Volunteers of both armies were farmers, businessmen, factory workers and frontier men; very few were trained for military tactics and a long commitments and marches. The South did have a higher proportion of hardy frontiersmen and outdoorsmen volunteer for the war effort. This gave the South a temporary advantage as their men were more likely to be hunters and skilled riflemen. However, both sides quickly learned there was a vast difference between shooting dinner and shooting their enemy, particularly men that might be relatives or friends.
The early home field battle advantages that the Southern troops and Generals initially possessed were short lived. The lasting convictions with which the Rebel fought were born in the concept that they were fighting for their home and families and that they were protecting their women and families from an invading army. Those were the lasting motivators for fierce fighting of the Rebel.
In addition to the strong sense that the men of the south were fighting to protect their land, businesses and their families, these men were also fighting for the concepts of liberty, southern nationalism and self-determination. But ideals alone were not going to support the troops on the battle fields, keep them armed, or keep them warm.
From letters surfaced in the book What They Fought for by James McPherson, comments such as this one can be found, “they have invaded our country and devastated it…murdered our best citizens…” 39 While the Northern armies were just as likely to fight valiantly they were marching into the home fields and lands of the South. From the march of the Union soldiers into the First Battle of Manassas, to the march on Vicksburg, and the surrender of Lee the Union was ...
... middle of paper ...
...gons or game that was shot. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
As with any army there were many vices in camp; drinking, gambling, cock fights and card games. Fights would often break out as a result of the many tedious hours spent in camp and the indulgence in alcohol. As a diversion men might go into nearby towns were temporary bordellos and women of ill repute could be found.
Cock fighting in a Union camp, photo taken in 1862 by Timothy O’Sullivan. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
There were also respectable women that followed the troops around. Wives of enlisted men, including their children would travel with the camps. These women would often be found in areas set up to do laundry for the troops. Wives of officers could also be found in camps. Still they were one room cabins and not always far from the changing battle lines.
Another reason the South well fell short of a victory was the obvious difference in population between the South and the North. The North at the time had twenty-two million men while the South had a meager nine-and-a-half million, of whom three-and-a-half million were slaves. While the slaves could be used to support the war effort through work on the plantations, in industries and as teamsters and pioneers with the army, they were not used as a combat arm in the war to any extent. This cuts the South's manpower by a third, leaving a fifteen-and-a-half million difference in the population of the two areas. Give the South fifteen-and-a-half million more possible soldiers, and the outcome would have been different.
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.
Shaw, William B., et al. A Photographic History of the Civil War. Six Volumes. New York, New York: The Blue and Grey Press, 1987.
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...
As the Civil War came underway the South’s military, smaller than the North’s, would take heavy blows from the decisions of the Confederacy. First of all they knew that if all their plantation owners fought in the war, their crops would possibly die out or not produce as much. To combat this problem they decided in the Conscription law that if someone had twenty or more slaves, they didn’t have to fight in the war. This caused the price of slaves to increase and caused crops from small slave holding plantations and yeoman farmers to do terrible. Since most Southerners fell into that category, the South would really feel the damage. Also the Impressment Act would take food from farmers to help feed the armies. This would demoralize the small Southern farmers and cause desertions, poor riots and ultimately put a negative face on the new confederacy. These internal divisions weren’t only a Southern problem, in fact the North had bitter divisions over conscription, taxes, suspension of habeas corpus, martial law and emancipation. “If anything, the opposition was more powerful and effective in the North than in the South.” (Why Did the Confederacy Lose?, pg 120) However the powerful opposition in the North w...
The Confederate jobs, wealth, and property (including slaves) were at stake. “Confederates fought for independence, for their property and way of life, for their very survival as a nation” (McPherson, 27). For this reason, dedication for the cause was strong for Confederates. A collection of letters from Civil War soldiers online, alongside with McPherson’s evidence, shows the patriotism and dedication to their nation and slaves. Confederates stood behind each other and were dedicated to having their own nation; one soldier stated, “that if he was killed, it would be while ‘fighting gloriously for the undying principles of Constitutional liberty and self government’” (McPherson, 11). Private Street, while on his death bed, wrote to his wife: "we must never dispair, for death is preferable to a life spent under the gaulling yoke of abolition rule" (Street, 1862). The reasons that fueled Confederate soldiers were the very practices that they strived on in everyday life; these soldiers naturally had dedication, but patriotism towards their nation and brotherhood is universal between the letters presented, and helped unify the Confederacy.
... by the war and fight more viciously. Lincoln was very careful not to underestimate his enemies in the South and sternly advised the American public not to get overconfident, “Let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that just God, in His good time, will us the right result.” The siege of Vicksburg was in many ways the hardest blow to the South, because they lost their control of the river there, and lost communication with their western territories. In many respects, this was the day that I believe most of the southern soldiers believed the war had ended, and with Sherman making his march, the psychological impact was devastating. Without their beliefs, their way of life taken away, they had no reason to fight, and no reason to continue fighting because if Old Dixie could fall, so could anyone else.
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.
The South was fighting against a government that they thought was treating them unfairly. They believed the Federal Government was overtaxing them, with tariffs and property taxes making their lifestyles even more expensive than they already had been. The North was fighting the Civil War for two reasons, first to keep the Nation unified, and second to abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the commander and chief of the Union or Northern forces, along with many other Northerners, believed that slavery was not only completely wrong, but it was a great humiliation to America. Once we can see that with these differences a conflict would surely occur, but not many had predicted that a full-blown war would breakout.
... yet they strongly believed that they could be victorious. Despite numerous disadvantages, the South entered the war with some important advantages. The South adopted a strategy like that of George Washington in the American Revolution. The plan, known as attrition, called for a strategy of winning the war by avoiding losing. That is, the South did not have to match the North's resources, they only needed to avoid full-scale battles and prolong the war making it too costly for their opponents.
Some women enlisted in the army to fight on the battlefield. Their reasons varied as some fought for money and
The Confederate Soldiers had very small food rations. They ate 12oz of bacon or salted beef, 20oz of bread or cornmeal, rice and peas daily. If a soldier today received that much food then they would be very hungry by the end of the day. Most men that signed up for the army were between ages 18 to 29 and most were farmers. African Americans were not allowed to be in the army. White men were paid $11 a month in 1861, and in 1864 they were raised to $18 a month.
In studying the Southern defense of slavery, it appears that southerners were defending a way of life. Many believed that the institution of slavery was the lesser of two evils in terms of providing benefits for workers, others believed that it was at the very foundation of a free society to own slaves and still others saw it merely as an expedient means to an economic end. Although one may acknowledge that the South had understandable political, social and religious reasons for supporting the institution of slavery, the fundamental moral obligation to treat all humans as equals supercedes them all.
They were the grease in the gears of war, the individuals working behind the scenes so that the men would be prepared, ready to fight with functioning weapons and operational gear. Many women decided not to stay at home and, rather, accompany their husbands or male relatives with the army. They "traveled with the army to sew, nurse, and wash clothes (Volo 170)." Again, the women did the dirty work to ensure the men were always relatively ready for battle.... ... middle of paper ... ...'
...f wearing down the north's patience. The south's idea of northerns as "city slickers" who did not know how to ride or shoot was wrong. Many of the men who formed the Union forces came from rural backgrounds and were just as familiar with riding and shooting as their southern enemies. Finally, the south's confidence in its ability to fund through sales of export crops such as cotton did not take into consideration the northern blockade. France and Britain were not willing to become involved in a military conflict for the sake of something they had already stockpiled. The help the south had received from France and Britain turned out to be a lot less than they expected. In conclusion, while all the south's reasons for confidence were based on reality, they were too hopeful. The south's commitment to a cause was probably what caused their blindness to reality.