Axes & Saws

[gary]

Not very many men carried them, but I recall reading how soldiers would be very angry if theirs was stolen. When the fortifications were dug (by the soldiers and not laborers on either side), where did they get all those tools to chop or saw the wood?

[johan_steele]

Each company had so many axes, spades & shovels on its inventory.

Brigade Pioneers had tools furnished as 5 axes, 3 shovels & 2 picks per 10 men w/ the tools either carried by the men or by pack mule.

[richard]

I could be wrong, but if my memory serves me correctly, Wilders mounted Infantry opted to carry axes instead of sabers.

[Freddy]

General Rosecrans organized the Pioneer Brigades to do the construction work. If you were a carpenter, mason, or other type of construction laborer you would likely be selected for the Pioneers.
From the link:

"To this end, General William Rosecrans issued General Order No. 3 on November 3, 1862, which stated: There will be detailed immediately, from each company of every regiment of infantry in this army, two men, who shall be organized as a pioneer or engineer corps attached to its regiment. The twenty men will be selected with great care, half laborers and half mechanics. The most intelligent and energetic lieutenant in the regiment, with the best knowledge of civil engineering, will be detailed to command, assisted by two non-commissioned officers. This officer shall be responsible for all equipage, and shall receipt accordingly.

Under certain circumstances it may be necessary to mass this force: when orders are given for such a movement, they must be promptly obeyed. The wagons attached to the corps will carry all the tools, and the men's camp equipage. The men shall carry their arms, ammunition, and clothing.
Division quartermasters will immediately make requisitions on chief quartermasters for the equipment, and shall issue to regimental quartermasters on proper requisition.

Equipment For Twenty Men - Estimate For Regiment

Six Felling Axes

Six Hammers

Six Hatchets

Two Half-Inch Augurs

Two Cross-Cut Saws

Two Inch Augurs

Two Cross Cut Files

Two Two-Inch Augurs

Two Hand-Saws

Twenty lbs. Nails, Assorted

Two Hand-Saw Files

Forty lbs. Spikes, Assorted

Six Spades

One Coil Rope

Two Shovels

Three Picks
One Wagon, with four horses, or

mules

It is hoped that regimental commanders will see the obvious utility of this order, and do all in their power to render it as efficient as possible.

The troops detailed in accordance with that order was to number just under three thousand men but their actual numbers varied as widely as the need for their service. The first duties assigned to the Pioneers were generally those of sappers and miners. However as their expertise grew so did the diversity of their tasks. The key difference between these men and the regular army engineers was that the Pioneers would often move in advance of the army. All the work at the front of the army would fall on their shoulders. Conversely, the army engineers were employed chiefly on the lines of communication to the rear. Both would be active in reinforcing gains made by the army on it's march. Therefore, the Pioneer's duties would consist of the two tasks that were the most critical to an army advancing onto enemy soil; the same two General Buell sorely overlooked, reinforcing captured enemy ground to protect the rear and preparing transportation infrastructure to hasten the advance. The result was that the Union army in the West now had the means to do what it failed to achieve the past summer."

http://www.thecivilwargroup.com/pioneer.html