American Civil War

What the words in this puzzle mean

ABOLITIONIST

Someone who campaigned to end slavery outright rather than limit its spread.

ANTEBELLUM

Latin for "before the war" — the decades of Southern life leading up to 1861.

BAYONET

A blade fixed to a musket barrel, turning the gun into a spear for close fighting.

CASUALTY

A soldier killed, wounded, captured or missing; the war produced about 620,000 deaths.

CAVALRY

Troops who fought on horseback, used mainly for scouting, raiding and screening an army.

COMMUTATION

The $300 fee a drafted Northern man could pay to be excused, widely resented as rich men's escape.

CONFEDERACY

The eleven Southern states that seceded and formed their own government at Richmond.

COPPERHEAD

A Northern Democrat who opposed the war and wanted a negotiated peace with the South.

DIXIE

A nickname for the South, and the marching song that became the Confederacy's unofficial anthem.

HARDTACK

A rock-hard flour-and-water biscuit issued as rations, soaked in coffee to make it chewable.

HOWITZER

A short-barrelled cannon that lobbed shells over obstacles onto troops behind them.

INFANTRY

Foot soldiers, who made up the bulk of both armies and did most of the fighting and dying.

MILITIA

Part-time state troops called up for short terms, the starting point of both sides' armies.

MUSKET

The standard shoulder arm; rifled barrels made it far deadlier than in earlier wars.

REBEL

The Northern name for a Confederate soldier, adopted by Southerners themselves with pride.

REGIMENT

The basic unit a soldier belonged to, about a thousand men raised from one state.

SCALAWAG

A white Southerner who supported Reconstruction, a term of contempt from his neighbours.

UNION

The Northern states and the federal government fighting to keep the country whole.

YANKEE

A Northerner, and to Confederate soldiers the name for any Union man in blue.