Life As A Soldier and Women in the War

Dear Diary,
About half of the population of eligible men from the Union are fighting in the war. Four out of every five eligible men in the Confederacy had to fight. Many of the soldiers got their first chance to travel when they were traveling with the troops. Soldiers are often homesick being unused to being so far away from home. Soldiers past time between battles by playing games, attending religious revivals, and writing letters home. Some soldiers end up having to be fighting against their own brothers or cousins depending on their family and location. New bullets made killing much more effective in the war. We have never seen so many dead soldiers before. Because the doctors are not aware of the possible infections that come with amputations in the field. There are a lot of soldiers getting amputations nowadays. There is not a lot of clean water and illnesses get passed around very easy. There are also prison camps now. At the prison camps, some soldiers were even outright killed. One camp that I have heard about is in Anderson, Georgia. Currently, in 1864, about 33,000 Union prisoners at the camp in Anderson. Black prisoners in the Confederate prison camps were often killed immediately. There is so much happening lately with the war going on. Here is a photo of one of the camps:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Civil War Photos. N.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. <https://www.archives.

        gov/research/military/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-072.

        jpg>.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary,

Many of my friends and I have had to take on new responsibilities with the men going off to war. Some have gone off to become nurses in the war. I have had to help my family with our business. Some of my female friends have had to help on the farms and plantations. We even have some within our friend group that have gone on to teach at schools. There are stories told between us of women who have dressed as men and fought in battles for both the North and the South. There are some women in my town who have gone on to do laundry and cooking for the men in the camps. One story that we have also heard about is about a girl named Clara Barton. She assists with helping the sick and wounded on both sides. Clara has helped start the United States Sanitary Commission that allows for women to oversee hospitals. It was signed off by President Lincoln. Here is a photo of Clara Barton:

That's all for now Diary,

Rebecca

Clara Barton. N.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2016. <http://www.uncompromis

         ingcommitment.org/wp-content/sdaolpu/2012/08/clarabar

         ton.jpg>.