| Glossary of Terms | |
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Studying the Civil
War does not require a thorough knowledge of a specialized vocabulary,
but it can be a bit confusing for students
who are not familiar with the terminology of 19th century military tactics and weapons.
Compounding this problem is the frequent use of French military terms. Here we have listed about
sixty terms commonly found in Civil War history. |
abatis. A defensive structure consisting of tree trunks with wooden stakes, protruding like long spikes, or felled trees with their tops pointing outward and limbs cut off with sharp ends, usually part of a breastwork [see illustration].
ambulance. A cart pulled by horses, mainly used to transport the wounded from battle to a field hospital; comes from the French term "walking hospital" (l'hospital ambulant) attributed to Napoleon.
Anaconda Plan. Strategy attributed to Gen. Winfield Scott, by which the North would take control of the Atlantic coast and Mississippi River, encircle the Confederacy and slowly crush the rebellion, like a boa constrictor.
approach. Line of attack; also, in siege works, a trench facilitating the advance of an attacking force, under cover, against a fortified position. In general, these trenches were wide enough to accommodate four men abreast and deep enough to allow troops to move upright. The soil excavated in the digging of the trench was used to shield the trench from enemy fire. To avoid enfilading fire from the opposing side, trenches zigzagged from one line (called parallels) to the next.
artillery. A general term for various types of cannon and the men trained to use such weapons. Field artillery was light enough to accompany infantry or cavalry into battle anywhere that teams of horses could manage; heavy artillery was designed for stationary use (usually protecting cities and forts). Some heavy artillery was transported by water or rail to within range of fixed targets [illustration: The Dictator, used in the siege of Petersburg]. (See howitzer and mortar.)
banquette. A low embankment or impromptu breastwork thrown up below the crest of a parapet. Its height was determined so as to accommodate the shortest man in the defending unit.
barbette. An elevated position designed to permit gunners to fire over a parapet that had lacked openings or embrasures. in this fashion, they were described as being en barbette.
bastion. A work that projected toward the field at a salient angle with its apex pointing toward the enemy, constructed so that its defenders could fire on an attacking force even if it reached the walls.
breastwork. A hastily constructed defensive work of earth and wood, erected to protect defenders from artillery and rifle fire. In most instances the front of the work was protected by a ditch from which the breastwork was made, and obstacles, such as abatis or chevaux-de-frize.
brevet. An honorary rank among Federal officers; a promotion in the field. Widely used in the Mexican War for distinguished service in combat, it was carried over to the Civil War.
brigade. A unit consisting of four or five regiments and a headquarters staff, normally commanded by a brigadier general. A brigade often included a battery of artillery and a company of cavalry. Since an infantry regiment typically had ten companies, each with 100 men (1,000 total), a brigade was supposed to have at least 4,000 men. Sizes varied and dwindled over time due to casualties and desertions.
caisson. A two-wheeled cart designed to carry ammunition for a field gun. In Federal batteries, a single gun required two caissons, each of which carried as many as 150 projectiles. Generally speaking, a caisson carried two ammunition chests.
canister. An antipersonnel artillery projectile filled with metal balls and packed with sawdust. Its effective range was less than 350 yards, but it was most lethal at one-third to one-half distance. The standard canister for a Federal 12- pounder "Napoleon" smoothbore contained 27 balls; canister for a 12-pounder howitzer held 48.
carbine. A lightweight shoulder arm that was shorter and more easily loaded than a rifle (carbines were loaded in the breech rather than the muzzle). Since a carbine could be carried and fired from horseback, it was manufactured chiefly for use by cavalry and mounted infantry.
cartel. A formal written agreement negotiated by nations at war. Although the United States never recognized the Confederacy as a nation, numerous cartels were executed between the two governments addressing such things as the treatment of wounded and prisoners of war and the exchange of letters and telegrams.
cartridge box. A small rigid container designed to hold 40 cartridges, the standard number issued to each soldier before battle.
casemate. A chamber designed to withstand artillery fire; a fortification’s outer casemates usually mounted guns that were fired through embrasures.
cavalry. Soldiers trained, armed and equipped to fight on horseback. Cavalry were sometimes used to attack infantry with sabers and pistols, especially by Confederates, but Federal cavalry units were mostly used for reconnaissance and to shield the movement of infantry. Late in the war, Phil Sheridan used Federal cavalry as a separate fighting unit ("mounted infantry") with considerable success in Virginia, as Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest had done in Tennessee.
chevaux-de-frise. Defensive obstructions fashioned from tree trunks. Holes were bored into the trunks, and sharpened poles were inserted in such fashion that they pointed toward the direction from which an attack was likely to come. They were used to obstruct gaps, plug a breach, or form a line of obstructions in front of fixed fortifications or breastworks. Confederates usually placed such a line 50-100 yards in front of their trenches.
close order. A precision formation in which each soldier maintained an exact distance from his comrades, sometimes touching elbows. To “close ranks” was a maneuver that kept men together as much as possible after the ranks had been depleted by enemy fire. Prevailing tactics assumed that massed men equaled massed firepower and only massed men could break through an opponent’s line. It resulted in heavy casualties when the opponent was well entrenched and defended by heavy firepower.
contravallation. An earthwork consisting of a trench and a wall of earth that was erected behind a besieging force to protect it from attack by a relieving army.
corduroy. The term for constructing a temporary road consisting of tree trunks laid side by side; a painstakingly slow process usually undertaken in muddy, swampy regions for the movement of artillery and supply wagons. Grant's army constructed many miles of corduroy roads in his Vicksburg campaign.
countermarch. A march made for the purpose of countering the movement of the enemy by marching in the same direction, typically to keep from being flanked.
coupe de main. A sudden, strong attack meant to overwhelm a position quickly.
covert. A flat covered walkway above the exterior slope of a defensive ditch.
defilade. To shield from enemy fire or observation from a given point by means of a natural or artificial barrier.
desiccated vegetables. A mixture of common vegetables from which most or all water had been extracted. Issued in solid form, usually as a brick, the mixture was a substitute for fresh vegetables. Most cooks used it to make soup.
earthwork. A defensive field fortification, often temporary, largely consisting of trenches and mounds of dirt (for examples see contravallation, epaulement, and ravelin below).
embrasure. An opening in a casemate that permitted artillery to fire through it. These openings could be shuttered closed when the guns were not in action.
emplacement. A position in which a gun or a group of guns was situated; also the parapet or platform on which a gun or guns could be found.
en echelon. A formation of a number of infantry units arranged with each component standing or moving forward in parallel and maintaining a set interval to the right or left of the unit it followed. Borrowed from the French, the word meant “a rung of a ladder.” Attacking en echelon was a favorite Confederate tactic, but it rarely worked as well in practice as it did in theory; once one unit was delayed by terrain or repulsed by enemy fire, the “ladder” would begin to fall apart.
enciente. The body or main wall of a fortification, including its ramparts and parapets.
enfilade. To fire along the length of an opponent’s line or trench, usually with artillery, making each shot potentially more effective and less likely to overshoot or undershoot the target. Enfilade fire was typically delivered from positions parallel to the enemy’s front line.
epaulement. A hastily erected mound of soil that functioned to protect troops from an opponent. These were usually created using sandbags or gabions.
fascine. Also spelled as facine, these were tightly bound bundles of two-inch-thick sticks used to elevate batteries, to line the sides of trenches to prevent them from collapsing, and to cover marshy ground. They were incorporated much as sandbags or cotton bales were utilized as reinforcing materials.
feint. An offensive move designed to deceive the opponent as to the location and/or time of an actual offensive action. Sending a small part of his army to feint [pronounced “fane”] an attack from one direction, then surprising the enemy with a real attack, was a favorite tactic of Robert E. Lee, executed to perfection at Chancellorsville.
field fortifications. Hastily improvised defensive works erected on a field of battle, as simple as shallow trenches scraped out by men lying prone or as elaborate as revetments connected by a maze of trenches.
fieldworks. Fortifications that provided troops or areas with relative degrees of safety from sudden assaults by forces of superior numbers. These defenses had parapets and gabions of earth, fieldstones, or other available indigenous materials and were designed to withstand bombardments and assaults. They were usually designed by engineers, but when an army advanced or withdrew rapidly, individually soldiers excavated pits or dug trenches.
flank. Side (noun); to attack the side (verb); a common tactic intended to gain a position on either side of an opponent’s line that allows one to enfilade his exposed ranks. Emulating the tactics of Napoleon, commanders in blue and gray placed the highest priority on flanking one another at every opportunity.
fraise. A defensive work, on the outward slope of an earthwork, constructed with sharpened stakes projecting outward in an oblique or horizontal fashion. These palisades were to be an overhead obstacle to an attacking force, positioned at least seven feet above the ground so as not to be used by the enemy to scale the parapet.
gabion. A cylindrical wicker basket, three feet high and two feet in diameter, filled with rocks and dirt, positioned to serve as part of a field fortification [see illustration].
gorge. The entrance to a fortification; the side of a fort or fieldwork that held the entrance (known as the sally port).
grapeshot. A projectile assembled with iron plates and rings and holding a cluster of shot together. One version known as quilted grape encased the shot with a canvas bag that also held a powder charge. Highly effective against troops at short range, the army discontinued the use of grapeshot in favor of canister. The navy, however, continued to use it throughout the war. Union grapeshot usually held nine balls; Confederate versions frequently held more, in some cases as many as 21, but the shot was usually smaller than that used in the Federal ammunition.
guerrilla. Literally a "small band of warriors." (The term originates from the Spanish resistance to Napoleon.) Often used in reference to covert “hit and run” tactics behind enemy lines, during the Civil War this term mainly referred to civilian “partisan rangers” who harassed the enemy but were not part of the regular army. Partisan guerrillas (often called "bushwackers" by Yankee cavalry) were not bound by military conventions, sometimes kidnapping officers and government officials, murdering civilians and pillaging indiscriminately; likewise, captured guerrillas were not treated as POWs and were summarily executed.
hardtack. In universal use throughout the war, this quarter-inch-thick three-inch-square biscuit of unleavened flour was a staple of both armies. When it was mentioned in letters or diaries, it was always described disparagingly. Too hard to eat outright (reportedly at least one soldier used hardtack for patio tile in front of his tent!), hardtack usually was soaked in water and then crumbled up and fried in bacon fat (a mixture termed "skillygalee"). (A popular alternative, called "panada," was a hot gruel made with mashed hardtack, corn meal, water, ginger and wine.) Often hardtack was used as a medium of exchange, several biscuits could be traded for a loaf of bread, some coffee, or a “chaw” of tobacco.
haversack. A kind of backpack, haversacks were a carryall usually slung over the right shoulder so as to hang over the wearer’s left hip. There was no standard shape, size or material. Foot soldiers used their haversacks to transport personal items and daily rations.
howitzer. A long-range artillery piece, usually made of bronze, designed in three sizes to throw charges of 12, 24 or 32 pounds; a few large howitzers could fire a 50-pound shell.
in detail. To attack smaller segments of an opposing force. To “attack in detail” meant to destroy an enemy army piece by piece when its units were separated rather than concentrated. For example, had McClellan moved quicker at Sharpsburg (Antietam), before the four parts of Lee’s army had converged, his chances for a decisive victory would have been much better by attacking Lee in detail.
Jessie Scout. A Union cavalry trooper dressed in a Confederate uniform, usually in order to infiltrate a guerrilla band such as Mosby's Rangers.
lunette. A temporary fortification or fieldwork distinguished by having two faces that form a salient angle and parallel flanks (similar to a redan).
Minié ball. During the 1840’s two French captains, Henri-Gustave Delvigne and Claude-Etienne Minié, developed an elongated lead projectile with a hollow cone-shaped base as an ammunition for rifles, which at the time were slow and awkward to load. Minié’s bullet expanded and forced the projectile into the rifled grooves of the barrel to gain the desired effect of improved accuracy and range. The bullet was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1855. Regardless of where a man might be struck, the misshapen lead did a great deal of damage, shattering limbs and splintering bones. Arm or leg wounds almost always led to amputation.
mortar. A large-caliber gun with a very short tube designed to fire shells at a high elevation (as much as 45 degrees) using a small powder charge. Mortars were classified by the size of their bore, which ranged from almost six inches to sixteen inches. They threw extremely heavy projectiles in high arc over short distances, and their destructive work mainly stemmed from the explosion of the projectile in midair and the fragments that rained down on an opponent’s position. Considered by many to be a siege gun, they performed well at Vicksburg and Petersburg.
ordnance. Although widely used to designate a battery or a group of guns, this term also included vehicles used in combat, ammunition and equipment. Every battalion and corps had its own ordnance unit whose members were responsible for maintaining this gear and storing and transporting is as needed.
palisade. A line of wooden stakes driven into the ground to form a defensive bulwark in front of earthworks.
parapet. A defensive work of masonry erected above the rampart (wall) of a fortress to protect gunners and their pieces. In the field, logs were used to form a parapet. Special parapet bayonets could be attached to the logs as deterrents to attempts to scale the parapet [see illustration].
parole of honor. Derived from the French parole de’ honneur, this status for prisoners taken in battle allowed the captives to be released with the understanding that they would not bear arms again until they were formally exchanged for an equivalent captive from the other side. The exchange rate was 1:1 for men of equal rank with a weighted scale for higher rank (e.g., one general = sixty privates). Because the negotiations for exchanges sometimes took many months [see cartel], many parolees were unsure as to when they had been exchanged properly and could rejoin their units. As the name suggests, it was considered dishonorable for paroled soldiers to return to action prematurely, but it was not uncommon. (Approximately 30,000 Confederates surrendered at Vicksburg and were paroled by Grant; most had returned to active duty by 1864.)
partisan rangers. Auxiliary cavalry units authorized by the Confederate Congress in 1862 to conduct guerrilla operations behind enemy lines. Famous examples include John S. Mosby of Virginia and John Hunt Morgan of Kentucky. Partisan rangers usually wore Confederate uniforms but sometimes posed as Union cavalry when conducting nighttime raids. In addition to regular army wages, they received payment for confiscated horses, weapons, and other enemy supplies. Operating independently, usually in small bands, they effectively harassed enemy troops in isolated "hit and run" operations but rarely caused serious damage to the Union army. The Partisan Ranger Act was repealed in 1864 because it was draining men from the regular army into more adventurous and profitable guerrillas bands, and also because some partisan rangers (e.g., sadistic killers William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson in Missouri) were out of control.
pas de charge. The drumbeat by which a charge was signaled.
picket. A sentry, a soldier on guard, often at an extended (and vulnerable) position. A picket line was used to give notice of an approaching enemy to prevent a surprise attack. A mounted picket was often called a vedette.
pontoon. Shortened term for a pontoon bridge [see illustration], an adaptation of the French model of forming a temporary causeway for men and equipment to cross rivers in the absence of preexisting permanent bridges. Typically, flat-bottomed wooden boats would be connected and overlaid with boards.
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Quaker gun. Imitation artillery; a log painted black and positioned to deceive the enemy. Confederates used them at First Manassas and Corinth [see illustration].
quickstep. A fast rate of march, about 110 steps per minute, during which soldiers covered 85-90 yards; often associated with a “forced march” in which infantry were quickstepped to the point of exhaustion; also slang for diarrhea.
rampart. A protective wall on which the parapet of a fort was raised, hence a general term for a defensive work. It also described an earthen embankment that surrounded a fortification.
rations. Food provided to soldiers was treated as part of their pay. Federal regulations called for issuing two different rations, one for camp and the other when the men were on the march. In camp every soldier was supposed to get 20 ounces of bread or flour or a pound of hardtack daily. The basic component of the marching ration was hardtack. Yankee soldiers commonly were issued coffee and pickled beef; Rebel soldiers sometimes received molasses, cornbread and salt pork. Hunger, malnutrition and diarrhea were common due to poor army rations.
ravelin. A defensive work not attached to a fortification. Its two embankments formed a salient angle.
reconnoiter. To conduct reconnaissance, to gather information about an opponent's position, size and movements. Because few good maps existed, reconnoitering the terrain was also important. This was primarily the responsibility of cavalry, although at times commanding officers were known to reconnoiter for themselves despite the danger (on a nighttime reconnoiter, Stonewall Jackson was mistakenly wounded, mortally, by his own men).
redan. A small fieldwork with two walls set at a salient angle against the enemy; the rear was usually open. Such fortifications were constructed to protect a camp, a line on a battlefield, advanced posts, and along roadways near towns, bridges, or other strategic sites.
redoubt. An addition to a permanent fortress; also a small field fortification, often hastily constructed, that was enclosed on all sides.
refuse. A tactic whereby a segment of a line (the center, a wing, or a flank) would be held back in order to force the enemy to keep troops there; "to refuse" was essentially a way of fragmenting the opponent’s forces, thus creating an opportunity to attack at a vulnerable point in the line because the opponent was unable to move troops from the point of refusal.
regiment. The basic organizational unit of both Confederate and Union forces comprised of approximately 1,000 men. As soon as they were organized, regiments had an identity of their own since their recruits tended to come from one region or area and were generally known to each other before the war. Individual states were responsible for recruiting, organizing, and to some extent, equipping each unit and designating it with a number. In the Federal army, an infantry regiment was made up of ten companies of 100 men including three officers; heavy artillery and cavalry regiments were comprised of twelve companies; there were no infantry or cavalry battalions, but heavy artillery regiments incorporated three battalions of four companies each. The Confederate army essentially followed the same regimental structure. Since new recruits were assigned to new companies rather than distributing among existing units as replacements, regimental manpower steadily declined over time. By the end of the war the North had fielded 2,144 infantry regiments, 61 heavy artillery, 272 cavalry, 13 engineers, 9 light infantry, and 432 artillery batteries. The South had raised 642 infantry regiments, 137 cavalry, 16 artillery, and 227 batteries.
retrenchment. A secondary or covering trench to which defenders could withdraw should they be driven from the forward or outer parapet; it provided a second line of defense.
revetment. A retaining wall that was usually but not always part of a permanent fortification. The same term was used to name a layer of stone or other permanent material used to line the face of an earthen embankment and strengthen it.
rifle. Strictly speaking, a shoulder arm with a long, grooved barrel. Both artillery and small arms were rifled (grooved) to extend their range and accuracy by spinning the projectile. Gradually rifles (primarily the Springfield .58-caliber) replaced the traditional smoothbore musket as the primary small arm carried by Union infantry; Confederates used .58-caliber Enfield-type rifles manufactured in England.
rifle pit. A short, shallow trench large enough to afford protection to one or more men.
road, plank. A plank road was a highway, 12-15 feet wide, surfaced with thick pine boards to accommodate wagons that otherwise could get bogged down in mud. Advancing armies often had to construct temporary corduroy roads made of tree trunks to transport artillery and supplies in the absence of plank roads.
road, sunken. A heavily used dirt road worn down over time to below ground level, useful as a natural rifle pit for infantry. Perhaps the most famous sunken road was at Antietam (afterwards called Bloody Lane).
salient angle. The point of a V-shaped battle line that projects closest to the enemy; the junction of two faces of a fortification, permanent or temporary, whose apex projects outward.
siege. A partial or complete isolation of a city, port, or fortress designed to compel its surrender without resorting to a frontal assault, in effect, starving them out. Sieges were not necessarily passive: at Vicksburg Grant kept "tightening the noose" by inching closer; at Petersburg Grant slowly kept trying to get around Lee, extending (and weakening) his lines of defense, until they broke. In both cases a steady pounding of heavy artillery kept up the pressure.
skedaddle. Derogatory slang for running away from battle. Officers often used their swords to chase skedaddlers back into combat. Despite severe punishment and the scorn of one’s comrades, skedaddling was not uncommon.
skirmish. Light combat that involved relatively few men, usually pickets or "skirmishers." A skirmish line was the point at which special groups of skirmishers, who moved in advance of relatively large bodies of troops, came into contact with the enemy.
small arms. Usually a term for weapons carried and fired by hand (such as a revolver, musket, or rifle) as opposed to artillery (mortars, howitzers); also could include sabers, broadswords, knives and bayonets.
sutlers. Civilian merchants licensed to peddle food and other supplies to soldiers. Sutlers often followed the army in wagons and set up shop at military camps.
traverse. Portions of parapets that crossed the breadth of the covered way, at the salient and reentering angles of arms; also a steeply sloped mound of soil, usually reinforced with gabions, erected to protect gunners from defilade fire or reverse fire, that is, shells bursting to the rear. When used with batteries, traverses often were placed between each gun to minimize the damage from enemy fire or mishap.
trous de loup. A field obstacle of shallow holes, roughly two feet deep, arranged in a square pattern with stakes in the center of each hole.
vedette. A cavalry picket, more commonly called a scout, literally someone who keeps watch at night. (Also spelled vidette.)
Zouave. Originally the name of African natives recruited into the French infantry for service in the Crimean War (1854-56), known for their exemplary bravery and colorful uniforms. In the American Civil War, Zouave companies were often considered elite units and were especially popular in the Union Army. Their distinguishing feature was their garish uniforms: gaiters, baggy pants, short jackets, and turbans or fezzes (resembling modern day Masonic Shriners in a holiday parade).
© 2003-05 David C. Hanson, Virginia Western Community College. Compiled and edited by Alicia Hayth, student research assistant. Main sources: Terry Jones, Historical Dictionary of the Civil War (Scarecrow Press, 2002); Webb Garrison, The Encyclopedia of Civil War Usage (Cumberland House, 2001).
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