As a disclaimer i must tell the both of you that the US Civil War was not "my war". My grandparents and father came over from Scotland in 1937. Both fought in WWII, Grandfather in the US Navy, and Father in the "Big Red One" in the Army.
i have been to several re-enactments, and live in the Gettysburg area (although originally from the Pittsburgh area). Both my wife and i participate in the Gettysburg Re-enactment. i quite concur that it is a learning experience to see how those who went before us suffered and lived in that era.
It makes one wonder how today's "snowflakes" would have stood up under those (by today's standards) draconian conditions.
Imagine, grinding your own beans --if you have them on hand-- finding your own water, and boiling coffee over a camp fire. Imagine having gone through all of that when the drums sound for muster....
Then imagine the medical care available. If the round fired at you hits a bone, you lose the limb...MAYBE you have chloroform to knock you out for the process, but probably not. Imagine the procedure being performed in a barn under lantern light with a surgeon who has probably not washed his hands from the last soldier he treated. Imagine the stench of 160-180,000 bodies either dead, wounded, captured, or simply trying to survive in the 90 degree+ heat of Gettysburg on 1-3 July 1863.
imagine eating rations of that era that barely deserved the name of "food".
Imagine firing one's musket into a smoke generate cloud where the enemy might be located because nitro-cellulose bullets did not exist at that time.
Imagine an entire regiment of troops (up to about 1,000 men at full strength) crammed into a space that would be cramped to a modern US Army platoon these days.
Imagine the sheer terror of seeing one's comrads torn apart by projectiles that dwarf the modern M2 Model 1919 50 cal BMG machine gun.
Many of us have no idea what we should be thankful for. i'm thankful that i never had to be a part of THAT back in 1863.
Yes, having seen combat, i'm thankful that it wasn't during those years. It would have been far worse.
When was the last time you heard of a general officer dying in a modern conflict? Couple that to how many died or were severely wounded at Gettysburg or other battles of the US Civil War.
Thank you for your post, and hope to see you in the Chicamauga re-enactment if my wife and i are able to have time to get there.