Mao era

In 1970, Lon Nol overthrew Sihanouk, and the latter fled to Beijing, where Pol Pot was also visiting. On the advice of the CCP, the Khmer Rouge changed its position, and in order to support Sihanouk, it established the National United Front of Kampuchea. In 1970 alone, the Chinese reportedly gave the United Front 400 tons of military aid. In April 1974, Sihanouk and Khmer Rouge leaders Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan met with Mao in Beijing; Mao supported the policies which the Khmer Rouge proposed, but he did not want the Khmer Rouge to marginalize Sihanouk after they won the civil war and established a new Cambodia.

Works: Fortified structures designed to strengthen a position in battle. This includes earthworks, fieldworks, entrenchments, siege lines, etc.

Parole: A pledge by a prisoner of war or a defeated soldier not to bear arms. When prisoners were returned to their own side during the War (in exchange for men their side had captured) the parole was no longer in effect and they were allowed to pick up their weapons and fight. When the South lost the War and the Confederate armies gave their parole they promised never to bear weapons against the Union again.

Vedette(or vidette): A mounted sentry stationed in advance of a picket line.

Siege lines: Lines of works and fortifications that are built by both armies during a siege. The defenders build earthworks to strengthen their position inside a fort or city against assault while the besieging army constructs fortifications to protect siege guns and soldiers from sharpshooters inside the city.

Cartridge: Roll of thin paper which held a small amount of gun powder in the bottom and a ball or bullet in the top. A soldier needed to tear off the top of the cartridge in order to fire his weapon - part of the nine steps to fire a muzzle loading gun (or five to fire a breech loading gun).

Transition period

After Mao's death in September 1976, China went through around two years of transition until Deng Xiaoping became its new paramount leader in December 1978. During the transition period, Pol Pot made an official visit to China in July 1977 and he was welcomed by chairman Hua Guofeng and other high-ranking CCP officials, with the People's Daily calling him the "Comrade from Cambodia" . Pot also toured around the agricultural production model of Dazhai, a product of Mao's era. Chen Yonggui, Vice Premier of China and the leader of Dazhai, visited Cambodia in December 1977, commending the achievement of its movement towards communism.

In 1978, Son Sen, a Khmer Rouge leader and the Minister of National Defense of Democratic Kampuchea, visited China and obtained its approval for military aid. In the same year, high-ranking CCP officials such as Wang Dongxing and Deng Yingchao visited Cambodia to offer support.

Abatis: (pronounced ab-uh-tee, ab-uh-tis, uh-bat-ee, or uh-bat-is) A line of trees, chopped down and placed with their branches facing the enemy, used to strengthen fortifications.

"Powder Monkey": A sailor (sometimes a child) who carried explosives from the ship's magazine to the ship's guns.

Haversack: Small canvas bag, about one foot square, used to carry a soldier's food. Typically, these bags were painted with black tar to make them waterproof.

Furlough: A leave from duty, granted by a superior officer. The furloughed soldier carried papers which described his appearance, his unit, when he left and when he was due to return. Furlough papers also contained a warning that failure to return on time would cause the soldier to be "considered a deserter".

Navy: A branch of the military using ships to conduct warfare. During the Civil War, "blue water" ships cruised the oceans and "brown water" boats floated up and down the rivers.

United States - Operation Breakfast

From 1970 to 1973 a massive United States bombing campaign against the Khmer Rouge devastated rural Cambodia. An earlier U.S. bombing campaign of Cambodia actually started on 18 March 1969 with Operation Breakfast, but U.S. bombing in Cambodia started years earlier than that.

The number of Cambodian civilian and Khmer Rouge deaths caused by U.S. bombing is disputed and difficult to disentangle from the broader Cambodian Civil War. Estimates range from 30,000 to 500,000. Sliwinski estimates that approximately 17% of total civil war deaths can be attributed to U.S. bombing, noting that this is far behind the leading causes of death, as the U.S. bombing was concentrated in underpopulated border areas. Ben Kiernan attributes 50,000 to 150,000 deaths to the U.S. bombing.

Revetment: A structure built to hold either natural or man-made embankments in position. Revetments could be made of items such as sandbags, fascines, gabions, brick, stone, and so on.

Howitzer: A cannon which fired hollow projectiles and was generally lighter and shorter than its solid-shot cousins. A howitzer's projectiles had a smaller powder charge. Also, canister projectiles contained more small balls than other types of canister. Howitzers were useful in defending fortifications and causing disorder within with in an attacking force.

Chevaux-de-Frise: (pronounced sheh-VOH-de-freez) A defensive obstacle constructed by using a long horizontal beam pierced with diagonal rows of sharpened spikes. When several cheval-de-frise (singular, pronounced she-VAL-de-freez) were bolted together they created an effective barrier for roads and fortifications.

Muster: To formally enroll in the army or to call roll.

Percussion Arm: A musket or rifle-musket that requires a cap to fire. A tiny cap is placed on the gun so that when a trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes the cap. The chemical in the cap (fulminate of mercury) ignites and flame shoots into the chamber that holds the gunpowder. This ignites the powder and the blast shoots the bullet out of the barrel. (Percussion means striking�"a drum is a percussion instrument and a gun that uses a hammer to strike a cap is a percussion arm.)

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Other rooms contain only a rusting iron bedframe, beneath a black and white photograph showing the room as it was found by the Vietnamese. In each photograph, the mutilated body of a prisoner is chained to the bed, killed by his fleeing captors only hours before the prison was captured. Other rooms preserve leg-irons and instruments of torture. They are accompanied by paintings by former inmate Vann Nath showing people being tortured, which were added by the post-Khmer Rouge regime installed by the Vietnamese in 1979.

Militia: Troops, like the National Guard, who are only called out to defend the land in an emergency.

Yankee: A Northerner; someone loyal to the Federal government of the United States. Also, Union, Federal, or Northern.

Siege: (pronounced seej) Blocking the supply lines and escape routes of a city to force it to surrender. A siege usually meant one army trapped in a city, slowly running out of food and fresh water, with the opposing army camped outside. Famous sieges were held at Petersburg, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson.

Border States: The states of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri. Although these states did not officially join the Confederacy, many of their citizens supported the South.

Sentry: (pronounced SEHN-tree) A soldier standing guard.

The Cambodian genocide

The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Communist Party of Kampuchea general secretary Pol Pot, who radically pushed Cambodia towards an entirely self-sufficient agrarian socialist society. It resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population in 1975 (c. 7.8 million).

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had long been supported by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its chairman, Mao Zedong;[a] it is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid which the Khmer Rouge received came from China, including at least US$1 billion in interest-free economic and military aid in 1975 alone. After it seized power in April 1975, the Khmer Rouge wanted to turn the country into an agrarian socialist republic, founded on the policies of ultra-Maoism and influenced by the Cultural Revolution.[b] Pol Pot and other Khmer Rouge officials met with Mao in Beijing in June 1975, receiving approval and advice, while high-ranking CCP officials such as Politburo Standing Committee member Zhang Chunqiao later visited Cambodia to offer help.[c] To fulfill its goals, the Khmer Rouge emptied the cities and forced Cambodians to relocate to labor camps in the countryside, where mass executions, forced labor, physical abuse, malnutrition, and disease were rampant. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea.

Arsenal: A place where weapons and other military supplies are stored.

Breech-loading: Rifle-muskets that could be loaded at the breech (in the middle between the barrel and the stock) instead of from the end (by shoving gunpowder and a ball down the barrel) were called breech-loading guns.

West Point: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York was the military school for more than 1,000 officers in both the Union and Confederate armies�"including Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.

Ramrod: Long, cylindrical metal rod used to push the cartridge down the barrel of a musket in preparation for firing.

Dahlgren Guns: Bronze boat howitzers and rifles used by the navies which were useful in river operations. They were named after Admiral John A. Dahlgren, their inventor.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - History

The prison had very strict regulations, and severe beatings were inflicted upon any prisoner who disobeyed. Almost every action had to be approved by one of the prison's guards. The prisoners were sometimes forced to eat human feces and drink human urine. The unhygienic living conditions in the prison caused skin diseases, lice, rashes, ringworm and other ailments. The prison's medical staff were untrained and offered treatment only to sustain prisoners' lives after they had been injured during interrogation. When prisoners were taken from one place to another for interrogation, they were blindfolded. Guards and prisoners were not allowed to converse. Moreover, within the prison, people who were in different groups were not allowed to have contact with one another.

Bombproof: A field fortification which was made to absorb the shock of artillery strikes. It was constructed of heavy timbers and its roof was covered with soil.

Ironclad: A ship protected by iron armor.

Courier: (pronounced KUHR-ee-er) A soldier who served the officers of his regiment by carrying mail or messages.

Salient: (pronounced SAY-lee-uhnt) A part of a defensive line of works or a fortification that juts out from the main line towards the enemy. Salients can be very vulnerable to because they may be attacked from multiple sides.

Sectionalism: Promoting the interests of a section or region (such as the North or the South) instead of the entire country.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Torture and extermination

For the first year of S-21's existence, corpses were buried near the prison. However, by the end of 1976, cadres ran out of burial spaces, the prisoner and family members were taken to the Boeung Choeung Ek ("Crow's Feet Pond") extermination centre, fifteen kilometers from Phnom Penh. There, they were killed by a group of teenagers led by a Comrade Teng, being battered to death with iron bars, pickaxes, machetes and many other makeshift weapons owing to the scarcity and cost of ammunition. After the prisoners were executed, the soldiers who had accompanied them from S-21 buried them in graves that held as few as 6 and as many as 100 bodies.

Defilade: (pronounced DEH-fih-lade) To arrange walls, embankments and other features of a fortification or field work so that the enemy cannot make an accurate shot inside.

Bummer: A term used to describe marauding or foraging soldiers. Although armies on both sides often had rules against foraging or stealing from private residences, some soldiers often found ways to do so.

Insult: A sudden, open, unconcealed attack upon a fortified position with the intent of capturing it before its defenders could mount an effective defense.

Breastworks: Barriers which were about breast-high and protected soldiers from enemy fire.

Flank: Used as a noun, a "flank" is the end (or side) of a military position, also called a "wing". An unprotected flank is "in the air", while a protected flank is a "refused flank". Used as a verb, "to flank" is to move around and gain the side of an enemy position, avoiding a frontal assault.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Survivors

Out of an estimated 20,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng, there were only twelve known survivors: seven adults and five children. One child died shortly after the liberation. As of mid-September 2011, only three of the adults and four children are thought to be still alive: Chum Mey, Bou Meng, and Chim Meth. All three said they were kept alive because they had skills their captors judged to be useful. Bou Meng, whose wife was killed in the prison, is an artist. Chum Mey was kept alive because of his skills in repairing machinery. Chim Meth was held in S-21 for 2 weeks and transferred to the nearby Prey Sar prison. She may have been spared because she was from Stoeung district in Kampong Thom where Comrade Duch was born. She intentionally distinguished herself by emphasising her provincial accent during her interrogations. Vann Nath, who was spared because of his ability to paint, died on September 5, 2011. Norng Chan Phal, one of the surviving children published his story in 2018.

Commutation: Stipulation adopted by both the Union and Confederate governments which allowed certain draftees to pay a fee in order to avoid military service. Because the fee was higher than the average worker's annual salary, this provision angered less-wealthy citizens on both sides of the war.

Redan: (pronounced ri-dan) A fortification with two parapets or low walls whose faces unite to form a salient angle towards the enemy. That is, they form a point that juts out past the rest of the defensive line of works.

Charge: To rush towards the enemy.

Brogan: A leather shoe, similar to an ankle-high boot, issued to soldiers during the Civil War. Brogans were also popular amongst civilians during the time period.

Redoubt: (pronounced rih-dowt) An enclosed field work - without redans - which had several sides and was used to protect a garrison from attacks from several directions. While redoubts could be very useful, one key weakness was that each protruding angle was a salient. This meant that the redoubt would be susceptible to enfilading fire. A redoubt could also extend from a permanent fortress.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Prison Staff

Some of the staff who worked in Tuol Sleng also ended up as prisoners. They confessed to being lazy in preparing documents, to having damaged machines and various equipment, and to having beaten prisoners to death without permission when assisting with interrogations.

Butternut: Home-made dye used to color "homespun" cloth a yellow-brown color, used when imported gray cloth became scarce. The dye was made from the husks, leaves, bark, branches and/or roots of butternut and walnut trees. "Butternut" was also a slang term for a Confederate soldier.

Confederate: Loyal to the Confederacy. Also Southern or Rebel.

Infantry: A branch of the military in which soldiers traveled and fought on foot.

Union: Also called the North or the United States, the Union was the portion of the country that remained loyal to the Federal government during the Civil War. Union states were: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. West Virginia became a Northern state in 1863 and California and Oregon were also officially Northern but they had little direct involvement in the War.

Rifled: A gun barrel is rifled when it has grooves (called rifling) cut into the inside of the barrel for longer range and more accurate firing.

Cambodian Civil War

In 1968, the Khmer Rouge officially launched a nation-wide insurgency across Cambodia. Even though the government of North Vietnam had not been informed of the Khmer Rouge's decision, its forces provided shelter and weapons to the Khmer Rouge after the insurgency began. North Vietnamese support for the Khmer Rouge's insurgency made it impossible for the Cambodian military to effectively counter it. For the next two years, the insurgency grew because Norodom Sihanouk did very little to stop it. As the insurgency grew in strength, the party openly declared itself to be the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

Sihanouk was deposed in 1970. Premier Lon Nol deposed him with the support of the National Assembly, establishing the pro-United States Khmer Republic. On the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s advice, Sihanouk, who was in exile in Beijing, formed an alliance with the Khmer Rouge, and became the nominal head of a Khmer Rouge�"dominated government-in-exile (known by its French acronym, GRUNK) backed by China. Although thoroughly aware of the weakness of Lon Nol's forces and loath to commit American military force to the new conflict in any form other than air power, the Nixon administration announced its support for the new Khmer Republic.

Rifle-Musket: The common weapon of the Civil War infantryman, it was a firearm fired from the shoulder. It differed from a regular musket by the grooves (called rifling) cut into the inside of the barrel. When the exploding powder thrusts the bullet forward, the grooves in the barrel make it spin, just like a football spirals through the air. Rifle-muskets were more accurate and had a longer range than smoothbore weapons.

Barrel: The long metal tube on a gun through which a projectile is fired.

Dysentery: (pronounced DISS-ehn-terr-ee) Intestinal disease causing severe diarrhea. Dysentery was a leading cause of deaths by disease.

Brogan: A leather shoe, similar to an ankle-high boot, issued to soldiers during the Civil War. Brogans were also popular amongst civilians during the time period.

North: Also called the Union or the United States the North was the part of the country that remained loyal to the Federal government during the Civil War. Northern states were: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. West Virginia became a Northern state in 1863 and California and Oregon were also officially Northern but they had little direct involvement in the War.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Non-Cambodian prisoners

Twenty-six-year-old John D. Dewhirst, a British tourist, was one of the youngest foreigners to die in the prison. He was sailing with his New Zealand companion, Kerry Hamill, and their Canadian friend Stuart Glass when their boat drifted into Cambodian territory and was intercepted by Khmer patrol boats on August 13, 1978. Glass was killed during the arrest, while Dewhirst and Hamill were captured, blindfolded, and taken to shore. Both were executed after having been tortured for several months at Tuol Sleng. Witnesses reported that a foreigner was burned alive; initially, it was suggested that this might have been John Dewhirst, but a survivor would later identify Kerry Hamill as the victim of this particular act of brutality. Robert Hamill, his brother and a champion Atlantic rower, would years later make a documentary, Brother Number One, about his brother's incarceration.

Nom-de-guerre: (pronounced nahm-duh-gair) Literally, in French this means "war name". A nom-de-guerre is a nickname earned in battle, such as "Stonewall" Jackson or "Fighting Joe" Hooker.

Defeat in Detail: Defeating a military force unit by unit. This occurred when units were unable to support one another, often because of distance.

Siege: (pronounced seej) Blocking the supply lines and escape routes of a city to force it to surrender. A siege usually meant one army trapped in a city, slowly running out of food and fresh water, with the opposing army camped outside. Famous sieges were held at Petersburg, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson.

Shot: A solid, round projectile, shot from a cannon.

Percussion Arm: A musket or rifle-musket that requires a cap to fire. A tiny cap is placed on the gun so that when a trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes the cap. The chemical in the cap (fulminate of mercury) ignites and flame shoots into the chamber that holds the gunpowder. This ignites the powder and the blast shoots the bullet out of the barrel. (Percussion means striking�"a drum is a percussion instrument and a gun that uses a hammer to strike a cap is a percussion arm.)

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Prison Staff

The interrogation unit was split into three separate groups: Krom Noyobai or the political unit, Krom Kdao or the hot unit and Krom Angkiem, or the chewing unit. The hot unit (sometimes called the cruel unit) was allowed to use torture. In contrast, the cold unit (sometimes called the gentle unit) was prohibited from using torture to obtain confessions. If they could not make prisoners confess, they would transfer them to the hot unit. The chewing unit dealt with tough and important cases. Those who worked as interrogators were literate and usually in their 20s.

Territory: Land within the mainland boundaries of the country that had not yet become a state by 1861. Nevada Territory, Utah Territory, and Colorado Territory had basically the same boundaries they have today as states; Washington Territory encompassed today's states of Washington and Idaho; Dakota Territory is now the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the northern part of Wyoming; Nebraska Territory today is the southern part of Wyoming and the state of Nebraska; New Mexico Territory included the states of Arizona and New Mexico; and the remaining unorganized land, also called the Indian Territory, filled the approximate boundaries of Oklahoma.

Surrender: To admit defeat and give up in the face of overwhelming odds. Most defeated generals were able to negotiate surrender terms. These might include items like parole instead of prison for the soldiers or letting officers keep their sidearms.

Limber: A two-wheeled cart that carried one ammunition chest for an artillery piece. The artillery piece could be attached to the limber, which would allow both to be pulled by a team of horses. Also verb: The practice of attaching a piece of artillery to the limber that holds its ammunition.

Redoubt: (pronounced rih-dowt) An enclosed field work - without redans - which had several sides and was used to protect a garrison from attacks from several directions. While redoubts could be very useful, one key weakness was that each protruding angle was a salient. This meant that the redoubt would be susceptible to enfilading fire. A redoubt could also extend from a permanent fortress.

Battery: The basic unit of soldiers in an artillery regiment; similar to a company in an infantry regiment. Batteries included 6 cannon (with the horses, ammunition, and equipment needed to move and fire them), 155 men, a captain, 30 other officers, 2 buglers, 52 drivers, and 70 cannoneers. As the War dragged on, very few batteries fought at full strength. A battery can also be the position on a battlefield where cannon are located.

United States - Operation Breakfast

From 1970 to 1973 a massive United States bombing campaign against the Khmer Rouge devastated rural Cambodia. An earlier U.S. bombing campaign of Cambodia actually started on 18 March 1969 with Operation Breakfast, but U.S. bombing in Cambodia started years earlier than that.

The number of Cambodian civilian and Khmer Rouge deaths caused by U.S. bombing is disputed and difficult to disentangle from the broader Cambodian Civil War. Estimates range from 30,000 to 500,000. Sliwinski estimates that approximately 17% of total civil war deaths can be attributed to U.S. bombing, noting that this is far behind the leading causes of death, as the U.S. bombing was concentrated in underpopulated border areas. Ben Kiernan attributes 50,000 to 150,000 deaths to the U.S. bombing.

Copperhead: Term for a Northerner who opposed the war effort.

Shell: A hollow projectile, shot from a cannon; a shell was filled with powder and lit by a fuse when it was fired. Shells exploded when their fuse burned down to the level of the powder. Depending on the length of the fuse, artillerymen could decide when they wanted the shell to burst.

Reserve(s): Part(s) of the army which were withheld from fighting during a particular battle but ready and available to fight if necessary.

Zouave: (pronounced zoo-ahv or zwahv) A zouave regiment was characterized by its soldiers' bright, colorful uniforms which usually included baggy trousers, a vest, and a fez in different combinations of red, white, and blue. American zouave units were found in both Union and Confederate armies. They were modeled after French African troops who were known for their bravery and marksmanship

Ambulance: A two-wheeled or four-wheeled wagon or cart used to transport wounded or sick soldiers.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - History

From 1976 to 1979, an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng (the real number is unknown). At any one time, the prison held between 1,000 and 1,500 prisoners. They were repeatedly tortured and coerced into naming family members and close associates, who were in turn arrested, tortured and killed. In the early months of S-21's existence, most of the victims were from the previous Lon Nol regime and included soldiers, government officials, as well as academics, doctors, teachers, students, factory workers, monks, engineers, etc. Later, the party leadership's paranoia turned on its own ranks and purges throughout the country saw thousands of party activists and their families brought to Tuol Sleng and murdered. Those arrested included some of the highest ranking politicians such as Khoy Thoun, Vorn Vet and Hu Nim. Although the official reason for their arrest was "espionage", these men may have been viewed by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot as potential leaders of a coup against him. Prisoners' families were sometimes brought en masse to be interrogated and later executed at the Choeung Ek extermination center.

Green Troops: Phrase used to describe soldiers who were either new to the military or had never fought in a battle before.

Rampart: A large earthen mound used to shield the inside of a fortified position from artillery fire and infantry assault. Occasionally ramparts might be constructed of other materials, such as sandbags.

Parole: A pledge by a prisoner of war or a defeated soldier not to bear arms. When prisoners were returned to their own side during the War (in exchange for men their side had captured) the parole was no longer in effect and they were allowed to pick up their weapons and fight. When the South lost the War and the Confederate armies gave their parole they promised never to bear weapons against the Union again.

Private: The lowest rank in the army.

Arsenal: A place where weapons and other military supplies are stored.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Non-Cambodian prisoners

Two Franco-Vietnamese brothers named Rovin and Harad Bernard were detained in April 1976 after they were transferred from Siem Reap, where they had worked tending cattle. Another Frenchman named Andre Gaston Courtigne, a 30-year-old clerk and typist at the French embassy, was arrested the same month along with his Khmer wife in Siem Reap.

It is possible that a handful of French nationals who went missing after the 1975 evacuation of Phnom Penh also passed through S-21. Two Americans were captured under similar circumstances. James Clark and Lance McNamara in April 1978 were sailing when their boat drifted off course and sailed into Cambodian waters. They were arrested by Khmer patrol boats, taken ashore, where they were blindfolded, placed on trucks, and taken to the then-deserted Phnom Penh.

Revenue Cutter:This term applies to fast ships that were used to patrol the seas and Great Lakes to prevent smuggling and impose importation and custom fees. Revenue cutters would go on to become the United States Coast Guard.

Artillery: Cannon or other large caliber firearms; a branch of the army armed with cannon.

Fieldworks: Temporary fortifications put up by an army in the field.

Parrott gun: A rifled artillery piece with a reinforcing band at the rear, or breech. Parrott guns were used by both the Army and the Navy, and ranged from 10-pounders to 300-pounders. They were named after their designer, Robert Parker Parrott.

Private: The lowest rank in the army.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Torture and extermination

For the first year of S-21's existence, corpses were buried near the prison. However, by the end of 1976, cadres ran out of burial spaces, the prisoner and family members were taken to the Boeung Choeung Ek ("Crow's Feet Pond") extermination centre, fifteen kilometers from Phnom Penh. There, they were killed by a group of teenagers led by a Comrade Teng, being battered to death with iron bars, pickaxes, machetes and many other makeshift weapons owing to the scarcity and cost of ammunition. After the prisoners were executed, the soldiers who had accompanied them from S-21 buried them in graves that held as few as 6 and as many as 100 bodies.

Campaign: A series of military operations that form a distinct phase of the War (such as the Shenandoah Valley Campaign).

Offensive: Actively attacking someone.

Militia: Troops, like the National Guard, who are only called out to defend the land in an emergency.

Smoothbore: A gun is smoothbore if the inside of the barrel is completely smooth. Smoothbore guns were used before rifled guns were developed. Although smoothbores were not as accurate and had a shorter range than rifled arms, there were still plenty of them in use during the Civil War.

Magazine: A fortified location where powder or supplies were stored.

Vietnamese

The Khmer Rouge initially ordered the expulsion of ethnic Vietnamese from Cambodia but then conducted large scale massacres of large numbers of Vietnamese civilians who were being deported out of Cambodia. The regime then prevented the remaining 20,000 ethnic Vietnamese from fleeing, and much of this group was also executed. The Khmer Rouge also used the media to support their goals of genocide. Radio Phnom Penh called on Cambodians to "exterminate the 50 million Vietnamese."

Additionally, the Khmer Rouge conducted many cross-border raids into Vietnam where they slaughtered an estimated 30,000 Vietnamese civilians. Most notably, during the Ba Chúc massacre in April 1978, the Khmer Rouge military crossed the border and entered the village, slaughtering 3,157 Vietnamese civilians. This caused an urgent response from the Vietnamese government, precipitating the Cambodian�"Vietnamese War in which the Khmer Rouge was ultimately defeated.[117

Reserve(s): Part(s) of the army which were withheld from fighting during a particular battle but ready and available to fight if necessary.

Massacre: The cruel killing of a number of helpless or unresisting people.

Defensive: Resisting or protecting against attack from someone.

Casualty: A soldier who was wounded, killed, or missing in action.

Contrabands: Escaped slaves who fled to the Union lines for protection.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Torture and extermination

Most prisoners at S-21 were held there for two to three months. However, several high-ranking Khmer Rouge cadres were held longer. Within two or three days after they were brought to S-21, all prisoners were taken for interrogation. The torture system at Tuol Sleng was designed to make prisoners confess to whatever crimes they were charged with by their captors. Prisoners were routinely beaten and tortured with electric shocks, searing hot metal instruments and hanging, as well as through the use of various other devices. Some prisoners were cut with knives or suffocated with plastic bags. Other methods for generating confessions included pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds, holding prisoners' heads under water, and the use of the waterboarding technique. Women were sometimes raped by the interrogators, even though sexual abuse was against Democratic Kampuchea (DK) policy. The perpetrators who were found out were executed. Although many prisoners died from this kind of abuse, killing them outright was discouraged, since the Khmer Rouge needed their confessions. The "Medical Unit" at Tuol Sleng, however, did kill at least 100 prisoners by bleeding them to death. It is proven that medical experiments were performed on certain prisoners. There is clear evidence that patients in Cambodia were sliced open and had organs removed with no anesthetic. The camp's director, Kang Kek Iew, has acknowledged that "live prisoners were used for surgical study and training. Draining blood was also done."

Massacre: The cruel killing of a number of helpless or unresisting people.

Minie Bullet (or minié bullet): (pronounced min-ee or min-ee-ay) The standard infantry bullet of the Civil War. The bullet was designed for muzzle-loading rifle-muskets. It was invented by two Frenchmen, Henri-Gustave Delvigne and Claude-Étienne Minié (pronounced "min-ee-ay"). It was small enough to load quickly, and had a special feature that let it take advantage of a rifled-barrel. When the rifle-musket was fired, expanding gas from the gunpowder blast was caught in the hollow base of the bullet forcing it against the rifled grooves inside the barrel.

Muster: To formally enroll in the army or to call roll.

Cotton-Clad: Gunboats using stacked cotton bales to protect themselves from enemy fire.

Emancipation: Freedom from slavery.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Survivors

Out of an estimated 20,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng, there were only twelve known survivors: seven adults and five children. One child died shortly after the liberation. As of mid-September 2011, only three of the adults and four children are thought to be still alive: Chum Mey, Bou Meng, and Chim Meth. All three said they were kept alive because they had skills their captors judged to be useful. Bou Meng, whose wife was killed in the prison, is an artist. Chum Mey was kept alive because of his skills in repairing machinery. Chim Meth was held in S-21 for 2 weeks and transferred to the nearby Prey Sar prison. She may have been spared because she was from Stoeung district in Kampong Thom where Comrade Duch was born. She intentionally distinguished herself by emphasising her provincial accent during her interrogations. Vann Nath, who was spared because of his ability to paint, died on September 5, 2011. Norng Chan Phal, one of the surviving children published his story in 2018.

Mortar: An unrifled artillery gun which was designed to launch shells over walls and enemy fortifications. The most famous Civil War mortar is the "Dictator" -- a mortar which was mounted on a railroad car and used during the siege of Petersburg. With its 13 inch bore it was capable of launching two hundred pound shells.

Housewife: Small sewing kit soldiers used to repair their garments.

Brigade: A large group of soldiers usually led by a brigadier general. A brigade was made of four to six regiments. 1 company = 50 to 100 men, 10 companies = 1 regiment, about 4 regiments = 1 brigade, 2 to 5 brigades = 1 division, 2 or more divisions = 1 corps, 1 or more corps = 1 army.

Dysentery: (pronounced DISS-ehn-terr-ee) Intestinal disease causing severe diarrhea. Dysentery was a leading cause of deaths by disease.

Aide-de-Camp: A soldier who was appointed by an officer to be his confidential assistant. The aide wrote and delivered orders and held a position of responsibility which required him to know troop positions and where officer quarters were located. The aide-de-camp was an officer by virtue of his position and he took orders from his commander only.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Non-Cambodian prisoners

Almost all non-Cambodians had left the country by early May 1975, following an overland evacuation of the French Embassy in trucks. The few who remained were seen as a security risk. Though most of the foreign victims were either Vietnamese or Thai, a number of Western prisoners, many picked up at sea by Khmer Rouge patrol boats, also passed through S-21 between April 1976 and December 1978. No foreign prisoners survived captivity in S-21.

Even though the vast majority of the victims were Cambodian, some were foreigners, including 488 Vietnamese, 31 Thai, four French, two Americans, two Australians, one Laotian, one Arab, one Briton, one Canadian, one New Zealander, and one Indonesian. Khmers of Indian and Pakistani descent were also victims.

Company: A group of 50 to 100 soldiers led by a captain. 10 companies = 1 regiment, about 4 regiments = 1 brigade, 2 to 5 brigades = 1 division, 2 or more divisions = 1 corps, 1 or more corps = 1 army.

Whig Party: A political party generally against slavery and its expansion into the territories. The Whig party had basically been swallowed up by the Democrat and Republican parties by the time of the Civil War.

Butternut: Home-made dye used to color "homespun" cloth a yellow-brown color, used when imported gray cloth became scarce. The dye was made from the husks, leaves, bark, branches and/or roots of butternut and walnut trees. "Butternut" was also a slang term for a Confederate soldier.

Salient: (pronounced SAY-lee-uhnt) A part of a defensive line of works or a fortification that juts out from the main line towards the enemy. Salients can be very vulnerable to because they may be attacked from multiple sides.

Vedette(or vidette): A mounted sentry stationed in advance of a picket line.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or simply Tuol Sleng; lit. "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill") is a museum chronicling the Cambodian genocide. Located in Phnom Penh, the site is a former secondary school which was used as Security Prison 21 (S-21; Khmer: ម�"�'�'ីរស-២១) by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 until its fall in 1979. From 1976 to 1979, an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng and it was one of between 150 and 196 torture and execution centers established by the Khmer Rouge. On 26 July 2010, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia convicted the prison's chief, Kang Kek Iew, for crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. He died on 2 September 2020 while serving a life sentence.

Parrott gun: A rifled artillery piece with a reinforcing band at the rear, or breech. Parrott guns were used by both the Army and the Navy, and ranged from 10-pounders to 300-pounders. They were named after their designer, Robert Parker Parrott.

Juggernaut: (pronounced juhg-er-nawt) An overwhelming, advancing force that crushes or seems to crush everything in its path.

Agriculture: The science of growing crops or raising livestock; farming.

Republican Party: A political party created in the 1850s to prevent the spread of slavery to the territories. Eventually Republicans came to oppose the entire existence of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. Very few Southerners were Republicans.

Kepi: (pronounced KEH-peeh) Cap worn by Civil War soldiers; more prevalent among Union soldiers.

The Cambodian genocide

The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Communist Party of Kampuchea general secretary Pol Pot, who radically pushed Cambodia towards an entirely self-sufficient agrarian socialist society. It resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population in 1975 (c. 7.8 million).

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had long been supported by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its chairman, Mao Zedong;[a] it is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid which the Khmer Rouge received came from China, including at least US$1 billion in interest-free economic and military aid in 1975 alone. After it seized power in April 1975, the Khmer Rouge wanted to turn the country into an agrarian socialist republic, founded on the policies of ultra-Maoism and influenced by the Cultural Revolution.[b] Pol Pot and other Khmer Rouge officials met with Mao in Beijing in June 1975, receiving approval and advice, while high-ranking CCP officials such as Politburo Standing Committee member Zhang Chunqiao later visited Cambodia to offer help.[c] To fulfill its goals, the Khmer Rouge emptied the cities and forced Cambodians to relocate to labor camps in the countryside, where mass executions, forced labor, physical abuse, malnutrition, and disease were rampant. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea.

Mason-Dixon line: A boundary surveyed in the 1760s that ran between Pennsylvania to the North and Delaware, Maryland and (West) Virginia to the South. It became a symbolic division between free states and slave states.

Commutation: Stipulation adopted by both the Union and Confederate governments which allowed certain draftees to pay a fee in order to avoid military service. Because the fee was higher than the average worker's annual salary, this provision angered less-wealthy citizens on both sides of the war.

Magazine: A fortified location where powder or supplies were stored.

Surrender: To admit defeat and give up in the face of overwhelming odds. Most defeated generals were able to negotiate surrender terms. These might include items like parole instead of prison for the soldiers or letting officers keep their sidearms.

Entrenchments: Long cuts (trenches) dug out of the earth with the dirt piled up into a mound in front; used for defense.

Cambodian Civil War

In 1968, the Khmer Rouge officially launched a nation-wide insurgency across Cambodia. Even though the government of North Vietnam had not been informed of the Khmer Rouge's decision, its forces provided shelter and weapons to the Khmer Rouge after the insurgency began. North Vietnamese support for the Khmer Rouge's insurgency made it impossible for the Cambodian military to effectively counter it. For the next two years, the insurgency grew because Norodom Sihanouk did very little to stop it. As the insurgency grew in strength, the party openly declared itself to be the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

Sihanouk was deposed in 1970. Premier Lon Nol deposed him with the support of the National Assembly, establishing the pro-United States Khmer Republic. On the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s advice, Sihanouk, who was in exile in Beijing, formed an alliance with the Khmer Rouge, and became the nominal head of a Khmer Rouge�"dominated government-in-exile (known by its French acronym, GRUNK) backed by China. Although thoroughly aware of the weakness of Lon Nol's forces and loath to commit American military force to the new conflict in any form other than air power, the Nixon administration announced its support for the new Khmer Republic.

Rebel Yell: A high-pitched cry that Confederate soldiers would shout when attacking. First heard at First Manassas (First Bull Run) Union troops found the eerie noise unnerving.

Defensive: Resisting or protecting against attack from someone.

Percussion Arm: A musket or rifle-musket that requires a cap to fire. A tiny cap is placed on the gun so that when a trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes the cap. The chemical in the cap (fulminate of mercury) ignites and flame shoots into the chamber that holds the gunpowder. This ignites the powder and the blast shoots the bullet out of the barrel. (Percussion means striking�"a drum is a percussion instrument and a gun that uses a hammer to strike a cap is a percussion arm.)

Courier: (pronounced KUHR-ee-er) A soldier who served the officers of his regiment by carrying mail or messages.

Caisson: (pronounced kay-suhn) �" A two-wheeled cart that carried two ammunition chests, tools, and a spare wheel for artillery pieces. The caisson could be attached to a limber, which would allow both to be pulled by a team of horses.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - History

The day began in the prison at 4:30 a.m. when prisoners were ordered to strip for inspection. The guards checked to see if the shackles were loose or if the prisoners had hidden objects they could use to commit suicide. Over the years, several prisoners managed to kill themselves, so the guards were very careful in checking the shackles and cells. The prisoners received four small spoonfuls of rice porridge and a watery soup of leaves twice a day. Drinking water without asking the guards for permission resulted in serious beatings. The inmates were hosed down every four days.

Industry: Manufacturing goods from raw materials, such as cloth from cotton or machine parts from iron.

Private: The lowest rank in the army.

Revolver: A handheld firearm with a chamber to hold multiple bullets (usually 6). The chamber turns so that each bullet can be fired in succession without reloading.

Skirmish: A minor fight.

Siege: (pronounced seej) Blocking the supply lines and escape routes of a city to force it to surrender. A siege usually meant one army trapped in a city, slowly running out of food and fresh water, with the opposing army camped outside. Famous sieges were held at Petersburg, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson.

Other support

As a result of Chinese and Western opposition to the Vietnamese invasion of 1978 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge continued to hold Cambodia's United Nations (UN) seat until 1982, after which the seat was filled by a Khmer Rouge-dominated coalition which was known as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK). Motivated by its opposition to Vietnam, China trained Khmer Rouge soldiers on its soil from 1979 to at least 1986, "stationed military advisers with Khmer Rouge troops as late as 1990," and "supplied at least $1 billion in military aid" during the 1980s.

After the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Thailand continued to allow the Khmer Rouge "to trade and move across the Thai border to sustain their activities ... although international criticism, particularly from the United States and Australia ... caused it to disavow passing any direct military support." There are also allegations that the United States directly or indirectly supported the Khmer Rouge because it wanted to weaken Vietnam's influence in Southeast Asia. Owing to support from China, Thailand, other South East Asian countries, the U.S., and some Western countries, the CGDK held Cambodia's UN seat until 1993, long after the Cold War had ended.

Shell: A hollow projectile, shot from a cannon; a shell was filled with powder and lit by a fuse when it was fired. Shells exploded when their fuse burned down to the level of the powder. Depending on the length of the fuse, artillerymen could decide when they wanted the shell to burst.

Republican Party: A political party created in the 1850s to prevent the spread of slavery to the territories. Eventually Republicans came to oppose the entire existence of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. Very few Southerners were Republicans.

Bivouac: (pronounced BIH-voo-ack) Temporary soldier encampment in which soldiers were provided no shelter other than what could be assembled quickly, such as branches; sleeping in the open.

Bayonet: (pronounced bay-uh-net) A metal blade, like a long knife or short sword, that could be attached to the end of a musket or rifle-musket and used as a spear or pike in hand-to-hand combat.

Revetment: A structure built to hold either natural or man-made embankments in position. Revetments could be made of items such as sandbags, fascines, gabions, brick, stone, and so on.

The Cambodian genocide

The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Communist Party of Kampuchea general secretary Pol Pot, who radically pushed Cambodia towards an entirely self-sufficient agrarian socialist society. It resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population in 1975 (c. 7.8 million).

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had long been supported by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its chairman, Mao Zedong;[a] it is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid which the Khmer Rouge received came from China, including at least US$1 billion in interest-free economic and military aid in 1975 alone. After it seized power in April 1975, the Khmer Rouge wanted to turn the country into an agrarian socialist republic, founded on the policies of ultra-Maoism and influenced by the Cultural Revolution.[b] Pol Pot and other Khmer Rouge officials met with Mao in Beijing in June 1975, receiving approval and advice, while high-ranking CCP officials such as Politburo Standing Committee member Zhang Chunqiao later visited Cambodia to offer help.[c] To fulfill its goals, the Khmer Rouge emptied the cities and forced Cambodians to relocate to labor camps in the countryside, where mass executions, forced labor, physical abuse, malnutrition, and disease were rampant. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea.

U.S. Sanitary Commission: A government agency created on June 18, 1861, whose purpose was to coordinate female volunteers who were supporting the Federal army. These women collected over $25 million in donations from "Sanitary Fairs" and other fundraisers. The volunteers also made uniforms and bandages, worked as cooks, and nursed the sick and wounded. Leadership, however, was largely male.

Redoubt: (pronounced rih-dowt) An enclosed field work - without redans - which had several sides and was used to protect a garrison from attacks from several directions. While redoubts could be very useful, one key weakness was that each protruding angle was a salient. This meant that the redoubt would be susceptible to enfilading fire. A redoubt could also extend from a permanent fortress.

Aide-de-Camp: A soldier who was appointed by an officer to be his confidential assistant. The aide wrote and delivered orders and held a position of responsibility which required him to know troop positions and where officer quarters were located. The aide-de-camp was an officer by virtue of his position and he took orders from his commander only.

Slavery: A state of bondage in which African Americans (and some Native Americans) were owned by other people, usually white, and forced to labor on their behalf.

Barrel: The long metal tube on a gun through which a projectile is fired.

Chinese

The state of the Chinese Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge regime was alleged to be "the worst disaster ever to befall any ethnic Chinese community in Southeast Asia." Cambodians of Chinese descent were massacred by the Khmer Rouge under the justification that they "used to exploit the Cambodian people". The Chinese were stereotyped as traders and moneylenders associated with capitalism, while historically the group had attracted resentment due to their lighter skin color and cultural differences. Hundreds of Cham, Chinese and Khmer families were rounded up in 1978 and told that they were to be resettled, but were actually executed.

At the beginning of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1975, there were 425,000 ethnic Chinese in Cambodia. By the end of 1979 there were just 200,000 stuck at Thai refugee camps or Cambodia. 170,000 Chinese fled Cambodia to Vietnam while others were repatriated. The Chinese were predominantly city-dwellers, making them vulnerable to the Khmer Rouge's revolutionary ruralism and evacuation of city residents to farms. The government of the People's Republic of China did not protest the killings of ethnic Chinese in Cambodia, despite being aware of the atrocities and simultaneously condemning Vietnam's treatment of ethnic Chinese.

Howitzer: A cannon which fired hollow projectiles and was generally lighter and shorter than its solid-shot cousins. A howitzer's projectiles had a smaller powder charge. Also, canister projectiles contained more small balls than other types of canister. Howitzers were useful in defending fortifications and causing disorder within with in an attacking force.

"Graybacks": A slang term for lice, or occasionally an offensive "Yankee" slang term for Confederate soldiers.

Mortar: An unrifled artillery gun which was designed to launch shells over walls and enemy fortifications. The most famous Civil War mortar is the "Dictator" -- a mortar which was mounted on a railroad car and used during the siege of Petersburg. With its 13 inch bore it was capable of launching two hundred pound shells.

"Infernal Machine": A term of contempt for torpedoes (either the land or the water variety). This term was also used to describe the Confederate vessel H.L. Hunley- the first successful submarine.

Musket: A smoothbore firearm fired from the shoulder. Thrust from exploding powder shoots the bullet forward like a chest pass in basketball.

United States - Khmer Rouge

The relationship between the United States' massive bombing of Cambodia and the growth of the Khmer Rouge in recruitment and popular support has been a matter of interest to historians. Some scholars, including Michael Ignatieff, Adam Jones and Greg Grandin, have cited the United States intervention and bombing campaign from 1965 to 1973 as a significant factor that led to increased support for the Khmer Rouge among the Cambodian peasantry. According to Ben Kiernan, the Khmer Rouge "would not have won power without U.S. economic and military destabilization of Cambodia. ... It used the bombing's devastation and massacre of civilians as recruitment propaganda and as an excuse for its brutal, radical policies and its purge of moderate communists and Sihanoukists."

Siege lines: Lines of works and fortifications that are built by both armies during a siege. The defenders build earthworks to strengthen their position inside a fort or city against assault while the besieging army constructs fortifications to protect siege guns and soldiers from sharpshooters inside the city.

Furlough: A leave from duty, granted by a superior officer. The furloughed soldier carried papers which described his appearance, his unit, when he left and when he was due to return. Furlough papers also contained a warning that failure to return on time would cause the soldier to be "considered a deserter".

Territory: Land within the mainland boundaries of the country that had not yet become a state by 1861. Nevada Territory, Utah Territory, and Colorado Territory had basically the same boundaries they have today as states; Washington Territory encompassed today's states of Washington and Idaho; Dakota Territory is now the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the northern part of Wyoming; Nebraska Territory today is the southern part of Wyoming and the state of Nebraska; New Mexico Territory included the states of Arizona and New Mexico; and the remaining unorganized land, also called the Indian Territory, filled the approximate boundaries of Oklahoma.

Quartermaster: The officer who was responsible for supplying clothing, supplies and food for the troops.

Cavalry: A branch of the military mounted on horseback. Cavalry units in the Civil War could move quickly from place to place or go on scouting expeditions on horseback, but usually fought on foot. Their main job was to gather information about enemy movements. Until the spring of 1863, the Confederate cavalry force was far superior to its Federal counterpart.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - Survivors

Out of an estimated 20,000 people imprisoned at Tuol Sleng, there were only twelve known survivors: seven adults and five children. One child died shortly after the liberation. As of mid-September 2011, only three of the adults and four children are thought to be still alive: Chum Mey, Bou Meng, and Chim Meth. All three said they were kept alive because they had skills their captors judged to be useful. Bou Meng, whose wife was killed in the prison, is an artist. Chum Mey was kept alive because of his skills in repairing machinery. Chim Meth was held in S-21 for 2 weeks and transferred to the nearby Prey Sar prison. She may have been spared because she was from Stoeung district in Kampong Thom where Comrade Duch was born. She intentionally distinguished herself by emphasising her provincial accent during her interrogations. Vann Nath, who was spared because of his ability to paint, died on September 5, 2011. Norng Chan Phal, one of the surviving children published his story in 2018.

Enfilade: (pronounced en-fuh-leyd) To fire along the length of an enemy's battle line.

Republican Party: A political party created in the 1850s to prevent the spread of slavery to the territories. Eventually Republicans came to oppose the entire existence of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. Very few Southerners were Republicans.

Artillery: Cannon or other large caliber firearms; a branch of the army armed with cannon.

"Bonnie Blue Flag": Extremely popular Confederate song named after the first flag of the Confederacy, which had one white star on a blue background. The lyrics listed each state in the order in which they seceded from the Union.

Parole: A pledge by a prisoner of war or a defeated soldier not to bear arms. When prisoners were returned to their own side during the War (in exchange for men their side had captured) the parole was no longer in effect and they were allowed to pick up their weapons and fight. When the South lost the War and the Confederate armies gave their parole they promised never to bear weapons against the Union again.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - History

Upon arrival at the prison, prisoners were photographed and required to give detailed autobiographies, beginning with their childhood and ending with their arrest. After that, they were forced to strip to their underwear, and their possessions were confiscated. The prisoners were then taken to their cells. Those taken to the smaller cells were shackled to the walls or the concrete floor. Those who were held in the large mass cells were collectively shackled to long pieces of iron bar. The shackles were fixed to alternating bars; the prisoners slept with their heads in opposite directions. They slept on the floor without mats, mosquito nets, or blankets. They were forbidden to talk to each other.

Charge: To rush towards the enemy.

Contrabands: Escaped slaves who fled to the Union lines for protection.

Recruits: The term used to describe new soldiers.

Campaign: A series of military operations that form a distinct phase of the War (such as the Shenandoah Valley Campaign).

Minie Bullet (or minié bullet): (pronounced min-ee or min-ee-ay) The standard infantry bullet of the Civil War. The bullet was designed for muzzle-loading rifle-muskets. It was invented by two Frenchmen, Henri-Gustave Delvigne and Claude-Étienne Minié (pronounced "min-ee-ay"). It was small enough to load quickly, and had a special feature that let it take advantage of a rifled-barrel. When the rifle-musket was fired, expanding gas from the gunpowder blast was caught in the hollow base of the bullet forcing it against the rifled grooves inside the barrel.