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................................................ Lt. Custer and friend,
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Despite orders to the contrary, many soldiers kept pets with them including dogs, cats, squirrels, raccoons, and other wildlife. One regiment from Wisconsin even had a pet eagle that was carried on its own perch next to the regimental flags. General Lee was purported to have had a pet chicken that faithfully delivered a fresh egg for the general everyday. By far the most popular pets appears to have been dogs and their presence with a master in camp or on the march was often overlooked by high commanders. Many officers, including General George Armstrong Custer who kept a number of dogs around his headquarters, favored the hardiness of these loyal companions and their companionship was, as one soldier put it, a "soothing connection" with home. Both the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry and the 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA) had singular dogs that followed the men through the most difficult campaigns including Gettysburg. Sallie, the 11th Pennsylvania's unofficial mascot, is remembered in a bronze likeness on the regimental monument at Gettysburg and symoblized there for its loyalty to the dead of the regiment. The canine that accompanied the 1st Maryland was regrettably killed in action on July 3 at Culp's Hill, after having participated in the charge of the regiment. So struck by the animal's gallantry and loyalty to its human companions, a Union officer ordered the animal be given a proper burial alongside the dead of 1st Maryland.
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North Carolina troops were present at Chickamauga, the 2nd bloodiest battle of the war. The Confederate commander was Braxton Bragg, who was born in Warrenton, NC.
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Originally Posted by Dave76
This has been an interesting thread. I have a whole slew of ancestors who fought in that war on the Confederate side including a number who were killed. Several of them fought with the South Fork Farmers, also known as
Company C, 28th Regiment N.C. Troops. One ancestor who lost his life, George Kaylor, wrote numerous letters to his family members in Catawba County, which have been passed down in the family, and I've even been fortunate to find a couple photos of him from the early 1860's.
For me, my pride and fascination with my Civil War ancestors is just that sense of having a personal connection with one of the most dramatic moments in American history. Moreover, with any war, even if you don't agree with the cause, there are certain aspects of it that one can admire: the sacrifice, bravery in battle, etc. For me it's no more complicated than that.
Nice pictures & a good assortment of letters.
For what it's worth, if you don't know already, that's an actual hairdo that he's sporting. I was sent a copy of a picture of the g-g-great uncle who was captured at Chickamauga. He had the exact same hairdo. I thought it was just unruly hair until I saw some other pictures of western theater soldiers with exactly the same "unruly" hair.
I did a lot of searching & eventually found a picture with a label & a few lines written. Apparently, they used macassar oil & pomade to get that look.
My soldier was a farm boy, in an Indiana regiment. The others that I saw had that farm-boy look, & were in Midwestern regiments.
Last edited by southbound_295; 06-03-2010 at 12:18 PM..
Moderator note again this is not a debate thread
If you fill you want to share your input you have that right
please do it in this existing thread Is the American civil war really over??
PLEASE THIS THREAD IS ABOUT OUR BRAVE SOLDIERS NOT THE POLITICS
I HAVE WARNED TWICE READ POST 60 OR ELSE
Cooking over the campfire.[
[(Hardtack and Coffee)
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"Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more!" By far, the food soldiers received has been the source of more stories than any other aspect of army life. The Union soldier received a variety of edibles. The food issue, or ration, was usually meant to last three days while on active campaign and was based on the general staples of meat and bread. Meat usually came in the form of salted pork or, on rare occasions, fresh beef. Rations of pork or beef were boiled, broiled or fried over open campfires. Army bread was a flour biscuit called hardtack, re-named "tooth-dullers", "worm castles", and "sheet iron crackers" by the soldiers who ate them. Hardtack could be eaten plain though most men preferred to toast them over a fire, crumble them into soups, or crumble and fry them with their pork and bacon fat in a dish called skillygalee. Other food items included rice, peas, beans, dried fruit, potatoes, molasses, vinegar, and salt. Baked beans were a northern favorite when the time could be taken to prepare them and a cooking pot with a lid could be obtained. Coffee was a most desirable staple and some soldiers considered the issue of coffee and accompanying sugar more important than anything else. Coffee beans were distributed green so it was up to the soldiers to roast and grind them. The task for this most desirable of beverages was worth every second as former soldier John Billings recalled: "What a Godsend it seemed to us at times! How often after being completely jaded by a night march... have I had a wash, if there was water to be had, made and drunk my pint or so of coffee and felt as fresh and invigorated as if just arisen from a night's sound sleep!"
For what it's worth, if you don't know already, that's an actual hairdo that he's sporting. I was sent a copy of a picture of the g-g-great uncle who was captured at Chickamauga. He had the exact same hairdo. I thought it was just unruly hair until I saw some other pictures of western theater soldiers with exactly the same "unruly" hair.
I did a lot of searching & eventually found a picture with a label & a few lines written. Apparently, they used macassar oil & pomade to get that look.
My soldier was a farm boy, in an Indiana regiment. The others that I saw had that farm-boy look, & were in Midwestern regiments.
That's interesting about the hairdo thing. I wasn't aware of that. I was told by a Civil War buff that he could tell just from looking at one of the photos that the rifle was the more primitive type used early in the war before they began capturing Union rifles and before the technology improved on both sides. Just as an aside, and speaking of photos, it is amazing that there are apparently no known photos of Charlotte during the Civil War even though it served as the Confederate headquarters at the end of the war.
That's interesting about the hairdo thing. I wasn't aware of that. I was told by a Civil War buff that he could tell just from looking at one of the photos that the rifle was the more primitive type used early in the war before they began capturing Union rifles and before the technology improved on both sides. Just as an aside, and speaking of photos, it is amazing that there are apparently no known photos of Charlotte during the Civil War even though it served as the Confederate headquarters at the end of the war.
You know, I haven't seen any photos of Charlotte during that period but I had not consciously thought about it. That is very interesting. Now I want to contact all the families I know who might have photos from the period and see if there are some in existence that haven't been shared publicly.
Soldiers often grouped themselves into a "mess" to combine and share rations, often with one soldier selected as cook or split duty between he and another man. But while on active campaign, rations were usually prepared by each man to the individual's taste. It was considered important for the men to cook the meat ration as soon as it was issued, for it could be eaten cold if activity prevented cook fires. A common campaign dinner was salted pork sliced over hardtack with coffee boiled in tin cups that each man carried.
The southern soldier's diet was considerably different from his northern counterpart and usually in much less quantity. The average Confederate subsisted on bacon, cornmeal, molasses, peas, tobacco, vegetables and rice. They also received a coffee substitute which was not as desirable as the real coffee northerners had. Trades of tobacco for coffee were quite common throughout the war when fighting was not underway. Other items for trade or barter included newspapers, sewing needles, buttons, and currency.
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Soldiers loved to sing and there were many tunes popular in both armies. A variety of instruments were available to musically minded soldiers including guitars, banjos, flutes, and harmonicas. More industrious soldiers fashioned string instruments such as fiddles out of wooden cigar boxes. Regimental or brigade bands often played during the evening hours and there were instances of army bands being heard to play favorite tunes for the opposition when the armies were separated by a river or siege line. Some of the more popular tunes for southerners were "Lorena", "Maryland My Maryland", and "The Bonnie Blue Flag". Union soldiers had "The Battle Cry Of Freedom", "Battle Hymn of the Republic", and "Tenting on the Old Campground" as favorites. The men of both sides also enjoyed minstrel tunes such as "My Old Kentucky Home", "The Arkansas Traveler", and "Dixie".
Religion was very important in the soldier's daily routine. Many of the men attended church services on a regular basis and some even carried small testaments with the rest of their baggage. Union and Confederate armies had numerous regimental and brigade chaplains. These loyal officers also acted as assistants in field hospitals comforting the sick and wounded, and writing letters home for those who could not write. Chaplains held field services for their respective units and most accompanied the soldiers as they marched onto the battlefield. Father William Corby, the chaplain of the Irish Brigade, is best remembered for his granting of unconditional absolution to the members of the brigade before they marched into battle in the Wheatfield on July 2nd. Father Corby was immensely popular with the men and in the post-war era became president of Notre Dame University.
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Originally Posted by Dave76
That's interesting about the hairdo thing. I wasn't aware of that. I was told by a Civil War buff that he could tell just from looking at one of the photos that the rifle was the more primitive type used early in the war before they began capturing Union rifles and before the technology improved on both sides. Just as an aside, and speaking of photos, it is amazing that there are apparently no known photos of Charlotte during the Civil War even though it served as the Confederate headquarters at the end of the war.
LOL, The " 'do" was the first thing that I saw, before his face, & to be truthful, I laughed. I thought that that hairdo was a "western" thing. I have seen something darned close in pictures of western theater Confederates, but there it was on an eastern theater soldier from NC!
Some of the eastern theater Confederates were issued the newfangled rifle-bored rifles (Springfield - American, Enfield - English) early in the war, but they ran out. The north ran out as well, but both sides got some European guns, & the northern gun factories went into a production push. I believe that there was a plant near Richmond, but they just couldn't keep up, so the Confederates would appropriate guns from dead Yankees & hope that it worked & used ammunition that they could get. I doubt that very many of the NC troops were issued the new guns, since they joined later.
As to war-time pictures of Charlotte, I've never seen any either, but then the only war-time pictures of Atlanta that I've seen were taken by Yankee photographers travelling with the western armies. Apparently, they took them & sold them for various purposes.
The National Archives & Library of Congress have a lot of Civil War pictures online.
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Harpers Weekly was a major source of news during the Civil War. There are wartime issues online. Unfortunately, not every page of every issue is there, but it's interesting.
The April 27, 1861 issue published reactions of some states, including North Carolina's to Lincoln's April, 1861 call for troops. The NC governor said no & apparently, it ticked off enough people that that helped to sway them to leave.
So, apparently, they were ticked off & when TN left that was enough to get them to leave.
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