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Moving an army is not an easy task. Soldiers may be able to walk on their own two feet, but all the supplies necessary to sustain them cannot. Wagons could break down, and pack animals could tire out. When this happened, some supplies had to be left behind, including musical instruments.
Image of "Report of Camp & Garrison articles thrown out on the march to Huntsville, AL"
Courtesy of Pickler Memorial Library Special Collections
Here is one of the more chilling documents from the Violette Museum collection at Truman State University; it is the receipt of a slave sale dated 1807. Slavery in Northeast Missouri was fairly common prior to the Civil War and, like it was in the rest of the country, was a divisive issue for Missourians. As a border state that remained part of the Union but still had slaves, Missouri was the very definition of a house divided.
This document is a Certificate of Disability for Discharge. The Civil War was brutal and left many soldiers without limbs or with debilitating injuries.
Okay, how cool is it that there were bullet-proof vests during the Civil War? Apparently there were people creating bullet-proof vests as early as the middle ages! They don't seem to have really caught on until the 19th and 20th centuries though.
This ad was published in Harper's Weekly during the war. I guess you know it's really wartime when the papers start advertising armor.
It's funny to think about what constituted "pop music" back in the 1860s. Polka music was very popular around this time. It fact, it was all the rage in the ballrooms of Prague and Paris in the early 1840s before it spread to the United States. "Polkamania" (I did not make that word up - google it) lasted through the nineteenth century.
Imagine showing off your fancy feet to this little number!
Did You Know?
Jelly Beans were invented in the relatively early days of the war. The man who created them encouraged people to send the candy to loved ones in the army.
Other Civil War Era Innovations:
Paper money became legal tender for the first time.
Canned food gained popularity and allowed the canned goods industry to take off.
Manufacturing innovations and the advent of interchangeable parts made pocket watches affordable, commonplace items.
The sewing machine, invented only a few decades before the War, made production of uniforms, tents, and blankets faster and easier than ever before.
Standard sizing for shoes was implemented in the army for the first time.
By 1860, over 50,000 miles of telegraph wire had been strung across North America, which meant that during the War, President Lincoln was able to get up-to-date information from his generals.
Baseball and the Civil War
So since baseball season has started, we thought you might be interested to learn a little about America's pastime. Did you know that people played baseball during the Civil War? I certainly did not. When I think of the Civil War my mind is more likely to jump to cotton, southern belles, slavery, and really scary battles. But baseball was there too!
(image from the Fort Ward Museum and Historical Site website)
Baseball had been around a while by the time of the American Civil War and the sport's popularity was on the rise. As the political cartoon shows, baseball was popular enough that it functioned as an effective satirical device and Currier and Ives were calling it the "National Game" in 1860. There were no professional leagues at this time; men joined clubs to play or played informal games on their own. Even prisoners of war played baseball to keep up morale.
(image found here)
I Wish I Was In Dixie's Land
Here's another Civil War era tune that we have on display in the exhibit. This one was also performed by the lovely Tana Thomason.
Stay tuned for more on the Civil War and the exhibit, because we've finally gotten the hang of tumblr, and we have lots more interesting content coming your way!
