In the actual armed conflicts of the Civil War, the two sides had numerous nicknames for themselves and each other as a group and individuals, e.g., for Union troops "Federals" and for the Confederates "rebels," "rebs" or "Johnny reb" for an individual Confederate soldier. "[45] A North Carolinian soldier stated, "[A] white man is better than a nigger. Another informal name for the entire southern region, which persists today in fact, is "Dixie," after the title of a popular song at the time which became the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy (or perhaps sometime during the Civil War it may have been officially designated as the South's anthem, I'm not sure). While I think the slavery was certainly a significant catalyst (along with tariffs & internal improvements) for the war, once started the Southern objective was simple: obtain independence in a national liberation struggle. [28] Challenges to the subsequent acts came before five state supreme courts; all five upheld them.[29]. "[98] After acrimonious debate the Confederate Congress agreed in March 1865. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. { board.name }} {{ board.total_asset_count }} View all Boards View all Sets CREATE BOARD. Army.[73]. [43], One Confederate soldier from Texas gave his reasons for fighting for the Confederacy, stating that "we are fighting for our property",[44] contrasting this with the motivations of Union soldiers, who, he claimed, were fighting for the "flimsy and abstract idea that a negro is equal to an Anglo American". Soldiers from both sides were forced to listen to the painful cries of the wounded for hours, with neither side daring to venture out for fear of being shot by the enemy. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. According to historian James M. McPherson in 1994, "no black soldiers fought in the Confederate army, unless they were passing as white. soldiers. The Union soldiers normally just referred to them rebels. Every life entered the prism at its own angle and was refracted in its own way. [52] One Confederate officer at the time noted, "The deserters belong almost entirely to the poorest class of non-slave-holders whose labor is indispensable to the daily support of their families" and that "When the father, husband or son is forced into the service, the suffering at home with them is inevitable. Although most of the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War were volunteers, both sides by 1862 resorted to conscription, primarily as a means to force men to register and volunteer. For example, on August 19, 1862, General Stonewall Jackson approved the court-martial sentence of execution for three soldiers for desertion, rejecting pleas for clemency from the soldiers' regimental commander. To the extent the word "battalion" was used to describe a military unit, it referred to a multi-company task force of a regiment or a near-regimental size unit. [7] By the end of the war, more than 100,000 Confederate soldiers had deserted,[8] and some estimates put the number as high as one-third of all Confederate soldiers. The Civil War was a fiery prism at the center of American society. Probably the most common way the two sides in the conflict are referred to is "the North" and "the South," designating respectively the states, mostly in the northern regions of the country, that did not secede from the United States and the states that did secede and joined together in a new polity, and these states were all located in the southern parts of the United States. called rebs and yanks. The following are some facts about Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War: According to the Oxford Companion to American Military History, the best estimate of total Confederate soldiers range from 850,000 to 900,000. The Confederate Congress initially made the rank of brigadier general the highest rank. [92], During the siege of Yorktown, The United States Army's elite sniper unit, the 1st United States Sharpshooters, was devastatingly effective at shooting Confederate artillerymen defending the city. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company. On December 13, 1862, Kirkland's unit had formed at the stone wall at the base of "Marye's Heights" near Fredericksburg, Virginia. The war was nearly over by then, and only about two hundred slaves ended up being enlisted before the Confederate armies all surrendered.[22]. (Robert E. Lee was a notable exception to this. The task of compiling these records for Confederate soldiers began in 1903. greyback, Johnny, Johnny Reb, Reb, Rebel - `Johnny' was applied This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. In his 2010 book Major Problems in the Civil War, historian Michael Perman says that historians are of two minds on why millions of men seemed so eager to fight, suffer and die over four years: Some historians emphasize that Civil War soldiers were driven by political ideology, holding firm beliefs about the importance of liberty, Union, or state rights, or about the need to protect or to destroy slavery. Our site is COPPA and kidSAFE-certified, so you can rest assured it's a safe place for kids to grow and explore. Union slodiers - Yanks or Yankees . These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The Confederacy Established. [49], Confederate policies regarding desertion generally were severe. Was Slavery the Primary Cause of the Civil War? Some men with a weak religious affiliation became committed Christians, and saw their military service in terms of satisfying God's wishes. [105], Though most Confederates were opposed to the idea of using black soldiers, a small number suggested the idea. [6][citation needed]. As the war progressed, the other general-officer ranks were quickly added, but no insignia for them was created. There was plenty of meat in the Confederacy. Period! [79], By 1863, Confederate generals such as Robert E. Lee often spent as much time and effort searching for food for their men, as they did in planning strategy and tactics. Although only 20 percent of the soldiers avowed explicit proslavery purposes in their letters and diaries, none at all dissented from that view.. The Sons of Confederate Veterans posthumously awarded Kirkland their Confederate Medal of Honor, created in 1977. "The Blue and Gray in Black and White: Assessing the Scholarship on Civil War Soldiers," in 'Aaron Sheehan-Dean, ed., 'The View from the Ground: Experiences of Civil War Soldiers, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 07:07. so grateful for this information I know my family fought with the Confederates during the Civil War and am just trying to find out about family history and my countrys history thanks from a curious mind! Let us put the negro to work, but not to fight. There were four grades of general officer (general, lieutenant general, major general, and brigadier general), but all wore the same insignia regardless of grade. According to Civil War historian James M. McPherson, in his book For Cause and Comrades, most Confederate volunteers stated they were fighting for liberty as well as slavery while many of the Union soldiers stated they fought to end slavery and preserve the union. And Maryland's nickname "Old Line" refers to the steadfast Maryland troops from the era of the American Revolution. Sources:McKim, Randolph A. [128] According to the authors of Liberty, Equality, Power, "Expressing outrage at this treatment, in 1863 the Lincoln administration suspended the exchange of prisoners until the Confederacy agree to treat white and black prisoners alike. "Stonewall" Jackson, James Longstreet, J. E. B. Stuart, Gideon Pillow, A. P. Hill, John B. Gordon. "[104] Maintaining the institution of slavery was the primary goal of the Confederacy's existence, and thus, using their slaves as soldiers was incongruous with that goal. Uploaded by Soldiers Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff "Jonny Rebel" A Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Stand Watie, along with a few Cherokee, sided with the Confederate army, in which he was made colonel and commanded a battalion of Cherokee. on the Internet. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". However people in some counties in the northeast section were very loyal to the Union. Two to four brigades usually formed a division. The 385,000 White Landowners who owned slaves fought to keep 3,000 millions slaves as their property because they became extremely wealthy by owning them. The Confederacy early on lost control of most of its major river and ocean ports to capture or blockade. Confederate uniforms. Educated soldiers drew upon their knowledge of American history to justify their costs. Prominent Confederates such as R. M. T. Hunter and Georgian Democrat Howell Cobb opposed arming slaves, saying that it was "suicidal" and would run contrary to the Confederacy's ideology. [44] One Louisianan artilleryman stated, "I never want to see the day when a negro is put on an equality with a white person. number is not known. Official Records, Series I, Vol. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. On September 27, the maximum age of conscription was extended to 45. The supply situation for most Confederate armies was dismal, even when they were victorious on the battlefield. Armies were usually commanded by full generals (there were seven in the C.S. i dont know the answer thats why i was looking for it on here. The truth of the story has been disputed. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Barring the same type of circumstances that might leave a lower grade officer in temporary command, divisions were commanded by major generals and corps were commanded by lieutenant generals. The braid was sometimes left off by officers since it made them conspicuous targets. [81][82] Many Native American tribes, such as the Creek, the Cherokee, and the Choctaw, were slaveholders themselves, and thus, found a political and economic commonality with the Confederacy.[84]. They took slavery for granted as one of the Southern 'rights' and institutions for which they fought, and did not feel compelled to discuss it. America In the absence of exact records, estimates of the percentage of Confederate soldiers who were draftees, are about double the 6 percent of Union soldiers who were conscripts. Civil War By The Numbers. In reality, as disease, desertions and casualties took their toll, and the common practice of sending replacements to form new regiments took hold, most regiments were greatly reduced in strength. The treaty covered sixty-four terms covering many subjects like Choctaw and Chickasaw nation sovereignty, Confederate States of America citizenship possibilities, and an entitled delegate in the House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America. These numbers do not include sailors who served in Confederate States Navy. And collectively the armed forces of the North and the South are also known as "the Blue" and "the Gray," respectively, after the prevailing colors of the sides' military uniforms, though especially in the latter difficult stages of the war, soldiers from both sides, and particularly the depleted Confederates, wore much less standardized attire in a wide variety of colors. In 1864, the Confederates burned down Chambersburg, a Pennsylvania city they had raided twice in the years before, due to its failure to pay an extortion demand. The design of this particular shell is attributed to Captain William Leroy Broun that commanded the Richmond Arsenal. One estimate of the Confederate wounded, which is considered incomplete, is 194,026. At that time they were considered Traitors to the Union. Confederate casualty figures are as incomplete and unreliable as the figures on the number of Confederate soldiers. BOYCOTT. Discover several new games that we've added to our collection! The Choctaws, who were expecting support from the Confederates, got little. In response, some Confederate artillery crews started forcing slaves to load the cannons. Copyright 2023 MassInitiative | All rights reserved. I've never heard of any other cause than slavery. Ed M. Despite his youth, Kirkland enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861, not long after war was declared, before his older brothers. their red uniforms. War The blunted nose of the shell was designed to increase its wind resistance . Army) or lieutenant generals. I have a great-great step-grandfather who was a doctor in the 1st LA Cavalry during the War of Northern Aggression. By September 1864, however, President Davis publicly admitted that two-thirds of the soldiers were absent, "most of them without leave". This does not include an unknown number of slaves who were pressed into performing various tasks for the army, such as the construction of fortifications and defenses or driving wagons. Both the United States and the Confederate States began in earnest to raise large, mostly volunteer, armies,[15][16] with the opposing objectives: putting down the rebellion and preserving the Union on the one hand, and establishing independence from the United States on the other. WASHINGTON - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today introduced the Fort Pillow National Battlefield Park Study Act, legislation that would direct the Department of the Interior to conduct a resource study to determine whether the location of an infamous massacre of Black Union soldiers in the waning . 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