The glossary is the key to the symbolism of this book.

• Alligator - very mobile. Lightning-like attacks. Often fatal. Rarely seen until it is too late. Good at lying in wait and ambush. Doesn't leave a trace.
  
  
• Army - a group of uniformed men, organized to stand up and shoot another group of organized uniformed men, usually for some cause; very necessary when words fail.
  
  
• Army of Virginia - Lee's superbly-led, well-motivated, ragged troops; fought well with their hands.
  
  
• Army of the Potomac - McClellan's overstocked, cumbersome, cautious troops.Well-trained for parades, not for battle.
  
  
• Blockade - stopping your neighbor's business. At the start of the War our president ordered the Southern ports to be sealed. He forgot to take stock of the northern Navy - just five steam wooden frigates to stop smuggling on 3600 miles of Southern coast.
  
  
• Blockade Runners - Southern side. They did a great job selling cotton for guns from England and France. However, the South got muskets that Napoleon wouldn't use. They couldn't shoot straight. Not like our rifles.
  
  
• Bomb Proof Officer's Mess - About as good as cotton bullet-proof vests, which were sold locally for us enlisted men. Places where officers can be drunk privately. Staggering allowed inside only.
  
  
• Catfish - any Southerner. Females have smaller whiskers. All have good taste.
  
  
• Color Bearer - very important since we all have different uniforms. A flag tells us what side we're on. Good to know so we don't shoot ourselves.
  
  
• Confederates - secessionist states, usually Southern government, based on the U.S. Constitution with one exception - slavery was allowed. See also, states rights.
  
  
• Confederate Battle Flag - we got so confused with the Secessionist Flag that we asked them to make another one. Well, they did. And to further show their hope for Europe's help they borrowed from the Union Jack, the British flag and the Cross of St. Andrew with their same colors.
  
  
• Confederate National Flag - version of the Northern flag, often creating confusion as to who was who.
  
  
• Contrabands - anything taken from the Confederates. Since slaves were considered the property of the South, the Union considered slaves confiscated property. They were put to work like horses.
  
  
• Crocodiles - look like alligators, though different. They cry before they kill. Very sensitive despite their thick skin.
  
  
• Dandy - all generals we meet look like they came from a tulip plantation in their night clothes. That's what a dandy looks like in battle.
  
  
• Drummers - usually not killed. Bird's-eye view of the battle. Used to lift spirits and give battle instruction, though often not heard because of cannon fire. The general's favorite spot to stand near during a battle.
  
  
• Drunkeness - usually allowed. See Grant (under construction). Big penalty if caught while fighting. Must be sober to shoot.
  
  
• Emancipation Proclamation - little-known paper that ordered slavery ended, but only in places where Federalists had control. Some areas weren't liberated yet.
  
  
• First Penn. Volunteers - queer uniforms, turbans, fought well when led properly.
  
  
• Fort Pillow - a term used by the North when we thought a target was soft usually. But that's the way it looked at the time. See Fort Wagner.
• Fort Wagner - sand fort held by the Southerners. It was pregnable. Mass. 54th All-African Regiment fought with great bravery here.
  
  
• Fourty Acres and a Mule - often promised, never delivered.
  
  
• Frogs - European style Northerners, dressed like the French. See Zouaves.
  
  
• Freedmen - mostly African-Americans who bought or inherited their freedom - mostly merchants, preachers, scholars, and soldiers. They were allowed to read and write and made the most out of it.
  
  
• Iron - we couldn't shoot through it. Must be the armor of the future.
  
  
• The King of Night - HIM. DEATH. Open mouth. We've all seen him standing on the shoulders of our flat friends.
  
  
• Mass. 52nd and 54th Regiments - first all-African-American regiments. Especially known for bravery at Fort Wagner.
  
  
• McClellan - popular with the troops. Southern sympathizer who wasn't.
  
  
• Monkeys - slave of slaves. Brought from the African Jungle to Man's Land. Performed well after some treatment.
  
  
• Musicians - they played at every occasion - parades, funerals, executions, officers' parties. And most important - they cheered the soldiers on when they marched into the guns of the enemy.
  
  
• Militias - anyone who was given a parade uniform. Saluted home town superiors. Bought the War.
  
  
• Pigs - they were very important. They followed us around and ate anything. No one could do without them - salt pork and bacon. They walked with us and we ate them bit by bit.
  
  
• Rebels - sometimes looked like alligators. Sometimes acted like crocodiles when they would cry. Fierce fighters who were opponents and friends.
  
  
• Reconstruction - didn't happen. See Stanton, Sec. of War 1865, May (under construction).
  
  
• Sharks (White) - always around North and South coast. Fast eaters. Take no side except Death.
  
  
• Slaves - told what to do seven days a week. Forced labor, not paid, given food. Families subject to change. Usually black humans from different parts of Africa. Stolen persons put to work at hard labor.
  
  
• Slavery - institution that sold humans like cattle.
  
  
• Ex-Slaves - liberated African-Americans. Veterans of slavery left adrift. No help, education or good pay.
  
  
• Stealing From the Dead - routine after a battle, except when some of us play dead and shoot the bastard.
  
  
• Swamps - soup of spirits, real or imagined. Has its own character. Best at night.
  
  
• Tar Baby - African legend, sacred figure. Don't touch him. Stuck for life.
  
  
• U.S. Army - started the War with less than 16,000 troops. One third went South, mostly made up of Northern state militias. Governors appointed friends as officers.
  
  
• Volunteers - idiots or out of a job.
  
  
• Zouaves - turbans, fezzes, French kepi hats, baggy pants, usually stuffed into boots. Brightly colored. Very good targets. Both sides had them.
  
  

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