers. There was a lack of food, clothing, and pay to all Continental soldiers. As a soldier, you begin to realize how close you are to nature, and you also begin to really respect nature. You are close to nature when you are crawling on your stomach through mud, prowling through thick primary forests in the middle of the night, or charging up a hill to secure the top.
African Americans served in the Revolutionary War because they wanted slavery to come to an end. The soldiers in the Revolutionary War suffered so much that they were tracked by the blood off of their feet on the frozen ground. When soldiers did their job, they were promised the following articles for a ration: one pound of salt beef or three quarter pounds of salt pork, one pound of flour, soft or hard bread, a quart of salt for every hundred poinds of fresh beef, a quart of vinegar for a hundred rations, a gill of rum, brandy or whiskey per day, some soap and candles, and rice.
Soldiers often went up to four days without a morsel of food, unless the fields or forests might chance to afford enough to prevent absolute starvation. Almost beyon relief, it is very common to march twenty-four to forty-eight hours and often more than two days without any sleep.
The War of 1812 brought great hardships, and it included one woman in the war. The War of 1812 is commonly known as America’s second War of Independence. During the outbreak of the War in 1812, it was believed by soldiers that the Riflemen would have been very valuable in most operations. So, in 1813, three more regiments were authorized and in early 1814 were recruited and raised. However, the second and third regiments did not see much action, but the first and fourth regiments were very active. They were especially active in the Niagara Campaigns of 1814. African Americans served in the War of 1812 and othther early wars because they felt it was their duty to serve their country.
Early in March 1863, the Draft Law was adopted to guarentee more manpower which made all men, ages twenty to forty-five, liable to military service. When the first drawings for the draft began, riots broke out in many places – from New England to Wisconsin. In New York City riots raged in the streets for four days, July 13 to July 16.
The Civil War was one of America’s bloodiest and most fascinating conflicts, and the “War Between the States” was primarily a soldiers war. There were a total of 618,000 soldiers found dead during the Civil War and 375,000 soldiers wounded in the line of duty, from both the Union army and the Confederate army. During the Civil War, health facilities were not that were not that sanitary. The Confederate army and the Union army wre both equipped with inadequate hospital facilities, which ahd poorly organized medical staffs.
Throughout the entire Civil War, diseases were very common. In fact, Dysentery and diarrhea were the most common of camp diseases, and after those two diseases came malaria, typhoid, pneumonia, scurvy and much more. Some of the causes of these diseases are: neglect of personal cleanliness, bad garbage disposal, poor clothing and shelter, and exposure to all kinds of weather. Camps were set up in swamps, drainage was poor, tents were placed too closely together, and latrines wre often just narrow trenches. Diseases took more victims in the Civil War than an actual bullet did, and the death toll from both armies was enormous. In the Federal Forces, four men died of sickness for every one killed in battle.
The Civil War lasted four years, from 1861 to 1865, and when it began, the balance of opposing forces were very uneven. If the cast of war is measured by the casualties in a war, then teh Civil War took the greatest toll of all American Wars. It was said that the Union and Confederate forces had a combined 30% to 40% of all casualties. The range and accuracy of the infantry’s rifled muskets made it next to impossible for mounted men to attack foot soldiers in position.
The life of African American soldiers during the Civil War was brual. When African Americans were given the chance, they joined the Civil War eagerly because they felt it was their duty to erve their country. Many African Americans served in state units, elsewhere in the armed forces, and as laborers for the Union Army. Black servicemen suffered unequal pay, allowances, and opportunities throughout the war. By the end of the war, 100,000 African Americans were enrolled as United States Volunteers. Some African Americans had been barred from the Regular Army and under the Militia Act of 1792, from the State Militia.
Days during the Civil War went by rather quickly for the soldiers that were active in battle. In Missouri and Arkansas, fighting had erupted on a large scale by the early spring of 1862. Also in the spring of 1862, a regiment of African American volunteers in South Carolina formed under the abolitionist General David Hunter. However, after three months of service, the African American soldiers regiment of volunteers in South Carolina were disbanded by government orders. On July 17, 1862, Congress authorized recruitment of African Americans while passing the antislavery Second Confiscation Act.
According to African Americans, the Emancipation Proclamation meant that the nation had chance to live up to the full implications of its democratic creed. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that all people that were considered slaves were to be set free by the order of President Abraham Lincoln. On January 1,1863, throughout the North and in thouse parts of the South held by Union troops, crows cheered as the words of the Emancipation Proclamation came voer the wires, and yells rocketed into the air. After three months of service, the African American soldiers regiment of South Carolina were disbanded by government orders. This regiment ws disbanded by government orders after the Civil War and it was largely forgotten as time passed. Many of the African American soldiers, along with all of the other soldiers, had to sleep in tents on the cold ground which is how some of their diseases were contracted. Since some of the tents were located in swamps, they practically had to sleep in the swamps. Drainage was poor, so it wasn’t that sanitary in the camps where the soldiers slept.
During the Civil War, soldiers seldom had free time to write to loved ones or think about loved ones or to sleep, but when they did have freee time they would sing songs. The songs that the soldiers would sing wre made up by anonymous Americas, responding to the events of the moment. There are many different types of songs that the soldiers would sing to pass the time. Some examples of what the songs were about are: a soldier leaving home, life in the training camps, the agony of the battlefield, the celebration of the victiories, and the song that became known as the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
After the rout of Union forces at Bull Run, abolitionists foresaw the disaster would shock the North out of its easy optimism. The disaster would also make the North view the issue of slavery in another light. While this was not yet officially a war to free the slaves, Union troops inevitably became liberators. Union soldier casualties amounted to 360,000 dead and 275,000 wounded. Many of the soldiers in the Union army suffered external wounds like broken arms, broken legs, and even some bullet wounds. Some of the other ways Union soldiers died were by all of the diseases that they were in close contact with. Many of the diseases were contagious, and that is why some of the diseases contributed to the death toll of Union casualties.
Confederate soldier casualties were not as high as the Union soldier casualties, but it still was a lot of soldiers lives lost during the Civil War. 258,000 Confederate soldiers died and 100,000 Confederate soldiers were wounded. Most of these soldiers wounds were internal. Many of the soldiers suffered from bullet wounds to the abdomen, stomach, shoulders, and even in the head. Some of the soldiers died from the same diseases that many of the Union soldiers died from.
Life as a soldier during the Battle of Gettysburg was very demanding.
During 1863, the soldiers ended up doing drills for about 2 hours everyday. They hardly got any sleep and when they did get sleep, it wasn’t enough, ut that’s the sacrifice they made to serve their country. Outposts of both armies clashed during the afternoon of June 30 near the quiet little market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. By noon on July 1, 1863, the First and Eleventh Corps of the Army of the Potomac, led by Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell, had joined in the Battle of Gettysburg. Lieutenant General Ewell’s Corps advanced from the North, broke the lines of the Eleventh Corps and drove the Federals back through Gettysburg. Lieutenant General Ewell’s troops attacked Lieutenant Captain Thomas Carter’s artillery battalion upon Oak Hill. The Battle of Gettysburg was a bloody one. Altogether, 51,112 soldiers from both the Dederal and Confederate sides had died.
On the Confederate side of the battle, General Lee had not been able to attack early in Gettysburg. Confederate soldiers needed to reconnaissance, which took time, and General James Longstreet’s leading division did not arrive until the afternoon of July 1, 1863. On July 1, Union cavalrymen fought a dismounted delaying action against advance troops of Lieutenant General Ambrose P. Hill’s Corps northwest of town. During the outbreak of the Civil War, Ambrose Hill joined the Confederate army, although his army was held in reserve at the Battle of Bull Run which took place in July of 1861.
