What is the main idea?
(1) Before any Civil War battle, a hundred men would be gathered into a company.
(2) Ten companies then would be gathered into a regiment.
(3) Two or three regiments-2,000 to 3,000 men-would be gathered into a brigade and sent off to battle.
(4) Under a brigadier general's command, the soldiers would form double lines and advance a thousand yards.
(5) Then junior officers would lead the army's charge through gunpowder smoke, bullets, and cannon fire.
(6) Men who panicked and broke from their ranks were shot by their officers.
(7) When the advancing soldiers neared the opposing forces, they would scramble through earth and timber fortifications.
(8) Finally, soldiers who had made it that far would engage in hand-to-hand combat until one side retreated or everyone on one side was wounded or killed.
(9) In Civil War times, battles followed a fairly standard format.