An Artilleryman's War

Men who enlisted in the Regular Army of the United States prior to the Civil War were mostly ignored by their fellow Americans. For the Regulars, the peace time army meant rugged discipline with some rewards in the form of a home, a career, and for those who survived an old soldiers' home. At the outset of the Civil War, their training provided the Union with the means to hold off the Confederates until more manpower could be recruited. Once the state volunteers entered the service, the Regulars again faded into obscurity.