Presented by the Weider History Group and American Military University
While the names and stories of many Civil War heroes often come to mind, have you ever wondered about the common soldier of the Civil War?
Civil War aficionados readily recall the names of Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Stonewall. However, there is a renewed and growing interest in the common soldier of the Civil War, “Johnny Reb” and “Billy Yank”. From battling in muddy trenches to charging through fields of enemy fire, the common soldier also combated the equally-deadly diseases that plagued the theater of war. But what motivated him to fight?
Long after the guns had been silenced, the huge volumes of letters written by these Civil War “grunts” remain a window for viewing and contemplating what they thought, what they ate, how they were trained, their discipline, their equipment, and how they occupied their spare time. This webcast discussed the common soldier of the Civil War, including statistics about the troops, prewar occupations, motivating factors, weaponry, and the soldiers’ quotes that brought this presentation to life.
Watch American Military University and the Weider History Group’s recorded webcast event that brought light to what it must have been like for these men to “see the elephant” and, more importantly, how they spent their time both on active campaigning and winter camp.
The webcast also included a question and answer session.
This event is part of a series of three Civil War webcasts sponsored by AMU and the Weider History Group. Other events include: