The Human Face of War

EQ:What was life like for

soldiers and on the home front?

The Soldier’s Life

Men from all over fought in the Civil War

Many hoped for excitement and glory; instead they found terror in battle and boredom in camp a camp is a group of temporary

shelters, such as tents

Entertainment

Soldiers read, sang, or wrote letters to pass the time in camp

Some put on shows or printed newspapers

They loved to get letters

Necessities Food in the army was usually poor

Union soldiers grew tired of eating the same food almost every day.

Confederate soldiers suffered more because they often did not have enough to eat.

Who were the Soldiers?

Soldiers came from a variety of backgrounds – at first, almost all were white and born in the USA.

As the war went on, the Union allowed African Americans to join.

About 180,000 African Americans served in the Union army

Immigrants also joined the Union army (Germany, Ireland, Italy, American Indians)

Thousands of boys went into the battle even though they were too youngSome were drummers who sent signals to

soldiers in battleHundreds of women on both sides

disguised themselves as men and joined the army

Women also served as spies for one side or the other

Casualties of War This was the deadliest war in

American history Not only were the casualties of war

high, but disease killed twice as many soldiers as the fighting did

Nurses

Women helped take care of the sick and wounded

Women in both the north and south served as nurses – some in hospitals, others in their own homeClara Barton – later founded the

American Red Cross

On the Home Front

Soldiers left their families behind when they went to war – those families are part of the home front (all the people who aren’t in the military)

Women’s role With men gone, women took on new

tasksThey ran farms and businesses

Thousands of women sewed uniforms, knitted socks, made bandages, and raised money for their armies

A new invention Most of the battles took place in the

South … few people in the North could see the war happening The new technology of photography let

civilians see what the war looked like.Civilian = person who is not in the

militaryMatthew Brady took pictures & showed

them to the North. Civilians saw that war was much worse than they realized

The Southern Home Front

Life on the home front was especially hard in the South. Their farms became battlefieldsTheir cities, homes, and barns were

destroyed Soldiers and citizens often didn’t have

enough to eat – prices of food increased which made it harder to afford

Tough times for both sides

Davis & Lincoln each needed to start a draft to find more soldiers

Draft = government selects people to serve in the military

People rioted against the draft and thousands of soldiers had to be sent to stop the riots (a violent protest)

Effects of WarBecause the majority of the battles had been fought in the South, they experienced the most hardships. By the end of the war, the South was devastated: Railroads, farms, industries, and homes were all destroyed.

Many soldiers on both sides died from diseases. The Confederacy lost so many men that teenage boys began to join the Army later in the war. The Union economy prospered during the war. Farmers produced more crops to feed the soldiers, and industries grew to provide military supplies.