ED 4085 /

Spring 2015
“Hay foot, Straw foot”
Objectives: Students will understand the many challenges facing soldiers in
both the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.

Introduction:
1- Every student will get a copy of Portrait of America and a sheet of paper
2- Students will be divided into 5 groups
3- Each group be assigned 1 to 2 paragraphs of the introduction for the
essay “Hayfoot, Strawfoot” on pages ____-____.
4- Students will read their assigned paragraphs silently, and take their own
notes, before beginning their group discussion
5- Students will discuss what they felt were the important points in the
introduction and choose 3 to share with the class.
6- Each group will send 2 representatives to the front of the class (one to
speak and one to scribe) to share their important points. They will write
their paragraph number and 3 points on the board. Order does not
matter.
7- Students will take notes on each of the other groups' presentations.
These notes will be turned in at the end of the activity.

Activity Outline:
1- If on a separate day from introduction, every student will get a copy of
Portrait of America and a sheet of paper.
2- Students will be assigned a reading segment and “role” for the essay
“Hayfoot, Strawfoot”
a) each reading segment is made up of 1 or more paragraphs
b) the first full paragraph on the page is paragraph #1
c) reading segment paragraphs may continue onto the next
page
3- Students will turn to the pages of their reading segment and silently
read/take notes. If students do not understand the meaning of
something in their reading they should be encouraged to ask for
clarification.
4- Students will be allowed 10 minutes (+/-) to read their individual
segments, take notes, and plan how they will represent their “role” to
the rest of the class.
a) Students may choose to approach their role from a Union
(Jersey, Boston, or normal accent” OR Confederate
(southern drawl) personas

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b) Students will plan and present their role in their own choice /
interpretation of words. Students should be encouraged to
be creative!
5- Students will take notes on each others presentations. These notes will
be turned in at the end of the activity.
Student directions:

Directions
1- Make sure everyone has a copy of Portrait of America and a sheet of paper
2- I will divide you into 5 groups. Each group will be assigned 1-2 paragraphs
from the introduction for the essay “Hay foot, Straw foot” on pages 250-252.
3- You will read and take notes on your group's assigned paragraph (s)
individually/silently
4- Once everyone in your group has finished reading, your group will discuss
what you each felt was important in the reading and choose 3 points to
present to the class.
5- Each group will send 2 representatives to the front of the class (one to speak
and one to scribe) to share their important points.
→ Write your paragraph number and 3 points on the board.
6- Take your own notes on each of the 4 other groups' presentations.

Activity Directions

1- Make sure everyone has a copy of Portrait of America and your notes from
the activity for the essay introduction.
2- I will assign you a reading segment and “role”
~~(10 minutes +/-)~~
3- Silently read your assigned segment and take notes
a) each reading segment is made up of 1 or more paragraphs
b) the first full paragraph on the page is paragraph #1
c) reading segment paragraphs may continue onto the next page
d) if you do not understand something in your reading, ASK!
4- Choose a persona from which to approach your “role”
→ Union (Jersey, Boston, or normal accent” OR
→ Confederate (southern drawl)
~~(2-3 minutes each)~~
5- Plan to present your “role” with your own interpretation/words.... BE

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CREATIVE
6- Take notes on each presentation. Label the persona, role, and presenter's
name for each.
~~ Turn in all notes at the end of the activity.~~

ROLE CARDS (master copy for teacher reference)

Rural, civilian volunteers Uneducated volunteers

- informal attitude toward military - couldn't tell left from right

authority *hay *straw
- a soldier by need NOT choice - a new recruit was a “strawfoot”
- looked forward to going home & good
food
- disconnected from larger world
- backwoods and rustic

Lacked formal discipline Adventure Seeker

- local boys and men - the Bucktails of Pennsylvania

- you're no better than me - partied it up on way to Harrisburg
- willing to get into fist-fights with CO - only saw adventure in war
- commission=jack
- commander had to earn mens'
respect

“Romantic” ideology Political reasons

- expected a great adventure and fun - didn't really feel bad for the slaves or

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- could be a slacker support abolition
- expected war to not be too hard - fighting to save the Union
- feared missing out on the war - desired to destroy the South by
taking property
- goal to weaken Southern army

Young Volunteers Desertion

- under the age of 18 - didn't understand the seriousness of

- couldn't just lie about age military commitment
- really wanted to do their part - go home for a few days when
- put paper in shoe to swear “over 18” homesick
- go home to plant crops in the spring
- planned to return
- sometimes became an unintentional
deserter

Rampant sickness Regimental rivalries

- many sick all the time - most loyal to own regiment

- 350 of 960 (up to 1,040) was - felt own regiment was the best
considered good attendance - competition to be the best
- typhoid
dysentery
pneumonia
- 2x more died from disease than in
battle
- lots of medical discharges

Army cooks Sutlers

- bad food - mainly with Union Army

- army didn't hire cooks - buy extra food

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- flour, pork, beans, and potatoes expensive
- 12 men per mess took turns cooking spoiled food=sick
- eventually 2 from each company was - not as many in Confederacy
assigned to cook - capture Union sutler supplies
- company cooks selected from crappy - mad when Grant ordered sutlers to
soldiers not follow army

Foraging Foraging

- civilian property - Sherman originally punished looters

- lack of food=more foraging - some commanders looked the other
- deserved to be looted way
- commanders half-heartedly tried to
prevent it
- officers often allowed it

Foraging Weapons

- Union took southern families winter - paid a high price for new weapons &
food old tactics
- stole valuables too - rifled Springfield
- destroyed property muzzleloader
- deserved the food lead bullet (.58)
- part of helping to end the war 2 shots per minute
- destroy southern property/economy 250 yards (up to 1 mile)
- break southern will - better than smoothbore musket
100 yards
inaccurate

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Field hospitals Desertion

- didn't understand germs and infection - hospitals away from front

- no such thing as antisepsis
- scalpel “cleaning”
- hospital help just as bad as company
cooks inexperienced & unreliable
- recuperate nearer “home”
- many that could have gone back to
war didn't
- some stayed and worked in hospital
- no longer under army command

Chance of survival

- took too long to change tactics

- 25% loss in battle was “normal”
- 1/3 of those engaged in battle lost
- up to 80% @ Gettysburg
some regiments destroyed beyond
repair
- survivors became efficient soldiers

Post Lesson Reflection Notes:

I planned this learning activity to give the students a more active way to engage
with the required essay reading assignment. All but one student had a lot of fun
with the activity and really got involved in trying to understand the living
conditions of the soldiers in order to create fun and “spot-on” skits to
demonstrate what they had read about. As I watched the students work through
the activity, and listened to the questions they were asking for clarification about
the instructions and if they could do some steps differently, I can see several
ways to make the activity much better in the future!

* have a plan to accommodate students who are not comfortable role

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playing in front of class
* USE master answer cards to facilitate post role play discussion
* encourage student questions
* create a graphic organizer for students to track notes on each role
* sit WITH last row of students (not in front of them)
* find a way to mark role cards for easier combination/elimination for
smaller classes
* plan how to adjust distribution of roles for larger classes
* rename role cards?
* Determine which roles can be performed together (for group activity)

Assessment:
* Check for understanding as students role play their assignments
* Check for understanding by allowing other students to ask questions and
make comments on the presented role
* Check for understanding by asking presenting student questions about
their role
* Recheck for understanding and retention by having students write down
2-3 facts that they remember from the presentations the next day

Differentiating:
* I need to plan a way for students who are uncomfortable role-playing to
participate without being let off the hook

* Need a substitute assignment for absentee work

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