Civil War Soldier Life Essay
Life of a Civil War soldier
During the Civil War, over two million men and boys went to war, each with varied backgrounds and different stories to be told. While it is hard for many modern day Americans to fathom the hell these soldiers faced on a daily basis, it is possible to recreate illustrations of all the hardships faced through many documents recorded by the men with their first-person accounts of the battles. The lifestyle of a soldier in the Civil War consisted of multiple hardships on a daily basis which caused frequent issues in war, diminishing the number of troops on either side and causing the performance of the survivors to fall. Many of these problems are caused by extreme physical stress, many facing starvation due to malnourishment, …show more content…
In countless circumstances soldiers were faced with extreme harsh conditions without the proper clothing and shelters to keep them warm or even dry. This created miserable housing environments which impeded on soldiers’ rest, driving some to extreme actions. A soldier during the Civil war didn't have much to begin with as they had to travel light. The Union soldiers attire typically consisted of a wool uniform, a belt set with a variety of different objects, a wool blanket, a shelter half along with a variety of personal items. However the southerners Uniforms were quite different if they had one at all being as many were sent from home often of poor quality also being hard to obtain (“Clothing of the Civil War Soldiers”). Through these descriptions of the Civil War soldiers’ attire it can be inferred that they had clothes of poor quality, not properly protecting them from their environments. This lack of protection and extreme weather prompted some to commit loathsome acts, stealing, “clothing and food from a smallpox hospital…[the irregulars] took every stitch of clothing they could find...The extremely contagious nature of smallpox apparently did not discourage them” (Stith 333). This is just one of many odious acts some soldiers performed showing the desperate measures some took to as they raided hospitals full of the sick for better clothing even though they were infected with
During the Civil War, over two million men and boys went to war, each with varied backgrounds and different stories to be told. While it is hard for many modern day Americans to fathom the hell these soldiers faced on a daily basis, it is possible to recreate illustrations of all the hardships faced through many documents recorded by the men with their first-person accounts of the battles. The lifestyle of a soldier in the Civil War consisted of multiple hardships on a daily basis which caused frequent issues in war, diminishing the number of troops on either side and causing the performance of the survivors to fall. Many of these problems are caused by extreme physical stress, many facing starvation due to malnourishment, …show more content…
In countless circumstances soldiers were faced with extreme harsh conditions without the proper clothing and shelters to keep them warm or even dry. This created miserable housing environments which impeded on soldiers’ rest, driving some to extreme actions. A soldier during the Civil war didn't have much to begin with as they had to travel light. The Union soldiers attire typically consisted of a wool uniform, a belt set with a variety of different objects, a wool blanket, a shelter half along with a variety of personal items. However the southerners Uniforms were quite different if they had one at all being as many were sent from home often of poor quality also being hard to obtain (“Clothing of the Civil War Soldiers”). Through these descriptions of the Civil War soldiers’ attire it can be inferred that they had clothes of poor quality, not properly protecting them from their environments. This lack of protection and extreme weather prompted some to commit loathsome acts, stealing, “clothing and food from a smallpox hospital…[the irregulars] took every stitch of clothing they could find...The extremely contagious nature of smallpox apparently did not discourage them” (Stith 333). This is just one of many odious acts some soldiers performed showing the desperate measures some took to as they raided hospitals full of the sick for better clothing even though they were infected with