The Confederate Soldier
Gettysburg National Military Park Kidzpage
Three Confederates at Gettysburg
(Miller's Photographic History) |
Soldiers who wore the gray at Gettysburg were from the southern states of America including Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas. Most of these soldiers had been farmers prior to the outbreak of the war and by the time the Battle of Gettysburg they were lean veterans of many hard fought battles. When the Confederacy was first formed in 1860, southern governors called out their militia regiments to seize warehouses and arsenals controlled by the Federal government. With war on the horizon, the newly formed Confederate government then appealed to the states to raise regiments of infantry, artillery, and cavalry for service to the Confederacy. Many southerners responded to this appeal and enlisted for three or six months of service in state organizations known as volunteer regiments. Like the Union Army, the Confederacy soon found that they needed these regiments much longer than they had predicted and the length of service was changed to three years. Every state in the Confederacy provided troops.Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia provided more military organizations than any other state in the Confederacy, but the South suffered from a continual shortage of manpower throughout the war.
A Georgia Volunteer
(Gettysburg NMP) |
Southern volunteers enlisted for what they considered to be patriotic reasons- to protect their homes, state borders and laws, and abandon a Federal government that was not representing their interests. A typical company of soldiers (100 men) was raised in the county where they lived. Once they were organized and offered to the state, the company went to a training camp usually located near the state capitol. They were then organized into regiments, elected officers, received clothing and arms, and began the long process of becoming soldiers. When regiments from the Confederate states first arrived in Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, there was a big difference noticed by everyone. Every state had chosen a different design for their soldiers' uniforms and no two organizations looked the same. Many were carrying state flags or home-made flags. Some regiments were poorly armed or had no weapons at all. Providing for the volunteer regiments was left up to each state that raised the regiments, whether the soldiers were in their home state or away. As uniforms and equipment wore out, the quartermasters of each regiment discovered that they could not get replacements. It took months for the Confederate War Department to organize a supply system to issue clothing and equipment to all of the volunteer regiments and despite their efforts, the Confederate soldier suffered from shortages throughout the war.
Confederate jacket |
Uniforms were supplied by Confederate factories called depots in cities such as Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond. Equipment was manufactured by a handful of small southern factories though captured Union equipment and weapons were also used. A typical Confederate soldier's uniform consisted of a short-waisted jacket, trousers, cap, light cotton or flannel underwear, and a cotton shirt. Confederate jackets and trousers were made of coarse material called "jean", a mixture of wool and cotton blended together. This type of cloth was tough and durable and often used in civilian clothing prior to the war. Though very hot to wear in the summer months, it was more than adequate for spring and fall. Jackets were lined with cotton and closed with wood, bone or brass buttons, some having the seal of the state where the soldier came from. The material was dyed using natural ingredients such as bark from trees, mixed in a solution to make it gray. The dyes would fade after a while and sometimes turn brown, giving Confederate soldiers the nickname "butternuts". Most men preferred cotton shirts brought with them or sent from home instead of the itchy wool or flannel shirts the government first issued. Confederate-made shoes were not of the best quality and Southern soldiers often suffered terribly from a lack of good footwear. Some men were forced to go barefoot until good shoes could be found.
Confederate hat |
The Confederate army issued a gray cap that was similar to the Union soldier's forage cap. Many men preferred to wear broad-brimmed felt hats instead of the army cap because it was better protection from the hot sun and rain. Even general officers preferred to wear felt hats. Most of these hats were sent from home, though the Confederate quartermaster also provided felt hats in place of the cloth cap. These hats were made of thick wool felt, though shortages of wool forced alternative materials to be used such as cotton or straw. Confederate soldiers wore a belt set that included a leather cartridge box, cap box, bayonet and scabbard. The cartridge box held forty paper cartridges, each containing one minie ball and black powder. The cartridge box was the safest way to carry the explosive cartridges, kept in order in the box by means of a removable liner made of tin. Each cartridge box also had a small pouch that held musket tools and cleaning patches.
Haversack |
A boiler. |
Confederate haversacks were made of cotton cloth with a cloth sling and button to close the top flap. Not waterproofed or painted, grease and oil from rations soaked through the material and stained the soldier's trousers so often that they universally discarded them for the Federal issue haversack picked up from the battlefield or taken off prisoners of war. Confederate manufacturers began making painted haversacks during the war and some of these, which are very similar to the Union haversacks, have survived. Confederate canteens were made of thin tin in the shape of a narrow drum or wood that was carved and strapped into a similar shape. The wood canteens proved to be very heavy and tin canteens were easy to dent. They often leaked so badly that Confederates discarded them at their first opportunity to get a captured Union canteen. Along with their canteen and haversack, they had a tin plate, knife and fork, spoon, and a tin cup they called a boiler. It had a wire over the top of the cup so they could boil things over the fire in their cups. Knapsacks that were first made in 1861 became a rare item as the war progressed. The soldiers would wrap their personal items in their blanket, roll it up and tie the roll at one end. This "horse collar" as they called it, was worn over the shoulder.
Cartridge box |
Southern soldiers marched with very little baggage to slow them down and they took pride in their "light marching order". One soldier recalled:
"I wore a cartridge box and bayonet holder on my belt. Extra cartridges were placed in pockets. Around my shoulder hung my wool blanket and a captured Yankee gum (poncho) in which I wrapped my few belongings- a comb, toothbrush and powder. I also had a haversack in which my plate, knife, spoon and fork rested with what few meager rations we received. I tied my coffee boiler to my canteen to be ready to scoop up water at the first well or creek we passed."
Union soldiers had several nicknames for Confederates including "butternuts", because of the color of their uniforms, "Johnny" that was short for "Johnny Reb", "rebels" or "rebs" because they were considered to be in rebellion, and "greybacks" based on the color of the Confederate uniforms.
Zouave regiments were very rare in the Confederate Army but there was one group called the "Louisiana Tigers", a battalion of soldiers raised in New Orleans. By 1863, the battalion had been disbanded and the survivors assigned to other Louisiana regiments, though many of the men from that state called themselves "Tigers" anyway. Another distinctive organization from Louisiana was the "Washington Artillery of New Orleans". The Washington Artillery was considered to be an elite artillery organization, composed of men from the high society of New Orleans. The battalion experienced very heavy combat throughout the war and suffered very heavy losses at the Second Battle of Fredericksburg in May 1863. Two guns of the Washington Artillery fired the signal to begin the barrage prior to Pickett's Charge on July 3rd at Gettysburg. The "Texas Brigade", which included three regiments from Texas and one from Arkansas, was also a unique organization. These men were especially far from home and had been originally led by General John B. Hood. The Texans were known for their bravery and fearless style of fighting. They had fought so hard and so well at the Battle of Antietam that even the Union soldiers who
fought against them boasted that they had "faced the fiercest fighters of Lee's rebel army."
Not all Confederate soldiers were born in the South- many were Irish immigrants or northerners who had settled there and chose to fight beside their new neighbors and for southern homes. One of these men was Wesley Culp who was born and raised in Gettysburg.
(Gregory Coco Collection, GNMP) |
No matter where they had been born, the Confederate soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia truly admired their commander, General Robert E. Lee. Lee was not so highly regarded at first- some called him "Granny" and "King of Spades" because he had supervised the digging of forts and trenches around Richmond. Those nicknames were long forgotten by the summer of 1863. It was General Lee who led them through several hard-fought victories against impossible odds, and the men now referred to him as "Marse Robert". When the army began the Gettysburg Campaign their morale was as high as it had ever been and they felt they could whip the Union army at any time and any place. Lee had been able to secure new uniforms and shoes for his army before the campaign began, but they had not received decent rations for many months. Once these hungry soldiers reached Pennsylvania, they were overwhelmed at what they saw- rich farms with large barns, abundant fields of crops, and orchards laden with ripening fruit. Compared to devastated Virginia, this was a land flowing with milk and honey and Lee's soldiers enjoyed every item of food Northern farms could provide.
General Lee's army was divided into three large organizations called corps, each led by officers who Lee had great confidence in. James Longstreet commanded the First Corps. General Richard Ewell commanded the Second Corps, which had originally been commanded by "Stonewall" Jackson. General Ambrose Powell Hill commanded the Third Corps. General James E. B. Stuart commanded the cavalry.
James Longstreet |
Richard S. Ewell |
A. P. Hill |
J.E.B. Stuart |
Lee's generals also had nicknames. Can you match the nickname with the officer?
- "Old Bald Head"
- "Little Powell"
- "JEB"
- "Old Pete"
Keywords:
volunteers
volunteer regiments
quartermasters
depots
butternuts
minie ball
depots
light marching order
horse collar
rebellion
corps
"Louisiana Tigers"
rebels
elite
Army of Northern Virginia
morale
rations
corps
Gettysburg Kidz Page
National Park Service
Gettysburg National Military Park
1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100
Gettysburg, PA 17325
John Heiser
Gettysburg National Military Park
March 2000