Mobilisation Cont.

Army Numbers:

Exactly how many men fought in the Civil War is unknown. The best estimates indicate that 1,500,000 men served in the Union army, and about 900,000 in the Confederate army. The Southern army reached its peak in 1863, but from there numbers rapidly declined while the Northern armies grew. In the last years of the war, the North had more than 1,000,000 men in arms. The South probably had no more than 200,000.

Military Leadership:

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis chose their commanders either on the basis of personal knowledge or on the opinions of advisors. Fortunately for the South, Davis had Robert E. Lee to take command of his eastern Confederate army, the army of Northern Virginia. Lee's best officers included Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet. Albert Johnson, Pierre Beauregard, Braxton Bragg and Joseph Johnson - the Confederate commanders in the west - had less ability.

Lincoln tried several commanders for his armies but none seemed aggressive enough. George McClellan, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker, George Meade, Henry Halleck, Don Carlos Beull and William Rosecrans all had serious military weaknesses and did not satisfy expectation. But, as the war progressed, four great generals emerged from the battlefields to lead the Union armies to victory: Ulysses S. Grant, William Sherman, Philip Sheridan and George Thomas.

Johnny Reb and Billy Yank:

Because they were regarded as rebels, Northern troops called the grey-uniformed Southern soldiers Johnny Reb (or Rebs). The Southerners called the blue-uniformed enemy Billy Yank (or simply Yankees).

Food and Clothing:

Rations consisted of flour, corn, salt pork, coffee and hardtack biscuits. Clothing was made from rewoven wool cloth known as "shoddy". It was not durable and rendered useless once wet. Most Southern soldiers marched and fought barefoot due to lack of shoes. Civil War soldiers invented identification "Dog Tags". They marked their names and addresses on handkerchiefs or pieces of paper which were pinned to their uniforms. This was because battle casualties were often high, sometimes eighty of every one hundred men.

Hospitals and Medical Facilities:

Sanitary conditions in the Civil War were nothing compared to modern standards. During that time no one had discovered the importance of antiseptics in preventing infection, and many thousands died from diseased wounds. Thousands of nurses volunteered to care for the ill and wounded soldiers. One of these nurses was Clara Barton, who later founded the American Red Cross.