For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War

...well almost. In 'For Cause & Comrades' James McPherson has set out to explain exactly why the average soldier sacrificed so much for his respective cause in the American Civil War. He has succeeded in convincing me. As the backbone of his thesis, McPherson has used hundreds of letters and diary entries from both Confederate and Union soldiers that offer some glaring insight into their motivations and beliefs. He first touches on the more universal motivations of warriors such as honor, duty, comradery, religion, vengeance and so on. And while these all played a significant part in the Civil War, McPherson argues that what ultimately separated Civil war soldiers from those of most other wars was a fervent belief in the righteousness of their cause. In other words, this was a truly ideological war and these convictions of righteousness, on both sides, was what carried these men through such horrific fighting to the bitter end.While I can't say there were any shocking revelations here, I was slightly surprised, for instance, at how many Union soldiers were fervently dedicated to their cause. It usually goes without saying that the Confederate side was truly motivated to defend their cause, but I had always assumed that most Union men served out of a grudging sense of duty. It turns out that many truly felt that they were defending the American experiment as a whole from the despised "traitors and rebels." In fact, this seems to have been a bigger factor than slavery for most, as a large portion of Union men were just as racist as their Southern adversaries. Which makes it somewhat ironic that they felt they represented the cause of the entire free world against tyranny and oppression. It should be noted though that many Union soldiers did passionately oppose slavery and this was an equally compelling cause for them. The Union side seems to be very complex. On the other hand, the Confederate cause seemed to be much less complicated. They were fighting not only for the right to continue slavery, but also for their independence from the hated Yankee. As much as white supremacy was a chief motivator (even poor, non-slaveholders resented the notion of black equality), most Southerners truly believed they were fighting for their own liberty and way of life.Of course McPherson concedes that not every soldier fit this description. There are skulkers, dodgers, draftees, and otherwise reluctant soldiers in every army, but as McPherson shows, there was a significant core of truly ideological fighters on both sides who refused to accept anything less than total victory. While those well versed in Civil War history might not find anything new here, I found it to be a concise and convincing survey on Civil War motivations and I would highly recommend it.

As a history buff, I am an admirer of McPherson’s work on the Civil War, so I requested this book for Christmas from my wife. It didn’t disappoint. The author draws on the letters and diaries of common soldiers, not published memoirs which tend to spin the truth to show the writer in a favorable light. It is a valuable addition to Civil War literature that I highly recommend. My great, great grandfather, Sergeant Oliver Vernal, fought through the war, and was one of the three-year men who reenlisted. He had a 30 day leave from that, married my great, great grandmother, and returned to battle. He was badly wounded twice, once at Deep Bottom when the Sixth broke and fled. There he was shot through his tin cup into his hip. I assume it was on his belt behind him and he was running with the rest. Good thing too, because he had no children at the time. The Sixth had good days. They went into Battery Wagner next to the famous 54th Massachusetts, but didn’t get a mention in the movie Glory. My one disagreement with McPherson is when he says the Civil War soldiers were volunteers, unlike those who fought in Vietnam, who were draftees or career regulars. I wrote to McPherson and said that two-thirds of those who fought in Vietnam were, like me, volunteers who did not make careers of the military, while two-thirds of the soldiers in WWII were draftees. He wrote back and said he would fix that if there was another addition. This book offers great insight into human motivation, and I highly recommend it.

Mr. McPherson gives the reader the view of the thoughts and life of soldiers and officers from the North and South in the Civil War through their own letters. As a reader I wanted to know these men's names, what they looked like, and more about their families. Usually this was not possible, but the letters are presented as the men wrote them in their words. The men are articulate; yet denied their physical description, I could imagine them through their own unique spelling and way of "speaking."The author skillfully integrates the letters through many areas of concerns for any fighting man -- the reasons for volunteering and continuing to fight, letters from home, exhultation in battle when winning and despondency in loss, secession and emancipation, the place of "the Negro" in "the cause" and in battle, courage and its meaning, the challenges of each day, and more. These concerns are chronologically presented, and viewed from both the men of the North and South. The men's thoughts show they were men of courage (though many questioned if they would be) and conviction, loyalty and commitment, family men who evaluated their own reasons for being and fighting, recognizing what they were missing at home and why they were there--many understanding that this moment in time was also the future.I was not prepared for the book to end. Perhaps the author will entertain a sequel. I want to know about the "letter writers'" families and the men's thoughts at the end of the war. What was their experience upon return home? And what happened to families when they didn't return. I want to know how the letters ended in the National Archives or how and why they were saved and found their way to a museum. In other words, Mr. McPherson captured my desire to know more -- a true sign of a good and most worthwhile read.

mc pherson has done it again a great insight into the ACW a must for the civil war buff, nothing can match primary sources which this book has in abundance.