If dropped into the real Civil War army: What's the big thing we'd realize?

Only period correct leaflets - no loudspeakers, sir! :wink:
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Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Yeah, trying to invent the vacuum tube years ahead of time would have been rather a challenge. (A nod to Spock: "I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins.")

Actually, though, I was thinking that the principal challenge facing CW-era intel was a lack of procedure. The intelligence collation was usually (not always) happening only in the commanding general's head, with all the risks and potential biases that introduced. The notion of having a staff to collect information, sort it, estimate its reliability, and cross-reference it with other reports would have been quite valuable.
 
Unless I volunteered, I'd be exempt from the draft. Age has its advantage.

I would miss modern (painless) dentistry.

Oh the smells, the horrible smells. If you've been around homeless, you'd know to stay away.

No modern sanitation, x-ray, water filtration, hot showers.

I think I'd be miserable.
 
Someone here posited that Bragg was an opium abuser/ user. There were all kinds of things legal then that are not now. Grant had a reputation of an alcoholic, it slowed him down in his climb to the top. Nowdays he would have been cashiered after Shilo.

Bragg had pains that he thought he was controlling. I agree that the pains were controlling him.
 
I would likely learn very quickly that I am not nearly as tough as what I thought I was when compared to the men I would be serving with.
well said I did my best knew I could never compete to my ancestors … slept on the ground rations for food … nothing I did is equal to them be it north or south … im blessed to have there blood in me
 
Sorry to have missed liking all of these. My finger was getting tired.

@dhh712 , I see what you mean about how barren it all looks from images. What's so funny is they seem to have hacked away at anything with roots then brought them back as decoration. I realize any trees and brush had to removed but it sure was awful looking.

I think the answer to the question " What's the big thing we'd realize? " is how comprehensively ugly is war. Everything mentioned here is ugly (but flip flops are cute ), add what you hear some first impressions were. First thing ( I think it was Sophronia? ) saw were men sitting on their own coffins, being driven through camp on the way to their executions. There'd be burials somewhere, laundry spread over tents, smoke from dozens of campfires, discarded supply boxes, the inevitable mule muck heap adding to the smell of latrines. Camps look to have been varied, some look actually tidy but they're all pretty ugly.
 
Within a few hours I'd probably notice myself laid up with some disease that my 21st century immune system is not accustomed to dealing with, but is probably something they get early in childhood..

They'd probably notice my flip flops, or my height. Probably weren't too many girls as tall as them back then, now I'm barely considered tall.
Good thoughts from a woman's perspective. I would want to see how hard it was for the women who dressed as men to pass.
 
After all proclaimed CW experts have had their say, and we so smugly confident in our knowledge of the CW, if time-travel dropped one of us into an actual period army camp what's the first thing, and then the very next thing, that we'd realize within a short time?

Would there be a moment where we realize how badly we've miscalculated something about those past days? Or would we simply fit in without missing a beat, unnoticed by our period pards? And what would be their first clue that "you're not from around here, are ya?"
I would want to see how hard it was for the women who dressed as men to pass.
 
The first thing I'd probably notice is how much everyone smells! (no deodorant : /

I'm not sure about anything else. I guess I'd have to drop over in that time first. Well, for me I'd definitely notice the lack of the abundance of trees and vegetation (as I've mentioned before).

Good question though; something I will ponder on throughout the day.



Yes. That too. I would search in vain (if it be a hot summer day) for a cool room to sleep in and whine persistently on how much I need my AC. A need, not a want. For my week little constitution. The sarcasm probably doesn't carry over. I hope ya'll don't think I actually consider it a need.
We are spoiled people but I think people qho study history are more realistic because they learn empathy from their studies. 😊
 
Yeah, trying to invent the vacuum tube years ahead of time would have been rather a challenge. (A nod to Spock: "I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins.")

Actually, though, I was thinking that the principal challenge facing CW-era intel was a lack of procedure. The intelligence collation was usually (not always) happening only in the commanding general's head, with all the risks and potential biases that introduced. The notion of having a staff to collect information, sort it, estimate its reliability, and cross-reference it with other reports would have been quite valuable.
Very insightful!
 
Sorry to have missed liking all of these. My finger was getting tired.

@dhh712 , I see what you mean about how barren it all looks from images. What's so funny is they seem to have hacked away at anything with roots then brought them back as decoration. I realize any trees and brush had to removed but it sure was awful looking.

I think the answer to the question " What's the big thing we'd realize? " is how comprehensively ugly is war. Everything mentioned here is ugly (but flip flops are cute ), add what you hear some first impressions were. First thing ( I think it was Sophronia? ) saw were men sitting on their own coffins, being driven through camp on the way to their executions. There'd be burials somewhere, laundry spread over tents, smoke from dozens of campfires, discarded supply boxes, the inevitable mule muck heap adding to the smell of latrines. Camps look to have been varied, some look actually tidy but they're all pretty ugly.
Excellent observations
 
Speaking from my most recent reenactment experience, how soft my hands are. I’m in ok shape (not very strong though) but I’m definitely not a country boy. I’m very very white so it’s clear I don’t do much work outside and my hands are not caloused at all. I don’t even have the callouses I used to have from writing!
 
Speaking from my most recent reenactment experience, how soft my hands are. I’m in ok shape (not very strong though) but I’m definitely not a country boy. I’m very very white so it’s clear I don’t do much work outside and my hands are not caloused at all. I don’t even have the callouses I used to have from writing!
Good Points, I know about those callouses!
 
Good thoughts from a woman's perspective. I would want to see how hard it was for the women who dressed as men to pass.

I could not have been easy at all. Especially during "shark week." Other than that, there were apparently enough skinny teenage boys around to where they may not have stuck out as much as one might think. I actually suppose that's what they were attempting to pass as, not men, but teenage boys, who also weren't supposed to be there but were because the recruiters weren't picky... also brings up the question of how many recruiters actually saw through the deception, but pushed it through anyway, just because they really weren't in the mood to care, or had a quota?
 
...there were apparently enough skinny teenage boys around to where they may not have stuck out as much as one might think. I actually suppose that's what they were attempting to pass as, not men, but teenage boys, who also weren't supposed to be there but were because the recruiters weren't picky... also brings up the question of how many recruiters actually saw through the deception, but pushed it through anyway, just because they really weren't in the mood to care, or had a quota?

At that time, any boy on the farm who could handle chores and carry himself respectably was considered a man. If it was the case he was only 15, well so be it. Girls were being married at age 14 with parents permission. If a boy was 15, over 5'9 tall and 150 lbs and had begun shaving recruiters might not even question whatever age a boy said he was, and if dad was there to sign off well, arighty then.
 
I think one thing we would realize regarding the common soldiers, both North and South, is that while many lacked much more than a rudimentary education, they were blessed for the most part with a great deal of good old fashioned "common sense". When I read through the letters of Civil War soldiers I am amazed at their depth of perception and how well they convey their feelings despite the poor spelling and punctuation that sometimes make these letters a labor of love to read.
 
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