Gamble Plantation Vist Continued

.The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states that declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis. The Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party

On the grounds of the plantation, there were several Confederate Army tents and soldiers to help us relate to how the soldiers survived 150 years ago in the swamp lands of Florida. this is the Gunner, he was the powder man for this cannon, which they fired when my back was turned and made me jump 2 feet high.

In 1865, the Confederacy collapsed after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House.

The war produced about 970,000 casualties (3% of the population), including approximately 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease. The causes of the war, the reasons for its outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of lingering controversy even today. Wikpedia

. By the end of the war, Federal funds had paid for an estimated 840,000 horses and more than 430,000 mules. Confederates officers and mounted troopers were required to provide their own horses although they were reimbursed at a daily rate of forty cents. If the horse was killed, he was required to find a new one or he might be transferred to infantry service.

 During the American Civil War, more men died from disease than died from actual combat. Exact numbers are hard to come by especially on the Confederate side since many of the records were lost or destroyed. Estimates, however, put the total number of Civil War deaths at over 600,000 for both sides combined. Of that number, just over 200,000 were from combat and the rest were from disease and other causes.

soldiers cleaned the camp, built roads, dug trenches for latrines, and gathered wood for cooking and heating. Finding clean water was a constant goal: the lack of potable water was a problem that led to widespread disease in both armies

The campgrounds themselves were often abysmal, especially in the South where wet weather produced thick mud for extended periods in the spring and summer; in the winter and fall, the mud turned to dust and living  in tents would have been a terrible hardship due to mosquitos and other bugs, fleas and ticks and chiggers that are common in Florida and also extreme heat would be very uncomfortable, 

"If there is any place on God's fair earth where wickedness 'stalketh abroad in daylight' it is in the army," wrote a Confederate soldier in a letter to his family back home. Indeed, life in the army camps of the Civil War was fraught with boredom, mischief, fear, disease, and death.

Camp musician and the woman was hand piecing a quilt.

On the light side.........One of the most popular questions park rangers get when giving tours around Civil War battlefields is: “Did the soldiers have to fight around all of these monuments?” They could only smile and say yes: They knew exactly were to die

General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate forces, traveled with a pet hen that laid one egg under his cot every morning


One more blog coming up and I will be off the subject of my visit to the plantaiton.

What is the item in the middle of this photo with the wooden bottom? Answer tomorrow.