Aide-de-camp: an officer who acts as personal assistant and secretary to a senior officer.
Artillery: large guns mounted on wheels, and the soldiers that man them.
Blackjack: a type of tall, thin pine tree
Buffalo Chips: buffalo manure naturally dried by the sun, found in abundance on the prairies and used in place of wood for fires.
By the great horn spoon: an exclamation that referred to the finely carved spoons the Indians traded with, made from bone, horn, or antlers and considered one of their most valuable trading goods.
Caisson: wagons that carried the chests of ammunition for the artillery.
Captain: the commander of a company of one hundred soldiers.
Carbine: a short rifle or musket, used particularly by the cavalry, as it was easier to carry while on horseback.
Carpetbag: a luggage bag made from heavy woven material similar to tapestry.
Cavalry: a branch of the army mounted on horseback.
Chuck-a-luck: a form of gambling in which bets were placed on the combination of three dice.
Coffee: this term applied to drinks made from many different substances, including dried and roasted dandelion or chicory root, roasted corn, rye, barley, wheat, or even peas or beans, as well as coffee beans where obtainable.
Commissary wagon: the wagons that carried the food and supplies for the military.
Company: a military detachment typically made up of one hundred soldiers, commanded by a captain. In the West, companies were frequently below regular strength.
Cravat: a necktie, frequently tied in a small straight bow during the Civil War period.
Crossbills: a finch whose top and bottom bill cross over each other at the tip, which it uses to pry apart pine cones in order to reach the seeds.
Daguerrotype: an early form of photograph that was printed on a thin sheet of silver.
Desiccated vegetables: vegetables that were pressed to remove the juice and then dried in an oven. When cooked, they were rehydrated.
Eagle: a gold coin, featuring an eagle on one side and a Liberty head on the other. The half eagle was worth $5, the quarter eagle worth $2.50
Embrasure: an opening in the wall of a fort or ship for cannons to fire through.
Forage Cap: a fabric cap with a short brim and a high, floppy crown.
Frock: a simple gown, worn by both boys and girls under the age of six
Garrison: a body of military troops stationed to defend a particular fort, town, or area
Godey’s Lady’s Book: a fashion and literary magazine popular in the 1800’s.
Graces: a game played by tossing and catching a ring with two sticks.
Hambletonian: the original name for the Standardbred trotting horse, named for the stallion Hambletonian, foaled in 1849, the fastest trotting horse of his time and sire of the breed. The breed was renamed the Standardbred in 1879, when all 2-year-olds had to trot at a standard of 2.20 miles a minute to be registered.
Howitzer: a cannon with a short barrel that fired high, short-range shots
Ingot: an oblong bar of pressed gold, in any size or weight.
Kepi: similar to a forage cap, except with a lower, flat crown
Kid: thin, soft leather made from lamb, goat, or calf skin.
Lieutenant: second in command to the captain.
Linsey-woolsey: a fabric made from a combination of linen and wool
Limber (artillery): a two-wheeled cart that supported the tail end of an artillery gun during transportation.
Lithograph: a black-and-white print image made from a raised image carved on stone.
Magpie: a large black and white bird with a long tail of the crow family.
Manifest Destiny: the belief in the 19th century that it was the destiny of the United States and the European race to expand over the entire North American continent.
Met their Waterloo: a saying referring to the Battle of Waterloo in which the Emperor Napoleon was defeated in 1815, meaning someone has met with an insurmountable obstacle.
Minié Ball: a conical-shaped bullet that was used with rifles. It was smaller than the rifle barrel, so could be loaded simply by dropping down the barrel. When fired, the bottom of the minié ball expanded to fit the grooves inside of the gun barrel. Union minié balls had three grooves at the bottom, Confederate’s had only two, to preserve lead.
Monte: a form of poker that could be played by any number of players while using only one deck of cards.
Musket: a long-barreled gun that had a smooth barrel and used solid round bullets. Muskets were able to shoot accurately at only limited distance and took a long time to load as the bullet had to be pounded down the barrel.
Nappy: a diaper
Nutcracker: a large gray and black bird related to jays and crows
Omnibus: a wagon that had two benches running parallel on either side of the bed and a roof, though the sides were open.
Pagoda sleeve: a sleeve that was narrow at the top and flared at the bottom.
Pinner: a baglike article of baby clothing that went over the baby’s legs and nappy and was pinned underneath the arms to the outer gown.
Popinjay: a conceited or vain person.
Predestination: the belief that each person is preselected for either heaven or hell
Princess-style: a dress with fabric sewn vertically and without a waist seam.
Private: lowest ranking soldier
Puncheon floor: a floor made from logs cut in half, the round side fitted into a curve in the ground and the flat sides up, making the floor surface.
Regular Army: a term used for the army made up of those already enlisted or commissioned before the outbreak of the Civil War, as opposed to the volunteers. Also used as “the Regulars,” to indicate the professionally trained soldiers and those volunteers who did not leave the army after the war ended.
Reticule: a small rectangular purse with a drawstring closure, carried over the arm.
Reveille: the military bugle call in the early morning signaling that it is time to wake up and begin the day.
Rifle: a long-barreled gun that had a grooved barrel which made the bullet spin as it was fired, creating greater accuracy and range. Rifles were faster to load, as they used minié balls rather than round bullets. See entry minié ball.
Rocker: a piece of mining equipment that consisted of a wooden box mounted on curved pieces of wood that could be rocked back and forth. Dirt and water was shoveled into the box, and the gold sifted out and caught on wooden ridges in the box by the rocking motion. Also called a cradle.
Saleratus: baking soda
Sacque coat: a loose unfitted coat
Sesech: Confederate(s), short for “secessionist.”
Sergeant: third in command, below the lieutenant and the captain.
Settle: a bench with a high back
Sourdough: sourdough bread was made with a leaven instead of yeast called sourdough starter made of a mixture of flour and water that was left out to ferment.
Shells: artillery ammunition that consisted of a conical-shaped lead container, filled with gunpowder.
Spangles: sequins
Straw tick: a large bag of cloth filled with straw to serve as a mattress
Tattoo: the military bugle call that signals the order for lights-out and all disturbances to cease within fifteen minutes, at which time taps, the final bugle call of the day, is played.
Telegraph: a system for sending messages over electrical wires using specific combinations of dots and dashes to stand for letters, known as the Morse code. A telegraph operator would receive the coded message and print it in regular letters for delivery to the recipient. This printed message was called a telegram.
Towhee: several types of large sparrow
Travois: two poles with a platform strung between them. It was hitched to a horse and used by Indians and some settlers for transporting loads.
Valise: a small lightweight suitcase or handbag
Vigilantes: an unofficial group who organize to stop crime
Waistcoat: a vest
Washboard: a ridged board for scrubbing laundry against during washing
White sewing: a polite term for undergarments
Wringer: two wooden rollers connected to a hand crank, used to wring water from wet laundry by inserting the wet clothes between the rollers.
Zouave jacket: a short open-fronted jacket, inspired by the fashions of the French army in North Africa during the 1830s and adopted by some regiments during the Civil War. The jacket was popular for both men and women in the 1860s.