Life was difficult for all people during the Civil War.  The war left no one untouched.  The war did not end in a matter of weeks as many had believed it would.  As the days dragged on into months, and months to years, many began to discover the hardships and atrocities of war.  Life in the South was even more difficult.  The North blockaded the southern ports, causing the Army of Northern Virginia to suffer from shortages of food and supplies.  Then, when General Sherman made his March to the Sea, he destroyed everything in his path, leaving a wide path of destruction and nothing left but desolate farmland. 

Both the North and the South discovered some of the same hardships.  Loved ones were separated perhaps never to be seen again.  Soldiers faced long, grueling days and many cold, lonely nights.  The battles did not just leave men and women wounded and broken.  Some soldiers became so weary they deserted.  Mothers watched sons leave and never return.  Husbands left wives to take on and manage the tasks at home.  Women voluntarily took up the work of men at home and in factories.  Some women took on more public roles, beginning the advancement towards better medical practices and women's suffrage.  Children were left orphaned, alone in a fractured world.  Young boys, as young as 9, took up arms and were forced to become men.  Girls found themselves tending the wounded in makeshift hospitals and aid stations as nurses.  There, women faced the horrible outlook that their fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands could be like the wounded brought into the aid stations.  These brave individuals fought and suffered for the cause of freedom and to hold a nation together.  The Life during the Civil War lesson series provides further insight into the lives of the people faced with living, fighting, and surviving the Civil War.