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Civil war vocabulary

Terms in this set (52)

Abolitionist
Person who believed in the eradication of slavery
Artillery
Large, powerful weapons such as cannons or mortar
Assasination
Murder of a prominent person such as president Lincoln
Battery
Unit of 4-6 cannons, or a fortified position on which they are placed
Battle
Large scale combat between 2 armed forces(skirmishes and engagements are smaller
Blockade
Closing off of a city or other area to traffic and communication by using naval forces
Border state
Slave owning states that did not secede from the union (DE, MD, MO, KY)
Cartridge box
Leather box in which a soldier carried his rounds or bullets
Casualty
Person killed, wounded, captured, or missing during war
Cavalry
Soldiers mounted on horseback fighting as a unit
Chloroform
Liquid drug used to anesthetize( put to sleep, not kill) wounded soldiers in a war
Confederacy
Alliance of 11 southern states
To form a new country
Contraband
Goods traded illegally during war
Copperhead
Northern democrat who agreed with southern secession: wanted peace
Deploy
To spread out armies to create a battle line
Desertion
To run away from the army: often punishable by death
Dixie
Slang term for the confederacy: also a popular southern song
Conscription-draft
Selections of citizens for mandatory military service
Drill
Process of instructing recruits how to march and practice military arts as a unit
Dysentery
Often fatal disease of human intestines usually caused by unsanitary conditions of military camps and battle sites
Envelopement
Attack against flanks of an enemy's army, in hopes of eventually encircling it
Emancipation
Formal release of slaves from bondage, as it happened in January 1863
Flanks
Sides of an army's line in battle: flanking movement is attacking the sides
Greenback
Paper money issued during the civil war in the north
Hardtack
Quarter or half inch thick hard cracker eaten by civil war soldiers
Haversack
Cloth bag used by soldiers to carry rations and food
Infantry
Foot soldiers marching and fighting together
Ironclad
Ship covered with iron plates and used in the civil war
Main attack
Big-concentrated attack against enemy's weak or critical point
Minie ball
Standard rifle bullet used in war: made rifles more accurate
Picket
One or more soldiers responsible for guard duty
Forage
Search for food by soldiers often at the expense of farmers in a battle area
Rank
Military leadership in importance from commander in chief(president) general of the army, Lt general, brigadier general, colonel Major, captain, lieutenant, 1st sergeant, Sergeant, corporal, private
Rations
Military term for food
Rebel
Slang term for a soldier fighting in the south
Recruit
Soldier who has just signed up and is without battle experience
Rifled musket
Standard infantry weapon used in war: usually .58 caliber: fired a minie ball through a spiral grooved barrel, spinning the bullet for more velocity and accuracy
Salt pork
Most common meal ration during the war, along with hard tack and coffee
Secede
To withdraw or quit the union, as 11 southern states did in 1860-1861. The northerners used to call southerners who seceded secesh
Strategy
Art of military command as to overall plan of war :how/where to deploy troops
Sutler
Dry goods salesman who traveled w/Northern armies: considered necessary for provisions of extra items for soldiers. Sutlers often cheated and overcharged customers
Tactics
Art of maneuvering troops on a battlefield
Torpedo
Civil war term for an underwater mine that exploded: used on rivers
Turning movement
Military tactic: sending troops around the enemy's flank(side) to attack his line of communications in the rear of his battle line
Union
Collection of 23 northern states which fought the rebellious confederacy during the civil war. Also called the United States of America, or USA
Yank, federals, or billy yank
Term for soldier who fought in the union
Zouave
Soldiers in the colorful uniforms patterned after French infantry soldiers
Andaconda plan
Long term plan developed by Winfield Scott to defeat the south: plan was designed to strangle the south like a giant anaconda snake squeezing its prey
States' rights
Idea that states have certain rights that the federal government can't overrule
Plunder
Steal from; ransack
Hygiene
Conditions and practices that promote health; military camps had bad hygiene
Inflation
Increase in price; decreases value of money
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