Acknowledge the Corn - to admit the truth, to confess a lie All in Three Years – something just went wrong Apple Lady – Hard cider Arkansas Toothpick / Toad Sticker / Pig Sticker - a long knife / a bayonet Artillery – camp kettles Bark Juice, Red Eye, O Be Joyful, Bust Head, Pop Skull – cheap liquor Baited for Widow – well dressed Barrel Shirt –thief Beehive - knapsack Bragg's Body Guard - lice Big Bugs - big wigs, important people Blue Mass - men on sick call; named after a blue pill. Bummer – malingerer, someone who lags behind to forage or steal Bummer's Cap - regulation army cap could be filled when gathering food Butternut – Union term for soldier of the Confederacy (faded uniforms) Camp Canard - tall tale circulating around camp as gossip Cashier - dismiss from the army dishonorably Chicken Guts - gold braid used to denote officer ranks Chin Music - conversation Company Q - the sick list Contraband - escaped slaves who sought refuge behind Union lines Coosh – hard tack soaked in water and fried in bacon grease Copperhead - Northern person with Southern sympathies Corncracker – poor Southerner Cracker Line - supply line for troops on the move Dog Robber – camp cook Dog Collar - cravat issued with uniforms, usually discarded Fighting Under The Black Flag – Killing lice Fire and Fall Back – vomit Flank the Sentinel, Run the Guard - desert Forty Dead Men - a cartridge box, which held forty rounds French Leave - to go absent without leave Fresh Fish, Paleface - new recruits Give the Vermin Parole – throw out lice infected clothes Go Boil Your Shirt - take a hike, get lost Gobble Talk – Union soldiers refer to Southern twang Go South – turn in US commission & join Confederates Grab a Root - eat a meal, especially a potato Grape - gossip Grape Vine – telegraph wire Grey Backs - lice, also derogatory term for Confederate soldiers Hardtack, Lincoln Pie, Sheet Iron - bread crackers issued by the army Hornets – bullets whizzing past Horse Collar – blanket roll Hospital Rat - someone who fakes illness to get out of duty Hot Shot – cannon balls heated in a furnace – fired at wooden boats Housewife - sewing kit Irish Shanty – out house I.W. – in the war Jayhawked – obtained without permission Jeff Davis’ Pets – Confederate western troops’ name for A.N.V. John Barleycorn - beer Jonah - someone who brings bad luck Knock into a Cocked Hat - to knock someone senseless Lead Mine – casualty with multiple wounds Light Out - leave in haste Lucifers – matches Manure Spreader – infantry term for cavalry Mule - meat, especially if of dubious quality Muster Out –killed in action Not By a Jug Full - not by any means, no way Not Born in the Woods to be Scared by an Owl – experienced Nullification – Federal laws null in Southern States On His Own Hook - without orders Opening the Ball - starting the battle Pay Tribute to Neptune – sea sick Pigeon Roost – sentry on a stockade Pie Eater - country boy, a rustic Play Old Soldier - pretend sickness to avoid combat Pumpkin Rinds - gold lieutenant's bars Quartermaster Hunter - shot or shell that goes long over the lines and into the rear. Red Badge of Courage - Wounded Row - a fight Salt Horse - salted meat Sardine Box - cap box Sawbones - surgeon Secesh - derogatory term for Southerners: secessionists See The Elephant - experience combat or other worldly events Shakes - malaria Shanks Mare - on foot Shebang – A pup tent Shot in the Neck, Wall Papered - drunk Spondulix, Shin Plasters – money Shoddy - an inferior weave of wool used to make uniforms early in the war Sing Out - call out, yell Skedaddle - run away Skunk, Greenhorn - officer Slouch Hat - a wide-brimmed felt hat Somebody's Darling - comment when observing a dead soldier Sound on the Goose – well to do Southerner Sunday Soldiers / Parlor Soldiers - unsuitable soldiers Sutler – camp vendors Tennessee Quick Step - diarrhea Toe the Mark - follow orders Traps - equipment, belongings Up the Spout – cannons ready to fire Vidette - a sentry on horseback Web Feet – cavalry term for infantry Who Wouldn’t Be a Soldier – who cares? White Glove Boys – what Western Union soldiers called Eastern Union soldiers Yankee Brains – Confederate term for horse manure Zu Zu - Zouaves, soldiers with colorful uniforms
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