The Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader

by Michael Barton (Editor), Larry M. Logue (Editor)

Overview

An anthology of landmark scholarship on the histories of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War

In 1943, Bell Wiley's groundbreaking book Johnny Reb launched a new area of study: the history of the common soldier in the U.S. Civil War. This anthology brings together landmark scholarship on the subject, from a 19th century account of life as a soldier to contemporary work on women who, disguised as men, joined the army.

One of the only available compilations on the subject, The Civil War Soldier answers a wide range of provocative questions: What were the differences between Union and Confederate soldiers? What were soldiers' motivations for joining the army—their "will to combat"? How can we evaluate the psychological impact of military service on individual morale? Is there a basis for comparison between the experiences of Civil War soldiers and those who fought in World War II or Vietnam? How did the experiences of black soldiers in the Union army differ from those of their white comrades? And why were southern soldiers especially drawn to evangelical preaching?

Offering a host of diverse perspectives on these issues, The Civil War Soldier is the perfect introduction to the topic, for the student and the Civil War enthusiast alike.

Contributors: Michael Barton, Eric T. Dean, David Donald, Drew Gilpin Faust, Joseph Allen Frank, James W. Geary, Joseph T. Glaatthaar, Paddy Griffith, Earl J. Hess, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Perry D. Jamieson, Elizabeth D. Leonard, Gerald F. Linderman, Larry Logue, Pete Maslowski, Carlton McCarthy, James M. McPherson, Grady McWhiney, Reid Mitchell, George A. Reaves, Jr., James I. Robertson, Fred A. Shannon, Maris A. Vinovskis, and Bell Irvin Wiley.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814798799
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	09/01/2002
Pages:	515
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.06(d)

About the Author

Michael Barton is professor of American studies and social science at Pennsylvania State Universityat Harrisburg and author of Goodmen: The Character of Civil War Soldiers. Logue and Barton are co-editors of The Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader (NYU Press, 2002).

Larry Logue is Professor of History and Political Science at Mississippi College.

Table of Contents

1 What Manner of Men

2 Have Social Historians Lost the Civil War?

3 Who Joined the Confederate Army?

4 Yankee Recruits, Conscripts, and Illegal Evaders

5 To “Don the Breeches, and Slay Them with a Will!”

6 On the March

7 The Life of the Common Soldier in the Union Army, 1861–1865

8 From Finery to Tatters

9 Fun, Frolics, and Firewater

10 The Negro as a Soldier

11 Heroes and Cowards

12 The Confederate as a Fighting Man

13 The Rebels Are Barbarians

14 The Infantry Firefight

15 Leaving Their Mark on the Battlefield

16 The Nature of Battle

17 Trials of Soul

18 A Study of Morale in Civil War Soldiers

19 Christian Soldiers

20 From Volunteer to Soldier

21 Emotional Responses to Combat

22 “Dangled over Hell”

23 The Values of Civil War Soldiers

24 Embattled Courage

25 On the Altar of My Country

26 Holding On

27 The Civil War Soldier and the Art of Dying

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Understanding what convinced Civil War soldiers to lay down their lives for “the cause,” North AND South, is perhaps the hardest part of teaching about making sense of the war. This excellent collection of selections from leading scholars on who the soldiers were, how they lived, and why they fought is a fine introduction to years of research that seeks to answer that question.”

-Janet Coryell,Western Michigan University

“Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees.”

-Booklist,

"This type of work would be especially valuable for assignment in the classroom."

-North & South,

"Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees."

-Booklist,August 2002

"This is a fine collection which lends itself to classroom use and to the edification of non-specialists."

-Indiana Magazine of History

Editorial Reviews

Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees.”

-Booklist

From the Publisher

"Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees."

Booklist

"This type of work would be especially valuable for assignment in the classroom."

North & South

From armaments to slang expressions to the religious revivals that periodically converted tens of thousands of fighters, Civil War Soldier: A Historical Reader probes the daily lives of the men in blue and gray. An anthology of landmark scholarly essays (most of them contemporary, but some from as far back as the 19th century), the book covers such subjects as morale and patriotism, methods of warfare and the composition of the armies. Editors Michael Barton, an American studies professor at Pennsylvania State University, and Larry Logue, history and political science professor at Mississippi College, include several pieces on the experiences of black soldiers and an article about women who fought disguised as men. (Aug.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

This Civil War sampler combines 19th-century battlefield accounts with past and contemporary scholarship to offer a broad perspective on the historiographical issues scholars have raised concerning the soldiers' total experience: who the combatants were, how they survived, how they waged war, how they felt about their role in the conflict, the nature and depth of their convictions regarding the struggle, and how their ordeals contrasted with those of soldiers who fought in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Although editors Barton (Pennsylvania State Univ.; An Illustrated History of Greater Harrisburg) and Logue (Mississippi Coll.; To Appomattox and Beyond) are interested in such specific issues as the influence of the South's military tradition on its fighting men and the still raging debate as to whether both sides fought for ideals or their comrades, the overarching question of the study remains the basic social, cultural, and psychological differences between Johnny Reb and Billy Yank. Additional essays on the participation of African American and female troopers and the soldiers' concept of a "good death" round out this provocative anthology. Recommended for upper-level Civil War courses, military collections, and most libraries. John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Cleveland Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees."

August 2002 Booklist

"Understanding what convinced Civil War soldiers to lay down their lives for the cause, North AND South, is perhaps the hardest part of teaching about making sense of the war. This excellent collection of selections from leading scholars on who the soldiers were, how they lived, and why they fought is a fine introduction to years of research that seeks to answer that question."

Janet Coryell

"This is a fine collection which lends itself to classroom use and to the edification of non-specialists."

Indiana Magazine of History

"Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the book will be of interest to all Civil War devotees."

Booklist