Originally aired on January 27, 1995 - In part 22 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson describes the harshness of winter for the Civil War soldier and the steps they took to combat it.
#22 Winter Encampments
Civil War armies campaigned for the most part only from spring through autumn. As the leaves fell and the weather became colder, soldiers generally became (said one) “muddy, wet, ugly, sour, and insubordinate.” A youngster in a Michigan unit observed one late autumn: “The boys will huddle round the cooks fire after the roll call in the morning like a lot of half-grown chickens under an old hen.”
Orders would finally come down the line for the army to go into winter quarters, the men responded with speed and zest because freezing temperatures were usually at hand by the time commanding officer suspended army movements until springtime. Axes at once became the most sought-after weapons. Men fanned out in every direction and cut trees for logs until the land for miles around the campsite stood naked in the winter sunlight.
If trees were in abundance, soldiers built log cabins reminiscent of frontier life. Tents with dirt walls, as well as materials confiscated from buildings in the neighborhood, also came into use. Winter camp for an army quickly assumed the appearance of rustic city. The huts were arranged in orderly fashion along avenues. Open fields were maintained for drill. Private homes nearby served - - voluntarily or otherwise where the owners were concerned - - as quarters for the officers.
The log huts that became soldier’s homes through the winter followed a general pattern. Four men normally worked together. Using bayonets for picks and tin plates for shovels, they would dig out the flooring into an area about 12 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 2 or more feet deep. Pine or hardwood logs would be set horizontally to a height of four feet, with mud and wood chips used to chink the openings between the logs. Boards or thatch were the roof covering.
When lumber was limited, soldiers took shelter tents (each half being 4 by 6 feet), buttoned them together, and secured them over a ridgepole and down to the top of the log sidings. To complete the hut, soldiers built a chimney of short logs split in half and covered well inside with mud. Barrels obtained from the commissary were placed at the top of the chimney to enhance the draw of the fireplace.
Nevertheless, poor draw and poor wood combined to make huge amounts of some, which settled inside the cabin so thickly at times that visibility was reduced to near zero. Furniture was sparse. Beds were made of boards and logs, mattresses consisting of pine needles, straw, or leaves.
Opinions about such quarters extended from one extreme to the other. A New York infantryman commented in somewhat poetic fashion: “The coziness of the log house after dark, with its blazing and cheerful fire, compensated in a measure for the toils of the day.” Not so, snorted a Massachusetts solider. “In our childhood,” he said, “we were taught that ‘God is everywhere,’ but after seeing this place, we concluded that there were exceptions to this statement.”
Winter weather added to the misery of stagnation. A Virginia Confederate (which obvious exaggeration) stated of his first winter home: “Manassas and its vicinity is literally a lake of mud. Wherever you go the ground is so soft that you have to hold your breath to keep from sinking.” The man added that when marching down a road, only the heads of the soldiers and horses were visible. “You would be perplexed whether to laugh or sympathize,” he concluded.
Few men laughed. They came in time to learn - - and to fear - - what winter meant. Monotony was always there. So were exposure to the elements, limited food supplies, accumulated filth, and illnesses that easily attained epidemic proportions. Many Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks came to look forward eagerly to springtime. For them, battle became more desirable than stagnant suffering.
