Charleston County Public Library

The war for the common soldier, how men thought, fought, and survived in Civil War armies, Peter S. Carmichael

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-379) and index

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

illustrationsportraits

index present

non fiction

The war for the common soldier

bibliography

1028584329

Peter S. Carmichael

The Littlefield history of the Civil War era

how men thought, fought, and survived in Civil War armies

"How did Civil War soldiers endure the brutal and unpredictable existence of army life during the conflict? This question is at the heart of Peter S. Carmichael's sweeping new study of men at war. Based on close examination of the letters and records left behind by individual soldiers from both the North and the South, Carmichael explores the totality of the Civil War experience--the marching, the fighting, the boredom, the idealism, the exhaustion, the punishments, and the frustrations of being away from families who often faced their own dire circumstances. Carmichael focuses not on what soldiers thought but rather how they thought. In doing so, he reveals how, to the shock of most men, well-established notions of duty or disobedience, morality or immorality, loyalty or disloyalty, and bravery or cowardice were blurred by war."--Front flap of jacket

Introduction -- Comrades, camp, and community -- Providence and cheerfulness -- Writing home -- Courage and cowardice -- Desertion and military justice -- Facing the enemy and confronting defeat -- The trophies of victory and the relics of defeat -- Epilogue

How men thought, fought, and survived in Civil War armies