Many Civil War soldiers were under that age of 30 and some were even as young as 14. They not only faced the large possibility of death on the battlefield (a union soldier faced a 1 in 18 chance of dying in battle and a Confederate soldier; a 1 in 8 chance), but they also had to endure incomprehensible hardships when they were not fighting. Their daily lives changed from being farmers, bankers, teachers, locksmiths or even dentists to starvation, injury, infection and constant exposure to the elements. Singing and card-games could do little to protect against the disasters of the war.
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Infection and DiseaseIn the Army camps of both sides, sickness and diseases ran rampant. Latrines, if they were even constructed, were unsanitary and often contaminated the drinking water. The waste products of slaughtered animals covered the ground and flies spread illness from tent to tent. A Yankee soldier faced a 1 in 8 chance of dying from disease caught in the camps, and a Rebel soldier had a 1 in 5 chance of death from illness. Infected battle wounds killed more soldiers than the few nurses and doctors could ever hope to save.
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A Lack of Nutritious FoodAs most of the funding for both sides of the war went to weapons and replacement soldiers, food ran out quickly in the camps. In 1862, Union Lieutenant Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "What breakfast could possibly compare with this, hard crackers, boiled beef (two days in the haversack) and bologna sausage." This passage in a diary was only one example of the less than nutritious meals that a Civil War soldier would come to expect. The Union and Confederate Armies were required to give their men rations ranging from 10-20 ounces of bread and 20 ounces to 1 pound of meat (usually salted). However, many times this regulation was not met due to the lack of food, and many soldiers went hungry for days at a time.
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Prisoners of WarDuring the course of the Civil War, roughly 211,00 Union soldiers were captured by the Rebels, and over 30,000 of the prisoners died in war camps. At the same time, over 426,000 Confederate soldiers were captured by the Yankees, and about 26,000 of the captured Rebels died in similar war camps. Prisoners of War were usually sent onto the fields for the side they were captured by. For the 211,000 captured Union soldiers, around 17,000 of them were forced to fight on the South's behalf. Of the estimated 426,000 captured Confederate soldiers, about 248,000 of them were paroled in the field. The war camps were harsh and unsanitary, and many of the soldiers who did not die in the camps escaped and were never identified.
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