The Physical Transition from Civilian to Soldier in Illinois Civil War Camps of Instruction

By Daniel Sauerwein

The study of Civil War soldiers is a growing field within the overall study of the war.

Camps of instruction present fascinating insights into their lives before they saw the elephant.

Illinois illustrates the story of camps quite well because of how many men it sent to fight for the

Union. Through camps of instruction, soldiers experienced an environment that changed how

they saw themselves and how others viewed them.

Camps of instruction were the initial meeting places for new soldiers. There, the men

lived and trained until ordered to the field. In Illinois in the Civil War (1966), Victor Hicken

wrote briefly about Camp Mather in Peoria as well as the other sites in Illinois where camps

formed, including Springfield, Quincy, Aurora, and Carrollton.1 Many sites were necessary, as

Illinois exceeded the quota for troops. Hicken noted, “that young men were drilling

everywhere”.2

The significance of Illinois camps of instruction lies in the importance of the state to the

Union war effort. Hicken noted that New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio were the only states that

surpassed Illinois in their contribution of men to the Union, but that Illinois fielded more units by

October 1861 than New York.3 According to the organization schedule for Illinois units in The

Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, at least forty locations around the state

served to muster regiments into service.4 The report indicated that Illinois based the early

location for camps upon Congressional districts. Anticipating Lincoln’s second call for

1
Victor Hicken, Illinois in the Civil War (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1966), 6.
2
Hicken, 1.
3
Hicken, 5.
4
J. N. Reece, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois Vol. I (Springfield, IL: Phillips Bros., State
Printers, 1900), 151-157. Available at: <http://books.google.com/books?id=fAYTAAAAYAAJ>, accessed 16
March 2008. The number of locations is an approximation based upon counting the number of distinct places listed
in the schedule. Given that locations like Springfield and Chicago would have contained more than one camp
because of their size, the exact number of camps would be at least the same as the number of place names listed in
the schedule, but is likely slightly higher.

1
volunteers, the state legislature passed legislation that took effect on May 2, 1861, which

mandated one regiment of infantry from each district. Each regiment was to rendezvous at a

specified regimental headquarters, and, once supplied with arms, begin drill and other instruction

that was to last thirty days, unless the Federal government needed the men sooner. The report

noted locations for regimental headquarters at Freeport, Dixon, Joliet, Peoria, Quincy,

Jacksonville, Mattoon, Belleville, Anna, and Chicago.5 As indicated by the organization

schedule cited above, many more communities served as camp locations, especially once Bull

Run indicated that the war would be longer than first anticipated.

Camps of instruction in Illinois were often located at county fairgrounds. Leander

Stillwell, a soldier in the Sixty-first Illinois Infantry noted that his regiment used the fairgrounds

near Carrollton, Illinois, for its camp.6 Like Carrollton, the fairgrounds at Peoria were used for a

camp of instruction, which caused the postponement of the county fair in 1861.7 This effect of

the camps became apparent when the state fair was cancelled in 1862 due to that site also being

used for instruction. Following suit, many counties also cancelled their fairs because of the use

of the grounds by the military.8

Many camps, like Stillwell’s, were simple affairs in terms of construction. Fences

surrounded the camps and enclosed several hastily built structures. Chesley Mosman described

his living conditions, writing that he “slept on an oak floor . . . [and] without any cover.”9

Leander Stillwell noted that Camp Carrollton was, “. . . surrounded by an inclosure [sic] seven or

eight feet high . . . only one opening, which was at the main gate about the center of the north

5
Reece, Vol. I, 10.
6
Leander Stillwell, The Story of A Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War 1861-1865, 2nd Ed. (Franklin
Hudson Publishing Co., 1920), 12
7
Peoria Daily Transcript [Illinois] 12 Aug 1861.
8
Carlinville Free Democrat [Illinois] 11 Sept 1862.
9
Arnold Gates, ed., The Rough Side of War: The Civil War Journal of Chesley A. Mosman (Garden City, NY: The
Basin Publishing, Co., 1987), vii.

2
side of the grounds,” as well as a guard detail posted at the gate. He also described barracks

constructed of “native lumber and covered with clapboards and a top dressing of straw,

containing two rows of bunks, one above and one below,” which Stillwell likened to “a Kansas

stable.”10

The relative simplicity of the construction of the camps is likely linked to the short

duration of operation for many camps, with many only being used for a few weeks or months,

and the rapid need for them. The Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois provided

a simple explanation for the short duration of use of many camps. As stated above, the Report

listed at least forty separate locations in the state used for mustering and training regiments in

Illinois.11 Only a few sites were used more than once, including Springfield, Cairo, and Chicago.

In addition to so many locations serving as camps, the organization schedule noted that, by the

end of 1862, Illinois mustered in all but twenty-four of the ultimately over one-hundred-fifty

regiments of infantry, thirteen of seventeen cavalry regiments, and most artillery batteries.12

Given that only a few locations in Illinois served as camp sites for more than one regiment, and,

since most units were mustered in by the end of 1862, it is reasonable to assume that most camps

had only a short use as a training site.

The importance of camps of instruction for understanding the Civil War, and indeed,

other training sites and training for other periods of military history, is best described by British

military historian Richard Holmes in his landmark work Acts of War (1985), in which he stated,

Military historians often give short shrift to training, preferring to concentrate on the dramatic and
moving events of battle rather than the mundane and often repetitive process of training for it. But
by doing so they risk missing a crucial point, for a great part of a man’s behaviour on the
battlefield, and hence of the fighting effectiveness of the army to which he belongs, depends on
the training.13

10
Stillwell, 16.
11
Reece, Vol. I, 151-157.
12
Reece, Vol. I, 151-157.
13
Richard Holmes, Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle (New York: The Free Press, 1985), 36.

3
While Holmes primarily focused on troops during the conflicts of the twentieth century, the

above quotation rings true for the Civil War era as well. Camps of instruction facilitated the

transformation from civilian to soldier via a physical, mental, and social transition.

In the scholarship on Civil War soldiers, camps of instruction fill a niche. Many recent

works on soldiers examine the soldier as an individual, with the historian taking on the role of

psychologist. These scholars not only discuss the physical aspects of army life, but also the

mental, with essays and chapters dealing with the emotions of the soldiers and the traumas they

faced plus religion, morale, and other issues that affect the mind. In addition to the trend of

exploring Civil War soldiers from a psychological view, glimpses of the demographics of the

men who served, their living conditions while in the field, and other aspects of soldier life are

also present in many works on Civil War soldiers.14 The study of camps of instruction, however,

is an often-overlooked area of study that must be included in the larger story of Civil War

soldiers.

Camps of instruction were not just a collection of structures meant to house soldiers

while they trained. In addition to the camp buildings, various activities represented the material

world of the soldier. Entering the environment of the military in the camps constituted the

beginning of the physical transition, which was characterized by the men engaging in activities

that made them look like soldiers. These activities introduced new soldiers to military life and

prepared the soldier for eventual battle.

14
Several works deal with Civil War soldiers and discuss many of the trends and areas noted. They include: Bell
Irvin Wiley, The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union (New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
Publishers, 1952); James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1988); Reid Mitchell, Civil War Soldiers (New York: Viking, 1988); Larry M. Logue, To Appomattox and
Beyond: The Civil War Soldier in War and Peace (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Inc., 1996); Reid Mitchell, “Not the
General But the Soldier: The Study of Civil War Soldiers.” Writing the Civil War: The Quest to Understand, Eds.
James M. McPherson and William J. Cooper, Jr. (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998), 81-95;
Michael Barton and Larry M. Logue, eds., The Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader (New York: New York
University Press, 2002); Steven E. Woodworth, Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865 (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005); Scott Nelson and Carol Sheriff, A People at War: Civilians and Soldiers in
America’s Civil War, 1854-1878 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

4
 Life changed for the men as they began the physical transition from civilian to soldier

upon their arrival at the camp. Three key events represented the beginning of this transition: a

physical examination, taking the oath of enlistment, and receiving the uniform. An early event

soldiers faced in their physical transition was the medical exam. At Camp Carrollton, according

to Drew Dukett, new soldiers would first see the surgeon to ascertain their fitness for service,

which consisted of “two or three taps on the chest” and running hands “over the shoulders, back

and limbs.” With the medical exam over, the civilian proceeded to the next step of his physical

transition, the oath of enlistment, with the soldier stating the following:

I, [soldier’s name], do solemnly swear, or affirm (as the case may be), that I will bear true
allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully
against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever; and observe and obey the orders of the President
of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the Rules and
Articles for the government of the armies of the United States.15

Taking such an oath was a significant step in the transition from civilian to soldier, as it signified

officially joining the army. Now in the army, the new soldier proceeded to the final early step in

his physical transition, his appearance.

In addition to being physically able to be a soldier as well as physically reciting an oath

to become a soldier officially, the new soldier needed to look like one. The final step of the

initial physical transition occurred at the quartermaster’s tent, where the soldier received his

clothing, which, according to Leander Stillwell, consisted of:

. . . a pair of light-blue pantaloons, similar colored overcoat with a cape to it, dark blue jacket,
heavy shoes and woolen socks, an ugly, abominable cocky little cap patterned after the then
French army style, gray woolen shirt, and other ordinary under-clothing. Was also given a
knapsack, but I think I didn’t get a haversack and canteen until later.16

Receiving the uniform and the soldier donning that uniform was an important part of the

physical civilian to soldier transition. The civilian shed the individual attire of his world and put

15
Drew D. Dukett, Glimpses of Glory: The Regimental History of the 61st Illinois Infantry with Regimental Roster,
(Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 1999), 8-9. Revised United States Army Regulations of 1861. Available at:
<http://www.usregulars.com>, accessed 16 Mar 2008.
16
Stillwell, 15.

5
on the uniform of the soldier. The uniform set the new soldier apart from the rest of society.

The medical examination, or lack thereof, oath of enlistment, and putting on the uniform

introduced the former civilian to the military and allowed easier transition as they began their

training.

Many soldiers wrote about their arrival to camp. Valentine Randolph noted several

events that occurred on the day he showed up at camp, including reaching camp, taking a nap,

eating dinner, being sworn into the army, and attending a lecture on temperance.17 Allen Geer

wrote about arriving at Camp Goodell by train and being sworn into the army the next day.18

With their arrival to camp and initial physical transition complete, the new soldiers began the

overall physical transition as they encountered the physical world of the soldier.

As the new soldiers entered the physical world of the military in camp, they engaged in

many activities. One of the main activities occupying the new soldiers time in camp was drill.

Drilling represented an important part of the physical transition, as new soldiers looked more a

part of the military when drilling. Illinois regiments were prescribed thirty days of training,

unless they were needed sooner.

Many soldiers noted drilling in the camps in their writings. Leander Stillwell described

drill in Camp Carrollton, writing, “All day long, somewhere in the camp, could be heard the

voice of some officer, calling, ‛Left! left! left, right, left!’ to his squad or company to guide them

in the cadence of the step.”19 Stillwell added that, “We were drilled at Carrollton in the ‘school

of the soldier,’ ‘school of the company,’ and skirmish drill, with dress parade at sunset.”20

Stillwell also stated, “I do not remember of our having any battalion drill at Camp Carrollton.”
17
David D. Roe, ed., A Civil War Soldier’s Diary: Valentine C. Randolph, 39th Illinois Regiment (DeKalb, IL:
Northern Illinois University Press, 2006), 11.
18
Mary Ann Andersen, ed., The Civil War Diary of Allen Morgan Geer, Twentieth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers
(New York: Cosmos Press, 1977), 3.
19
Stillwell, 18.
20
Stillwell, 18.

6
He added that, “The big trees in the fair grounds were probably too thick and numerous to permit

that.”21

Other soldiers described the drill in their camps. For instance, Allen Morgan Geer, a

soldier in the Twentieth Illinois Infantry, noted drilling with the other recruits and being very

tired while at Camp Goodell near Joliet.22 Geer also conducted “battalion drill” on one afternoon

and drilled the next morning prior to departing the camp for Camp Pope, near Alton.23 Once at

Alton, Geer mentioned drilling the first day in the camp and that the drill ground at Camp Pope

was quite good.24 James Swales, writing to his brother David from Camp Defiance near Cairo

stated that his unit comprehended drill well and that they drilled in small squads many times.25

Drill occasionally forced some men to end letters abruptly, like William H. Austin’s letter from

camp in Cairo in which he told Maggie Sargent that he did not have the time to write because he

had to be at three o’ clock drill.26

Based on the soldiers’ writings, drilling appeared to be a significant step in the transition

from civilian to soldier. Soldiers’ writings indicated that drilling was an almost daily occurrence,

which would make it a significant activity for the soldiers during their time in camp.

Drilling in the Civil War, as with other wars, was necessary for the soldiers. Mark A.

Weitz argued, “This daily training regime . . . reinforced the lessons of drill and molded the

civilian into a soldier.”27 It gave them the skills needed to succeed as soldiers both on and off the

21
Stillwell, 18.
22
Andersen, 3.
23
Andersen, 3.
24
Andersen, 4.
25
James Swales to David Swales, 29 Aug 1861, James Swales Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library,
Springfield, IL.
26
William H. Austin to Maggie Sargent, 01 May 1861, John Sargent Papers, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library,
Springfield, IL.
27
Mark A. Weitz, “Drill, Training, and the Combat Performance of the Civil War Soldier: Dispelling the Myth of
the Poor Soldier, Great Fighter,” The Journal of Military History 62: 2 (April, 1998): 275; available at:
<http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0899-3718%28199804%2962%3A2%3C263%3ADTATCP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L>;
accessed 27 Mar 2008.

7
battlefield. According to Wiley, “No one could consider himself a soldier until he learned to

march and use his weapon.”28 Thus, drill was an important step in the transition from civilian to

soldier.

While many soldiers mentioned drill in their writings, they usually indicated small

aspects of the drilling, or just that they had drilled or were going to drill in their letters.

Exploring the actual maneuvers and other parts of some of the drill manuals used provides more

detail into exactly what the soldiers experienced in the camp and illustrates the physical

transition from civilian to soldier.

There were three main versions of drill manuals used during the Civil War. Winfield

Scott, Silas Casey, and William Hardee all wrote manuals for drill and tactics that were used by

the army during the war, with Hardee’s manual being the most widely used drill manual.29

Hardee’s manual was based on the French military manuals published in the 1830s.30

The manual consisted of sections dealing with instructions for officers and non-commissioned

officers, general organization of a regiment, as well as the schools of the soldier and battalion,

which were designed to instruct individual soldiers and whole battalions in proper movements

and handling of weapons.31

Within the first section of Hardee’s tactics is the organization of a regiment, including the

size of the regiment, which was set at ten companies, as well as positions of companies, officers,

and other important persons in the regiment in line of battle. This section also provides brief

instructions for conducting battalion drill and company drill. Finally, a brief section discusses

28
Wiley, 25.
29
Paddy Griffith, Battle Tactics of the Civil War (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989), 101. It is
interesting to note that Hardee’s manual was the widest in use, especially for the Union, since William Hardee
resigned his US Army commission when Georgia seceded from the Union and served as a general in the
Confederate army.
30
Griffith, 100.
31
William J. Hardee, Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics (1855); available at:
<http://www.usregulars.com/hardeehome.html>; accessed 18 Feb 2008.

8
commands, which includes the three types of commands and how to properly issue commands.

Hardee’s first article of his tactics, providing instructions for organization, proper issuance of

commands, and which groups of soldiers were to be instructed in what schools.32 In retrospect,

even with its publication prior to the Civil War, Hardee’s manual considered that inexperienced

officers needed instruction as well prior to leading units. This is supported by Wiley, who wrote

that some regiments had the advantage of having their officers and non-commissioned officers

go into camp before the privates, so that they could learn drill and how to command.33 The result

was that the officers and sergeants would know the basics and have the confidence to instruct the

men.

Given Stillwell’s mention of his regiment only learning the schools for individual soldiers

and companies, it is likely that most camps only trained in the same areas until they were able to

organize into larger units and train in battalion drill after leaving camp.

Hardee’s “School of the Soldier” contained three parts. The first part dealt primarily

with, according to the manual, “comprehending what ought to be taught to recruits without

arms,” like facing movements in drill as well as the positions of attention and being at rest. The

second part focused on what was known as “the manual of arms,” which covered the proper

techniques for loading and firing a weapon. Finally, the third part of the school covered topics

including alignment, marching, and various movements associated with marching and

maneuvering on the battlefield.34

The “school of the company” mentioned by Stillwell likely referred to the third section of

Hardee’s “School of the Soldier”, as Stillwell’s regiment did not have weapons until after
32
Hardee, Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics (1855); available at: <http://www.usregulars.com/hardeehome.html>;
accessed 18 February 2008.
33
Wiley, 26.
34
William J. Hardee, “School of the Soldier.” Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics (1855); available at:
<http://www.usregulars.com/Hardeess02.html#TITLE%20SECOND-%20SCHOOL%20OF%20THE
%20SOLDIER>; accessed 18 February 2008.

9
leaving their initial camp of instruction. While the Sixty-first did not receive its weapons until

later, other units may have and therefore the training in the manual of arms Hardee provided was

necessary.

The contents of Hardee’s manual, especially the different schools illustrated the drill that

helped make the new soldiers look like soldiers. By using the manual, new soldiers learned how

to issue and receive commands, how they were expected to look at various positions and facing

movements, and how they were to move while either on the march or in battle. Those soldiers

that learned the manual of arms in their camps of instruction knew how to use their weapons as

well. All of the drill lessons present in Hardee’s manual served to make the civilians into

soldiers through moving and acting like soldiers.

Where drilling aided the physical transition by making the men look more like soldiers,

they would experience another physical transition by eating like soldiers. Meals in camp were an

important activity within the physical transition. The change in food and the conditions in which

the soldiers ate were likely dissimilar for better or worse depending on background than their

previous home life.

Several soldiers wrote about the food they ate, as well as the preparation of the food, and

eating with comrades. Leander Stillwell described the food that men in his regiment ate in Camp

Carrollton as follows:

Our fare consisted of light bread, coffee, fresh meat at some meals, and salt meat at others, Yankee
beans, rice, onions, and Irish and sweet potatoes, with stewed dried apples occasionally for
supper.35

Stillwell added, “At Camp Carrollton and Benton Barracks we had company cooks who prepared

the food for the entire company.”36 Allen Geer noted how several men from his unit hired an

35
Stillwell, 18.
36
Stillwell, 35.

10
African-American man as a cook.37 Valentine Randolph discussed the food in Camp Mather,

which was the same as Stillwell’s account, but with the addition of the description of the dining

tables, which Randolph described as being made from “pine boards” and dishes made of tin and

iron.38 Some soldiers experienced meager food early on, like Chesley Mosman, who wrote of

consuming “a tin cup of coffee and a half loaf of bread for supper.”39 The soldiers’ physical

world changed beyond eating like soldiers, as they experienced the hazards of military world in

the form of sickness, accidents, and deaths.

Soldiers described several examples relating to sickness, accidents, and occasional death.

For example, James Swales suffered “a violent cold” that rendered him “hardly able to perform

any duty.”40 While sickness was not uncommon at home, the frequency of it likely increased

because of greater exposure to illness in camp from being in close proximity to more people than

at home. In addition to sickness, Allen Geer wrote about two soldiers being injured while at

Camp Pope (Geer did not indicate if they died) when a musket fell and discharged, with one

soldier suffering a wound to the head and the other his thigh.41 William Onstot mentioned being

in the hospital ill for one week and being unable to perform duties.42 He recalled the death of a

soldier at camp near Cairo when another soldier threw his gun on the ground and it discharged,

firing the ball through a soldier in a nearby tent, and killing that soldier. Onstot wrote that a

“funeral took place . . . in Military Style and was very solemn.”43 One letter in the Carlinville

Free Democrat detailed how one soldier died of “typhus fever” and that several soldiers had

37
Andersen, 4.
38
Roe, 12.
39
Gates, vii.
40
James Swales to David Swales, 29 Aug 1861, James Swales Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library,
Springfield, IL.
41
Andersen, 5.
42
William H. Onstot to Elizabeth Onstot Walker, 17 Oct 1861, William H. Onstot Papers, Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.
43
William H. Onstot to Elizabeth Onstot Walker, 20 Oct 1861, William H. Onstot Papers, Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.

11
measles.44 In addition to accounts from soldiers and newspapers, historian Drew Gilpin Faust

cited one soldier who commented that disease wrought the evils of the battlefield, but none of the

horrors. She also observed that the war provided soldiers with many opportunities and ways to

die.45

Leander Stillwell stated that the health of the men in his camp was quite good, except for

a few cases of measles, of which none were fatal, and himself catching a “bad cold” but treating

it with hickory bark tea.46 While sicknesses, injuries, and deaths in camp may have affected the

morale of the soldiers for a short time after the event, the writings from the soldiers while in

camp indicate that the spirits of the men were usually good. Sickness, injuries, and deaths were a

negative part of the physical transition, but served as an early introduction to the ravages

inflicted on the soldiers’ bodies during the war.

Overall, several activities combined to create a physical transition from civilian to soldier

as part of the overall transition to civilian to soldier. The soldiers were checked for their fitness

to serve, took the oath of enlistment, and received their uniforms, which introduced them to the

physical world of the soldier. Once inducted into this new world, the soldiers learned to look

like a soldier and move like one through drilling. In addition, the soldiers’ physical world

changed during mealtime, as they ate differently than they were likely used to eating in the

civilian world. Finally, the soldiers’ body experienced an early introduction to the ravages that

army life inflicted on the body, including disease, accidents, and deaths in camp. While the new

soldiers were beginning to look like soldiers and become part of the physical world of the

military, they were only beginning their transition from civilian to soldier.

44
Carlinville Free Democrat [Illinois] 25 Sept 1862.
45
Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (New York: Knopf, 2008), 4.
46
Stillwell, 19.

12