2. What was life like for Iowa soldiers--black and white-- in the Civil War?
Iowa soldiers in the Civil War did not spend much time in actual combat. The article “Life of a Civil War Soldier” states that, on average, one day out of 30 was spent in combat. The rest of a soldier’s time, as stated in the Soldier Life video, was spent drilling with either a small group of men or the entire battalion, completing manual labor they were previously assigned to, or diverting their attention to some sort of entertainment. Each morning, an officer would assign a soldier his fatigue duties for the day. These duties included cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the horses. Once they completed these tasks, they moved on to drill. Drill was where the soldiers learned how to march and use their weapons. When soldiers had time, they wrote letters to their families, read newspapers, or played cards and music. …show more content…
For both the African American soldiers and the white soldiers, rations could range from meager to filling. According to “Life of a Civil War Soldier”, fresh fruits and vegetables were hard to come by and were usually not included in rations. This lack of fruit and vegetables led to immune deficiencies. To get fruits and vegetables, many soldiers foraged for whatever they could find around their camps. In Damned Iowa Greyhound, Clayton mentions foraging for fruits in orchards and wild berries in forests.
Poor hygiene and poor shelter were major issues during the Civil War. The close quarters of the camps led to the outbreak of many different diseases such as dysentery and pneumonia. In the case of the 60th US Colored Troops, the army deployed vaccinations for the men when a smallpox epidemic broke out in their Arkansas camp. However, these vaccines were tainted and more soldiers died. More soldiers died of disease during the Civil War than in
Iowa soldiers in the Civil War did not spend much time in actual combat. The article “Life of a Civil War Soldier” states that, on average, one day out of 30 was spent in combat. The rest of a soldier’s time, as stated in the Soldier Life video, was spent drilling with either a small group of men or the entire battalion, completing manual labor they were previously assigned to, or diverting their attention to some sort of entertainment. Each morning, an officer would assign a soldier his fatigue duties for the day. These duties included cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the horses. Once they completed these tasks, they moved on to drill. Drill was where the soldiers learned how to march and use their weapons. When soldiers had time, they wrote letters to their families, read newspapers, or played cards and music. …show more content…
For both the African American soldiers and the white soldiers, rations could range from meager to filling. According to “Life of a Civil War Soldier”, fresh fruits and vegetables were hard to come by and were usually not included in rations. This lack of fruit and vegetables led to immune deficiencies. To get fruits and vegetables, many soldiers foraged for whatever they could find around their camps. In Damned Iowa Greyhound, Clayton mentions foraging for fruits in orchards and wild berries in forests.
Poor hygiene and poor shelter were major issues during the Civil War. The close quarters of the camps led to the outbreak of many different diseases such as dysentery and pneumonia. In the case of the 60th US Colored Troops, the army deployed vaccinations for the men when a smallpox epidemic broke out in their Arkansas camp. However, these vaccines were tainted and more soldiers died. More soldiers died of disease during the Civil War than in