Infantry
Infantry (or foot-soldiers) was the main building block of both Union and Confederate armies. The infantrymen traveled from place to place by marching on foot, with some exceptions when they were transported by boat or train. They fought with small arms and were supported by cavalry, artillery, engineers, signal corps, hospital corps, commissary and other agencies or branches.
Recommended reading for detailed information on Civil War Infantry.
Recommended reading for detailed information on Civil War Infantry.
Infantry branch insignia. (Available at the Regimental Quartermaster. Click image for link)
Cavalry
Cavalry was the branch of the army mounted on horseback. Being that it was mounted, it was able to get from point A to point B quicker than infantry and armed with lighter, short-range firearms, cavalry's main roles were as follows:
When the Civil War began, cavalry was a lost child. It had its use, but cirumstances made it so that its use wasn't fully realized or evolved until the war was underway. Confederates seemed to make better use of it early in the war, but the United States Army finally brought cavalry into its own after the batle of Chancellorsville at the battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
Recommended reading for more detailed information on the cavalry at Gettysburg.
- Reconaissance and screening
- defensive/delaying actions (like Buford's Cavalry on the first day at Gettysburg)
- "mopping up the field" when an enemy infantry is shaken or routed
- offensive actions like charging an enemy's flank or rear while it is engaged with friendly infantry
- long distance raids on enemy basesof supply or supply lines
When the Civil War began, cavalry was a lost child. It had its use, but cirumstances made it so that its use wasn't fully realized or evolved until the war was underway. Confederates seemed to make better use of it early in the war, but the United States Army finally brought cavalry into its own after the batle of Chancellorsville at the battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
Recommended reading for more detailed information on the cavalry at Gettysburg.
Cavalry branch insignia. (Available at the Regimental Quartermaster. Click image for link)
artillery
Artillery (cannon) have played an important role in warfare for centuries before the Civil War. They are typically broken up into three categories: siege artillery, field artillery and naval artillery. As it pertains to Gettysburg, both armies used field artillery with a variety of types of gun. The two main classes were rifled (also called "guns") and smoothbore and within those classes were a variety of models, the most common being the 3 inch Ordinance Rifle and smoothbore Napoleon. All types of artillery fired a variety of ordinance (ammunition). They are solid shot (or bolt), case shot (or shrapnel and canister (or grape shot, which was a naval round that was not used in the field but this term was often used interchangably with canister shot).
Recommended reading for more detailed information about Civil War Artillery or, specifically, artillery at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Recommended reading for more detailed information about Civil War Artillery or, specifically, artillery at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Artillery branch insignia. (Available at Regimental Quartermaster. Click image to go to page).
engineers
Army engineers were vital to the movement and defense of an army or territory. They moved the army over rivers and streams with pontoon bridges, protected them with earthworks during long operations like a siege; sometimes used hydrogen-filled balloons to survey battlefields and make maps, performed skirmish duties, bridge guards and designed and contructed a ring of forts around Washington D.C.
Recommended reading for more detailed information on life as an Army Engineer.
Recommended reading for more detailed information on life as an Army Engineer.
signal corps
The signal corps was responsible for communications over great distances for the army to relay tactical and strategic messages by utilizing telegraphs and "wig-wag" flags. In the Union army, the signal corps had the duties of battlefield observation, intelligence gathering and directing artillery fire from elevtated positions on which they established signal stations. In the Confedrate Army, the signal corps shared those duties but was also used for espionage.
Recommended reading for more detailed information on Civil War Signal Corps
Recommended reading for more detailed information on Civil War Signal Corps
Learn about what life was like for the common soldier in Dr. Peter S. Carmichael's "The War For The Common Soldier"
