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Huts and History

Name: Huts and History
Author: Clarence R. Geier
ISBN: 9780813081359

The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampment During the American Civil War

Edited by Clarence R. Geier, David G. Orr and Matthew B. Reeves

Published by: University Press of Florida

This book uses archaeology to explore Civil War encampment sites, showing how interpreting and preserving these locations helps illuminate the lives of soldiers of the era.

298 Pages6.14 × 9.2182 b/w illus, 3 tables, bibliographies, index

Paperback
9780813081359
Published: March 31, 2026

$29.95

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EPUB
9780813075198
Published: April 7, 2026

(Ebook delivery via Leaf eReader app.)

$29.95

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Description
Authors
Praise
Table of Contents

Exploring Civil War camp sites and the lives of the soldiers who lived in them

The American Civil War soldier, confined much of the time to his camp, suffered from boredom and sickness. Encampment was not only tedious but detrimental to his health; far more soldiers died of diseases from sharing close quarters with their comrades than from wounds on the battlefield. Until now, archaeologists have concentrated their study on the battle sites and overlooked the importance of the camps. This edited collection is the first dedicated to the archaeology of Civil War encampments. The authors contend that intensive study to interpret and preserve these sites will help to ensure their protection as well as expand our understanding of the 19th-century soldier’s life.

Whether they mobilized tens of thousands of men for training or taught maneuvers to smaller groups, encampments are significant in several ways: as “cultural landscapes” characterized by architectural features, as socially and politically organized “mobile communities,” and as infrastructures created to support soldiers’ needs. The authors’ techniques can be applied to camps not only of the Civil War but the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Indian campaign.

Clarence R. Geier is professor emeritus of anthropology at James Madison University, is coeditor of From These Honored Dead: Historical Archaeology of the American Civil War. David G. Orr, professor emeritus of anthropology at Temple University, is coeditor of Historical Archaeology of the Revolutionary War Encampments of Washington’s Army. Matthew B. Reeves is director of archaeology for the Montpelier Foundation and adjunct associate professor of anthropology at James Madison University.

“Huts and History moves beyond archaeological interest in battlefield sites, tactics and artifacts to focus on a soldier’s most common activity—life in camp. This book will prove interesting to a wide variety of historical and military archaeologists, preservationists and historians; and to those with a general interest in eighteenth and nineteenth century conflicts.”—G. Michael Pratt, former dean of regional campuses and associate provost, Miami University
“Not only plumbs the fascinating history of encampments, it establishes new models for their study, emphasizing innovative and non-traditional methods to delve into the data sets that really give us insight into a soldier’s life in the field.”—Douglas D. Scott, retired, National Park Service Midwest Archaeological Center

“Answering how physical place shaped Civil War soldier experience requires untraditional historical approaches. . . . [Huts and History] employs historical archeology to investigate the makeup and geography of soldier camps. . . . The volume serves as a call to action for further investigation of place in soldier studies and for better preservation of neglected Civil War campsites.”—H-Net
“Reminds historians that encampments have been overlooked in favor of battlefields, even though the former were more numerous and the venue for most of soldier life. . . . Every study in this book reinforces the argument that historians ought to take encampment sites and military archaeology more seriously.”—Journal of Southern History

List of Figures

List of Tables

Foreword

Part I. Introduction and Background
Clarence R. Geier, David G. Orr, and Matthew B. Reeves

1. “I Am Now Very Comfortably Situated for the Winter Having a Very Nice Chimney Attached to My Tent, and Everything That Tends to Make This Unhappy Life Pleasant and Agreeable”
Clarence R. Geier, David G. Orr, and Matthew B. Reeves

2. Blueprint for Nineteenth-Century Camps: Castramentation, 1778–1865
Joseph W. A. Whitehorne

Part II. Survey and Management of Civil War Encampments
Matthew B. Reeves, Clarence R. Geier, and David G. Orr

3. Finding Civil War Sites: What Relic Hunters Know, What Archaeologists Should and Need to Know
Bryan L. Corle and Joseph F. Balicki

4. Guarding the Junction: The Encampment of the 14th New Jersey Infantry
Brandon S. Bies

Part III. Encampment Plan and Layout
Clarence R. Geier, David G. Orr, and Matthew B. Reeves

5. “Masterly Inactivity”: The Confederate Cantonment Supporting the 1861–1862 Blockade of the Potomac River, Evansport, Virginia
Joseph F. Balicki

6. Civil War Housing Insights from Camp Nelson, Kentucky
W. Stephen McBride and Kim A. McBride

Part IV. Encampment Architecture and Material Culture
David G. Orr, Clarence R. Geier, and Matthew B. Reeves

7. “Right Nice Little House[s]”: Winter Camp Architecture of the American Civil War
Dean E. Nelson

8. Under the Forest Floor: Excavations at a Confederate Winter Encampment, Orange, Virginia
Matthew B. Reeves and Clarence R. Geier

9. “Beautiful Confusion”: The Archaeology of Civil War Camp Life in an Urban Context
Garrett R. Fesler, Matthew R. Laird, and Hank D. Lutton

10. Cabin in Command: The City Point Headquarters of Ulysses S. Grant
David G. Orr

Part V. Conclusions and Beginnings
David G. Orr and Clarence R. Geier

List of Contributors

Index

Books

Authors

Journals

On The Site

Books

Authors

Journals

On The Site

Huts and History

The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampment During the American Civil War

Huts and History

The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampment During the American Civil War

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