New recruits left their homes expecting adventure and glory. What they actually found was quite different. Soldiers each carried nearly sixty pounds of gear, had a diet of salt pork, dried beans and hardtack, and slept at night in overcrowded tents. While on the march, they were seasonally bothered by mud, mosquitoes, intense heat and dust. They suffered from diseases brought on by bad water and poor sanitation. Only about a quarter of a soldier’s time was actually spent in battle. The rest of the time was filled with marching, drilling, camp chores, boredom and homesickness.