What It Meant to Fight, Starve, and Survive as a Civil War Soldier

The American Civil War was more than just a clash of ideologies or armies – it was a grueling, brutal test of human endurance. With over 2.7 million men engaged in more than 230 major battles and countless smaller skirmishes, the war remains the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history. But behind the headlines of military campaigns and famous generals was the daily suffering of the ordinary soldier. For many, serving in the war was less about heroism and more about starvation, sickness, shellshock, and survival.

Too Young to Understand, Old Enough to Die

Contrary to the image of grizzled veterans storming battlefields, the average Civil War soldier was often just a teenager. Nearly half a million Union soldiers were under the age of 17, and an estimated 100,000 Confederates were under 15. These boys weren’t motivated by politics or moral crusades – they simply wanted out of their monotonous farm lives. Many of them had little understanding of slavery or the war’s broader purpose. What began as a 90-day adventure quickly turned into years of unrelenting horror.

Tricks and Lies to Get In

Desperate to join, many underage boys found creative ways around enlistment rules. The regulation stated soldiers had to be 18, so boys would write the number “18” on paper and stick it in their boots. When asked if they were “over 18,” they could technically say yes. Others just lied outright, and without birth certificates or identification systems, they were rarely questioned. Those unable to fight directly often took roles as drummers, buglers, stretcher-bearers, or battlefield messengers – jobs that, despite not involving rifles, were still perilous.

Tactics Trapped in the Past

While weapon technology had advanced rapidly, with rifle-muskets that could accurately hit targets hundreds of yards away, battlefield tactics remained stubbornly outdated. Soldiers were still expected to line up shoulder-to-shoulder and march toward gunfire. The result was carnage on an unimaginable scale. At Gettysburg, entire lines of men were wiped out in minutes. Confederate General Iverson famously praised his men’s bravery as they were gunned down en masse, but those who survived spoke more truthfully of mud-soaked terror and deafening volleys of death.

Fighting Hunger Alongside the Enemy

If gunfire didn’t kill a soldier, hunger might. While official rations promised meat, vegetables, and coffee, the reality was bleak. Union troops sometimes fared better, but Confederate soldiers survived mostly on cornbread, a little coffee, and whatever they could steal or trade. Even when food was available, it was often infested with bugs. Surprisingly, soldiers sometimes traded with the enemy, coffee for tobacco, during unofficial truces far from officers’ eyes. In war, even enemies can share a hunger for basic humanity.

The Nightmare of Wounds and Battlefield Medicine

Being wounded in battle offered no guarantee of survival. Soldiers hit in the gut, chest, or limbs often lay in the grass for hours or days, hoping for a horse-drawn ambulance to arrive. Pain relief, if available, came in the form of whiskey. If help did arrive, chances were high that “help” meant amputation without anesthesia or sterilized tools. Nearly 60,000 amputations were performed during the war, and roughly 25% of those patients died from infection. Medical knowledge was primitive, and antiseptics were unheard of – dirty tools passed from one screaming man to the next.

Disease Was the Real Killer

While bullets were brutal, disease was even deadlier. Dysentery, typhoid, and pneumonia ripped through camps far faster than musket balls. Unsanitary conditions, contaminated water, and poor diets turned military encampments into death traps. The Union Army lost over 44,000 men to dysentery alone – ten times the number killed at Gettysburg. Soldiers weakened by poor nutrition and exposure were easy prey for infections, and doctors had few ways to help them. The very camps that were supposed to protect them from battle often sealed their fate.

Black Soldiers Fought Two Battles

Black Americans faced a dual struggle: fighting for freedom on the battlefield while also enduring discrimination within the ranks. Initially, the Union was hesitant to enlist Black soldiers, only opening the ranks in 1862. Even then, pay was unequal – Black privates earned $10 a month minus a clothing deduction, while white soldiers earned $13 with a clothing allowance. In the Confederacy, Black men were mostly confined to labor roles, and efforts to enlist them as soldiers came only in the war’s final desperate weeks, with no promise of freedom even then.

Endless Drills and Crushing Marches

Soldiers didn’t spend every day in battle. Much of their time was consumed with marching, guard duty, and relentless drilling. Early in the war, many troops had no idea how to march or use their weapons properly. Music units played out of sync, soldiers tripped over each other, and formations fell apart. Yet by the time they reached the battlefield, many were hardened, well-drilled machines – at least physically, if not emotionally. The exhaustion of long marches often wore men down before they even saw combat.

The Toll of Firing a Musket

Firing a Civil War-era musket wasn’t like shooting a modern rifle. These heavy, slow-loading weapons pounded the user with brutal recoil. After firing over 100 rounds in a single day, soldiers’ arms would be swollen, bruised, and nearly useless. Muskets could overheat, spark prematurely, or jam mid-battle. Some men had to swap their guns with fallen comrades just to continue fighting. The physical demands of reloading and firing were punishing – and that’s without taking into account the psychological toll of killing face-to-face.

Letters Home and the Struggle to Explain

Writing was a lifeline for many soldiers. Letters gave them a way to stay connected to families and process the chaos around them. But how do you explain watching friends die by the dozens or pulling a musket ball out of your leg with no anesthesia? Many simply couldn’t. Their words fell short of the horrors they saw. Yet the act of writing was therapeutic. Some described battles in vivid detail, others simply thanked God for surviving another day. Their letters now serve as some of the most poignant historical records of the war.

A Glimpse Into the Soldier’s Mind

Despite the horror, many soldiers clung to hope, faith, and camaraderie. They celebrated small victories – hot coffee, dry socks, or a letter from home. They joked, sang, and dreamed about the day they could return. Some still spoke of honor and purpose, while others became bitter and disillusioned. The psychological strain was immense, and though the term “PTSD” didn’t exist yet, its symptoms were all around. The Civil War created a generation of men forever changed by what they saw and endured.

The Price of Survival

To survive the Civil War as a soldier meant far more than avoiding death. It meant enduring the unthinkable: marching into gunfire, starving on stale rations, watching friends bleed out beside you, and wondering each morning if this would be your last. Whether Union or Confederate, Black or white, young or old – these soldiers carried more than rifles. They bore the weight of a nation tearing itself apart and lived to carry its scars into a very different future.