LESSON GUIDE
ATLANTA CAMPAIGN EDUCATION INFO SITE
A brief Lesson Guide for what you will see at the reenactment site.
THE CIVIL WAR
This guide is about what you will see at the reenactment site and about the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. At the site the reenactors all do a living history by living in tents all weekend and dressing the way the people did during that era. This guide will cover briefly the Civil War in the West and then the following subjects: 1) How many Soldiers; 2) Army organization; 3) Shelter; 4) Clothing; 5) Food; 6) Weapons; 7)How much Weight the Soldiers Carried; 8)Medical Treatment.
The Civil War started in the spring of 1861 and lasted 4 years until the spring of 1865. The first year was important for what you will see because, during that year, major changes in shelter, uniforms, and weapons came about. The last year was also important because of the North’s military move through Georgia by Sherman from Chattanooga to capture Atlanta. That successful campaign broke the Confederacy and insured Lincoln’s reelection as President. That was the Atlanta Campaign.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the U.S.A. in the fall of 1860 there were 11 southern states that seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America, the C.S.A. The 2 border states, Missouri and Kentucky, formed secessionist governments but sympathetic Unionist Governments kept them in the Union. Counting these 2 there were 24 states that remained loyal to the Union and the government in Washington. In 1861 the Union forces drove the Confederate forces from most of the western part of Virginia and occupied those counties. In 1863 the state of West Virginia was formed from those counties and was accepted as a state in that same year.
The capitol of the Confederacy was Richmond, Virginia, which was only 100 miles from Washington, D.C. The main fighting of the Civil War in the East took place there and many major battles were fought in that area.
In the west there was fighting in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas and the Confederates from Texas invaded the New Mexico Territory in 1862 but were driven back into Texas. In late April 1862 the U.S. Navy captured New Orleans and occupied it. The Union forces also came through Western Kentucky into Western Tennessee. There was a large and bloody battle in early April 1862 at Shiloh, TN, just north of the juncture of the borders of TN, MS, and AL. The Union forces continued to advance southwards along the Mississippi River and put Vicksburg, MS under siege. The Confederates in the fall of 1862 pushed northward into Western Kentucky but were driven back into Tennessee.
In 1863 the Union took Vicksburg, MS, thereby taking all the Mississippi River and splitting the Confederacy into two parts. They also drove the Confederates southwards out of Tennessee and into Georgia where they were stopped at the battle of Chicamauga in September 1863 just south of Chattanooga, TN. This set the stage for The Atlanta Campaign to start in the spring of 1864. From just south of Chattanooga the Union forces under General Sherman were to drive south to Atlanta.
How Many Soldiers
1) In the spring of 1861 the U.S. Army numbered only about 13,000 men, of which about 1,000 were officers. Of these some 313 of the officers joined the Confederacy at that time. At the start of the Civil War there were about a dozen Military Schools (College level) in the U.S. but only one, West Point, was in the North. The rest were in the South so the South actually had a large number of men with some military background.
Actual numbers of men under arms on both sides during the war are unknown. The numbers given here are derived from historical estimates.
At the start of the war in 1861 President Lincoln, on April 15, called for 75,000 militiamen for 3 months terms and then, on May 3, he asked for 42,000 more as 3 year enlistees in the army plus expanding the regular army by 23,000 more men. In July of that year, following the battle of First Bull Run (also called First Manassas, a Confederate victory), the U.S. Congress formally authorized these actions and authorized an additional 1,000,000 volunteers for 3 year terms.
Each Northern state used various enlistment terms (3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years) for their volunteer militia but most had adopted the 3 years system by the end of 1861.
By the end of the first year of the war there were over 400,000 men under arms in the U.S. Army out of some 500 to 600 thousand that had actually enlisted. The reduction was due to many being too old, too young or just not physically able to withstand the rigors of army life. Also many did not stay after their 3 or 6 months terms were finished and many just deserted to return to civilian life or to rejoin another unit under another name.
In 1861 each of the 11 Confederate states had militias numbering around 5,000 men or a few less. The Confederate Congress authorized 100,000 volunteers for 2 year terms and nearly all of the state militias sent their men for service as well as recruiting new volunteers. Everyone believed that the war would be short and after the South’s victory at First Bull Run many more volunteered for the state militias, most of which were sent to the Confederate Armies. By the end of the first year of the war the South had approximately 400,000 men under arms and so the spring of 1862 saw both sides about equal in military manpower.
As in the North, some 500 to 600 thousand enlisted but as many as one out of every 5 or 6 dropped out due to age, physical inability to soldier or dislike for military service. Also many came from rural areas and were not immune to common diseases such as measles. The drastic change in food and living in close unhygienic conditions made dysentery a common illness, causing death or forcing men to return home.
In July of 1862 the congress authorized Lincoln to call up another 300,000 state militia for 9 months service in the U.S. Army and to call up another 300,000 for a 3 years term. By the end of 1862 the Northern Armies had gained 421,000 volunteers in for the 3 years term and another 88,000 militia also serving 3 years term. The total men in the armies of the North was probably around 650 thousand by the end of the second year of the war.
The Confederacy adopted conscription in April of 1862, for all men 18 to 35 years of age for 3 years service and also extended all 1 years volunteers to 3 years term of service. This replaced battle losses and the South’s armies actually grew in numbers a little to around 500,000 men in the armies.
In the 3rd year of the war Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation authorized Negroes to serve in the army from January 1, 1863 and the North also adopted conscription to start in July 1863. These measures replaced losses and increased the numbers in the Northern armies to over 800 thousand men by the spring of 1864. The Confederacy expanded the ages for conscription but could not match the manpower of the North. The South’s armies probably numbered around 400,000 by the spring of 1864.
During the 4 years of the war more than 2 ½ million men served on the Northern side and approximately 1½ million men served on the Southern side. . Some of these for short periods of time and others for the entire war.
Over 300 thousand on each side died from wounds, disease and illness during their service. Probably about another 500 thousand on each side carried scars from the war for the rest of their lives.
Prisoners of War were exchanged constantly on both sides until the fall of 1863 when it was found that Confederate soldiers who had surrendered at Vicksburg in July 1863 and had been paroled were fighting in the battle of Chickamauga. This was a violation of the prisoner exchange agreements and so exchange of prisoners stopped until January of 1865 when it was resumed.
The men of both armies were of an average age of 23 or 24. At that time the average life expectancy was much lower than today due to a high infant mortality at birth and death from accidents, illness and/or disease at a young age. Generally, if you lived to the age of 18 you could expect to live to reach your fifties. But it was the younger men who did most of the fighting in the war.
On the Northern side about 60% of the soldiers and about 70% of them on the Southern side were from rural, mostly farming, backgrounds. Some 65% of the soldiers on both sides were functionally illiterate (they could read signs and newspaper headlines and write their names and a few common words but if they had to read and write well enough to hold a job that required reading and writing ability they could not). Most of those that came from the cities and towns were laborers with some clerical workers and a very few professionals. The professionals generally chose to become officers rather than remain in the ranks.
The Civil War marked big changes in the way of life in the USA. Not only was slavery abolished but service in the military in a time of war by so many of the male population meant that daily life as it was lived before the war could never return. You can imagine what it would be like if you had to live for a couple of years in one of the military camps you will see at the reenactment site and then try to go back to the way you live now.
Military Organization
2) The military organization of both sides armies was the same. Confederate President Jeff Davis was a West Point graduate, had fought in the Mexican War and had been Secretary of War of the U.S.A. He was the one who appointed the high military officers in the Confederacy and knew personally most of the top military officers of both North and South.
There were 3 main branches of service in the army: the artillery, the cavalry and the infantry. All 3 followed the same organization as the infantry, which is outlined below. The artillery usually called their company a battery and the cavalry called their company a squadron.
The smallest military unit in the infantry for both the Militias and the Armies was the Company, 50 to 100 men, led by a Captain, who was assisted by a Lieutenant and from 2 to 5 Sergeants. Soldiers for each company were usually recruited from the same city, town or rural area by the man who was commissioned to be their Captain. Sometimes these Captains would also furnish uniforms or weapons or money to purchase them in order to get enough soldiers to form a Company. The Lieutenants and Sergeants were also usually named by the Captain although sometimes they were elected by the soldiers.
With the war starting many state militias just commissioned anyone who could recruit a company but some companies just formed themselves and elected their own Captain and Sergeants.
The companies were formed into Regiments, also called Battalions, of from 6 to 10 companies, led by a Colonel who was assisted by a staff of officers. Many Colonels furnished uniforms and weapons or money to purchase them to help get the companies formed. When the state militias commissioned officers they usually required that the Colonels have some military education or background before commissioning them, but many were also political appointees or just individuals who had enough money to buy weapons uniforms for most of their Regiment. The Regiments were usually designated by a number, in their order of formation, followed by the name of the State (25th New York, 19th Ohio, 12th New Hampshire, 7th Florida, 44th Georgia, 10th Texas).
From 2 to 6 Regiments were formed into larger units called Brigades, each led by a Brigadier General, assisted by his staff of officers. In the North the Brigades were numbered but in the South they were named after their General. Before the war the rule of thumb was that if the State Militia furnished the uniforms and weapons for the Regiments that made up a Brigade then the State could commission the Brigadier General. Is the U.S. Army furnished the uniforms and weapons then that Army commissioned the General. During the war both the U.S. and the Confederacy followed this method so almost all Generals on both sides were appointed by the Secretary of War for each side.
From 2 to 5 Brigades were formed into Divisions led by Lieutenant Generals. As with the Brigades those in the North were numbered and those in the South were named after their General.
2 or more Divisions were formed into Corps led by Major Generals and these were put together into an Army. The armies were named after states in the South (Army of Tennessee) and after rivers in the North (Army of the Potomac).
Shelter
3) The soldiers were quartered in forts and military encampments before the war. The forts usually had a large area in their walls and the encampments separate buildings called barracks in which the soldiers lived. These were usually equipped with bunk beds or one bed above the other. When the soldiers went out into the field for training or on campaign they carried tents in wagons with followed their columns and when they stopped for the night or a few days camps were set up in a standard pattern.
The soldiers tents were called A frame tents and were made
of canvas. Each tent had 3 poles, 6 feet in length, so that one could be set across the top of the other two to support the top of the tent when the 4 corners were pegged to the ground.
The tents had one end closed and one end split to serve as a door and when placed on the ground covered about 50 square feet of area. 4 or 5 men slept in each one of these tents. With the rapid rise in numbers of soldiers during the first year of the war as many as 8 or even 9 men were assigned to sleep in each tent. In order to fit inside the tent for sleeping they all had to lie on their sides facing the same way.
Sergeants were assigned 2 or 1 to a separate tent and
junior officers (Lieutenants and Captains) each had a separate tent.
Field Grade Officers (Majors and above) had wall tents which were about 14 feet wide by 15 feet long and 11 feet high with short walls on the sides. Wall tents were also used as hospital tents.
Just before the war a West Point graduate, Henry Sibley who later became a Confederate General, invented the Sibley Tent (also called the Bell Tent). It was a cone 18 feet in diameter when set up and looked like the plains Indians teepees. It had a center pole to make it 12 feet high and had a round opening in the top. A stove with a stovepipe was made for it and 12 men could sleep in it. It was cumbersome to carry in the field and so was relegated to
garrison duty in 1862. The U. S. Army bought nearly 50,000 of these tents and they were nearly all used only in training camps after 1862.
With the need for so many tents and the wagons to carry them a change was needed and near the end of 1861 the Shelter Tent was adopted. This was a piece of canvas close to 6 feet square with button holes and buttons on one side so that it could be joined with another of the same size and the two together made a tent for 2 soldiers, who would each carry his half of it. The rifles of the two soldiers with their bayonets stuck into the ground served as the uprights holding the tent up and a string tied to the trigger guards served as top or ridgepole of the tent.
The corners were pegged to the ground. This also eliminated
the need for wagons to carry the soldiers' tents. The officers continued to use the A frame and Wall tents.
Over half of the U.S. Army was stationed in Texas at the beginning of the war and when Texas seceded most of the army's supplies were taken for use by the Confederacy. These and tents brought from Europe through the naval blockade to the capitol, Richmond, VA were the main source of the tents for the South. Most of these soon wore out from continuous service.
Due to a lack of cotton cloth manufacturing few tents were made for the Southern soldiers. Most of the tents the soldiers had were taken from the battlefields. By the last year of the war most of the Southern soldiers just carried a piece of cloth or canvas taken from a tent where ever they could find it or just a blanket to use for shelter. The Southern officers usually had sufficient tents as they just purchased their own tents.
Clothing
4) Uniforms for the U.S. Army at the start of the war were set forth in regulations as dark (navy) blue with a black hat and/or a kepi (which is a small cap with a brim adopted from the French Army) and black shoes. Each soldier was to be issued a frock (dress) coat (a military coat, close fitting, with a high collar and with a skirt-like extension from the waist down to just above the knee), a fatigue (work) coat (a 4 button loose fitting coat that came down to the hips), trousers held up by suspenders, and leather shoes called brogans. Officers wore only the dress uniform of a frock coat and pants.
The coats and pants were made of wool. Wool lasts longer and gives protection against cuts and scratches when running through thick brush and woods. It also lets enough air through so as to be not too hot in summer and warm in winter.
Each state militia had its own design and color scheme for its uniforms but most followed the U.S. Army regulations. The Zouave uniforms are an example of some that were different.
The South did not get around to establishing uniform regulations until late in 1861 but the Colonels and Captains forming the Regiments and Companies quickly adopted the shell Jacket as the style of coat for the soldiers. This was a close fitting military jacket with a high collar but only reaching down to the waist. All tailors knew how to make these and they used a lot less cloth than the frock or fatigue coat.
The color of the Southern uniforms was gray but there was a wide variation in color. The Confederacy did not have a military supply organization and had to create one from scratch. After the battle of First Bull Run (First Manassas) in July 1861 the South raised a larger army quickly and each enlistee was to be paid $50 per year to furnish his own uniform. The lack of an adequate supply of cloth was made up by the wives and families of enlisting soldiers cutting and sewing an existing coat to the Shell Jacket pattern and then dying it and an existing pair of pants to some color of gray. The State Militias already had uniforms and their Regiments clothing looked most military but their numbers were lost in a sea of homemade coats of different colors of gray. A lot of the dyes used were not permanent and many were homemade dyes so the variety of uniform colors for the South was great, even within the same companies and Regiments. Most southern soldiers also brought their wide brimmed civilian hats with them into service.
Many soldiers had their family make their uniform and left the $50 for the family to live on while the soldier was away. The Confederacy began to contract out uniforms but the annual payment continued until about mid 1863 when it was fazed out and replaced with the issuance of uniforms. The Confederate Officers purchased their own uniforms from tailors and followed the frock coat regulations.
The South had to import wool and during the first year of the war most of existing supplies were soon used up to make uniforms. The Confederacy adopted jeanwool as the cloth for its uniforms ordered from contractors. Jeanwool is a combination of cotton and wool woven into cloth somewhat smooth on one side and rough on the other. Because the rough side was placed inside the garment most of the uniforms were lined with a thin cotton cloth to prevent abrasion while wearing them. The uniforms made of jeanwool did not look very military.
The North started with uniforms all dark navy blue in color and contracted them out to many manufacturers. In December 1861 the U.S. Secretary of War found that sky blue wool pants could be purchased at a lesser cost than dark blue ones and so by January 1862 all the Northern uniforms were being produced with dark blue coats and sky blue trousers. Also to save money the North began issuing only the fatigue coat to the soldiers on campaign. The dress uniform was needed when they were stationed in a fort or near the Capitol, Washington.
During the Atlanta Campaign, the Northern troops had a good supply system using the rail lines they repaired as they moved towards Atlanta. The Confederates were falling back along the railroad line and to Atlanta, which had large stores of jeanwool uniforms, so during that campaign neither side was dressed in rags. After Atlanta fell in September 1864, Sherman marched to Savannah and then up through the Carolinas without a supply line and his men were dressed in rags by the time the war ended.
The Confederate Army that left the Atlanta area marched to Northern Alabama and then campaigned to Nashville, Tennessee. It was mostly without a supply line during that time so the soldiers also were in rags by the time the war ended.
Women's clothing was the same on both sides. Women wore long sleeved blouses and long skirts. Work dresses were usually a single piece garment and day dresses, worn when not working, were a skirt matched with a blouse. Below are some pictures of the women’s clothing of the era. A work dress, 2 day dresses and 3 ball gowns.
Food
5) While in forts and training camps the soldiers of both sides were fed meals of whatever the commissary officer could obtain locally. This was usually beef or pork in some kind of stew with bread. On campaign the U.S. soldier was issued some 9 or 10 pieces of Hard Tack (hard crackers made from flour) along with a small piece of salt pork or salt beef and a few roasted coffee beans every morning.
The men were formed into a mess of 9 or 10 men and daily each mess would warm any food from the day before and make coffee for breakfast. The mess would send a man to draw its rations and distribute them. For lunch no fire was made and the men usually just ate some hard tack. In the evening after the camp was set up the mess would gather wood for a fire, get water and each would cook in a large tin cup that he carried what he had to eat. Some messes carried a pot or pan to pool their salt meat and boil it at the end of the day with whatever vegetables they had found during the day's march.
The Confederate soldiers in forts and camps were fed whatever the commissary officer could obtain locally or from Army supplies received occasionally. On both sides permanent camps were usually placed not too close to cities as soldiers would desert. They were put near or on a rail line to ease getting supplies to them. While on campaign the Southern soldier also got a small piece of salt pork or salt beef each day but did not receive regular supplies of hard tack. They were issued some hard cornmeal crackers, cornmeal or just plain corn to eat. The cornmeal crackers had to be boiled to soften them and corn also had to be cooked. Any vegetables or meat the soldier had was put in the pot or cup with the corn or crackers and the resulting mush was called Cush. Some Southern Armies had herds of cattle with them and just butchered a beef or two each day and gave the cut up meat to the men. The Southern soldier also received twists of tobacco regularly.
Soldiers from both sides scavenged for whatever edibles they could find while on campaign and once a large group of soldiers had passed through an area the civilians who lived there said that they wished that the soldiers would not return because the land had been picked clean of food.
Weapons
6) The main weapon for the soldiers on both sides was the rifled musket. At the start of the war there was a wide variety of muskets, many of which had a different caliber (the inside diameter of the bore), in use. The various state militias each had its own preferred musket type.
Many soldiers carried shotguns when muskets were not available. The South quickly bought a lot of old military muskets from Europe but most of those that got through the blockade were nearly useless. From a box of 10 or 12 muskets they could assemble only 2 or 3 useable ones by cannibalizing the others. At the start of the war some Virginians raided Harpers Ferry where some Springfield musket dies were stored and took those to Richmond where they were used to make what is called the Richmond Springfield. Several Southern armories were established by the government and private individuals and these produced various muskets.
The North was able to purchase what they needed almost immediately from manufacturers in the North. The North bought from contractors mainly a standardized .58 caliber Springfield, named from the Springfield armory. The U.S. government also bought some 400,000 Enfield muskets of .577 caliber from the company of that name in England. Eventually over 2,000,000 Springfield muskets were made by different contractors for the U. S. Army for use in the Civil War.
The South also purchased around 400 thousand Enfield muskets in England and at least 350 thousand of them made it to the South through the blockade.
The rifled musket was loaded through the muzzle and a percussion cap had to be placed on it to fire the musket. The cartridges were made of paper with a ball (lead bullet) and powder inside the paper cartridge. The soldier tore open the paper, poured the powder into the barrel, rammed home the bullet on top of the powder and then placed the cap where the hammer could make it fire.
The soldiers were trained to load and fire a musket 3 times a minute and to fire in unison for a volley. The rifled muskets were accurate up to around 400 yards but few soldiers were marksmen and so the army continued to use the volley as the most effective firepower. There was no target practice for the soldiers until near the end of the war and so most of the volleys were fired at a close range of about 100 to 150 yards to make sure that some of the bullets had a chance of hitting their target.
As the war progressed each side salvaged whatever firearms they could from battlefields and by the last year of the war the Springfield and Enfield muskets were the main infantry weapons used by both sides.
Soldiers on both sides also carried triangular shaped bayonets but these were mostly used for a daily inspection, while on guard duty, digging and as tent poles when on campaign. The bayonet also got in the way for loading the musket and slowed down the rate of fire so it was rarely used on the battlefield except for digging. There are only a couple of recorded instances in battles where there was fighting with bayonets.
The cannons were of different sizes and their shots could be made to explode in the air, upon impact or, if solid shot was used, to just bounce along the ground. When the enemy got close the gunners also had what was called grape and canister shells which made the cannon like a shotgun with many small shots in it.
WEIGHT OF WHAT THE SOLDIERS CARRIED
7)Before the war most of the soldiers’ time was spent in forts or stockades where the men lived in barracks. For when they moved (went on campaign) most battalions of soldiers had several wagons to carry their tents, food, ammunition and some fodder for the horses pulling the wagons and those used by the officers.
During the war, the widespread use of trains to move the soldiers long distances and the need for large bodies of soldiers to spend a lot of time in the field (on campaign) made the weight of the soldiers’ clothing and equipment become crucial because he had to carry it all with him.
The weight of what the soldiers carried while on campaign was about 35 to 40 pounds. It consisted of his clothing, leather belts and shoes (about 7 to 9 lbs.), canteen full of water (4 lbs.), haversack with food and personal items (5 or 6 lbs.), cartridges and cartridge box (4 lbs.), musket and bayonet (10 lbs.), blanket and ground cover or shelter half (6 lbs.). Some had backpacks to put some of these things in while they marched but many did not.
When they went into battle they were usually told to drop their blankets and haversacks and they would be able to come back to them later. They quickly learned not to leave anything behind as the chance of returning for it was slim.
They just wore and carried all with them until they made camp each night and put it all back on when they left the camp.
MEDICAL TREATMENT
8)Theoretically, at the start of the war each Regiment (Battalion) should have had a Surgeon, an Assistant Surgeon, and an Orderly. When knowing that there would be a battle several men would be designated as stretcher bearers and there would be supplied from the Brigade (several Battalions) or Division (several Brigades) a few ambulance wagons with drivers, stretchers and more medical supplies. These were mostly lacking at the battles all through the war.
Hospitals were established in major towns and cities by both sides. These were to serve as convelescent or recovery areas for severly wounded or ill soldiers who could stand a long trip to them by train and ambulance wagon from the battlefield area to reach them. Field Hospitals near the battlefield were set up for those judged too badly wounded to make the journey to a major or general hospital.
Somewhere within about a mile of the battlefield Field Stations were established to attend immediately to those soldiers brought in from the battlefield. These were where the surgeons sewed up wounds, removed bullets and scrapnel and performed amputations.
When a soldier arrived at the field station the surgeon determined if he was able to treat the wound or not. Some wounds, like in the stomach or chest were deemed as untreatable and usually fatal so the men were laid in a particular area to see if they got better or died within a few days.
Two out of three of the wounds were to the extremities (arms, legs, hands and feet) If these were puncture wounds the surgeons would probe to find the bullet, piece schrapnel or debris left by its passage. They had tools for the probes but most used their forefingers because these were more sensitive to finding what should be removed. They normally did not wash their hands but just wiped them dry on their aprons or other cloth. Once the wound was cleaned it was sewed up.
If the bullet or schrapnel had hit a bone it usually shattered the bone rather than making a clean break. That ment that the bone could not be treated by rejoining it and fixing it in place with splints. The limb had to be amputated just above the breakage. General opinion was that this should be done as quickly as possible while the patient was still in shock and pain. The flesh was cut and the exposed bone sawed and then recovered with flesh and the skin sewed together over the wound. Some surgeons used cauterization with a red hot piece of metal to stop the loss of blood and close the wound for healing. Speed in amputation was thought necessary and a proficient surgeon could amputate a limb and sew it up in a little over a minute
During these treatments several hospital orderlies held the soldier as both probing and amputation were agonizing. Cholorform and Morphine came to be used for the pain but supplies of these were not adequate. After the soldier had been treated by the surgeon he was placed with others who had been through the same treatment and within a few days, if hospital gangrene did not develop, he was sent to a hospital.
To get the wounded to the field station the soldier had to come by himself if he were about to do so, be helped or carried there by friends in his regiment, or be carried or helped by the stretcher bearers. The assistant surgeon usually roamed the battlefield with an orderly or two carrying canteens of water and medical bags. The bags had needles and thread for binding up open wounds, bandages, sponges, splints, tourniquets, a few medical tools and some brandy or rum for relieving pain. Late in the war morphine was also carried.
The wounded usually called for water and as the assistant surgeon found them he gave them water while he checked their wounds. If they could walk he sent them to the field station alone or with help if they needed it. If they had a stomach or chest wound he usually gave them a little brandy or rum and left them alone. He sent those with puncture wounds back to the field station because they could be treated by the surgeon. The non-walking wounded were carried back by the stretcher bearers as they were available.
Some of these assistant surgeons went out during the heat of battle and others waited for a lull or until the battle was over.
