Analyzes personal history accounts of Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War.
This paper examines diaries, letters and memoirs of lower-ranked officers and “regular” enlisted men to illustrate the life of a soldier in the Confederate army during the United States Civil War. The paper includes a look at ten different narratives of the war in the South that drew a picture of soldiers with very little supply, a disorganized army, and of soldiers with a lot of belief in their cause.
“All soldiers described their different duties in normal non-combat deployment. They included guarding, drilling and maintaining the camp and their weapons. During marching (for battles) this routine would broke, replaced by the routine of marching.
“Regular soldiers had variety of jobs. Many expressed boredom by the normality of life between battles. Their missions between battles were guarding the camp/its fences (“picket duty”) and drilling, three times a day , as well as logistical preparations, such as chalking cords of wood . Guarding duty was the main part of the enlisted duties. In Winter Camp, the duties included “… guard duty, drilling, cleaning […] guns, attending dress parade and many other things necessary to a winter camp” . Another duty during the sometimes-long intermissions between marching was to catch deserters.”
“Regular soldiers had variety of jobs. Many expressed boredom by the normality of life between battles. Their missions between battles were guarding the camp/its fences (“picket duty”) and drilling, three times a day , as well as logistical preparations, such as chalking cords of wood . Guarding duty was the main part of the enlisted duties. In Winter Camp, the duties included “… guard duty, drilling, cleaning […] guns, attending dress parade and many other things necessary to a winter camp” . Another duty during the sometimes-long intermissions between marching was to catch deserters.”