Forum Host- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Location
- Mt. Jackson, Va
Unidentified Union Soldier in full gear.
Civil War soldiers sometimes received orders to drop their knapsacks before going into battle. However, if they advanced too far, or retreated in a different direction, they stood a good chance of losing their possessions. Such was the case for Corp. J. Ansel Booth, who served in the 140th New York Infantry.
On May 1, 1863, he expressed his disgust in his diary: "The pickets were driven in so furiously that most of them lost everything. . . . I was minus knapsack, overcoat, blanket, poncho, shirt, stockings, towel, housewife, 5 days rations, hard tack, sugar, meat. The only friends I had left were one day's rations in my haversack, gun, 60 rounds of cartridges, and my revolver. For the first time, I found myself in light marching order."
#cvbt #civilwarhistory #commonsoldier #BattleofChancellorsville
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Civil War soldiers sometimes received orders to drop their knapsacks before going into battle. However, if they advanced too far, or retreated in a different direction, they stood a good chance of losing their possessions. Such was the case for Corp. J. Ansel Booth, who served in the 140th New York Infantry.
On May 1, 1863, he expressed his disgust in his diary: "The pickets were driven in so furiously that most of them lost everything. . . . I was minus knapsack, overcoat, blanket, poncho, shirt, stockings, towel, housewife, 5 days rations, hard tack, sugar, meat. The only friends I had left were one day's rations in my haversack, gun, 60 rounds of cartridges, and my revolver. For the first time, I found myself in light marching order."
#cvbt #civilwarhistory #commonsoldier #BattleofChancellorsville
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Bringing the