[Music] the popular image of the civil war soldier is that of a young man wearing blue or grey standing shoulder to shoulder with his comrades and marching into a great battle however only a small portion of the soldier's life was spent in combat between the battles and marches were vast stretches of inactivity that were marked by three things duty drill and diversion the day begins at dawn with the bugler blowing revelly at this all the men rise from their tents and fall in for roll call at this point men are assigned to the various fatigue duties manual labor that keeps the army running this can include cooking cleaning building roads in the cases of artillery or cavalry this includes the care and grooming of [Music] horses [Music] another form of duty vital to the army's existence was guard duty detachments of troops were stationed not only throughout the entire camp of the army but also at the far reaches of that camp often only a rifle shot away from the enemy those troops not assigned a duty would stay in camp for drill drill is an essential part of the soldier's life this is how he learns to handle his weapon how to march in formation and how to execute the various battlefield maneuvers that will be used in combat drill can be broken down into three various forms drilled by the squad in which a non-commissioned officer leads six or eight men in practicing of maneuvers or the manual of arms drilled by the company in which a company commander or a captain leads up to a hundred men in battlefield maneuvers and then finally drill by the battalion in which all ten companies of a regiment are formed on the parade ground and execute the vast sweeping maneuvers that come to mind when we think of civil war battles [Music] when not drilling or performing some other vital task for the army men had precious few forms of diversion with which to occupy their time the most popular by far was reading and writing men were desperate for news from home or the outside world and they got it from whatever source they could whether it was an often read newspaper or a cherished letter from a loved one men could also be found playing cards or chess or also involved in some of the various social clubs that were formed throughout the army whether it was bible study groups glee clubs or drama troupes that were performed on special occasions [Music] whether he wore blue or gray these are the activities that filled the soldier's life between the great battles that decided the fate of our nation you