Photographic Compilation of Common Tools
Being Used in the Field
By Paul A. Boccadoro

Armies required a huge amount of tools to be able to function in the field. Of the most common tools were axes, hatchets, cross cut saws, hand saws, spades, shovels, picks, and augurs. These essential implements were used to do everything from split firewood to build bridges, and later in the war, the spade became the most valuable weapon in trench warfare.

The intention of this compilation is to allow the viewer to see a variety of those tools in use in original photographs. Each large image below contains one or more boxes that indicate tools in the photo. Click on a box to see a detailed enlargement of that area. The size of the original physical photograph and its subsequent scan determine how much more detail can be seen – in most cases, the detail image is as large as it can be without digital distortion.

The 8th NY prepares to move out towards Manassas. July 16, 1861.
Michael J. McAfee collection, CIvil War A Complete Photographic History

Washington, DC. 2nd Rhode Island at Camp Brightwood. 1861.
MOLLUS - Mass. Photograph Collection

Washington, DC. Tent life of the 31st Pa. (later, 82d Pa.) at Queen's farm, vicinity of Fort Slocum. 1861.
LOC#: LC-B811-2405

Alexandria, Va. Barricades on Duke Street erected to protect the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from Confederate cavalry. 1861.
NA#: 111-B-523

Pensacola, Fl. Men of the 9th Mississippi.
LOC; Illustrated History of the Civil War

Near Dumfries, Va. Soldiers of the Texas Brigade in winter huts. 1861.
Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, PICA: 03674; Illustrated History of the Civil War

Near Dumfries, Va. The Beauregard Mess of the 1st Texas at Camp Quantico during the winter of 1861-2.
Robert McDonald collection; CIvil War A Complete Photographic History

Winter quarters; soldiers in front of their wooden hut, "Pine Cottage."
NA#: 111-B-256

Camp of 71st NY. Cook house soldiers getting dinner ready.
LOC#: LC-B811-2414

White House Landing, Va. Headquarters of the U.S. Christian Commission. 1862.
LOC#: LC-B811-2487

Yorktown, Va., vicinity. Gen. George B. McClellan's tent, Camp Winfield Scott. May 1862.
LOC#: LC-B815-350

Below Yorktown, Va. McClellan's Battery No. 1. May 1862.
LOC#: LC-DIG-cwpbh-03378

Chickahominy River, Va. Grapevine bridge, by the 5th New Hampshire Infantry. May 27-28, 1862.
LOC#: LC-B817-7383

Richmond, Va., vicinity. Engineers building corduroy road. June 1862.
LOC#: LC-B815-656

Seven Pines, Va. Twin houses on battlefield, with 32-pdr. field howitzer in foreground. June 1862.
LOC#: LC-B811-471

Antietam, Md. Burying the dead Confederate soldiers. September 1862.
LOC#: LC-B811-561

Harpers Ferry, WV. Federal troops camped. October 1862.
USAMHI; CIvil War A Complete Photographic History

23rd New York Infantry.
LOC#: LOT 4189

Soldier chopping wood in camp.
LOC#: LC-B811-2603

Falmouth, Va. Group in front of post office tent at Army of the Potomac headquarters. April 1863.
LOC#: LC-B817-7396

Murfreesboro, Tn., vicinity. Men repairing single-track railroad after Battle of Stone's River. 1863.
LOC#: LC-B811-2663

Morris Island, SC. July or August 1863.
Notice the shovel used on the right in the middle enlargement is not a D-handle shovel.
LOC#: LC-B8156-17

Bealeton, Va. Drum corps, 93d New York Infantry. August 1863.
LOC#: LC-B817-7514

Chickamauga, Ga. September 1863.
eBay image.

Culpeper, Va. "Contrabands." November 1863.
Notice the two piece shovel construction, where the steel handle is riveted to the blade.
LOC#: LC-B811-221

James River, Va. Black laborers on a wharf.
Notice the "US" painted on the front of the handle of the front-most shovel.
NA#: 111-B-400

Signal corpsman putting up telegraph poles.
Americana Image Gallery; CIvil War A Complete Photographic History

Excavating for a "Y" at Devereux Station on the orange and Alexandria Railroad.
NA#: 111-B-4877

James River, Va. Building winter quarters, Ft. Brady.
LOC#: LC-B811-2315

Brandy Station, Va., vicinity. Camp of 18th Pa. Cavalry, 3d Division, Cavalry Corps. March 1864.
LOC#: LC-B817-7625

City Point, Va. Federal soldiers in winter quarters.
LOC#: LC-B811-2596

Brandy Station, Va. Log hut company kitchen of the 6th NY Artillery. April 1864.
NA#: 111-B-252

Constructing telegraph lines. April 1864.
NA#: 165-SB-62

Fredericksburg, Va. Burial of soldiers. May 1864.
LOC#: LC-B811-2509

Fredericksburg, Va. Burial of soldiers. May 1864.
NA#: 111-B-4817

Jericho Mills, Va. 50th New York Engineers building a road on the bank of the North Anna. May 24, 1864.
LOC#: LC-B815-749

Jericho Mills, Va. 2nd view, 50th New York Engineers building a road on the bank of the North Anna. May 24, 1864.
LOC#: LC-B817-7304

Port Royal, Va. The Rappahannock River front during the evacuation. May 30, 1864.
LOC#: LC-B811-2491

Chattanooga, Tn. Construction Corps, U.S. Military Railroads. 1864.
LOC#: LOT 4188 (R)

Petersburg, Va. View of bombproof in the advance line. August 7, 1864.
LOC#: LC-B811-804

Chapin's Bluff, Va., vicinity. Fort Burnham, formerly, CS Fort Harrison, near James River. 1864.
LOC#: LC-B811-2565

Fort Burnham, Va. Encampment and earthworks.
LOC#: LC-B811-2498

Petersburg, Va., vicinity. Playing ball in the camp of the 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
LOC#: LC-B811-2496

Savannah, Ga., vicinity. View of Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River. 1864.
LOC#: LC-B811-4001

Petersburg, Va. The "Dictator," a 13-inch mortar, in position. October 1864.
LOC#: LC-B817-7394

Dutch Gap, Va. Bomb-proof quarters of Major Strong. November 1864.
Notice the handle rivets seen on the bottom shovel in the left image.
LOC#: LC-B811-2551

James River, Va. Work party and mortars at "Butler's Crow's Nest."
LOC#: LC-B811-2494

Nashville, Tn. Railroad yard and depot with locomotives; the Capitol in distance. 1864.
LOC#: LC-B811-2651

City Point, Va. Building storehouse and railroad depot.
LOC#: LC-B811-2461

Petersburg, Va. Entrance to mine in Fort Mahone, intended to undermine Fort Sedgwick. April 3, 1865.
LOC#: LC-B811-3195

Cold Harbor, Va. African Americans collecting bones of soldiers killed in the battle. April 1865.
LOC#: LC-B817-7926

Washington, D.C. Workmen in front of the Ambulance Shop. April 1865.
LOC#: LC-B817-7834

Richmond, Va. Fire Engine No. 3. 1865.
LOC#: LC-B811-3286

Washington, D.C. Infantry units passing on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Treasury. May 1865.
LOC#: LC-B811-3314

Washington, D.C. Coffins and open graves ready for the Lincoln conspirators' bodies. July 7, 1865.
LOC#: LC-B817-7760

Arlington, Va. Officers of Company F, 2d New York Artillery at Fort C. F. Smith. August 1865.
LOC#: LC-B817-7479

From the two volume set bound in 1866 for the Quartermaster General. This plate is titled "Fatigue."
Notice how the axe head is painted black up to the blade.
Army Quartermaster Museum

I have included the below drawings and wood cuts in this compilation because they demonstrate some of the ways tools were used on campaign and even during a fight. Although the sketches do not necessarily show the details of the tools themselves, it reinforces the fact that they were present and available to troops on the front lines.

Federal troops tearing up track, destroying telegraph lines, and burning a depot during Sherman's March to the Sea.
LOC; Illustrated History of the Civil War

Confederate axemen cut openings in the abatis around Ft. Stedman for the 300-man assault on March 25, 1865. A week later on April 2 when the Federal 6th Corps attacked Confederate fortifications, men with axes were likewise sent in to chop apart Confederate abatis in a similar manner.
Frank and Marie-T. Wood Print Collections, Alexandira, Va.; Illustrated History of the Civil War

Confederate artillerymen of Walker's brigade dismantle a cannon on the night of April 8, 1865 to prevent it from being captured by Custer's cavalry.
Frank and Marie-T. Wood Print Collections, Alexandira, Va.; Illustrated History of the Civil War

 

Additional images of civilian workers with the same types of tools, circa 1860-7, can be seen in the Lyon, Shorb and Company Collection, a part of the Digital Library of the University of Pittsburgh. The following images in that collection exhibit relevant tools:

Andrew Sneider, with shovel
J. H. Ross, with shovel
G. Mentzinger, with shovel
James Dickson, with handsaw and hatchet
M. Cunningham, with shovel