Analysis Of James M. Mcpherson's A Band Of Brothers

1747 Words4 Pages

In the article “A Band of Brothers” written by James M. McPherson the strength of soldiers is discussed. The purpose of this article is to explain why ordinary men were able to bear the brunt of some of the bloodiest battle that has ever been witnessed. The thesis of this article is Civil War soldiers wrote much about courage, bravery, and valor which all meant the same but ultimately came back to the soldiers showing honor for their town, state, and union.
In the first point that James M. McPherson makes, he explains the soldiers showing their self pride, community, and not disgracing their family. The men show pride in themselves because they didn’t want the people that knew them to think of them as cowards, “ personal honor is the one thing valued more than life itself by the majority of men” (McPherson Essay). If soldiers were to show any cowardice they would generally be rated out by …show more content…

How the courage of the soldier was important to the whole regiment and the man fighting beside you. It explained why a soldier's honor was so important and . Though this article showed important strengths, but it didn’t show all of them. It didn’t explain why the African Americans fought, what other causes of the war there were, preservation of the union, how lincoln’s election affected the war, etc. The Civil War is very similar to the Revolutionary War in that they both occurred in the United States. They both also had major outcomes when the war ended; the Civil war freed slaves and the Revolutionary war gave us independence and the constitution. Though they had these two things in common the Civil war was fought in the south and the Revolutionary war on the east coast. Another major difference in these wars were the death tolls; the Civil war had around 620,000 American deaths and the Revolutionary war had around 26,500 American

Show More
Related

  • Stephen Crane and Walt Whitman: The Natural and the Language of Social Protest

    1813 Words  | 4 Pages

    In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming was drawn to enlist by his boyhood dreams. His highly romanticized notion of war was eclectic, borrowing from various classical and medieval sources. Nevertheless, his exalted, almost deified, conception of the life of a soldier at rest and in combat began to deflate before the even the ink had dried on his enlistment signature. Soon the army ceased to possess any personal characteristics Henry had once envisioned, becoming an unthinking, dispas...

    Read More

  • For Cause And Comrades Summary

    538 Words  | 2 Pages

    More than 25,000 letters and 250 private diaries from men on both side of North and South. Talking about the soldier's ideals for which they fought over conflicts and beliefs of each side. McPherson took all of the soldier’s ideas and beliefs and made this powerful and important book on an often-overlooked aspect of the Civil War. Also, it brought great honor and powerfully moving account for the men that fought in the civil war.

    Read More

  • ThestuAnalysis of For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War by James M. McPherson

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book “For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War” by James M. McPherson examines the motivations of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. McPherson wanted to understand why the men fought in the Civil War and why they fought so ferociously for such a large amount of time even though there was a huge possibility of death, disease and injurys.To answer the question regarding the reasons why men fought in the Civil War so viciously, and for such a long period of time, James McPherson studied countless amounts of letters, diaries and other mails that were written or sent by the soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

    Read More

  • Joseph plumb martin

    588 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier is a memoir written by Joseph Plumb Martin, an ordinary soldier who served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. As the name indicated, the memoir mainly portrays the common men’s experiences and feelings, especially their dangers and sufferings, during the revolutionary period. Based on Martin’s unique perspective, his memoir cannot provide us with the big picture from the top down, such as the military strategy and the charismatic leadership of American revolutionary army. However, it offers exclusive insights and precious details that allow us to closely examine what truly transpired among the thousands of soldiers during that period.

    Read More

  • Analysis of For Cause and Comrades

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...

    Read More

  • What They Fought For by James McPherson's

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.

    Read More

  • Gettysburg Address versus Letter to His Son

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thousands of men died in November 1863. Within in a couple of days bodies laid scattered across the battle fields while tens of thousands men sat in a hospital. All of these men participated in one thing, the Civil War. Fighting for the rights of the people and what our constitution stood for. Families and friends had to pick a side, South or the North. Each had their reasoning for why they stood to fight, but surprisingly their reasoning was similar. Each state was proud they live in a country that had broken away from British. They marveled at the idea that all men are created and equal and have certain rights. Americans were proud. Proud to the point that they never stopped pay attention to all that they did. Proud because they put laws on humans and threw them into bondage. In 1861 people started to take sides. In some ways it was unconstitutional, but in others they were fighting for the people. The Civil War had begun. The fate of our country was in the hands of the people. On opposite sides of the war, Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee wrote The Gettysburg Address and Letter to His Son there were three astonishingly similarities and differences in the two works: the people are one, acts were unconstitutional and the nation is on shaky ground.

    Read More

  • Essay On Valley Forge

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Small Will to Fight With Very Little Might The cold was the most overwhelming it had ever been, and the men inside were dying from dying from illnesses and starvation. All of the problems, it’s just… too much, it’s hard to handle. The American soldiers just arrived at Valley Forge at were attempting to set up. They had very minimal food and were living poorly, they were all cold, discouraged, and about half were sick. All of these men from the Continental Army were at Valley Forge, some on the verge of death.

    Read More

  • Military Strategy and Tactics of the Civil War

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    Book Title: The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research. Contributors: Robin Higham - editor, Steven E. Woodworth - editor. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1996

    Read More

  • The Importance of Black Soldiers in the Civil War

    1732 Words  | 4 Pages

    The American Civil War is perhaps the most important event in U.S. history since the American Revolution. Over half a million men would perish between the Union and Confederate Armies. It is important to know that Ulysses S. Grant was an important figure (perhaps the most important behind Abraham Lincoln) in the war. Many will see him as the hero of the American Civil War. Nevertheless there were others who would play an important role to help the Union win the Civil War. The implementation of black soldiers was crucial to the Union in order to achieve victory against the Confederate Army. Yet, the contributions and accomplishments of black soldiers during the Civil War were overlooked for nearly a century following the Civil War. However, within the last 30 years, many scholars and historians have begun to publish books on the history of black soldiers and their contributions to the Civil War. During the Civil War, free blacks were permitted to serve in the Union Army. But it was not until 1863, that black soldiers would see combat and charge against the confederate armies. It is estimated that around 186,000 African American served the Union Army throughout the war, with the creation of 163 colored regiments. My research paper will focus on the Black regiments of the American Civil War and their importance to U.S. history. Some of the important issues that will be discussed in this paper will include the struggles of black soldiers during the Civil War, from their wage earnings (where most made less money than white soldiers); the clothes they wore (most had no uniforms at all). Also, many of these soldiers had trouble getting the basic necessities like shoes, socks and soap. Other areas I will discuss will be the discriminatio...

    Read More

  • The Inevitable American Civil War

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    The American civil war is one of the historic dark moments that are in the memory of the country was lasted for 4 years, between the years 1961-1965. The conflict that existed was between the north and the south states of the U.S. The conflict led to mass destruction of property and man lives were lost during the war. The war had a great impact in creating awareness in the U.S despite the great tension it created, and was the greatest determinant of the way the U.S is currently in terms of the sovereignty and the liberty of the U.S citizens. It is estimated that over 600,000 lives were lost in the four years’ war most of them being soldiers who were fighting to defend their respective states. The war did not only touch the lives of Americans but whole world felt its effect. The war was purely American since no other country intervened in the war (James & Michael, 17).

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The American Revolution And The Civil War

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Revolution and the American Civil War questioned the integrity and outlook of the men and women that encompassed the North American continent. There was a significance in difference between even the most basic aspects of both wars which include the style of battle that was conducted, variation in armory and defense tactics, and the number of casualties.

    Read More

  • Courage and Cowardice in The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place” (O’Brien 21). The soldiers did not go to war for glory or honor, but simply to avoid the “blush of dishonor” (21). In fact, O’Brien states “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of What They Fought For

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    More confederates than unions were illiterate due to the fact that most held professional or white-collard jobs (36). To make the Union soldiers sample fair sense most blacks couldn’t read or write, 2 who could were included in the sample (36). The levels of patriotism differed from the upper and lower south given to the fact that the upper south were mainly cotton states. The confederates felt as if it was a “rich mans woar but the poor man has to do the fifting” (16). The confederates were mainly fighting for “independence, property and way of life” (27). Some characteristics the soldiers had in common were McPherson’s calculations for the Union. He came to seeing that out of 562 Union soldier’s letters read only 67 percent voice strong patriotic motives. This is the same as the two-thirds of Confederates. As a result from reading McPherson’s book, research showed that the Union and Confederate soldiers expressed about the same degree of patriotic and ideological convictions. Even though they both had different reasons for fighting the levels of sincerity and dedication in their notes were

    Read More

  • Tennyson's The Charge Of The Light Brigade

    326 Words  | 1 Pages

    First, a soldier's courage and grit are some of their most proud aspects. When the soldiers rode their horses into battle, they were fearful, but they continued onward into the jaws of death. Tennyson’s text states, “stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well.” This

    Read More

More about Analysis Of James M. Mcpherson's A Band Of Brothers

Open Document