Camp life during the Civil War was very primative. Housing was mostly of tents, with log insulation used in winter months. Meals were cooked outside on an open fire.
Camps were packed with tents housing 5 or 6 men. This is a Federal, or Union, encampment at Cumberland Landing, Virginia.
Log cabins were used in winter months to provide insulation from the cold. This picture shows Confederate winter quarters at Centreville, Virginia.
The Union army also used log cabins in winter months. Chimneys would be built for a fire to keep warm. The picture shows an officers' winter quarters at the Army of the Potomac headquarters.
Most cooking occurred on an outdoor fire. In the early days of the war freed slaves were not allowed to carry a rifle and fight. They were often given the role of cook or other similar jobs. This picture shows an African American army cook at work.
Prison Camp
The Confederates lacked necessary means for adequate housing. Many men sought protection in crude tents, while others dug holes in the ground for shelter, but most had no shelter of any kind.
No clothing was provided, and many prisoners were dressed only in rags. The prisoners received one pound of corn meal and either one pound of beef or one-third pound of bacon as their daily rations. This was only occasionally supplemented with beans, rice, peas or molasses.
Most prisoners fell victim to dysentery, gangrene, diarrhea and scurvy. The Confederates lacked adequate medical supplies to stop the diseases. More than 900 prisoners died each month for 14 months.
There were about 150 prison camps on both sides during the war.
Conditions in the North weren't much better. The worst Northern camp was Elmira, located in New York a few miles from the Pennsylvania line. Some 12,000 prisoners were confined to a camp meant to hold only 5,000. Two observation towers were built outside the prison walls. For fifteen cents, spectators could watch the prisoners suffering within the compound.
Requests for badly needed medicines were ignored by officials in Washington. The prison earned the nickname "Helmira" as nearly 3,000 of the 12,000 prisoners (25%) died of starvation, mistreatment or disease