An original story submitted by Andrew Walker.

After the attack on Ft. Sumpter, the attack that started the Civil War, men in the North and the South flocked to join each side's army. While some men were made officers or put into Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineer units, the majorities were placed in the Infantry.

Before the battle of Bull Run (Mannasas Junction) both sides were ill prepared and ill equipped. In the South men were urged to bring their own weapons. Almost every unit had its own unique uniform. But after a disastrous clash at Bull Run (Mannasas Junction) both sides knew that it would take a lot more training and firepower to win the war.

One of the activities infantrymen did the most after Bull Run (Mannasas Junction) was drill. Drilling was made up of doing a certain motion over and over. For instance the men would load then unload their guns. The men hated this kind of work.

The infantryman's weapons were usually made up of a shoulder arm and a bayonet. The most common shoulder arms used by infantry were smoothbores, rifles, and shotguns. The bayonet was usually a knife that screwed onto to the end of the gun. Although soldiers had a bayonet, casualties as a result of them were few, by the end of the war the bayonet was a thing of the past. It was most times used as a knife for cooking or as makeshift candle.

The food for infantrymen was famous for its horrible taste. Most times the men were given a hard cracker called hardtack and sometimes were 'lucky' enough to have some beans or a tough, gristly piece of meat. The hardtack crackers were nicknamed "sheet metal" crackers and the meat was said to have " Been cooked so many times all that's left is the hide".

The officers, cavalrymen, artillerymen, and engineers should always be remembered. But, let's give a hand to the good old' infantrymen.
 

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