HISTORY/TRIVIA/FACTS

Antebellum: A term that designates the period between 1812 and 1860. 

Artillery: A cannon or the branch of the army that used cannons.

Battery: A position on a battlefield where cannon are located; or the name for a group of soldiers in an artillery regiment and their cannon. There were six cannon in a typical battery (with the horses, ammunition, and equipment needed to move and fire them), 155 soldiers, a captain, 30 other officers, two buglers, 52 drivers, and 70 cannoneers.

Blockade: The effort by the Union to keep ships from entering or leaving Confederate ports.

Border States:  Border States during the Civil War included Missouri, Delaware, Kentucky and Maryland.  Each of these states allowed slavery and bordered both Northern states and Southern states.

Brigade: A group of several thousand soldiers usually led by a brigadier general. (A brigade was made of four to six regiments. 1 company = 50 to 100 men, 10 companies = 1 regiment, about 4 regiments = 1 brigade, 2 to 5 brigades = 1 division, 2 or more divisions = 1 corps, 1 or more corps = 1 army.)

Bushwhackers:  Confederate guerillas who operated in remote and rural areas.

Butternut: A term for a Confederate soldier; derived from the practice of dyeing homespun cloth in a mixture of walnuts and copper as to make a uniform of a brown, yellowish (butternut) hue.

Cannon: A large weapon that shoots projectiles.

Canister: A projectile, shot from a cannon, filled with about 35 iron balls the size of marbles that scattered like the pellets of a shotgun.

Casualty: A soldier who was wounded, killed, or reported missing in action.

Cavalry: Branch of the military that were mounted and traveled on horseback. Cavalry units in the Civil War could move quickly from place to place or go on scouting expeditions on horseback, but usually fought on foot. Their main job was to gather information about enemy movements.

Colors:  Military term for flags.

Confederacy: The South or the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy was made up of the states that seceded from the United States of America to form their own nation. Confederate states were: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Copperheads: A label for Northerners who opposed the Civil War and occasionally worked to undermine the war effort.

Earthwork: A field fortification (like a trench or a mound) made of earth. Earthworks were used to protect batteries or troops and to slow down the enemy.

Emancipation: Freedom from slavery.

Entrenchments: Long cuts (trenches) dug out of the earth with the dirt piled up into a mound in front; used for defense.

Federal: Loyal to the government of the United States. Also called Union, Yankees, or Northerners.

Fortification: Something that makes a defensive position stronger, like high mounds of earth to protect cannon.

Guerillas:  Confederate sympathizers and soldiers who operated primarily in the rural and remote areas of a state such as Missouri.

Haversack: Usually a canvas bag about a foot square, the haversack held the Civil War soldier's daily rations, slung on a strap over the right shoulder, it had a lining and a flap that buckled over its top, and hung on the left hip. Some were made out of leather or other material.  Many were painted or written on with unit identification marks on them.

Infantry: A branch of the military in which soldiers traveled and fought on foot.

Kepi: A French word meaning "cap" and usually referring to a French-style military cap with a short, round, flat crown and leather visor.  Soldiers of many different ranks used these conformable caps with officer’s being more elaborate than the enlisted soldiers.  Modern-day baseball caps were derived out of these types of kepis.

Minie Ball: The standard type of bullet used during the Civil War. Sometimes called a minie bullet, (pronounced "min-ee") the bullet was designed for muzzle-loading rifle-muskets. It was invented by and credited to Frenchman Claude-Étienne Minié (pronounced "min-ee-ay").  It was small enough to load quickly, and had a special feature that let it take advantage of a rifled-barrel. When the rifle-musket was fired, expanding gas from the gunpowder blast was caught in the hollow base of the bullet forcing it against the rifled grooves inside the barrel.

North: Also called the Union or the United States, the North was the part of the country that remained loyal to the Federal government during the Civil War.
Picket: The advanced outpost or guards that protected the perimeter of a large force.  While the main unit rested or was camped, pickets protected their perimeter from the enemy.

Rampart: In fortifications, a steeply sloped earthen embankment topped by a parapet.

Rebel: Loyal to the Confederacy. Also Southern or Confederate.

Regiment: A group of about 1,000 Civil War soldiers. Regiments were usually named with a state and a number, as in "the 20th Maine". (1 company = 50 to 100 men, 10 companies = 1 regiment, about 4 regiments = 1 brigade, 2 to 5 brigades = 1 division, 2 or more divisions = 1 corps, 1 or more corps = 1 army.)

Shrapnel: A hollow iron projectile filled with powder and lead bullets set with a time or percussion fuse that would explode and scatter the projectiles and pieces (shrapnel) in all directions.

Siege: Blocking the supply lines and escape routes of a city to force it to surrender. A siege usually had one army trapped in a city, slowly running out of food and fresh water, while the enemy army camped outside.

Skirmish: A minor or small-scale fight.

South: Also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States of America, or (by Northerners) the Rebel states, the South incorporated the states that seceded from the United States of America to form their own nation.

Sutlers: Were usually authorized sellers of goods and supplies that were in the various army camps and at items would travel with the units selling goods to the soldiers for private use.  They sold items such as tobacco, food, newspapers, clothing, dinnerware, etc.

Union: Also called the North or the United States, the Union was the portion of the country that remained loyal to the Federal government during the Civil War. Union states were: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. West Virginia became a Northern state in 1863 and California and Oregon were also officially Northern but they had little direct involvement in the War.

Yankee: A Northerner; someone loyal to the Federal government of the United States. Also, Union, Federal, or Northern.

Zouave: A Civil War soldier who wore a bright, colorful uniform. A zouave uniform usually included baggy trousers, a vest, and a fez in different combinations of red, white, and blue. Civil War zouave units were found in both Union and Confederate armies. They were modeled after French troops who were known for their bravery and marksmanship.