# US Civil War Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818 "2011-09-01T02:44:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/21 "2011-09-02T03:37:49Z")
If I was an only son would that have made any difference? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/22 "2011-09-02T04:45:19Z")
Battle is not your big worry, disease was worse. The OP’s description sounds like my family (all from upstate NY), of 7 gg-grandfathers/uncles and 2 gggreats, 1 died in battle, 2 from disease, one lost an arm and 3 came home safe and sound. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/23 "2011-09-02T04:55:20Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > The Army doesn’t put you where you want to go, nor does it put you where you fit best. it puts you where it needs a body, and the position of “cannon fodder” always needed replenishing. Sorry. Reminds me of a bit from _Generation Kill (from memory):_ - Man, this sucks. I didn’t even get to fire my weapon once. - Did you recruiter tell you you’d get to kill people, Twombley ? - Fuckin’ A he did ! - See that, reporter ? My recruiter told me if I got into the Corps I would go to Thailand and get all kinds of strange. Sergeant Colbert, he probably believed that commercial, the one where the Marine in his dress blues fucks up a dragon with a sword ? Yet here we are in the middle of Bumfuck, Iraq ; half a world away from good Thai pussy ; chasing dragons in MOPP suits that smell like four days of piss and ball sweat. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/24 "2011-09-02T05:39:57Z")
maybe be a recruiter in Boston or New York? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/25 "2011-09-02T06:08:38Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If I was an only son would that have made any difference? not at the time of the civil war, the only surviving male family member thing didn’t come about till the world war phase I and II ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/26 "2011-09-02T07:16:54Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If I was an only son would that have made any difference? If your mother was a widow. Men who were mentally or physically impaired, the only son of a widow, the son of infirm parents, or a widower with dependent children were exempt. Also, people in certain occupations. Railroad engineer, minister, government employee, telegraph operator, and so on. People could also hire substitutes. The Confederate draft exempted railroad and river workers, civil officials, telegraph operators, miners, druggists and teachers, as well as anyone who owned 20 or more slaves. The Confederate draft law originally let people hire substitutes, but there was a lot of public outcry about that and it was removed. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/27 "2011-09-02T19:38:30Z")
James B. McPherson, USA, and Leonidas Polk, CSA, were also generals who died in battle during the Civil War. > [@wei\_ji](#): > > …He mentions a man named “Cushing” or “Cushman,” (getting the name slightly wrong, as I recall) a historical figure during the battle who made a deep impression on him for his fiery leadership… I’m sure it’s this guy, a naval hero of mine: [William B. Cushing - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Cushing). Daring and very, very lucky. You could make a helluva movie about him! ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/28 "2011-09-02T21:50:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > James B. McPherson, USA, and Leonidas Polk, CSA, were also generals who died in battle during the Civil War. > > I’m sure it’s this guy, a naval hero of mine: [William B. Cushing - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Cushing). Daring and very, very lucky. You could make a helluva movie about him! Yes, I’ve read about this fellow, Lt. Cushing, for sure, but, alas, it looks like it might be instead Lt. Commander Charles H. Cushman, leader of the 2nd division of the landing party at Fort Fisher. I, too, thought it was THE famous Lt. Cushing when I first read my great-grandfather’s account. That’s why I assumed he had the name slightly wrong and the man was a well-known historical figure. Lt. Commander Cushman was one of the leaders of the assault against Fort Fisher by 2000 sailors and Marines, and if his 2nd landing party was sailors drawn from the 2nd line of battleships, which seems plausible, that would explain my great-grandfather’s memory: His ship, the U.S.S. Wabash, was in that line. Here’s Wiki on the battle if anyone is interested: > **[Second Battle of Fort Fisher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Fort_Fisher)** > > Department of Virginia and North Carolina: > North Atlantic Blockading Squadron > The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a successful assault by the Union Army, Navy and Marine Corps against Fort Fisher, south of Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War in January 1865. Sometimes referred to as the "Gibraltar of the South" and the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy, Fort Fisher had tremendous strategic value during the war, providing a port for blockade runners... ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/29 "2011-09-03T14:50:50Z")
OK, trying to correct some odd impressions: 1: Bands and such weren’t usually on the field. Oh, they were there, and we had some really weird battles in which I recall bands hanging around. But normally that wasn’t something you’d expect to see right next to the action. Ambulances would be waiting behind the battle lines to pick up any wounded men and take them to the field medics. 2: Generals were actually more likely to be wounded or killed than enlisted men in the Civil War. Y’all have mentioned but a smattering of the numbers who died. 3: You’re not going to be a general’s aide unless you have highly-placed friends or proven military experience. Generals were either professional soldiers of professional politicians, and their aides reflect that. 4: You can avoid enlisting for 300 bucks, or buy a substitute for a similar amount. This was not impossible to obtain. In some cities, political offices would pay this for you (far more poor than rich got out of service this way). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818/30 "2011-09-04T13:28:19Z")
No way to arrange it beforehand, but if you were very lucky you might end up either guarding a POW camp, serving as part of a garrison’s troops, or occupying a reasonably pacified portion of territory retaken by the Union. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civil-war-question/594818.md?page=1)