Common soldiers
Billy Yank and Johnny Reb
at war
Although the United States was not prepared
for the conflict that erupted in 1861, by the
war's end it looked like a nation that had
prepared for decades. By 1865, 3 million
citizens, North and South, had mustered into
military service. Volunteers from vastly
diverse backgrounds flocked to enlist.
Although the war was America's first modern
war, it still had an agrarian character, as
farmers comprised the largest numbers of
volunteers on both sides. Soldiers were
typically between the ages of 18 and 24,
white, single, and Protestant. Although both
sides employed blacks behind the lines as
laborers until mid-1863, by 1865 roughly
180,000 blacks had fought in the Union
army. Immigrants, mostly Germans and
Irish, also participated in the conflict.
Western states contributed large numbers of
immigrants to the cause.
The Civil War was a conflict fought mainly
between foot soldiers, Nearly 80 percent of
Union fighting men were infantrymen, with
14 percent serving as cavalry and the
remaining 6 percent serving in the artillery.
Seventy-five percent of the soldiers in the