1 Life at War Lesson Plan High School - Civil War Trust at... · The Civil War Curriculum ......

The Civil War Curriculum | High School Civilwar.org/curriculum

GOAL 4 | LESSON PLAN | HIGH SCHOOL

Life At War

GRADES: High School

APPROXIMATE LENGTH OF TIME: 50 minutes

GOAL: Students will be able to discuss the life of a Civil War soldier, analyzing his role within

society and the military.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Assuming the role of an investigative reporter, students will be able to write an article

through which they will describe the daily life of a Civil War soldier, discuss the

challenges soldiers faced, and describe a soldier’s role within the military.

2. Students will be able to describe the effects of weapons technology on soldiers and

medical treatments used for wounded and sick soldiers.

3. Students will be able to discuss the African American soldier’s experience.

MATERIALS:

1. Life at War Power Point Presentation

2. Classroom Read/Share

3. Writing Assignment: A Soldier’s Life Editorial

4. The Civil War Soldier

5. A Soldier’s Life Editorial Rubric

ANTICIPATORY SET/HOOK

Civil War soldiers lived hard lives in a world very different from the world of the 21st century.

Ask students what they think soldiers’ lives were like. What did they eat and wear? What did

they do for fun? What kind of help was available to them if they got sick?

The Civil War Curriculum, Goal 4

Life At War


PROCEDURE:

Print out the PowerPoint with notes prior to class. There are notes included with the slides that

can be on the printed slides, but won’t be seen by your students during the presentation.

Activity 1

1. Whole-class instruction with the Life at War PowerPoint presentation and

associated discussion questions.

Activity 2

2. Place students into several small groups.

3. Provide each group with a Classroom Read/Share sheet. Students will read the

information on their sheet and then construct a brief answer to the question at the

top of that page.

4. Call on each group to share their question and answer with the class.

Activity 3

5. Hand out Writing Assignment: A Soldier’s Life Editorial, The Civil War Soldier (for

reference material) and A Soldier’s Life Editorial Rubric.

CLOSURE:

1. What role did the average Civil War soldier play during the war?

2. Do you think soldiers were thought of as individuals?

3. What were common challenges that soldiers faced during the war?

4. How do you think technology affected a soldier’s experience?

ASSESSMENT IN THIS LESSON

1. Informal assessment through the PowerPoint discussion questions

2. Informal assessment through the Read/Share discussion

3. Editorial

4. Informal assessment through the closure questions


Life At War

Name: _________________

Date: _________________


Classroom Read/Share

THE CIVIL WAR SOLDIER: What was life as a soldier like in 1863?

By the National Park Service

Each of the following pages contains a read/share sheet.

Organize your class into several small groups. Ideally, there should be a group for each

numbered read/share sheet.

Everyone in each group should work together to develop a response to the question at the top

of the page, based on the reading.

Give the groups approximately 10 minutes to read and share within their groups.

When time is up, call on a member of each group to share their information with the class.

Be sure to provide students with a copy of the article in its entirety for reference.


Life at War


(1) What challenges did men face once they were in the army?

The life of a soldier in the 1860s was an arduous one and for the thousands of young Americans

who left home to fight for their cause, it was an experience none of them would ever forget.

Military service meant many months away from home and loved ones, long hours of drill, often

inadequate food or shelter, disease, and many days spent marching on hot, dusty roads or in a

driving rainstorm burdened with everything a man needed to be a soldier as well as baggage

enough to make his life as comfortable as possible. There were long stretches of boredom in

camp interspersed with moments of sheer terror experienced on the battlefield. For these

civilians turned soldiers, it was very difficult at first getting used to the rigors and demands of

army life. Most had been farmers all of their lives and were indifferent to the need to obey

orders. Discipline was first and foremost a difficult concept to understand, especially in the

beginning when the officer one had to salute may have been the hometown postmaster only a

few weeks before. Uniforms issued in both armies were not quite as fancy as those worn by the

hometown militias and soldiering did not always mean fighting. There were fatigue duties such

as assignments to gather wood for cook fires. Metal fittings had to be polished, horses groomed

and watered, fields had to be cleared for parades and drill, and there were water details for the

cook house. Guard duty meant long hours pacing up and down a well-trod line, day or night,

rain or shine, always on watch for a foe who might be lurking anywhere in the hostile

countryside. A furlough was hard to come by as every man was needed in the field and few men

had a chance to ever visit home.


Life at War


(2) What kind of shelters were available to soldiers? How did they live?

A soldier's home in camp was a rectangular piece of canvas buttoned to another to form a small

two-man tent, or dog tent, as the soldiers called them. First introduced in 1862, every Union

soldier was issued one for use during active campaign and the men joked that only a dog could

crawl under it and stay dry from the rain. The tent could be easily pitched for the evening by

tying each end to a rifle stuck in the ground by the bayonet or by stringing it up to fence rails.

Confederates did not receive shelter tents though some Confederate units were issued a

variation of the tent, which they pitched as a lean-to or shelter. As the war progressed it was

very common for a Confederate camp to be filled with captured Union tents as well as captured

blankets, canteens, and haversacks. Confederates especially prized the Union rubber blankets,

which were not manufactured in the South and were ideal as a ground cloth or overhead

shelter.

Army camps were like a huge bustling city of white canvas, sometimes obscured by smoke from

hundreds of campfires. Camps were considered temporary throughout the year until the winter

months when the armies would establish winter quarters. The soldiers would construct log

huts that were large enough to accommodate several men, made of trees taken from any nearby

source. The logs were laid out on stones underneath the bottom log, in a rectangle and notched

to fit tight at the corners and stones, brick, or mud-covered logs were formed into a small

fireplace in one end. Mud filled the gap between the logs and inside of the chimney over the

fireplace. A roof made from tents or sawn boards and wooded bunks built inside finished the

hut. Soldiers often named their winter huts after well-known hotels or restaurants back home

such as "Wiltshire Hotel" or "Madigan's Oyster House." The armies quartered in these small

huts through the winter months and then it was back to the field and dog tents.


Life at War


(3) What was drill? What kind of activities were part of drill? Why did the soldiers spend so much time drilling?

Marching and fighting drill was part of the daily routine for the Civil War soldier. Infantry

soldiers drilled as squads and in company formations, each man getting accustomed to orders

and formations such as marching in column and in a "company front", how to face properly,

dress the line, and interact with his fellow soldiers. After an hour of drill on that level, the

company moved onto regimental level drills and parades. The soldier practiced guard mount

and other procedures such as the Manual of Arms, which infantrymen learned for the rifle-

musket. Veterans of the war often remarked how they could recite the steps of loading and

priming for many years after the war, thanks to the continual drill. The drill was important for

the infantry for they used tactics that had changed little since the time of the American

Revolution or the age of Napoleon: infantry fought in closely knit formations of two ranks (or

rows) of soldiers, each man in the rank standing side by side. This formation was first devised

when the single-shot, muzzle-loading musket became the normal weapon on the battlefield, the

close ranks being a necessity because of the limitations of the musket. Yet, by 1861, new

technology had made the old-fashioned smoothbore musket nearly obsolete with the

introduction of the rifle musket. By the time of the Gettysburg Campaign, the rifle musket

made up the majority of infantry weapons in both the Union and Confederate armies though it

took much longer for the tactics to change. Even with the advance of the rifle musket, the

weapons were still muzzle loaders and officers believed that the old-fashioned drill formations

were still useful to ensure a massing of continuous firepower that the individual soldier could

not sustain. The result of this slow change was a much higher than anticipated rate of

casualties on the battlefield. Cavalrymen drilled with their sabers, both on foot and horseback,

while artillerymen drilled with their cannons limbered up to the team of horses and

unlimbered, ready to fire. Oddly enough, marksmanship on a rifle range did not take

precedence over other drill the soldiers learned for several reasons—the military believed that

each man would shoot accurately when told to and the war departments did not wish to waste

ammunition fired on random targets.


Life at War


(4) What were musical instruments used for? What were the two most important instruments in battle and why?

For the infantry, drums were used to announce daily activities, from sunrise to sunset. Reveille

was sounded to begin the day at 5 AM, followed by an assembly for morning roll call and

breakfast call. Sick call was sounded soon after breakfast, followed by assemblies for guard

duty, drill, or to begin the march. Drummers were also important on the march to keep soldiers

in step during parades and to call them to attention. In battle, drums were sometimes used to

signal maneuvers and give signals for the ranks to load and fire their weapons. The artillery

and cavalry relied solely on buglers who were as important in their roles as the drummers were

to the infantry. When not playing for their respective regiments, musicians were often

combined with regimental or brigade bands to play marching tunes or provide field music for

parades, inspections, and reviews.

Soldiers loved to sing and there were many tunes popular in both armies. A variety of

instruments were available to musically minded soldiers, including guitars, banjos, flutes, and

harmonicas. More industrious soldiers fashioned string instruments such as fiddles out of

wooden cigar boxes. Regimental or brigade bands often played during the evening hours and

there were instances of army bands being heard to play favorite tunes for the opposition when

the armies were separated by a river or siege line. Some of the more popular tunes for

southerners were "Lorena," "Maryland My Maryland," and "The Bonnie Blue Flag." Union

soldiers had "The Battle Cry of Freedom," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "Tenting on the

Old Campground" as favorites. The men of both sides also enjoyed minstrel tunes such as "My

Old Kentucky Home," "The Arkansas Traveler," and "Dixie."


Life at War


(5) What did Northern soldiers wear? What did Southern soldiers wear? What were some similarities? What were some differences?

The soldier of 1863 wore a wool uniform; a belt set that included a cartridge box, cap box,

bayonet, and scabbard; a haversack for rations; a canteen; and a blanket roll or knapsack,

which contained a wool blanket, a shelter half, and perhaps a rubber blanket or poncho. Inside

was a change of socks, writing paper, stamps and envelopes, ink and pen, razor, toothbrush,

comb, and other personal items. The amount of baggage each soldier carried differed from man

to man. The Southern soldier was highly regarded for traveling with a very light load basically

because he did not have the extra items available to him that the Northern soldier had.

Southern uniforms were quite different from the Northern uniforms, consisting of a short-

waisted jacket and trousers made of "jean" cloth—a blend of wool and cotton threads that was

very durable. Dyed by different methods, the uniforms were a variation of greys and browns.

Northern soldiers called Confederates "butternuts" because of the tan-grey color of the

uniforms. Vests were also worn and were often made of jean material as well. Shirts and

undergarments were universally of cotton material and often sent to the soldiers from home.

Southern-made shoes were of very poor quality and difficult to obtain. Union uniforms were

universally of better quality because of numerous mills throughout the North that could

manufacture wool cloth and the steady import of material from Europe. The Union soldier's

blouse and trousers were wool and dyed a dark blue until 1862, when the trouser color was

altered to a lighter shade of blue. The floppy-crowned forage cap, made of wool broadcloth with

a leather visor, was either loved or loathed, but universally worn by most soldiers in the Army

of the Potomac. Each soldier would adorn his cap with brass letters of the regiment and

company to which he belonged. Beginning in 1863, corps badges were designed for the

different army corps and these were universally adopted for the top of the cap. Like their

Confederate counterparts, most Union soldiers disdained the itchy wool flannel army shirt for

cotton shirts and undergarments sent from home.


Life at War


(6) What did soldiers do in their spare time? What do you think was the most meaningful activity to them?

Leisure activities were similar in either army and most of it was spent writing letters home.

Soldiers were prolific letter writers and wrote at every opportunity. It was the only way for

them to communicate with loved ones and inform the home folks of their condition and where

they were. Thrifty soldiers sent their pay home to support their families and kept only a small

amount to see them through until the next payday. The arrival of mail in camp was a cause for

celebration no matter where the soldiers were and there was sincere grumbling when the mail

arrived late. The lucky soldiers who received a letter from home often read and re-read them

many times. Packages from home contained baked goods, new socks or shirts, underwear, and

often soap, towels, combs, and toothbrushes. Union soldiers often spent their free time at the

sutler's store, comparable to the modern post exchange, where they could purchase toiletries,

canned fruit, pocketknives, and other supplementary items, but usually at exorbitant prices. A

private's salary amounted to $13.00 per month in 1863 and those unfortunates who owed the

sutler watched as most of their pay was handed over to the greedy businessman on pay day.

Confederates did not have the luxury of sutlers, who disappeared soon after the war began.

Instead they depended on the generosity of folks at home or farmers and businessmen near the

camps.

Free time was also spent in card games, reading, pitching horseshoes, or team sports such as

the fledgling sport of baseball, a game which rapidly gained favor among Northern troops. Rule

booklets were widely distributed and the game soon became a favorite. Soldiers also played a

form of football that appeared more like a huge brawl than the game we know today, and often

resulted in broken noses and fractured limbs. Holidays were celebrated in camp with feasts,

foot races, horse racing, music, boxing matches, and other contests. But while on active

campaign, the soldiers were limited to writing, cleaning uniforms and equipment, and sleeping.

Religion was very important in the soldier's daily routine. Many of the men attended church

services on a regular basis and some even carried small testaments with the rest of their

baggage. Union and Confederate armies had numerous regimental and brigade chaplains.

These loyal officers also acted as assistants in field hospitals, comforting the sick and wounded

and writing letters home for those who could not write. Chaplains held field services for their

respective units and most accompanied the soldiers as they marched onto the battlefield.

Father William Corby, the chaplain of the Irish Brigade, is best remembered for his granting of

unconditional absolution to the members of the brigade before they marched into battle in the

Wheatfield on July 2nd. Father Corby was immensely popular with the men and in the post-

war era became president of Notre Dame University.


Life at War


(7) What did soldiers eat? What were some favorites? What were some differences between the diets of Union and Confederate soldiers?

By far, the food soldiers received has been the source of more stories than any other aspect of army life.

The Union soldier received a variety of edibles. The food issue, or ration, was usually meant to last

three days while on active campaign and was based on the general staples of meat and bread. Meat

usually came in the form of salted pork or, on rare occasions, fresh beef. Rations of pork or beef were

boiled, broiled, or fried over open campfires. Army bread was a flour biscuit called hardtack, re-named

"tooth-dullers," "worm castles," and "sheet iron crackers" by the soldiers who ate them. Hardtack could

be eaten plain though most men preferred to toast the biscuits over a fire, crumble them into soups, or

crumble and fry them with their pork and bacon fat in a dish called skillygalee. Other food items

included rice, peas, beans, dried fruit, potatoes, molasses, vinegar, and salt. Baked beans were a

Northern favorite when the time could be taken to prepare them and a cooking pot with a lid could be

obtained. Coffee was a most desirable staple and some soldiers considered the issue of coffee and

accompanying sugar more important than anything else. Coffee beans were distributed green so it was

up to the soldiers to roast and grind them. The task for this most desirable of beverages was worth every

second as former soldier John Billings recalled: "What a Godsend it seemed to us at times! How often

after being completely jaded by a night march... have I had a wash, if there was water to be had, made

and drunk my pint or so of coffee and felt as fresh and invigorated as if just arisen from a night's sound

sleep!"

Soldiers often grouped themselves into a "mess" to combine and share rations, often with one soldier

selected as cook or split duty between he and another man. But while on active campaign, rations were

usually prepared by each man to the individual's taste. It was considered important for the men to cook

the meat ration as soon as it was issued, for it could be eaten cold if activity prevented cook fires. A

common campaign dinner was salted pork sliced over hardtack with coffee boiled in tin cups that each

man carried.

The Southern soldier's diet was considerably different from that of his Northern counterpart and

usually of much less quantity. The average Confederate subsisted on bacon, cornmeal, molasses, peas,

tobacco, vegetables and rice. Soldiers also received a coffee substitute which was not as desirable as the

real coffee Northerners had. Trades of tobacco for coffee were quite common throughout the war when

fighting was not underway. Other items for trade or barter included newspapers, sewing needles,

buttons, and currency.


Life at War


(8) What were some ways soldiers were disciplined? Do you think that discipline was effective? Could these methods be used today? Are they?

Discipline in the military was very strict. The Provost Marshal of the army was responsible for

enforcing military rules, but regimental commanders also had the authority to dole out

punishments for minor offenses. Petty offenses such as shirking camp duty or not keeping

equipment in good order were usually treated with extra duties such as digging latrines,

chopping wood, or standing extra hours on guard duty. Insubordination, thievery, cowardice,

or other offenses were more serious and the guilty party was usually subjected to embarrassing

punishments such as carrying a log, standing on a barrel, or wearing a placard announcing his

crime. "Bucking and gagging" was also a common punishment- the soldier's limbs were bound

and he was gagged so he could not speak. In the artillery, the guilty person might be tied to the

spare wheel on the back of a caisson. Desertion, spying, treachery, murder, or threats on an

officer's life were the most serious offenses to which the perpetrator was condemned to military

prison or shot by a firing squad. Crimes committed against civilians were also punishable by

the army and felons were executed by hanging before a formation of soldiers.


Life at War


(9) What were the most common types of arms and ammunition used? What components made up the army and what were the responsibilities of each of these in battle?

The singular purpose of the soldier was to fight a battle and win. There were a variety of small

arms used during the Civil War. The average infantryman carried a muzzle-loading rifle-

musket manufactured in American arsenals or one purchased from foreign countries such as

England. The bayonet was an important part of the rifle and its steel presence on the muzzle of

the weapon was very imposing. When not in battle, the bayonet was a handy candle holder and

useful in grinding coffee beans. The typical rifle-musket weighed eight and one-half pounds

and fired a conical shaped bullet called the Minie Ball. Bullets were made of very soft lead and

caused horrible wounds that healed with difficulty. The artillery was composed of both rifled

and smoothbore cannon, each gun served by a crew of 14 men including the drivers. The role of

the artillery was to support the infantry while the infantry role was to either attack or defend,

depending on the circumstances. Both components of the army worked together to coordinate

their tactics on the field of battle. Cavalrymen were armed with breech-loading carbines,

sabers, and pistols. Cavalry was initially used for scouting purposes and to guard supply trains.

The role of mounted troops had expanded by the time of Gettysburg, with cavalry divisions

acting as skirmishers and fighting mounted and on foot in pitched battles such as Brandy

Station, Virginia on June 9, 1863. Other components of the armies included the signal corps,

engineers, and medical and hospital corps, as well as supply organizations, including the

quartermasters.


Life at War


(10) What caused the most fatalities during the Civil War? Why? What was the most common treatment of battle wounds? Why?

Sickness and disease were the scourge of both armies and more men died of disease than in

battle. Sanitation in the camps was very poor. Germs and the existence of bacteria had not yet

been discovered, and medical science was quite primitive by today's standards. Morning sick

call was played in camp and ailing soldiers trudged to the surgeon's tent, where the "sawbones"

examined the sick. Quinine or other stimulants were administered, including an elixir called

"Blue Mass." Whiskey was universally given for most ailments as was brandy and other

stimulants. Extremely ill soldiers were sent to brigade hospitals, where most were further

affected by disease. Thousands of men in both armies died without ever firing a shot in battle.

Most wounds to the arms or legs had to be treated with amputation if there was any hope of

saving a soldier’s life. For every four deaths in the Civil War three were from disease or

infection and one was from battle wounds.


Life At War

Name: _________________

Date: _________________


Writing Assignment: A Soldier’s Life Editorial

You are a reporter who has been sent by your home-town newspaper to a winter

camp of either the Army of the Potomac or the Army of Northern Virginia.

Folks back home are eager to know how their sons, fathers, brothers, and

sweethearts are doing. You are in charge of investigating and gathering

information about the soldier’s daily lives, meals, and the camp. You will then

prepare an editorial that will be dispatched to your newspaper.

Be sure to include pertinent and accurate facts about what you are witnessing. It

is your responsibility to inform the people at home about the daily lives of their

loved ones.

Be sure to also include your opinion of whether the soldiers are being treated well

and, fed well, and what folks back home can do to help their soldiers.

Your editorial dispatch should be structured as a four-paragraph essay. It must

have an introduction (first paragraph), a body (two middle paragraphs that can

describe three aspects of a soldiers life) and a conclusion (your opinion about

what folks back home can do to help support the soldiers and why they should).

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Life At War


been discovered, and medical science was quite primitive by today's standards. Morning sick

call was played in camp and ailing soldiers trudged to the surgeon's tent, where the "sawbones"

examined the sick. Quinine or other stimulants were administered, including an elixir called

"Blue Mass." Whiskey was universally given for most ailments as was brandy and other

stimulants. Extremely ill soldiers were sent to brigade hospitals, where most were further

affected by disease. Thousands of men in both armies died without ever firing a shot in battle.

The singular purpose of the soldier was to fight a battle and win. There were a variety of small

arms used during the Civil War. The average infantryman carried a muzzle-loading rifle-

musket manufactured in American arsenals or one purchased from foreign countries such as

England. The bayonet was an important part of the rifle and its steel presence on the muzzle of

the weapon was very imposing. When not in battle, the bayonet was a handy candle holder and

useful in grinding coffee beans. The typical rifle-musket weighed eight and one-half pounds

and fired a conical shaped bullet called the Minie Ball. Bullets were made of very soft lead and

caused horrible wounds that healed with difficulty. The artillery was composed of both rifled

and smoothbore cannon, each gun served by a crew of 14 men including the drivers. The role of

the artillery was to support the infantry while the infantry role was to either attack or defend,

depending on the circumstances. Both components of the army worked together to coordinate

their tactics on the field of battle. Cavalrymen were armed with breech-loading carbines,

sabers, and pistols. Cavalry was initially used for scouting purposes and to guard supply trains.

The role of mounted troops had expanded by the time of Gettysburg, with cavalry divisions

acting as skirmishers and fighting mounted and on foot in pitched battles such as Brandy

Station, Virginia on June 9, 1863. Other components of the armies included the signal corps,

engineers, and medical and hospital corps, as well as supply organizations, including the

quartermasters.

The end of the war in 1865 brought a welcome peace, especially for the men who served as

soldiers. Armies were disbanded and regiments mustered out of service. Former soldiers

returned to the farms and stores they had left so long ago, but the memories of their service

and old comrades did not disappear quite so rapidly. In the decade following the end of the

Civil War, organizations of veterans of the North and South were formed. Northern veterans

joined the Grand Army of the Republic and Confederate veterans enrolled in the United

Confederate Veterans. For many years, G.A.R. posts and U.C.V. chapters met over reunion


Life At War


campfires retelling stories and recalling the friends who did not return. Many veterans wrote

articles, stories, and poems for the magazines of both organizations. The G.A.R. and U.C.V.

held powerful influence in political circles from 1878 through the turn of the century, but their

influence faded as veterans in congress retired and passed out of politics. The last hurrah for

both organizations came at Gettysburg in 1913 when 54,000 veterans attended the 1913

Anniversary celebration and Grand Reunion, and both organizations formally joined in a

singular purpose of national unification and peace. America's involvement in the Great War

(World War I) four years later brought hundreds of aged "Yanks" and "Johnnies" out to march

together in military parades for one last time before they quickly faded into the background as

the nation's attention focused on her "doughboys" serving in Europe.

Though the Civil War veterans faded away, the armies in which they once marched were

forever honored by the parks they helped establish at Shiloh, Antietam, Vicksburg,

Chickamauga and Gettysburg.

National Park Service. “The Civil War Soldier: What was life as a soldier like in 1863?”

http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/soldierlife/cwarmy.htm.


Life At War

Name: _________________

Date: _________________


A Soldier’s Life Editorial Rubric

Newspaper Editorial Article Scoring Rubric

Possible

Points

Student

Self-

Assessment

Score

Teacher

Score

Article is written in a logical sequence and is well organized.

10

Article has a strong introduction.

10

The body of the article is logical and well organized. The

body of the article provides accurate and specific facts from

the PowerPoint, the Read/Share activity, and the National

Park Service article.

10

Article captures the reader’s attention. Events are easily

understood by the reader.

10

Article has a strong conclusion that provides the reader with

ideas about what the people at home can do to help support

the soldiers and make their lives easier. Article provides in-

depth coverage of the topic and a clear editorial opinion.

10


Life at War


Student accurately incorporates relevant vocabulary and

names of places and people.

10

Article is written in a way that demonstrates student

understanding of the learning objectives from the lesson

plan, that is, equipment, uniforms, weapons, hardships,

health issues, camp life, etc.

10

Correct spelling, sentence structure, usage and punctuation

are evident throughout the article.

10

Article was typed/generated with word processing software

and formatted appropriately.

10

Article was handed in on time.

10

Total Points

100

Each category is rated according to the following scale:

9-10 = Excellent, 8-9 = Very Good, 7-8 =Satisfactory, 6-7 = Unsatisfactory, 6-0 = poor

Student self-assessment score: __________

Teacher score: ___________

1 Life at War Lesson Plan High School - Civil War Trust at... · The Civil War Curriculum ......

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Transcript of 1 Life at War Lesson Plan High School - Civil War Trust at... · The Civil War Curriculum ......