# Civil war soldier hygiene **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-soldier-hygiene/675931 "2013-12-09T23:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-soldier-hygiene/675931/21 "2013-12-13T22:54:33Z")
Read _With The Old Breed_ by E B Sledge. He’s very straightforward about how filthy and miserable the front line soldiers were in the Pacific campaigns, and wonders why nobody ever writes about it. And Studs Terkel recounts a classic story of a British officer complaining about his front line toilet paper ration, “Three sheets? I can’t possibly get clean with only 3 sheets!” And the EM handing them out answers, “Oh yes sir, 3 is plenty, one up, one down, one polish.” ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-soldier-hygiene/675931/22 "2013-12-13T23:41:09Z")
Yeah, what was the campaign in WWII that turned into a protracted siege on a hot, rocky island? Very little water, no toilets, no way to dig latrine trenches. The marines were basically living in their own shit and piss. Don’t have _With The Old Breed_ handy to check. Don’t forget soldiers in the Civil War were also suffering with wounds in unhygienic conditions. I’ve been amazed by how badly a non-infected, carefully treated injury can stink. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-soldier-hygiene/675931/23 "2013-12-13T23:44:05Z")
Also, at the LA Zoo you can get fairly close to the gorillas, who obviously don’t bathe at all. Closest smell to that funk would definitely be a homeless person. We’re talking not about going without a shower for five days, but for months. ---
**Author:** ![MsBatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@MsBatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsBatt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-soldier-hygiene/675931/24 "2013-12-14T00:17:21Z")
I was born in 1958. I’ve lived all my life in rural southern Tennessee, and we had an outhouse until I was four years old. Until we got an indoor bathroom, I bathed in a wash-tub in the den, in front of the wood stove, once a week. My mom and dad bathed more often, because they went to work every day. My grandmother and I stayed home, so… After we got an indoor bathroom, I still only washed my hair once a week, until I was in my teens. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-soldier-hygiene/675931/25 "2013-12-14T00:20:24Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Yeah, what was the campaign in WWII that turned into a protracted siege on a hot, rocky island? Very little water, no toilets, no way to dig latrine trenches. The marines were basically living in their own shit and piss. Don’t have _With The Old Breed_ handy to check. Iwo Jima ? Not \*super \*protracted (the battle lasted a month, give or take) but I’m given to understand it was light on fun regardless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-soldier-hygiene/675931.md?page=1)