Reid Hardeman Mitchell

In this book Mitchell looks at the Northern soldier during the Civil War. He uses journals and letters to let the soldiers, nurses, and family members speak for themselves. He really gets inside the heads of the men who fought for the Union. His chapters cover motivations for enlistment, war experiences, encounters with Confederate soldiers and civilians, and how Northerners coped with death. Northern soldiers joined the army to preserve the Union, to fight beside their friends, and protect their families. Many young men considered the war to be their "coming of age" experience. Enlistment was viewed as masculine duty; the army was often considered to be one big family.

Northerners struggled with seeing the South for the first time; Yankees felt like they were in a foreign country. They often derided the lack of industry and the South's laziness (in their opinions) due to reliance on slave labor. Some Northerners became abolitionists as a result of army service, they saw the effects of slavery for the first time in person and were appalled by the horrible conditions they saw on plantations.

In the South, family livelihoods were torn apart by the invading armies, slavery was unraveling before their very eyes, and the government was unable to support the army and the citizens. Often the family back home would encourage soldier's to desert to keep them safe. Many Confederates soldier's thought the war would never end, and eventually they gave up on the Confederate cause, because their families were more important to them. In the end the North's determination to win, the necessity to preserve the Union, their views of domesticity and patriotism, and the support of the home community and family gave them the strength to endure.… (mehr)

Civil War Soldiers provides an excellent overview into the beliefs and mindsets of both Northern and Confederate soldiers. I've had the privilege of taking a graduate Civil War course with Dr. Mitchell and found it to be quite engaging. This book includes excerpts and snippets from soldier's primary sources, mostly letters and journals. Mitchell follows events from the motivations for men to enlist and the initial excitement and conviction through the Emancipation Proclamation, then through to the surrender of Lee and Lincoln's assassination. The reader really gets a feel for the soldier's conflicting justifications and complex emotional reactions to battle, looting, and experiences with civilians and African Americans.… (mehr)