Civil War Rule Of Engagement Protected Urinating With ‘Pants Down, Don’t Shoot’ Principle

War has rules, even in the middle of the bloodiest conflict in American history. Some of the most interesting rules of the Civil War were never written into any army manual. They were unwritten customs that soldiers on both sides agreed to follow. One of the most surprising, found in letters written by soldiers, was simple: you did not shoot a man who was relieving himself. It was a way of preserving a little dignity for everyone.

Gentlemen’s Rules on the Picket Line

For much of the war, the armies spent far more time facing each other in camps and trenches than fighting. Soldiers stood picket duty, guarding the front lines, often within shouting distance of the enemy. Over time, many pickets developed informal truces. Shooting at a lone sentry for no reason was considered bad form, since it only invited the other side to do the same. Men on both sides knew that the soldier across the field was a lot like them: tired, hungry and far from home.

Trading Across the Lines

During quiet times, pickets on opposite sides of a river or field sometimes called a truce and met in the middle to trade. Confederates had plenty of tobacco but little coffee, since the blockade made it scarce in the South. Union soldiers had coffee but wanted good Southern tobacco. Men swapped coffee, tobacco, newspapers and even jokes, then went back to their lines. Along the Rappahannock River in Virginia, soldiers even floated small boats with sails across the water to carry their trades.

Respect Between Enemies

These customs show something important about the men who fought. Many of them shared the same language, faith and traditions. Some had family on the other side. Even in the middle of a terrible war, they found ways to treat each other as human beings, and a simple rule like “pants down, don’t shoot” was part of that unspoken code of honor.

Read more stories like this in Friendly Enemies: Tex and Fanny and Halt! Who Goes There?, and browse our Confederate flag collection.

Source: The Daily Caller: Civil War Rule of Engagement Protected Urinating With “Pants Down, Don’t Shoot” Principle

Thanks for reading. Please share our posts with your friends and family so they too can learn more about Southern Heritage and History.

Brought to you by: Ultimate Flags