Civil War Soldier Life Essay

Camp Life of a Union Soldier At the beginning of the civil war there was a lot of pride upon both the north and the south. Many young men signed up for the army and were told of the great pride there would be on the battlefield. While there were not enough volunteers to build an army for the north, they were forced to draft young men to fight. White men represented the primary source of recruits, and men in all states resented the draft, which had been imposed in an amended fashion in the North. States were given quotas, and had to do what they could to fill them, including paying bonuses (“Soldier Life during the War”).
Resentment focused on wealthy men. Northerners who could afford to do so hired substitutes, while southerners who owned a large number of slaves were exempt from the draft. Resistance in the North sometimes took the form of public protests, and particularly violent draft riots in New York in the summer of 1863 forced Lincoln to send troops to restore order. While about half of the Northern military age population joined some branch of the service. As the war dragged on, both the North and South would turn to women and African-Americans to support the war effort (“Soldier Life during the War”). In addition to the risks of the battlefield, soldiers in the Civil War consistently faced the dangers of disease.

Most were out of the action about 75 percent of the time. During their down time, the typical day started at 5 A.M. (during the spring and summer months) and 6 A.M. (during the fall and winter.) Soldiers were awakened by drums and fifes, roll call was taken by the first sergeant, and then everyone sat down to to eat their breakfast. During the rest of the day, soldiers engaged in as many as five two-hour drill sessions on weaponry or maneuvers. Most soldiers found these drills extremely boring; they wanted to fight, not practice (“The Daily Life of a Union