The American Civil War was a grueling four years in American history where there were more than 600,000 casualties. What motivated these men to originally enlist when the war started, continue on through the hardships of war, and take up arms against their own countrymen? According to historian John A. Lynn these can be divided into three categories of soldier motivations that are initial motivation, sustaining motivation, and combat motivation. Author James M. McPherson uses these categories as his thesis in the book “For Cause and Comrades” and proves it successfully.
The factors that initially motivated men to enlist in the military at the start of the war according to McPherson were duty, honor, and country. Each of these motivating factors are linked. He talks of many Union men who write letters to loved ones about how it was their duty to enlist. “It is everyone’s duty to enlist, if he possibly can, and why is it not mine as much as it is other people’s? If you are not willing to send your sons why should others be willing to send theirs?” (McPherson, 23). Duty is connected with both honor and country. A man will feel it is his duty to fight for the country that he has been living in and whose government has protected him. The quote above, pulled from a letter of a Harvard student to his father, also captures the idea of maintaining honor. When he talks about others going to war there is a sense honor that he must go to war as well. He uses this idea to try to convince his father that his son must enlist. If this man did not go to war how would it look to other families who had sent their son to war?
Motivation by way of patriotism can be seen in Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address. “Lincoln had said in his i...
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...next day” (McPherson, 41). Battling sickness was not the only thing that adrenaline helped. Injured men could continue to fight during an adrenaline rush. These chemical changes caused men to ignore the fact that they were in danger and made them even more dangerous killers.
It appears that when compared to what the author had written about initial and combat motivations, sustaining motivation was somewhat overlooked. McPherson cites many examples and numerous different factors that encouraged men to enlist and to stay motivated in the midst of battle; however, he does not get into as much detail when talking about what motivated men to stay in the war besides a few main points. Regardless, James M. McPherson proves his thesis in “For Cause and Comrades” by showing the motivating factors that were split into the three main categories by historian John A. Lynn.
The American Civil War is one of the biggest turning points in American history. It marks a point of major separation in beliefs from the North and the South and yet somehow ends in a major unification that is now called the United States of America. It still to date remains the bloodiest war in American History. The book “This Republic of Suffering, death and the American Civil War” by Drew Gilpin Faust better explains the change in thought from the American people that developed from the unexpected mass loss in soldiers that devastated the American people. Throughout this review the reader will better understand the methods and theory of this book, the sources used, the main argument of the book, the major supporting arguments, and what the
The book “For cause and comrades” written by James M McPherson is not one of your typical civil war books. This book is completely different than what everyone would expect, McPherson tries to explain the why of the war behind the scenes of it. He goes into great detail onto how dissects the initial reason of both sides North and South by concentrating not on battlefield tactics and leaders but what emotional and great experiences the men had to face in the battle field.
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.
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...
There were many feelings of animosity towards the war and draft, especially from the soldiers themselves. Corpsman Douglas Anderson represented popular feelings of animosity towards the war, especially regarding the youngest of the soldiers fighting when he was quoted saying: “if your parents signed certain kinds of papers, you could get over there and die at seventeen.”
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.
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
Not all soldiers had a definite answer of why they fought, but it was definitely an open-ended question. In order to find a realistic answer to the question, McPherson gathered physical emotions from personal letters and diaries from soldiers during their war experience (1). The two sides, Confederate and Union, both had their reasons for going into war voluntarily and forcefully. He wanted to know what motivated volunteer soldiers to
“War at its basic level has always been about soldiers. Nations rose and fell on the strength of their armies and the men who filled the ranks.” This is a very powerful quote, especially for the yet young country of the United States, for it gives credit where credit is truly due: to the men who carried out the orders from their superiors, gave their blood, sweat and tears, and in millions of cases their lives while fighting for ideals that they believed their country or government was founded upon, and to ensure the continuation of these ideals. Up until the end of the 20th Century, they did so in the worst of conditions, and this includes not only the battle scene, but also every day life. In this essay, I will examine the daily life of the Civil War soldier, including: identifying WHO he was, drill and training, camp life, supplies he used, clothes he wore, food he ate, on the battlefield, psychological aspects including morale and his attitude toward the war, and his sexual life. That’s right, you read it correctly: HIS SEX LIFE!
Following the defeat of the Confederacy and to lift the morale of a shattered people momentum gathered to enshrine the Myth of the Lost Cause which would transform the Southern soldier living and dead, into a veritable hero.
When looking back in history there were many wars, and with wars come citizens who are patriotic and serve during the wars. During the Civil War, people had been patriotic in many ways other than going to war. The women, who were at home taking care of the family, would send patriotic envelopes which contained letters that would raise the spirits of those fighting. Some would have flags on them and they would have slogans and mottos saying “God Bless America” or “for God and Country”(Arispe). But these envelopes weren’t just there to raise the spirits of those fighting, they were also there to help inform people of the war. A famous envelope show ‘Quaker Jane’ handing ‘Quaker Jim’ a rifle, telling him to support the war. Though they were Quakers, they had a sense of obligation to fight. Even Robert E. Lee wrote a letter to his son saying " As I am an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity and institutions,a dn would be defended any state if her rights were invaded."(Prentice). Robert E. Lee was a general in the Confederate army and though he wasn’t on the...
Young children for generations have learned that the purpose of the Civil War, or the war between the states, was to free the slaves. The noble goal of freeing the slaves and ending slavery became the focus of instruction and the way most Americans would explain the cause of the Civil War. When the North entered the American Civil War it had many reasons to do so, least of which was to end the practice of slavery in the South, its primary goal was the preservation of the Union . To fully understand the issues leading up to the American Civil War and the motivation for the North engaging in this conflict, it is necessary to learn about: The economy, ideology, and statistics of the United States in the
The exploration of what patriotism is and what represents patriotism is an important one more people should embark upon. If Americans are to examine patriotisms true meaning, we will be able to abolish this faux patriotism, which is represented by intimidation, censorship, and majority rules attitudes or actions. This can be replaced by feelings and actions of caring, compassion, acceptance, rationality, and nonviolence, or in other words, patriotism.
According to Paine “...that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph…” (153) The better the fight, the better the pride and triumph.The first two years of the revolution were not going well for the soldiers. (141 Roden) There is more of a reason to stay. Other men deserted the army. (141 Roden).This gives us soldiers even more of a reason to stay. I must re-enlist to win the war, and I must help, even at the cost of my
...the appeal of the life of the soldier and even of the validity of his Novum as a government form (he makes explicit reference to Technocracy, the nearest equivalent (199)). I do find the argument convincing, but perhaps not as much for the younger reader. The best advantages of military service presented are acquiesce and contentment, in short, the death drive - the desire to live less – a desire I hope is not well formed in the young reader. The arguments for the superiority of the military man are less convincing since they rely on a pretty problematic altruism founded on species survival over the individual but they are serviceable and no one debates with someone who wants to sacrifice himself anyways. Overall, if the capitalist game of meritocracy appears a bit too rigged and the death drive kicks in a bit early, military service is shown to be a good option.