The advent of the American Civil War brought upon a massive wave of patriotic fervor and rhetoric. Volunteers rushed to the front lines with romanticized and masculinized dispositions of what the war effort entailed. Many envisioned a short war filled with constant excitement, glorious battle, and exhilaration; but as the months and years dragged on, the enthusiasm started to fade. War was not a magnificent, exuberant undertaking but a scarring and treacherous burden filled with substantial loss of life and long periods of dormancy. When immobilized or away from the battlefield, soldiers spent their time in camps. Camp life offered these weary soldiers time to reflect on their personal experiences and comprehend the changing conceptual dynamic of war. They were also the closest things to normalcy troops encountered during their service. A thorough analysis of these soldiers’ attitudes, activities, and experiences will paint an accurate picture of Civil War camp life and the soldiers’ psyche, an important and often overlooked aspect of warfare.
As the winter of 1863-64 approached, Union and Confederate soldiers around Virginia's Rapidan River hunkered down for a long hiatus from hostilities after, arguably, the most crucial and violent year of the war. Knowing that the winter wouldn’t outlast the war, soldiers took this downtime as an opportunity to immerse themselves in culture and leisure. They produced inspiring works of literature and art, wrote and performed songs, and even played in organized sports. The winter camps along the Rapidan offered battle-fatigued soldiers refuge from the horrors of war and a taste of the normalcy they once knew, while simultaneously serving as epicenters of cultural and social exchange.
In the waning months of 1863, soldiers in both armies grew increasingly weary. Upon their conscription, they expected to fight in the war for a mere two or three months, not two or three years. Not only was the war physically taxing, but emotionally exhausting as well. The enthusiasm to fight for one’s country and honor was all but gone. “We have had vast experience in war,” writes Josiah Marshall Favill, a Union officer, “[we]…are no longer enthusiastic boys, but veteran soldiers…the excitement and enthusiasm has long passed away.”[1] The horrors of war began to sink in during this period of dormancy, allowing soldiers to become more introspective, worrying about their loved ones, homeland, and themselves more than the war effort.[2] This is supported by the surge of private correspondence written by soldiers during this period. Within these letter, soldiers express deep, personal thoughts and feelings that would otherwise be ridiculed and suppressed by the military community.[3]
Morale was a great concern on both sides. The romantic allure of war had long vanished only to be replaced by apathy and indignation. These feelings were further accentuated by extended periods of inactivity, which according to one Union soldier, presented a “proverbially demoralizing influence of camp life.”[4] The poor living conditions of camp life also factored in to this decrease in morale. Wilbur Fisk of the Green Mountain Men Volunteers (Vermont) describes an abysmal scene in his correspondence: “[Our] clothes have become drenched in cold rain…tents dripping wet were placed in knapsacks with dry clothes and the extra weight bore burdens on the soldiers’ backs.”[5] Blanket, overcoats, and boots were also in short supply. Theodore Lyman, a colonel under General Meade’s command, observed the bodies of five men who froze to death while on picket duty the night of November 30, 1863.[6] Provisions were further lost or misplaced when raiding parties attacked encampments. The soldiers would hastily flee, leaving behind their personal items. Most of the time, the raiders would burn everything in sight, destroying the opposition’s rations, camp supplies, and shelters.[7]
For the majority of regiments, enlistment contracts ended on January 1, 1864. Recruiters on both sides were desperately trying to re-sign volunteers and prevent further desertion. For the Union, this was an uphill battle. Not only were the men homesick and tired, but after the failed Mine Run Campaign (November 29 – December 2, 1863), morale was at an all-time low. “Last August we received one hundred ninety odd [conscripts],” recalled Warren Hapgood Freeman of the Massachusetts Infantry, “we have about sixty of them left…some are sick but nearly all of the absent ones have deserted.”[8] It was not uncommon for soldiers to suffer from mental fatigue or have breakdowns. The monotony and extremely lethargic nature of the winter camps prompted some conscripts to take extreme measures to get out of service. “One deserter shot his finger off,” surgeon John Gardner Perry noted, “with the hope of being sent to the hospital to be relieved of duty. The result is that he will serve with one finger less.”[9]
The stationary lifestyle of the camps allowed time for personal reflection and religious revival. The graphic images of war, death, disease, and suffering weighed heavy on many a man’s head. A good majority of men, especially in Confederate camps, believed that the likelihood of them surviving another year was slim-to-none. They sought out absolution, to be forgiven for their sins on the battlefield and in life with the hopes of being sent to Heaven if they fall during battle. Chaplains and traveling ministers erected religious altars and churches in the camps to satisfy the spiritual needs of their men.[10]
The camps around Brandy Station were extensive and teeming with activity. Over one hundred thousand men in the armies of Northern Virginia (Confederate) and the Potomac (Union) resided here from October 1863 to March 1864. According to Maj. Walter Taylor, Robert E. Lee’s adjutant, the Army of the Potomac had an estimated seventy five thousand troops dispersed around Culpeper and Orange counties and along the Rapidan.[11] The camps of the respective armies were in full view of each other during that time—about twenty miles apart—each anxiously lying in wait for the other to make a move.[12] Despite their ideological differences, there were instances of peaceful interaction between the pickets of either armies. “Today the pickets were friendly and talking to each other like brothers,” George Michael Neese, a Confederate horse artilleryman, recalls, “…Tomorrow they may be shooting at each other like savages.”[13] The camps themselves were much like small towns--military communities that reinforced soldiers’ identities through race, religion, education, wealth, and location and grounded their purpose in the grand scheme of the war.[14]
The layout of the camps were meticulously planned and constructed, not just dispersed in every which way. Before a camp was organized, the location had to be suitable for all aspects of the army, such as livestock, wagons, and of course the soldiers. Work parties were formed to clear brush, build houses and churches, and construct roads for transport. However, the winter weather made mobilization nearly impossible. Prison quarters, horse lines, artillery and train parks, and field hospitals had to be accounted for as well.[15] Once the area was suitable for settlement, the order was given for soldiers to construct their own huts. Most enlistees were housed in two-by-four foot tents, known as “dog shanties,” while others built log huts offering more room and warmth.[16] Soldiers also dug trenches around their cabins to serve as drainage pits to keep the insides dry.[17]
The camps themselves were organized in a grid system. Infantry regiments were organized in streets with the General’s headquarters at the center of camp, the “capital” so to say. Both Union and Confederate organizers strictly adhered to the protocols described in the Revised United States Army Regulations of 1861, which addressed spatial patterning, difference in military rank, and functional support and maintenance.[18]
The sheer size and scale of these camps called for an unprecedented demand for natural resources, which had a parasitic effect on the indigenous community. Industry and production in these war towns were severely diminished due to enlistment of the men. Nearly all working-aged men in towns such as Culpeper signed on for duty, depleting the residual male population and thus self-sufficiency.[19] Resources were exacerbated at rapid rates and citizens were displaced from stores, schools, and warehouses by the invading armies. “The part of Virginia through which we have marched has been totally devastated,” remarks Confederate surgeon Spencer Glasgow Welch, “it has nothing but one vast track of desolation.”[20] As Theodore Lyman witnessed, “The whole country, besides the mud, is now ornamented with stumps, dead horses and mules, deserted camps, and thousands upon thousands of crows.”[21] The passage of troops was soon followed by theft and vandalism, due to the lack of law enforcement.[22]
Despite the mistreatment and destruction of their communities, civilians still played an integral role in the functioning of camps. Many times wealthy residents would open up their homes to high-ranking officers to use as headquarters and their land as areas for regiments to camp. These acts of hospitality were attempts to both make nice with the invading forces and spare themselves from their destructive nature. However, these efforts required substantial commitment on the citizens’ parts. Civilians provided soldiers basic necessities, such as food, clean water, and shelter. They also undertook the burden of tending the wounded and burying the dead.[23]
Winter quarters were particularly dirty environments, despite the best efforts of leadership to keep them well-maintained. Polluted water and mud lay in idle pools, contaminating drinking and bathing water and spread unknown amounts of disease. “Even the water we bathe in, and wash our teeth with,” notes John Gardner Perry, “must be left standing for a half hour before using, that the dirt in it may settle.”[24] Disease like dysentery, pneumonia, Camp Fever, typhus, and malaria were rampant.[25] This was the trend throughout the course of the war: for every man who died in battle, two others died of disease. Despite officers’ best efforts to combat disease, it still spread rapidly. Many soldiers, instead of going to the sinks (latrines), decided to relieve themselves only steps away from their tents, leading to polluted runoff.[26] Doctors and surgeons, let alone the general public, were unaware of Germ Theory and how it might impact the spread of illness. The best things they could have done were to emphasize cleanliness, proper nutrition, and quarantine the infected.[27] However, this was not so in the majority of cases. Quinine was seen as a miracle drug and administered for nearly all ailments.[28] The only problem with its administration was that it had to be taken with alcohol or an opioid, which further complicated addictive behaviors displayed by some soldiers in the camps.
Illness wasn’t the only thing to be worried about when encamped. Hunger was a very real threat, too. Main meals consisted of salted pork or beef, hardtack, and beans or peas on the side with luck.[29] On the Confederate side, disrupted supply lines and poor rationing prolonged the effects of hunger on the men. “Our meat has been cut down to a quarter pound,” recalled Walter Lee, a Confederate private, “…We eat up everything they give us and feel hungry all the time.”[30] The spread of available food was quite limited as well. “I do not know what we will do for vegetables after the corn becomes too hard,” writes Confederate infantryman Green Berry Samuels, “I suppose we will get the scurvy.”[31]
Daily life in the camps soon became tedious and dull. The structured drilling, marching, and parading offered little amusement for the troops. While these undertakings provided the men some form of physical activity, their repetitive nature only added to the idleness of the camp. “We are in a ‘statuo quo,’” remarked Union Brigadier General Alexander Hays, “and have been annihilating Lee’s forces by masterly inactivity.”[32] Thomas Galwey, a soldier in the Eighth Ohio Infantry, observed that the only way to alleviate the camp ennui was through “brandy, cards, and novels.”[33] Some regiments even organized their own libraries and newspapers.[34] Gawley goes on to say that “the tedium of camp [was] only relieved by the noise of drunken brawlers at night.”
Soldiers soon pursued other forms of activity during their free time to counteract this monotony, such as performing arts and sports, the most common being baseball, card playing, and snowball fights. One General McLaw of the Confederate Army described his men performing these leisurely activities “unconcerned about the visible Union troops parading and drilling on the other side of the river.”[35] These were the primary means of cohesion between the men and their companies, striking an emotional and fraternal bond. They were also displayed of physical courage, skill, and masculinity.[36] These alliances, when pressed by quarrels, competition, or questions of manhood could ignite tensions between different soldierly communities.[37] However, the majority of these activities stimulated friendly competition. Gymnasiums and horse racing tracks were even built to encourage this positive behavior.[38]
Music was an essential part of camp life. Many soldiers were talented instrumentalists who brought their instruments with them while on campaign. The most common instrument played was the fiddle, however other pieces such as trumpets, guitars, and even pianos were brought along, too. One of the most iconic instruments to develop during this time period was the banjo. Originally an African-American development, both Union and Confederate soldiers adopted and displayed it in ensembles and minstrel shows.[39]
Familiar songs and hymns were played to recreate a sense of normalcy and prompt recollections of Antebellum America and the homelands these soldiers left behind.[40] This was especially true for ethnic regiments, such as the sixty-ninth New York Irish Infantry, who used music to celebrate and embrace their heritage.[41] Many soldiers rejected songs that glorified war or romanticized the front and tended to favor songs that spoke to all soldiers, not just Blue or Grey. Small folk ensembles were formed in almost every regiment and provided much-needed comic relief from the tedium of camp.
Other darker and insidious undertakings, such as gambling, womanizing, and alcoholism plagued the camps[42]. These actions were deemed intolerable and extreme measures, such as execution, were taken to prevent them from spreading. Even in the face of execution, these bad habits still spread, especially among conscripts, the majority of whom were common. John Gardner Perry was not a particular fan of these new recruits: “Close to our rear was a regiment notorious for its drunken brawls and lawlessness… composed of conscripts and New York rioters, among them many jail-birds.”[43]
For the common soldier, camp life entailed simplicity, rationing, and periods of melancholy; but for high-ranking officers, living conditions were much more suitable. For one thing, the majority of officers had their own tents and luggage carts to carry wardrobes, utensils, and other goods with them wherever they went. Additionally, extravagant military balls were held for the gentlemen in the officer’s community.[44] These gatherings were only for officers, gentlemen, and respected guests, not the common soldier, although they were the ones to build such venues. “Oyster soup had we,” recalled Theodore Lyman, “fish, roast beef and turkey, pies, and nuts and raisins.”[45] The ability of the wealthy and high-ranking to receive such delicacies accentuated the social strata of the camp, creating polarizing environments and subsequent experiences.
The Civil War took a heavy toll on its fighting men, not just in terms of lives but mental and physical fatigue. After a couple years of fighting, morale and motivation were all but gone. The campaigns endured over the past year had been some of the most violent, bloody, and taxing endeavors the war had produced. The fighting spirit that vitalized the outbreak of war had died out, much like the hundreds of thousands of men who had already passed and the many others who would in the years to come. The cease of engagement was a relief to many soldiers who had come to know nothing but fighting and despair over the past eight months. The winter camps along the Rapidan offered soldiers a time to cope and reevaluate themselves and their cause. It offered these men a chance to reclaim some normalcy to their lives and not be plagued by constant threat of attack or death. Despite the conditions of the camps, being disease-ridden, muddy, and cold, the soldiers made do in the humdrum of cessation. They focused on what was important to them: their families, their brothers in arms, music, writing, leisure, and themselves. The quality of time spent in the camps directly influenced these soldiers’ outlooks on war, and more broadly, the trajectory of the war. If someone described their stay as miserable, bleak, monotonous, and tiresome, then they would have a pessimistic and unenthusiastic expectation for the rest of the war. However, if a soldier spent his time enjoying the comradery, embracing his culture, and utilizing the coping mechanisms in place or developing some of his own, then he would have a more passionate and revitalized yearning to fight for his respective cause.
WORKS CITED
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Abbott, Lemuel Abijah. Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864. Free Press Print. Company, printers, 1908
Brandy Station, Va., vicinity. Camp of 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 3d Division, Cavalry Corps. Brandy Station United States Virginia, 1864. March. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666557/.
Bufford, John Henry, Lithographer. Camp of the 37th Mass. Vol's. near Brandy Station, Va. / Bakers; J.H. Bufford's lith., Boston. Brandy Station United States Virginia, 1864. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/96512046/.
Favill, Josiah Marshall, 1842-, Diary of Josiah Marshall Favill. The Diary of a Young Officer Serving with the Armies of the United States during the War of the Rebellion. Chicago, IL: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 1909
Forbes, Edwin, Artist. An army graveyard. Winter camp near Stoneman's Switch, Falmouth, Va. / E.F. Falmouth United States Virginia, None. [Between 1861 and 1865] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2004661910/.
Freeman, Warren Hapgood, 1844(?)-, Letter from Warren Hapgood Freeman to J. D. Freeman and Mrs. J. D. Freeman. Letters from Two Brothers Serving in the War for the Union to Their Family at Home in West Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge, MA: H.O. Houghton and Co., 1871
Gordon, John Brown. Reminiscences of the Civil War. Time-Life Books, 1903.
Hays, Alexander, 1819-1864, Letter from Alexander Hays to Annie Adams McFadden Hays. Life and Letters of Alexander Hays, Brevet Colonel United States Army, Brigadier General and Brevet Major General United States Volunteers. Fleming, George Thornton, ed.; Hays, Gilbert Adams, comp., Pittsburgh, PA: Privately published, 1919.
Lee, Walter, ?-1865(?), Letter from Walter Lee. Forget-me-nots of the Civil War: a Romance, Containing Reminiscences and Original Letters of Two Confederate Soldiers. Battle, Laura Elizabeth, : Press of A. R. Fleming Printing Co., 1909.
Lyman, Theodore, 1833-1897, Letter from Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman. Meade's Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Agassiz, George R., ed., Boston, MA: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1922.
Neese, George Michael, 1839-1921, Diary of George, Michael Neese. Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery. New York, NY: Neale Publishing Company, 1911.
O'Sullivan, Timothy H, photographer. Band of 114th Pa. Infantry, Brandy Station, Va., Apr. Brandy Station United States Virginia, None. [Photographed 1864, printed between 1880 and 1889] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012649981/.
O'Sullivan, Timothy H, photographer. Culpeper, Va. "Contrabands". Culpeper United States Virginia, 1863. November. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666349/.
Perry, John Gardner, 1840-1926, Letter from John Gardner Perry. Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War. Perry, Martha Derby, comp., Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co., 1906.
Samuels, Green Berry, 1839-1901, Letter from Green Berry Samuels to Kathleen Boone Samuels. A Civil War Marriage in Virginia: Reminiscences and Letters. Spencer, Carrie Esther, Samuels, Bernard and Samuels, Walter Berry, comps., Boyce, VA: Carr Publishing Co., 1956.
Welch, Spencer Glasgow, 1834-1916, Letter from Spencer Glasgow Welch to Cordelia Strother Welch. A Confederate Surgeon's Letters to his Wife. Washington, DC: Neale Publishing Company, 1911.
Secondary Sources
Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014
Fielding, Lawrence W. "War and Trifles: Sport in the Shadows of Civil War Army Life." Journal of Sport History 4, no. 2 (1977): 151-68
Geier, Clarence, Orr, David, and Matthew Reeves. Huts and History: The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampment during the American Civil War. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 2006
Sartin. Jeffrey S. "Infectious Diseases during the Civil War: The Triumph of the "Third Army"" Clinical Infectious Diseases 16, no. 4 (1993): 580-84
Simpson, Brooks. The Civil War: The Third Year Told by Those Who Lived It. New York: The Library of America. 2013
Sullivan, George. In the Wake of Battle: The Civil War Images of Matthew Brady. New York: Prestel. 2004
Footnotes
[1] Favill, Josiah Marshall, 1842-, Diary of Josiah Marshall Favill. The Diary of a Young Officer Serving with the Armies of the United States during the War of the Rebellion. Chicago, IL: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 1909. 273.
[2] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 23.
[3] Ibid., 52.
[4] Ibid., 41. See also Perry, John Gardner, 1840-1926, Letter from John Gardner Perry. Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War. Perry, Martha Derby, comp., Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co., 1906. 100.
[5] Simpson, Brooks. The Civil War: The Third Year Told by Those Who Lived It. New York: The Library of America. 2013. 613.
[6] Ibid., 608. See also Freeman, Warren Hapgood, 1844(?)-, Letter from Warren Hapgood Freeman to J. D. Freeman and Mrs. J. D. Freeman. Letters from Two Brothers Serving in the War for the Union to Their Family at Home in West Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge, MA: H.O. Houghton and Co. 1871. 88.
[7] Samuels, Green Berry, 1839-1901, Letter from Green Berry Samuels to Kathleen Boone Samuels. A Civil War Marriage in Virginia: Reminiscences and Letters. Spencer, Carrie Esther, Samuels, Bernard and Samuels, Walter Berry, comps., Boyce, VA: Carr Publishing Co., 1956. 201.
[8] Freeman, Warren Hapgood, 1844(?)-, Letter from Warren Hapgood Freeman to J. D. Freeman and Mrs. J. D. Freeman. Letters from Two Brothers Serving in the War for the Union to Their Family at Home in West Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge, MA: H.O. Houghton and Co. 1871. 93.
[9] Perry, John Gardner, 1840-1926, Letter from John Gardner Perry. Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War. Perry, Martha Derby, comp., Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co. 1906. 78.
[10] Gordon, John Brown. Reminiscences of the Civil War. Time-Life Books, 1903. 229.
[11] Simpson, Brooks. The Civil War: The Third Year Told by Those Who Lived It. New York: The Library of America. 2013. 555.
[12] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 24.
[13] Neese, George Michael, 1839-1921, Diary of George, Michael Neese. Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery. New York, NY: Neale Publishing Company, 1911. 216.
[14] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 36-39.
[15] Geier, Clarence, Orr, David, and Matthew Reeves. Huts and History: The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampment during the American Civil War. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 2006. 11, 184.
[16] Sullivan, George. In the Wake of Battle: The Civil War Images of Matthew Brady. New York: Prestel. 2004. 132-133.
[17] Geier, Clarence, Orr, David, and Matthew Reeves. Huts and History: The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampment during the American Civil War. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 2006. 45.
[18] Ibid., 12.
[19] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 28.
[20] Welch, Spencer Glasgow, 1834-1916. Letter from Spencer Glasgow Welch to Cordelia Strother Welch. A Confederate Surgeon's Letters to his Wife. Washington, DC: Neale Publishing Company, 1911. 82.
[21] Lyman, Theodore, 1833-1897, Letter from Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman. Meade's Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Agassiz, George R., ed., Boston, MA: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1922. 64-65.
[22] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 34.
[23] Ibid., 35.
[24] Perry, John Gardner, 1840-1926, Letter from John Gardner Perry. Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War. Perry, Martha Derby, comp., Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co., 1906. 152.
[25] Sullivan, George. In the Wake of Battle: The Civil War Images of Matthew Brady. New York: Prestel. 2004. 133. See also Hays, Alexander, 1819-1864, Letter from Alexander Hays to Annie Adams McFadden Hays. Life and Letters of Alexander Hays, Brevet Colonel United States Army, Brigadier General and Brevet Major General United States Volunteers. Fleming, George Thornton, ed.; Hays, Gilbert Adams, comp., Pittsburgh, PA: Privately published, 1919. 508-509.
[26] Sartin, Jeffrey S. "Infectious Diseases during the Civil War: The Triumph of the "Third Army"" Clinical Infectious Diseases 16, no. 4 (1993): 582
[27] Ibid., 581.
[28] Ibid., 582.
[29] Sullivan, George. In the Wake of Battle: The Civil War Images of Matthew Brady. New York: Prestel. 2004. 133.
[30] Lee, Walter, ?-1865(?), Letter from Walter Lee. Forget-me-nots of the Civil War: a Romance, Containing Reminiscences and Original Letters of Two Confederate Soldiers. Battle, Laura Elizabeth, : Press of A. R. Fleming Printing Co., 1909. 103.
[31] Samuels, Green Berry, 1839-1901, Letter from Green Berry Samuels to Kathleen Boone Samuels. A Civil War Marriage in Virginia: Reminiscences and Letters. Spencer, Carrie Esther, Samuels, Bernard and Samuels, Walter Berry, comps., Boyce, VA: Carr Publishing Co., 1956. 195.
[32] Hays, Alexander, 1819-1864, Letter from Alexander Hays to Annie Adams McFadden Hays. Life and Letters of Alexander Hays, Brevet Colonel United States Army, Brigadier General and Brevet Major General United States Volunteers. Fleming, George Thornton, ed.; Hays, Gilbert Adams, comp., Pittsburgh, PA: Privately published, 1919. 517.
[33] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 41.
[34] Freeman, Warren Hapgood, 1844(?)-, Letter from Warren Hapgood Freeman to J. D. Freeman and Mrs. J. D. Freeman. Letters from Two Brothers Serving in the War for the Union to Their Family at Home in West Cambridge, Mass. Cambridge, MA: H.O. Houghton and Co., 1871. 102. See also Favill, Josiah Marshall, 1842-, Diary of Josiah Marshall Favill. The Diary of a Young Officer Serving with the Armies of the United States during the War of the Rebellion. Chicago, IL: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 1909. 274.
[35] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 24.
[36] Fielding, Lawrence W. "War and Trifles: Sport in the Shadows of Civil War Army Life." Journal of Sport History 4, no. 2 (1977): 160.
[37] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 50.
[38] Perry, John Gardner, 1840-1926, Letter from John Gardner Perry. Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War. Perry, Martha Derby, comp., Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co., 1906. 125. See also Favill, Josiah Marshall, 1842-, Diary of Josiah Marshall Favill,. The Diary of a Young Officer Serving with the Armies of the United States during the War of the Rebellion. Chicago, IL: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 1909. 273.
[39] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 55.
[40] Ibid., 45, 58. See also Perry, John Gardner, 1840-1926. Letter from John Gardner Perry. Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War. Perry, Martha Derby, comp., Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co., 1906. 78.
[41] Ibid., 52. See also Abbott, Lemuel Abijah. Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864. Free Press Print. Company, printers, 1908. 2.
[42] Geier, Clarence, Orr, David, and Matthew Reeves. Huts and History: The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampment during the American Civil War. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 2006. 16.
[43] Perry, John Gardner, 1840-1926, Letter from John Gardner Perry. Letters from a Surgeon of the Civil War. Perry, Martha Derby, comp., Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Co. 1906. 82. Perry further describes a horrific scene in which the captain of this regiment, Capt. McKay, is shot by one of his own men when he confronts the drunken bunch.
[44] Davis, James A. Music along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music, and Community during Winter Quarters, Virginia. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2014. 111-112.
[45] Lyman, Theodore, 1833-1897, Letter from Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman. Meade's Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Agassiz, George R., ed., Boston, MA: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1922. 72.