Glossary


  1. Abolitionist: a person who believed in the abolishment (ending) or abolition of slavery
  2. Artillery: Large, powerful weapons such as cannon and mortars
  3. Assassination: The murder of a prominent person, such as Abraham Lincoln
  4. Battery: A unit of four to six cannons, or a fortified position on which they are placed
  5. Battle: Large scale combat between two armed forces (skirmishes and engagements are smaller scaled and brief)
  6. Blockade: The closing off, using naval forces, of a city or other area to traffic and communication
  7. Border State: Slave-owning states that did not secede from the Union: (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri)
  8. Cartridge Box: A leather box in which the soldier carried his rounds or bullets
  9. Casualty: A person killed, wounded, captured, or missing during the war
  10. Calvary: Soldiers mounted on horseback fighting as a unit
  11. Chloroform: The liquid drug used to anesthetize (put to sleep) wounded soldiers in the war. 
  12. Confederacy (CSA): The alliance of 11 Southern states to form a new nation (Confederate States of America)
  13. Contraband: Goods illegally traded during wartime; slaves were sometimes called contraband during the war
  14. Copperhead: A Northern Democrat who agreed with Southern secession and clamored for peace during the war
  15. Deploy: To spread out armies to create a battle line
  16. Desertion: To leave one’s military post, or run away from a battle; was often punishable by death
  17. Dixie: Slang term for the Confederacy, also a popular southern song
  18. Draft (Conscription): The selection of citizens for mandatory military service
  19. Drill: The process of instructing recruits how to march and practice the military arts as a unit
  20. Dysentery: An often fatal disease of the human intestines, usually caused by unsanitary conditions of military camps and ballet sites
  21. Envelopment: An attack against the flanks of an enemy’s army, in hopes of encircling it
  22. Emancipation: The formal release of slaves from bondage, as it happened in January 1863
  23. Flanks: The sides of an army’s line in battle; a flanking movement is attacking from the sides
  24. Forage: The search for food by soldiers, often at the expense of farmers in a battle area
  25. Greenback: Paper money used during the Civil War in the North
  26. Hardtack: A quarter-inch or half-inch thick hard cracker eaten by Civil War soldiers, also known as biscuits, crackers, or army bread
  27. Haversack: Cloth bag used by soldiers to carry rations and food
  28. Infantry: Foot soldiers marching and fighting together; the vast majority of Civil War soldiers were in it
  29. Ironclad: A ship covered with iron plates and used in the Civil War, as in the famous Merrimac Vs. Monitor, the first ever naval battle between ironclads in 1862; they revolutionized naval warfare
  30. Main Attack: The big, concentrated attack against the enemy’s weak or critical point
  31. Minie Ball: The standard rifle bullet used in war. From France, it made the rifle more accurate and led to staggering casualties
  32. Picket: One or more soldiers responsible for guard duty, always watchful for enemy approach
  33. Rank: 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, Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, 1st Sergeant, Sergeant, Corporal, Private
  34. Rations: Military term for food
  35. Rebel (Confederate, Butternut, Grayback, Johnny Reb, Reb): A slang term for a soldier fighting for the south
  36. Recruit: A soldier who has just signed up to be a soldier and is without battle experience
  37. Rifled Musket: The standard infantry weapon used in the war. Usually .58 or .577 caliber, the ‘rifle’ fired a minie ball through a spiral grooved barrel, spinning the bullet for more velocity and accuracy
  38. Salt Pork: The most common meal ration during the war, along with hardtack and coffee; the pork was salted to preserve it. 
  39. Secede: To withdraw from the Union, as 11 southern states did in 1860-1861. During the war, southerners were frequently called “secesh” by Northerners
  40. Strategy: The art of military command as to an overall plan of war. How and where to deploy troops are components of strategic planning
  41. Sutler: Dry goods salesman who traveled with Northern armies; considered necessary for the provision of extra items for soldiers, sutlers often cheated and overcharged military customers
  42. Tactics: The art of maneuvering (moving) troops on a battlefield
  43. Torpedo: Civil War term for an underwater mine (bomb) that exploded; used on rivers to defend against enemy ships
  44. Turning Movement: A military tactic of sending troops around the enemy’s flank to attack his line of communications in the rear of the battle line
  45. Union (United States): The collection of 23 Northern states which fought the rebellious Confederacy during the Civil War
  46. Yank (Blue, Federals, Billy Yank): Term for soldiers who fought for the Union
  47. Zouave: Soldiers in colorful uniforms patterned after French infantry soldiers; specialized in precision drilling