Paul Prentiss on “Life in the Army Camps”: A Roundtable Discussion Night
Old Baldy members are invited to participate in an all-hands round table meeting to discuss Life in the Army Camps on Thursday, March 25th. This is an extremely broad topic with so many aspects that everyone should find something interesting to look up and share.
The American Civil War was not a continuous battle. Instead, the majority of time was spent with long monotonous residency in camps punctuated by short periods of the terror and chaos of combat. Due to the nature of campaign goals, Armies could be in the field for several months, or up to a year. One thing Soldiers could always count on was a long outdoor stay in all types of weather.
What interests you about a soldier’s life in camp? Was it the food/diet, medical care, general living conditions, entertainment, camp furniture, animal companions, good order and discipline, recreational activities, spies, illness/disease, ordinary activities, sanitary conditions, visitors, spiritual needs, camp followers, gambling, physical security, available vices, military training, logistics, camp locations or home-front support? Above is a short list of things that may interest you to bring to the round table discussion.
Hop on the internet, grab that book off the shelf, watch that movie again or find that magazine article. Refresh your memory on your favorite camp interest and share with us in March.
A simple search of Civil War Camp Life brings up a host of items:
- https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/life-civil-war-soldier-camp
- https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/civil-war-camp-life/
- https://www.civilwarhome.com/camplife.htm
- https://civilwar.mrdonn.org/camplife.html
- https://www.civilwaracademy.com/soldier-life
- https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu/trail/CivilWarCabins/index.cfm
- https://blog.genealogybank.com/union-soldier-describes-daily-life-in-civil-war-camp.html