It is difficult to fully understand the implication and activity of religion in the daily life of the average American in the 1860's (unless you are part of a current practicing religious group such as the Quakers). For example, in my grandfather's childhood in the 1890's, it was the done thing to devote the entire Sunday to religious activity and nothing else. The same could be said of American society in 1860.

There was a sense of awareness of the role of providence within human affairs to explain some of the uncertainty and unpredictability of life (Saun, 1990, page 13.) This role of providence was used in both everyday speech and letter writing. For example, the Confederate generals Lee and Stonewall Jackson are remembered for their use of religion in their everyday speech. This example is taken from a letter from President Lincoln to the mother of five sons who had been killed in battle:

"I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom." (Lincoln, cited in Haythornthwaite, 1975, page 32.)

During the war, the difficulties of practicing religious activities was made difficult due to the demands of army service, as shown in a letter from an Indiana soldier: "In plase of preaching on sabbath morning, wee have inspection of arms and in stead of evening meeting wee have battalion drill." (Saun, 1990, page 70.)

1864 saw the formation of the Fraternal Association of the Kentucky Brigade, which was part of the revival movement that swept through the Army of Tennessee and other Confederate armies (Jackman, 1865, page 129.) Another example comes from Private Wood, who reported in 1864 that: " a great revival of religion gowing on around hear...preaching evary day & a most evary night." (Wood, cited in Saun, 1990, page 99.)

Yet in the Union armies, as the war progressed, there was a general withdrawal from religious activities particularly as the war came to a close, and the chance of survival increased (Saun, 1990, page 98.)

After the war, the religious observances continued, but did not command the same attention as before. From 1865 onward, there was a gradual change to "luck and chance," (Saun, 1990, page 42) rather than providence for explanations of phenomenon in individuals' lives, with both verbal and written usage.

This change could have developed from the increased popularity of gambling, "especially in the West, where gambling tended to flourish and where distinctly American betting games emerged for the first time." (Findlay cited in Saun, 1990, page 43.) These games were preferred by some to religion. For example, a Union soldier was shocked on returning to his quarters, after a Sunday prayer meeting, to find the other occupants playing cards in preference to religious activity (Saun, 1990, page 44.)

The final word on this change would go to Ruben Abbott, who, in 1870, on finding that most people preferred dancing to church, stated, "Religion is almost out of fashion... practical religion is almost extinct." (Saun, 1990, page 103.)

Communications

The American Civil War is one of the first where we have large amounts of information about the war not only from the generals, but also from the common man and woman.

This was due to two reasons, the first being an increase in the standard of learning for all.

For example, in the North in 1850, New England led the world in educational facilities. More than 95% of adults could read and write, with the rest of the North not far behind. In the South, it was about 80% of the population that could read or write, not counting the slaves (McPherson, 1988, pages 19 and 20.)

The second reason combined a number of factors: the introduction of envelopes in the 1850's, the use of the lead pencil, and finally, greater access to paper, even though it was of poor quality (Saun, 1990, page 7.)

The effect these items had on the communication ability of the people could be likened to the current effect of the "Inter-net computer system" on us today. This was the start of the information super highway. Along with this was the establishment of the telegraph which spread all over America, improving communications not only for government, business, and individuals, but for the newspapers.

The telegraph, along with improvements to printing and paper "increased the influence of newspapers, [to be] the country's principal medium of communications" (McPherson, 1988, page 12.) These newspapers were taken all over the country by express trains (McPherson, 1988, page 13.) Not only was there an increase in newspapers, but also with magazines, such as "Harper's Weekly" popular with both northern and southern troops. Magazines were not only popular with men, but also women with more than a hundred in existence (McPherson, 1988, page 34.)

Books also made an impact in communications. For example: Harriet Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin sold 300,000 copies in its first year of publication in 1852, and sold nearly two million in ten years (McPherson, 1988, pages 88-89.) The book was not popular with authorities in the south, who tried to ban it without success.

In Charleston and other places in the south, booksellers could not keep up with demand (McPherson, 1988, page 90.) Books were an important part of the recreational facilities for both the north and south during the war.

An example of this was the library formed within the 1st Kentucky Brigade (Davis, 1885, page 3.) Individuals made a point of looking for books. Green, of the 1st Kentucky Brigade, in 1863 describes his friend Jackman as "a good forager after reading matter" (Green, cited Davis, 1865, page 101.) It was also common for infantry pickets of both the north and south to exchange newspapers and magazines as well as other goods (Griffith, 1986, page 7.)

Yet with even such advances in communications, the confusion of war was still incomprehensible to most soldiers, as illustrated by this Georgian's letter about the war in which he wished to give his parents: "an idea of the proceedings of the war; but they are inscrutable, they elude my mental grasp, lead them into perfect obscurity, and almost reduce them to incomprehensibility" (Saun, 1990, page 25.) Perhaps some things never change, for looking back on my own active service, I would agree completely with him.

Health

It would be fair to say that in Australia, we have one of the best health care systems, accessible to all, so the idea of people dying from simple illnesses could seem totally alien to us. But research in most books on the Civil War will reveal that illness killed far more than any battle injuries, the average estimates being two of disease to one killed in battle (McPherson, 1988, page 487.) Pegler (1993), writing on the American Indian Wars between 1865 and 1890, stated: "TB and venereal disease were the most usual afflictions, but cholera and dysentery could decimate a garrison...Hygiene was basic... Poor sanitation and a tendency to drink any water available when out on patrol" (page 31.)

In those sentences are found the keys to health on both sides of the Civil War: sanitation and hygiene. An example of poor sanitation can be seen in a photo of the 1st Alabama Regiment at Pensacola in 1861, which shows tents next to a refuge trench (Davis, and Wiley, 1981, page 357.)

According to McPherson (1988):

Sickness hit hardest in the first year. The crowding together of thousands of men from various backgrounds into new and highly contagious disease environment had predictable results. Men (especially those from rural areas) who had never before been exposed to measles, mumps, or tonsillitis came down with these childhood maladies (page 487.)

The effect of illness could cripple a campaign. The first attempt to capture Vicksburg in 1861 was abandoned, in part due to over half the Union forces being on the sick list. (McPherson, 1988, page 488.) The four major illnesses in the Civil War were diarrhea or dysentery, typhoid, pneumonia, and in the south during the summer, malaria (McPherson, 1988, pages 487-488.)

It was not only the military that suffered.

In the south, amongst the other items that were stopped by the blockade were medicines. This, along with a shortage of food in some towns (for example, Vicksburg during the siege of 1863), could lead to large numbers of civilian casualties (McPherson, 1988, pages 617-619.) In the north, things were not so bad, but one would wonder at the ability of anybody to live in some of the northern industrial slums, let alone raise a family. Although improvements were being made in the area of health at this time, such as the work being done by Louis Pasteur or Joseph Lister, it would be at least half a century before there would be any noticeable improvements for all in society.

Conclusion

This article has examined the effects of religion, communications, and health on the American culture of the Civil War years. It has been shown that there were vast improvements in communications within society, such as letter writing and newspapers. There was still a high mortality rate amongst the civilian and military population, with a reliance on providence to explain this and other facts of life. It was not unusual for all members of society to publicly say as much.

The concept of luck, which gradually began within this period to be an acceptable alternative explanation to the Almighty, grew from the mixture of eastern and western American cultures that the Civil War brought. The final picture we have of the Civil War soldier is one who could read and write, the southern soldier being more inclined to be religious than his northern counterpart, who was beginning to use luck as an explanation for life. Both sides suffered from poor health and sanitation, resulting in a greater number of deaths than through battle. It would not be until the Second World War that this would change.

References

Davis, W. (Ed.), 1990. Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade (originally written by John S. Jackman, c. 1865.) Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.

Davis, W. and Wiley, B. (Eds.), 1981. "Shadows of the Storm", The Images of War, 1861-1865, Volume 1. New York: Doubleday.

Griffith, P., 1986. Battle in the Civil War. Camberly, Surrey: Fieldhouse.

Haythornthwaite, P., 1975. Uniforms of the American Civil War. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press.

McPherson, J., 1988. Battle Cry of Freedom: the American Civil War. London: Penguin Books.

Pegler, M., 1993. U.S. Cavalryman 1865-1890. London: Osprey Books.

Saun, L., 1990. The Popular Mood of America, 1860-1890. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com