“Bullets, fragments of shell, grape and canister sing over and around, louder than songs of Southern katydids … canister are cutting swaths of humans in the kneeling rows … the blood-soaked earth is being dug up in chunks by ripping balls.”
Chaotic scenes like this description of the Battle of Chickamauga are often what come to mind when describing the American Civil War experience.
But does this capture a complete experience?
It is estimated that Civil War soldiers spent less than one-quarter of their time in combat. What challenges did these men face as they waited, sometimes for months, between battles?
Although some fought in prior wars, most of the roughly 3 million soldiers were citizen soldiers, most just 18-21 years old. Despite their uniforms, these individuals came from civilian life and expected to return to it after the war — farmers, lawyers, students, clerks, businessmen, and teachers. Taking civilians and readying them for battle proved a daily task, filling many soldiers’ days with drilling and refining military skills. Soldiers of the Confederate Army of Tennessee recorded drilling four to five hours each day, in both summer heat and winter cold.