Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Category: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War --- See latest Civil War news here

Albert Woolson was the last known surviving Civil War Union veteran
Albert Woolson smoked 8 cigars a day and lived past his 109th birthday. When he died in 1956, he was the last known living Civil War Union veteran. Over 2 million of his comrades had already died. Another claim to fame for Woolson: He was the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic, GAR. Benjamin Franklin Stephenson founded the GAR in 1866. Even though the veterans might have wanted to forget their grim war experiences, they didn't want to forget their comrades. Any honorably discharged Union veteran was qualified to join. At its peak in 1890, over 409,000 Union vets were on the GAR membership rosters.
by abqtrib :: 2007-12-03 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Historian uncovers where Gettysburg hero was buried
Bay City historians know a lot about James G. Birney IV. He was part of a prominent local family, a decorated Civil War veteran, a hero at Gettysburg. His Civil War uniform sword, given to Birney has a gift from General George Armstrong Custer, is on display at the Bay County Historical Museum. But one element has eluded researchers, no one knew for sure where Birney's body was buried. That was until a local history buff showed up at Bay City's 7th Michigan Cavalry Civil War Round Table. Ray Herek had some surprising information to share. He found Birney's final resting spot. It took years of research and in the end a bit of luck.
by mlive :: 2007-10-23 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Executed soldiers - Confederate Army Deals with Undisciplined
By Dec 1861, a chilly gloom settled over General Joseph E. Johnston's army camps. The soldiers were beginning to realize that peace was not likely to come anytime soon, and the army camps were overrun by disease. In Major R.C. Wheat's Louisiana battalion of 421 men, 239 were ill. Wheat's First Special Battalion of Louisiana Infantry, outfitted in the Zouave uniforms popular at the beginning of the war, was renowned for its lawlessness. It was claimed that some of the recruits came from the jails of New Orleans. Wheat's unit, the Louisiana Tigers, holds the dubious honor of having 2 of its members shot by a firing squad.
by military-discussion :: 2007-09-11 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Welsh soldiers who fought in the American Civil War
Nearly 10,000 pages of Welsh-language writing penned during the American Civil War have survived to this day, detailing the loathing with which Welsh emigrants viewed the slave trade and the terror with which they faced battle. Now, a book reveals these works in English for the first time in the largest collection of its kind. In Sons of Arthur, Children of Lincoln, Jerry Hunter has used diaries and letters to capture the reactions of Welshmen. Thousands of first, second and third generation Welsh-Americans fought for Abraham Lincoln's Union of the North against the Confederate forces of the South, among whom Welshmen were rare.
by icnetwork :: 2007-08-09 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

American Civil War: Promotions often meant little
When it came to promotions during the Civil War, officers were often honored for their bravery in the battlefield by being brevetted. For example title "brigadier general of volunteers" differed in both pay and prestige from the same title in the regular U.S. Army. Other officers were "brevetted," and given a temporary battlefield promotion. Often a brevetted officer would be given the insignia of their new rank, but not the pay or formal authority.
by murfreesboropost :: 2007-07-23 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Scottish soldiers in American Civil War to be honoured
For the first time since the fighting ended 142 years ago, a memorial will take place in Edinburgh for Scottish soldiers who died in the American Civil War. The American Consulate General in Edinburgh will attend the ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln memorial in the Old Calton cemetery, believed to be the only one of its kind outside the US. 150,000-500,000 Scots died during the American Civil War 1861-1865. The ceremony will mark the anniversary of the Battle of Bullrun in 1861. It is being organised by Bill Mackie. "We want to highlight the number of Scots who fought, and died, on both sides. It wasn't just Americans against Americans."
by scotsman :: 2007-05-13 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

The trials endured by both Union and Confederate soldiers
Many have heard of the trials endured by both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War 1861-1865, including the lack of warm clothing and scarceness of food. While the Union troops fared better than the Confederates, many on both sides were forced to go barefoot, without coats, suffering from an assortment of maladies. Although many of the troops were forced to eat whatever could be found or plundered from the women and children, some were fortunate to receive food through various underground sources. Confederates were treated to assorted salt pork, which held up well for lengthy periods of time.
by vbbeacon :: 2007-01-26 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Local author corrects former view of Unionism during Civil War
Terrell Garren has counted every Western North Carolina soldier who had participated in the Civil War. He has come up with the first estimate of Unionism in the region since Alexander Hamilton Jones threw out a figure in 1866. According to Jones, 4342 men from 21 Western North Carolina counties enlisted in the Union army. His method: "by actual calculation." Garren grew up being told that the region had been noticeably pro-Union, but he has since proved otherwise. Garren's number for Union Army enlistees: 1836. His source: troop records, which hadn't been available to Jones.
by blueridgenow :: 2006-12-04 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Understanding The Confederate Soldier - Born Fighting
The War was not a contest of equals. The Union outnumbered the Confederacy in all "war fighting" categories. But the South was superior in the intensity of its warrior ethic. Not only the Revolutionary War spirit drove Confederate soldiers. The Confederate Army rose like a sudden wind out of the little towns... the Great Captains called, and the able-bodied men were quick to answer. 90% of its adult population served and 70% of those became casualties. The men of the Confederate Army gave every ounce of courage to a leadership they respected, then laid down their arms in an instant when that leadership said enough was enough.
by thecitizen :: 2006-10-10 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Sharpshooters -- Shock Troops of the Confederacy
The Patton family had sons fighting on both sides, Union and Confederate. During the Battle of the Wilderness May 5 to 7, 1864, Jason and his younger brother "got within sight of each other." The younger Union solider was killed there. Jason Patton, who had won a shooting prize, became a sharpshooter with the 12th Alabama. Fred Ray was surprised to find that, although sharpshooters did yeoman's service for the Confederacy, very little had been written about them. The latest book he found was published in 1899, written by a former sharpshooter. Finding information was like "digging history with your fingernails," Ray said.
by winchesterstar :: 2006-07-20 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Civil War PoWs suffered - military prisons on both sides
Wars inevitably result in casualties: The killed are buried, the wounded receive medical treatment, but what happens to POWs? Well, in the Civil War circumstances vary. In his "While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military prisons of the civil war," Charles W. Sanders Jr. has provided a account of Union and Confederate POW treatment. Union policy toward enemy POWs took its tone from Abraham Lincoln's decision to regard the Confederacy as states in rebellion rather than as an independent nation. Captured Confederates were to be considered traitors and rebels, in the same manner that Great Britain had viewed captured American soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
by fredericksburg :: 2006-06-11 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Mixed reponse: burial of some of the first Civil War soldiers to die
They were lost to history, 6 Union soldiers killed in battle just days before the famous First Battle of Bull Run in 1861. Found in shallow graves in woods in Centreville, the men's remains were traced to the First Massachusetts Infantry, after a decade of research. They will be buried at the National Veterans Cemetery with an honor guard and a three-volley salute with Civil War-era rifles. But Dalton Rector says the soldiers are being wronged. He thinks he knows their names, and he argues they deserve better than to be buried in graves as unknowns.
by boston :: 2006-06-09 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Book Shows Civil War through Diary of Confederal Soldier
Historian Tom Wing edited book "A Rough Introduction to This Sunny Land: The Civil War Diary of Private Henry A. Strong." The diary was written during the Civil War from 1862 until 1865. It covers Strong's enlistment in 1862, the march across Indian Territory, camp life in Fort Smith, and the Camden Expedition. Strong describes Confederate guerrilla operations, the execution of bushwhackers, and civilian life in wartime Arkansas. "Strong's words speak volumes about the struggles of infantry soldiers, but more than that, he tells his story and his attitudes without bias. He also leaves us a record of federal soldier life west of the Mississippi."
by uafortsmith :: 2006-06-08 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

Historian offers soldier's eye view of Civil War service
The first thing you would see was the dust billowing. About a quarter-mile away, you'd smell them. Next you'd see the tops of the flagpoles rising above the dust cloud, then their bayonets, and finally, they'd appear up close in filthy, often mismatched uniforms. That is the experience of troops marching toward you in the Civil War, according historian Michael A. McBride. There are about 1,000 documented instances of women joining the troops, disguised as men, McBride said.
by journalinquirer :: 2006-04-30 :: Wartime Soldiers - American Civil War

50 Chinese Soldiers Fought in U.S. Civil War
Those were the days of sailing ships augmented by steam power and China was as remote from the Eastern United States as it was possible to be. Still, Chinese Americans found their way to the East Coast, and researchers claim that as many as 50 Chinese fought as soldiers during the American Civil War. The number does not include the Chinese who served in the U.S. Navy. The soldiers fought on both sides. Chinese soldier of the Union participated in the most famous battle of the Civil War: the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. Pvt. Joseph L. Pierce enlisted in the 14th Connecticut Infantry in August 1862.
by def-ink :: 2001-08-17 :: Facts: Strange and Rare - American Civil War

American Civil War in the News is a edited review of American Civil War related news and articles, providing collection of hand-picked 1861-1865 era history.