Existing comment:
The Tedium of Camp:
"The life a soldier in the field is so monotonous, that days of the week, dates of the month, and even the year is nearly forgotten."
-- Sergeant George W. Driggs -- Eighth Wisconsin Infantry -- June 27, 1862
Exciting local send-offs behind the, citizen-soldiers looked forward to a speedy end of the war. One or two battles, they thought, and the conflict would end. The reality of the Civil War, however, was that most troops spent considerable time encamped. They counted the long tedious hours waiting for war to happen. And enduring this boredom had its dangers. Outbreaks of disease became frequent whenever the armies went into quarters where large aggregation of troops, sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands, had gathered.
How do you think Wisconsin's citizen-soldiers fought boredom while waiting for the war? Most read newspapers and kept in touch with home by subscribing to their local news journals. Some became correspondents, providing information about the war to the editors of their hometown papers. Some soldiers kept diaries, and many maintained an active correspondence with family members and friends. Checkers, chess, cards, dice, and a variety of other pastimes helped while away the hours as well. |