From our current position in history it is difficult to completely visualize the time of the Civil War. The United States was young, and in many ways still an experiment in nation building. The Constitution specifically allowed states the decision to "drop out and go their own way" even though this had never been tested. There was a great deal of stress over the issue of slavery and Congress had unsuccessfully tried to find a compromises to keep peace among the different points of view.

In other ways the Country was very different. There were only 34 states and expansion of the western territory was a major issue. (When you read about the armies operating in the "western theatre" they are talking about Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana, not California). We were an agrarian society very dependent on farms and farm labor. Families were large and travel was difficult. Often one had to chose between letting your family starve and serving in the military. For the most part, there was no large standing army. The lack of a standing army was particularly acute in the South since one had to be formed after the split from the Union.

The list of differences goes on and on. But what was not different was loyalty, patriotism, and the enthusiasm for war that closely follows significant political events. If your family had any ties in the southern states during 1860, then it was almost impossible to avoid military service. It has been estimated that the Confederacy mobilized as many as 80% of the available male population of fighting age during the war. The previously mentioned fear of slave uprisings kept many men with large farms at home in the South, so the armies were mainly comprised of everyday working men.

Our families were all in the South during the early part of the 1800s, so it follows that we will have large numbers of men who participated as soldiers. In fact we have identified almost 500 men from our records who served in one capacity or another. Most were privates in some fighting unit, but that would have been normal for the era.

Accepting military service during the Civil War would have given anyone more than a few moments of reluctance. Shortly after the war started and the battlefield casualty figures started to come in the realization of what service meant would have struck home. When men volunteered for service they did so out of loyalty for family and state and certainly not for personal glory. Looking through the lens of history, this was a war fought with modern fire power and antiquated tactics.

In the 1860s armies were still raised on the local level and amalgamated into larger fighting forces. Units could be personally funded and officers often put in place because of personal charisma or wealth, not leadership skills. Often this meant that relatives and neighbors fought side-by-side. Families, friends, and neighbors often suffered unimaginable losses when a local unit was involved in a major battle.

Today we become upset at the loss of a single life, but during the Civil War losses were staggering, perhaps as high as 700,000. Remember that everyone lost on both sides was eventually a loss for our nation. Take a look at the approximate losses from just ten major battles and how short the duration of fighting:

Just these battles lasting approximately thirty-five days produced about 287,000 casualties. If your stomach did not churn more than a little when you got a draft notice then one needed to be checked mentally.