Civil War project question help?

Question

I have to do a project in history about the items that soldiers would have carried in a sack.I have to have a sack (or back pack) that contains the items to show the class.The items need to weigh 40 pounds altogether.Do you know of things that the soldiers would have needed with them.I need all the help I can get.

Answer 1

Hardtack (a kind of bread that they ate) too.

Answer 2

b9teach is correct. Soldiers did not carry 40 pounds in their backpack. Food was carried in their haversacks. Their food consisted of hard bread, salted pork, or slab bacon, or salted beef, maybe some rice, or coffee beans, they did have a form of instant coffee which was a coffee paste mixed with some sugar in a linen bag and dropped in boiling water, but this was not widespread among Union troops.

In their backpack would be an extra shirt, extra pair of socks, letters from home, some writing material, maybe a Bible, other personal items, a housewife (sewing kit), comb. Tobacco and a pipe. In static camps the soldiers would be visited by sutlers which would supplement the soldiers diet. some things available through sutlers would be canned peaches, pies, canned oysters, etc.

As an example, pack that bag with 40 pounds and lug it around your yard. Gets pretty heavy real soon. A Civil War soldier would have pared that weight down real quickly. I have been a CW re-enactor for 25 years and have postgraduate degrees in US history (Phd concentration in CW history and volunteer regularly at CW battlefields.

Answer 3

Ammunition was carried in a leather ammunition pouch which was slung over one shoulder and hung at waist level. Each ammunition pouch contained 60 rounds. The percussion caps used to fire the muskets and pistols were carried in a separate, smaller pouch called a cap pouch. This pouch was worn on the soldier's belt. Their canteen was made of either tin or wood, and was slung over the other shoulder; most of the time the canteen was slung over the same shoulder as the soldier's haversack, which was a stiff canvas pouch with a large flap in which the soldier carried his food (hardtack, corn, etc) and his coffee. Food was always kept separate from ammuntion and clothing for obvious reasons.

The backpack itself was used to carry the soldier's personal effects, such as his pipe, tobacco, shaving equipment, any pictures (derrogotypes, they were called then) he may have had with him, playing cards, eating utensils, and a small shovel. Basically, anything he needed to carry that didn't have a place on his belt went in his backpack. Blankets were rolled up and tied to the top of the backpack; the Confederate soldiers often carried their blankets rolled up into a long roll and slung over their shoulders, tied together at the ends. In the winter, the troops wore their overcoats and winter clothing; in the spring when the weather got warmer, they were carried in the unit's supply wagons and not on the soldier's backs.

I don't think the backpacks would have weighed as much as 40 pounds, though...that's a lot of gear to have to haul around, and the Civil War soldier traveled light.

Answer 4

You've gotten good answers, but I decided to add mine because students need more substantial references than "good answers" in Yahoo.
The first link I've included is from the National Park Service's cultural resource division. This link takes you to photographs of what a soldier would have carried and worn as well as a description of his daily life which you could work into your project as you describe the sack's contents. Don't overlook the other links on this page leading you to life in camp and how boredom was fought. The second link I've included is a favorite because of the excellent sub-links to the kind of information you are looking for. It concentrates of people and battles, but has great food information links. Finally I've linked you to a Yahoo site on the American Civil War which might take you to other discoveries. Good luck on your project. I bet you get an A!

Answer 5

ammunition cartridges ( depednign on thier weapon) and or powder, packing and bullets, hard tack: a totally awful hard baked flour and salt item soldiers ate when they had no other sustanance, water, blanket, maybe some writing utnesils, possibly a bible

Answer 6

They carried amunition, a canteen, and few clothing items amoung other things along with personal items.

Answer 7

Plus tobacco, blanket, salt pork, salt, paper, pencil, letters from home, knife and fork.