Soldiers in Blue
The Union army enjoyed numerical superiority in the Civil War, but this did not make its soldiers’
experiences, in and out of combat, any less harsh. Whether they fought for principle or for pay,
Union troops served with an endurance and tenacity that ultimately prevailed.
CLASH OF ARMIES 1862became an important component of
Union fighting forces from 1863—
black troops made up 10 percent
of the Union army by the war’s end—
but who fought in segregated units.Reasons for fighting
The motivation of Union troops was
mixed. Patriotism drove many into the
ranks, outraged at the rebel threat to
the integrity of the United States.
An idealistic opposition to slavery
was far less common. Abolitionism
was supported in some Massachusetts
regiments, but on the whole Union
troops were indifferent to emancipation;
some were even opposed to it.
The simple desire for adventure and
the experience of war attracted many
young men to enlist, but material
considerations often predominated.
The bounty money offered for
volunteering and the money paid
for substitutes were considerable sums
to ordinary working men. Even without
cheating the system—it was not too
difficult to enlist several times for the
bounty and evade the service—a man
could feel well-off with the one-time
payment. Late in the war immigrants
arriving in the United States were
often enlisted straight off the boat,
some having embarked on the voyage
specifically to sign up.T
he Union army was as diverse
as the society of the states
from which the soldiers
were drawn. By civilian
occupation, farmers and
farm laborers were the
largest group, making up
almost a half of the troops,
while skilled workers—
carpenters, blacksmiths,
shoemakers, machinists, printers—
constituted about a quarter of the
army. Although, as the war dragged
on, recruits were increasingly drawn
from the poorer layers of society, only
one in seven of the Union soldiers were
unskilled laborers. It was a slightly
younger army than that of the South,
with two out of every five soldiers under
21 years of age. Although the lower age
for conscription was 20, many of the
substitutes, paid to take the place of
unwilling conscripts, were adventurous
youths of 18 or 19. Much younger boys
served as drummers or buglers, although
in 1864 the engagement of children
under 16 was officially banned.Makeup of the Union army
Most striking was the ethnic diversity of
the Union forces. About a quarter of
those who served in the Union armies
were foreign-born, reflecting the high
level of immigration into the Northern
states starting in the 1840s. The largest
contingent were Germans, of whom
some 200,000 served the Union during
the war. The second-largest immigrant
group in the ranks were the Irish, with
around 150,000 men engaged. Both
Germans and Irish often served in
their own regiments—the 69th
New York Infantry Regiment
(dubbed “the Fighting 69th”) was
Irish, the 74th Pennsylvania
Regiment was German. But
members of these and other
immigrant groups also served in
regiments that were not ethnically
defined. The same was not true
of African Americans whoBEFORE
Although the Northern states had a large
pool of manpower to draw on, they had
difficulty in fulfilling the demand for
soldiers in a long war.
A VOLUNTEER ARMY
The Union army was initially a wholly volunteer
force. A commitment to 90 days’ service quickly
proving inadequate, recruits were mostly required
to sign up for three years, although some two-
year volunteers were enrolled in certain states.
The attractions of army service declined
sharply as the risks and hardships of military
life became more widely understood, and an
economic boom—stimulated by the war—made
well-paid civilian work readily available.
CONSCRIPTION
In 1863, conscription was introduced for men
aged 20–45. However, those selected could pay for
substitutes to take their place. Many were also
exempted for various reasons and large numbers
disappeared to evade conscription. Only 51,000
conscripts served in the Union army during the war,
compared with 118,000 substitutes.
To avert a crisis in 1864, when the initial
three-year volunteers reached the end of their
term, the government offered bonus payments
and a furlough (leave) to men who agreed to
reenlist. Some 200,000 veteran volunteers
stayed in the army. Cash bonuses were also
routinely paid to attract fresh volunteers.
“I hope and trust that
strength will be given to me
to stand and do my duty.”
PRIVATE EDWARD EDES, LETTER TO HIS FATHER, APRIL 1863Shaving soapShaving equipment
Soldiers usually carried a straight razor and soap,
although few would have had a shaving kit as elegant
as this. Army rules, often ignored, prescribed
a face wash every day and a full bath once a week.
Union officer’s kepi
The blue kepi-style cap with black visor was standard
wear for Union soldiers. The horn insignia on the front
was that of the infantry.RazorBox containing
shaving brush