Last week we went on a field trip to Brierfield, where they do a reenactment of the Civil War.  They do not give information about the Union Soldiers but about the Confederate Soldiers. This report is about what I learned while I was there.  I really enjoyed the field trip, more than I expected. I would recommend that if you go to Alabama for vacation in March you should go and see it.

The first ‘stop’ was to the building where they talked about the guns and weapons the soldiers used.  Many used guns that they had at home since the south was poor and could not supply the whole army with new guns. Soldiers often used whatever they had to fight with.

Then, we went to the music house where they explained to us how important music was during the Civil War.  Many men expected to come home very soon from the war and whip the Union Army ‘up and down the side walk’.  They soon realized that the war would take much longer than expected and that they missed their sweethearts and family.  They would make up songs to show how they felt and to cheer themselves up. They would carry little hymn books and instruments to play with.  Many times they would sing songs while going into battle and it has been said that the opposite armies would sing back and forth to each other.  I don’t think there has ever been a more important time in music than the Civil War.

Next, we went to a house where this woman told us about the women and the Civil War.  Many families went through hard times because the men folk were gone and the women had to care for themselves and provide for the family.  Some families had slaves, which I am sure helped out a lot. 

After learning about the women folk and their hard times, we learned about the soldiers and the positions they were to stand in when given a command.  Many people would think that the Captain would give commands but it was the Sergeant. Rarely would the soldiers see the Captain.  The soldiers would march in lines where they were spaced about a hand’s length from one soldiers back to the next soldier’s stomach.  They also had to hold their guns in the most uncomfortable way for hours.

Next, we learned about the tents that the soldiers slept in.  You had a different tent depending on what rank you were.  If you were a soldier, you had a really small tent and if you were a Captain or a Sergeant you had a much bigger one.  When they stopped to rest at night, they would destroy the area around them and look for wood to use for fire.  They would line their tents up by the hundreds and call the lane down the middle of the area Main Street .  This is where they would line up in the mornings for role call or any other thing they were commanded to do there.  In the summer it would become very hot and they would leave behind their tents and wool coats.  When winter came rolling around again they would just pick up another tent and coat that another soldier left behind. 

After that we learned about the Confederate war flags.  They had many of them.  They were all based on the flag we call the ‘Rebel Flag’ today. You can see the many flags at this site:  http://www.confederateflags.org/army/FOTCanv.htm. Many people think that the Confederate Flag is a symbol of slavery and want to get rid of it.  If you hate the Confederate Flag because it supported slavery for four years then you will hate the American Flag who supported it for 42 years and you don’t ever hate the American Flag.  

We also learned a lot about the doctors during the Civil War. Most only had training for six months.  You did not go to a comfy bed and lay down indoors; very few doctors had that kind of a place.  Most doctors were stationed outdoors.  If you compare the tools used to do amputations then and now they are totally different.  When the Civil War was going on the Union had cut off the Confederate’s railroad and that cut off the supplies.  So, you didn’t have any pain medication when doing amputations or any other procedures that required going into the body.  They gave you a drink of whiskey and a leather strap to bite on, while being held down by several men.  They would have a tool that would separate the skin so the doctor could see the bone and he would take a butcher knife, if he had it, a saw, a razor or anything he could get his hands on that would cut the bone.  After he was done with the cutting of the limb he would throw it in a pile that had a whole bunch of other body parts.  He would then take an iron that is used to iron the pleats and he would burn the end of the limb that was left.  If you had any other procedure that needed to be done other than amputation, they made you wait. Contrary to what most people think, most soldiers died of diseases more than anything else. 

Next, we went to a little section that talked about the drummer boys and how important they were.  They gave all the commands that the Sergeants gave.  He showed us what the commands for ‘Wake Up’ and several other commands.  To me, all the commands sounded the same.  What touched me the most about this part was that the drummer boys were ages nine to thirteen and they were usually the first to die when they went into battle. 

The most interesting part for me was when we learned how women made thread. They would make it out of cotton and dye it with natural dyes.  It would take about a week to sew a pair of socks and a couple weeks to make a shirt.  Back then, they took a lot more care of their clothes.

Last but not least, we learned that Confederate soldiers and Union soldiers met alone and traded supplies.  Since the Union had cut off the south’s railroads they were not able to get coffee and the north was not able to get tobacco, which was very popular back then.  When they would meet, they would discuss why they were there and what they thought about the whole war.  Most soldiers did not want to kill unless instructed by a person higher than him.

Brierfield was a very interesting and the most exciting field trip on which I have ever been. It taught me a lot about the Civil War and a lot of things that I did not know. I cannot wait to go back next year!