Civil War Glossary Flashcards
A person who believed in the abolishment or abolition of Negro slavery
Abolitionist
Large, powerful weapons such as cannon and mortars
Artillery
The murder of a prominent person such as President Lincoln
Assassination
A unit of four or six cannons, or a fortified position on which they are placed
Battery
Large scale combat between two armed forces (skirmishes and engagements are smaller scaled and briefer)
Battle
The closing off, using naval forces, of a city or other area to traffic and communication
Blockade
Slave-owning states that did not secede from the Union: Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri
Border state
A leather box in which the soldier carried his rounds or bullets
Cartridge Box
A person killed, wounded, captured, or missing during the war
Casualty
Soldiers mounted on horseback fighting as a unit
Cavalry
The liquid drug used to anesthetize (put to sleep) wounded soldiers in the war
Chloroform
The alliance of 11 Southern states to form the Confederate States of America
Confederacy or CSA
Goods illegally traded during wartime. Slaves were sometimes called contraband during the war
Contraband
A Northern Democrat who agreed with Southern succession and clamored for peace during the war
Copperhead
To spread out armies to create a battle line
Deploy
To leave one’s military post, or to run away from battles, often punishable
Desertion
Slang term for the Confederacy, also a popular Southern song
Dixie
The selection of citizens for mandatory military service
Draft of conscription
The process of instruction recruits how to march and practice the military arts as a unit
Drill
An often fatal disease of the human intestines, usually caused by unsanitary conditions of military camps and battle sites
Dysentery
An attack against the flanks of an enemy’s army, in hopes of eventually encircling it
Envelopment
The formal release of slaves from bondage, as it happened in January 1863
Emancipation
The sides of an army’s line in battle. A flanking movement is attacking the sides.
Flanks
The search for food by soldiers often at the expense of the farmers in the battle area
Forage
Paper money used during the Civil War in the North
Greenback
A quarter inch half inch thick hard cracker eaten by Civil War soldiers. Also known as biscuits, crackers, and army bread.
Hardtack
Cloth bag used by soldiers to carry rations and food.
Haversack
Foot soldiers marching in fighting together. The vast majority of Civil War soldiers were infantry.
Infantry
A ship covered with iron plates and usedIn the Civil War, in the fair is Marrimac vs. monitor first ever naval battles between the ironclads in 1862. They revolutionized naval warfare.
Ironclad
The big, concentrated attack against the enemies weak or critical point
Main attack
The standard rifle bullet used in the war. From France, it made the rifle more accurate and lead to staggering casualties
Minie ball
One or more soldiers responsible for guard duty, always watch for for enemy approach
Picket
military leadership in order of importance and decision making responsibilities usually prioritized from the commander-in-chief President general of the army LT. General, major general, Brigadier General, colonial, major, Canton, lieutenant, first surgeon, corporal, private
Rank
Military term for food
Rations
A slang term for a soldier fighting for the south
Rebel or Confederate, butternut, Grayback, Johnny Reb, or Reb
