Camp Followers During the Civil War most army units were attended by hundreds of people called camp followers who followed the army for profit or employment Many were officially recognized and encouraged by the armies of both sides Among the most useful camp followers were bakers barbers contract laborers laundresses private physicians private servants slaves and refugee slaves contrabands There were also numerous traveling sellers of provisions the men who did this were known as sutlers the women as vivandières The vivandières often carried out other roles as well as mascots and nurses and sometimes wore a stylized uniform Such camp followers had a semiofficial status within regiments and were governed by army regulations There were also many other less respectable camp followers but even they were usually tolerated They included many prostitutes but also black marketeers illegal whiskey sellers soldiers were forbidden alcohol cardsharpers and other criminals and tricksters Friends and family Many female camp followers were relatives of the soldiers These women often did most of the cooking They washed and sewed uniforms and cared for the sick and wounded A few women even took up arms and went into action Sutlers Other camp followers had no such affiliations and were concerned only with making money Sutlers were particularly notorious for their greed They often did not care which side they sold to Some of the most enterprising sutlers diversified into catering selling pickles cheese homemade cakes and dumplings Curriculum Context If curricula ask students to understand soldiers experience during the war camp followers are an important factor to include Cardsharper A gambler who cheats by manipulating playing cards 10 Behind the Fighting
Many soldiers complained that the sutlers were profiteering and giving short measure Despite the questionable morals of their role sutlers were viewed as a necessary evil by the Union and the commanders of many northern units sanctioned and indeed benefited from their activities The sutlers were taxed by their unit usually a percentage of their total month’s earnings Some of the money raised in this way was used for the benefit of the regiment to fund military bands for example the education of soldiers children or items for wounded members of the unit Soldiers were forbidden to spend more than one-third of their pay on sutlers goods and sutlers received payment directly from the regimental paymaster While this policy helped ensure the sutlers continued presence it also increased the troops resentment The army’s tolerance of sutlers lasted only for as long as the troops were on the road or in battle When the army entered a town many commanders banned sutlers and ordered their men to buy from local stores When news of the sutlers activities reached the North many people began to send food parcels to their relatives in the army to save them from being fleeced Many of these packages were stolen en route and those that did reach their intended destination took so long to arrive that the food had often gone bad by the time it was unwrapped Out of control Sometimes the number of camp followers spiraled out of control When the Union commander William T Sherman marched from Atlanta Georgia to the coast his army was followed by thousands of stragglers including deserters from both sides and freed slaves Although all camp followers were meant to be subject to military discipline this often proved difficult to enforce in practice Profiteering Making unreasonably high profits by selling essential goods at high prices during a time of emergency Curriculum Context What advantages would there be in soldiers shopping at local stores Curriculum Context It is worth remembering that most food throughout the war was poor quality boring and often rotten Camp Followers 11
Camp Life For all the weeks of the year spent on the march and fighting there were months when the soldiers on both sides were living in camp and attending in the words of one participant to the thousand commonplace duties of a soldier To many new volunteers camp life and military discipline came as unpleasant surprises When the war broke out recruits from towns and cities throughout the country went to war expecting it to be an adventure Many imagined they would join a local militia company with their friends and neighbors spend a week or two learning basic drill march off to meet the enemy and perhaps be home within weeks They did not sign up to spend time learning to be soldiers Sergeant Vairin of the 2nd Mississippi Volunteers wrote in his diary on May 1 1861 Made my first detail for guard duty to which most men objected because they said they did not enlist to do guard duty but to fight Yankees all fun and frolic Fatigues and drill The fun and frolic soon went out of soldiering when the hard work started Bugles called reveille wake-up at 5 00 A M From then on for up to 16 hours a day it was an unceasing round of manual work called fatigues and repetitive weapon and marching exercises called drill until lights out at 9 00 P M Many found the rigid structure of their new lives difficult One Confederate soldier wrote in his journal in 1862 None can imagine who has never experienced a soldier’s life the languor of mind tediousness of time as we resume day after day the monotonous duties Songs in camp The men needed relief from army life and camps were alive with diversions Music was popular either played Curriculum Context It might be interesting to contrast the excitement felt by many volunteers with their reaction to the realities of soldier life Drill Drill was a highly repetitive series of marching exercises used by armies to ensure that soldiers learned to maneuver on the battlefield almost by instinct 12 Behind the Fighting
by regimental bands or by the men themselves Fiddles were highly prized and music from banjos flutes and guitars was also common The latest songbooks were found in the camps The most popular songs tended to be either stirring tunes like the Union favorite The Battle Cry of Freedom for which the Southerners had their own version or ballads like Just before the Battle Mother which tugged the heartstrings of that sentimental age Letters home Writing letters was one of the most popular uses of soldiers free time Many men had never been away from their families before and keeping in contact with home was vitally important Literacy rates were high particularly in Union regiments For those who could not read or write a friend could always take dictation and read for them Some regiments are said to have posted and received up to 600 letters in one day Camp sports Soldiers played games that had originally come from England such as soccer and cricket and organized races wrestling and boxing matches The cavalry naturally held horse races whenever they could In the winter the snow provided an outlet for pent-up energy and snowball fights often broke out They were large-scale exchanges in which whole regiments and even brigades took part The biggest game in camp was baseball either played on the diamond around four bases or around two bases which was called townball Officers and enlisted men played side by side and in this way baseball lost its reputation as a gentlemen’s game Gambling If there was a competitive activity going on someone somewhere gambled on the winner Gambling was strictly forbidden but it was too widespread among Ballad A long song that tells a narrative which is often melancholy or concerned with loss Curriculum Context The Civil War left a richer legacy of written sources than any previous war including diaries and letters by officers and enlisted men Baseball Baseball based on English games had become popular around New York in the 1850s the Civil War helped to establish its national popularity Camp Life 13
