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**[The Civil War Soldier]{.underline}**

**Approximately 3,000,000 Union and Confederate soldiers fought in the
Civil War. The soldiers endured common hardships and shared the same
hopes. The men in blue and grey were more alike than unalike. To
understand this period of our Nation\'s history, we should attempt to
see it through the experiences of these soldiers.**

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| ![](media/image2.jpeg){wi | **Background**:    | accommodate a man  |
| dth="2.247916666666667in" |                    | standing in        |
| heig                      | Occupations of all | position. This was |
| ht="2.946527777777778in"} | soldiers were not  | the favorite type  |
|                           | as varied as would | with officers.     |
| **Federal Infantryman,    | exist in a troop   |                    |
| 6^th^ Vermont , \~1862**  | call-up today. A   | By the end of the  |
|                           | survey of 9,000    | war, the dog tent  |
| !                         | Civil War soldiers | was the most       |
| [](media/image3.jpeg){wid | occupations        | popular shelter.   |
| th="2.2506944444444446in" | contained 5,600    |                    |
| height="3.2in"}           | farmers. The next  | Designed for two   |
|                           | vocations were     | men, it too had a  |
| **Confederate             | students (474),    | horizontal         |
| infantryman, \~1861-2**   | laborers (472),    | crossbar at the    |
|                           | and clerks (321).  | top, but was much  |
| Musket                    |                    | more shallow than  |
|                           | **Pay**:           | the wedge tent.    |
| Haversack \[Bread Bag\]   |                    |                    |
|                           | Union: \$13.00 per | Winter quarters    |
| Cartridge Box             | month;             | were divided into  |
|                           |                    | two types. One was |
| Rubber & Woolen Blanket   | Confederate:       | \"bombproofs,\"    |
| Bayonet & Scabbard        | \$11.00 per month  | consisting of      |
|                           |                    | excavations with   |
| Canteen & Knapsack:       | **Shelters**:      | roofs built a foot |
| Underclothes, stationery, |                    | or two above       |
|                           | Three basic types  | ground level. The  |
| tooth brush, razor, soap, | of canvas shelters | second type was a  |
|                           | existed at the     | long hut           |
| books, and a mending kit. | time of the Civil  | reminiscent of the |
| Metal plate, knife, fork, | War. The largest   | frontier pioneers. |
|                           | was the Sibley     |                    |
| spoon and cup.            | tent, bell-shaped  | **Age**:           |
|                           | and supported by   |                    |
| **Arms**:                 | an upright pole.   | Ages ranged from   |
|                           | It could hold as   | 11 years to 80. 25 |
| The musket was the most   | many as twenty     | was the age of     |
|                           | soldiers at once - | most Federal       |
| important part of the     | so long as they    | Soldiers.          |
| soldiers\' equipment, The | slept in positions |                    |
| Union armies initially    | like the spokes of | **Equipment**:     |
| used eighty-one types of  | a wheel.           |                    |
| muskets. They ranged in   |                    | Soldiers were      |
| caliber from .45 to .75.  | The \"A\" wedge    | issued the         |
| The .58 caliber           | tent had           | following:         |
|                           |                    |                    |
| Springfield rifle-musket  | a horizontal ridge | Uniform            |
| was the most prevalent    | pole and was tall  |                    |
| shoulder arm of           | enough to          | (continued on next |
|                           |                    | page)              |
|                           | the Civil War.     |                    |
|                           | Next in popularity | through the        |
|                           | was the            | barriers of        |
|                           | British-made       | hostility,         |
|                           | Enfield            | discrimination and |
|                           | rifle-musket.      | tragedy.           |
|                           |                    |                    |
|                           | **Nationalities**: | Approximately, a   |
|                           |                    | total of 179,000   |
|                           | One of every five  | African-Americans  |
|                           | soldiers was       | served as soldiers |
|                           | foreign-born. The  | in the Civil War.  |
|                           | greatest flood of  | They were          |
|                           | European           | organized into 120 |
|                           | immigration        | infantry           |
|                           | occurred in the    | regiments, 22      |
|                           | decades just       | artillery          |
|                           | before the Civil   | batteries, and 7   |
|                           | War, New England   | cavalry units. Of  |
|                           | and the Midwest    | this number, 2,750 |
|                           | became home for a  | died in battle;    |
|                           | majority of those  | the remaining      |
|                           | new citizens.      | 65,450 perished    |
|                           |                    | from wounds and    |
|                           | **The Black        | disease.           |
|                           | Soldier**:         | Twenty-one blacks  |
|                           |                    | received the       |
|                           | The idea of using  | Congressional      |
|                           | former slaves as   | Medal of Honor for |
|                           | soldiers           | gallantry in       |
|                           | progressed slowly  | action.            |
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| ![](media/image           | ![](media/i                              |
| 4.jpeg){width="2.20625in" | mage5.jpeg){width="3.5520833333333335in" |
| heigh                     | height="2.717361111111111in"}            |
| t="2.6993055555555556in"} |                                          |
|                           | **6^th^ Maine Infantry at                |
| **Federal infantryman**   | Fredericksburg, VA**                     |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------+

**Federal camp, Centreville, Virginia Winter of 1861-62**

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| | To learn more about the life   | Springfield Armory NHS         |   |
| | of the Civil War era soldier,  |                                |   |
| | we recommend the following     | One Armory Square, Suite Two   |   |
| | books:                         |                                |   |
| |                                | Springfield, MA 01105-1299     |   |
| | **Black Soldiers in the Civil  |                                |   |
| | War**, by Alan                 | \(413\) 734-8551               |   |
| |                                |                                |   |
| | Archambault, Bellerophon       | Website:                       |   |
| | Books, 1995.                   | [www.nps.gov/                  |   |
| |                                | spar](http://www.nps.gov/spar) |   |
| | **The Civil War's Common       |                                |   |
| | Soldier**, by James I.         | Email:                         |   |
| |                                | <SPAR_Interpretation@nps.gov>  |   |
| | Robertson, Jr., Eastern        |                                |   |
| | National Park &                |                                |   |
| |                                |                                |   |
| | Monument Association, 1994.    |                                |   |
| |                                |                                |   |
| | **Reliving the Civil War**, by |                                |   |
| | R. Lee Hadden,                 |                                |   |
| |                                |                                |   |
| | Stackpole Books, 1996.         |                                |   |
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