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By Tommy Hughes, James O´Connor, and Brandon Brokowski

Photo Credit: National Archives

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My name is Philip W. Hudson. I am a retired veteran from the Union army. I fought alongside other soldiers in the 1st regiment of Connecticut, fighting against other men from the Confederate. Among those men is my brother, George, who left to fight for them in the South. This, along with many other factors, have created problems for me both physical and mental. My life during the Civil War was filled with pain, hunger, sickness, and self conflict.

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All my life, I knew that I was going to serve for my country. My great-grandfather all the way up to my father all served in different wars, ranging from the Revolutionary War to the  War of 1812. When my time came, the obvious war that was bubbling up was the Civil War. After reading the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" I knew right away I was fighting for the freedom of Enslaved Africans. But, unfortunately, my brother George disagreed.

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One of the hardest days of my life was the day George left to fight for the South. As he left I considered going with him to be a Confederate as well, just so that I wouldn't have to possibly face him in battle. Throughout the whole war, we faced very few times, and never did we have to fight each other one on one and thank god we didn't. I don't think I could have.

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Unlike popular belief, we didn't fight every single day. In fact, most days were spent doing drills and passing time. The drills we did take up the majority of the day, and boy were they brutal. We spent most days just marching around under the hot sun with nothing to protect ourselves from the sun. You'd be lucky to make it out of one day without getting burnt. When we weren't drilling, we were given free time. Most men would go into town, and spend their time laying around underneath trees to get away from the brutal sun and read the papers or write letters.

Photo Credit: National Archives

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I had not been feeling well for about a week and a knew something was wrong. I went to the infirmary and the nurse gave me the same medicine that she gives everybody when they were sick. Yet for the next week I still felt terrible and I went back. This time she made me stay and for three days. I was in agonizing pain and barely made it out alive. Later I found out that my buddy Paul was using my toothbrush when he had dysentery. I was lucky to make it out alive, unlike some of my counterparts.

Photo Credit:  National Archives

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Being away from home was really hard. Even at the end of my first week after being sent out I was homesick. In a letter I sent to my father while I was at camp, I spoke of almost giving up "In despair" after not receiving a letter for a while from anyone. My family means a lot to me, and as you might be able to tell not getting any letters left me broken until the day one finally came. My life as a soldier was a very tough one, but with a good cause it's always worth fighting.

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Miller. “Union and Confederate Cavalry Leaders.” Cobblestone, vol. 23, no. 9, Dec. 2002, pp. 12-20.

“Life of the Civil War Soldier in Camp.” American Battlefield Trust, 19 Oct. 2017, www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/life-civil-war-soldier-camp.

“Soldier Life.” American Battlefield Trust, 7 July 2017, www.battlefields.org/learn/collections/soldier-life.

“Union Soldier Describes Daily Life in Civil War Camp.” GenealogyBank Blog, blog.genealogybank.com/union-soldier-describes-daily-life-in-civil-war-camp.html.