The first and most wide-ranging study on Civil War desertion was done by Ella Lonn (1928). In spite of its age Desertion during the Civil War is an important beginning for all future studies of desertion. Lonn examined the previously neglected issues of desertion in both the Confederate and Union armies. In an effort to highlight the horrors of war, she disassociated desertion from cowardice and primarily examined the causes of desertion, while also evaluating its effect on the armies.
She maintained that there were multiple causes of desertion among the Confederates, which had little to do with cowardice. She found that desertion was caused by poor leadership, the Conscription Act, shortages of food and clothing at the front as well as poverty and disorder at home. While the Union army lost more twice as many men to desertion as did the Confederates, the Confederacy was more adversely affected by the desertions, causing them to lose battles, while Confederates who deserted to the enemy provided Union forces with intelligence, and in some cases, additional manpower. Desertion also caused demoralization amongst the civilian population. While Lonn argued that “desertion certainly contributed to the Confederate defeats after 1862 and was a prime factor in precipitating the catastrophe of 1865,” she did not claim that desertion caused Confederate defeat, only that it hastened the “inevitable.”
In conducting her research Lonn utilized regimental muster rolls, which listed soldiers who were available for duty and those who were absent, thereby giving a rough estimate of the total number of deserters from Confederate units to conduct her study. Many of the muster rolls for the last seven months of the war were missing fro...
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Virginia Regimental Histories Series. 141 vol. Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1981-2002.
Wakelyn, Jon L. Confederates Against the Confederacy: Essays on Leadership and Loyalty. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002.
Weitz, Mark A. A Higher Duty: Desertion Among Georgia Troops During the Civil War. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2000.
____________. More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.
Wiley, Bell I. The Life of Johnny Reb. Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1943.
Williams, David, Teresa Crisp Williams, and David Carlson. Plain Folk in a Rich Man's War: Class and Dissent in Confederate Georgia. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2002.
Williams, David. Bitterly Divided: The South’s Inner Civil War. New York: The New Press, 2008.
Nevertheless, an attitude they show is their cause for engaging in the war. On page 110, Lee describes, “With every step of a soldier, with every tick of the clock, the army was gaining safety, closer to victory, closer to the dream of independence.” His words reveal that their reason for coming was to gain their long overdue independence. Without a cause worth fighting for on each side, the war would have no fuel or reason to continue. In like manner, another attitude of the South was their admiration for their commander general. On page 251, Longstreet proclaims, “Colonel, let me explain something. The secret of General Lee is that men love him and follow him with faith in him. That’s one secret.” I believe this clarifies that the bond of brotherhood and respect for each other in this army would allow for these soldiers to follow their leader blindly. The overwhelming amount of faith and trust among the Army of the Northern Virginia is inspiring. The Confederates prove in these appearances that they do indeed have an important cause that they are willing to die
Duncan, Russell, ed. Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1992.
Carter, Dan T. Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007. Print.
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.
When we compare the military leaders of both North and South during the Civil War, it is not hard to see what the differences are. One of the first things that stand out is the numerous number of Northern generals that led the “Army of the Potomac.” Whereas the Confederate generals, at least in the “Army of Northern Virginia” were much more stable in their position. Personalities, ambitions and emotions also played a big part in effective they were in the field, as well as their interactions with other officers.
Turner, Thomas R. 101 Things You Didn’t Know about the Civil War. Avon: Adams, 2007.
Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a
Newman, Ralph G. "Gallant Symbol of the Confederacy." Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963), Sep 15, 1957. 1, http://search.proquest.com/docview/180274550?accountid=12085.
In addition to a crumbling national identity, the necessities of war diminished morale among citizens of the Confederacy. Early on, the South believed that Europe would a...
What happened at Andersonville was a repercussion of the Confederacy’s inability, not on the inability of Henry Wirz. Bibliography Denny, Robert. A. Civil War Prisons and Escapes. New York, New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 1993. Futch, Ovid.
McPherson, James M.; The Atlas of the Civil War. Macmillan: 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY. 1994.
The Union Army was able to match the intensity of the Confederacy, with the similar practice of dedication until death and patriotism, but for different reasons. The Union soldiers’s lifestyles and families did not surround the war to the extent of the Confederates; yet, their heritage and prosperity relied heavily on it. Union soldiers had to save what their ancestors fought for, democracy. “Our (Union soldiers) Fathers made this country, we, their children are to save it” (McPherson, 29). These soldiers understood that a depleted group of countries rather than one unified one could not flourish; “it is essential that but one Government shall exercise authority from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific” (Ledger, 1861).
Perman Michael, Amy Murrell Taylor. Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011.
The American Civil war is considered to be one of the most defining moments in American history. It is the war that shaped the social, political and economic structure with a broader prospect of unifying the states and hence leading to this ideal nation of unified states as it is today. In the book “Confederates in the Attic”, the author Tony Horwitz gives an account of his year long exploration through the places where the U.S. Civil War was fought. He took his childhood interest in the Civil War to a new level by traveling around the South in search of Civil War relics, battle fields, and most importantly stories. The title “Confederates in the Attic”: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War carries two meanings in Tony Horwitz’s thoughtful and entertaining exploration of the role of the American Civil War in the modern world of the South. The first meaning alludes to Horwitz’s personal interest in the war. As the grandson of a Russian Jew, Horwitz was raised in the North but early in his childhood developed a fascination with the South’s myth and history. He tells readers that as a child he wrote about the war and even constructed a mural of significant battles in the attic of his own home. The second meaning refers to regional memory, the importance or lack thereof yet attached to this momentous national event. As Horwitz visits the sites throughout the South, he encounters unreconstructed rebels who still hold to outdated beliefs. He also meets groups of “re-enactors,” devotees who attempt to relive the experience of the soldier’s life and death. One of his most disheartening and yet unsurprising realizations is that attitudes towards the war divide along racial lines. Too many whites wrap the memory in nostalgia, refusing...
It was April, months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee made the request toward Union General Ulysses S. Grant, preparing an open discussion to restore peace, and the time had finally approached. Wishing they set up a sooner date, Lee was now extremely ready. After times of loss; loss of men; loss of supplies; Lee was dragged away from his original intentions. Death was now at their fingertips. Lee arrived to the McLean household around the middle of the day--1 o’clock pm. Arriving in a large beautiful horse that shinned through the whole town, Lee took a seat in the center in the room. He stood there with his fellow confederate soldiers. About thirty minutes had passed. Lee was curious where his opponent was.