Why read The War for the Common Soldier?

Book cover of The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies

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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…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The War for the Common Soldier as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

James Marten

Author

Accounts of the common soldier are part of a long tradition in Civil War history—but this is not your typical study. Carmichael sets out not to examine motivations or ideology, but to explore "the life of the rank and file as it was lived." The war forced soldiers in the North and South to bridge the gulf between two competing impulses. "Sentimentalism" helped soldiers understand war as a series of hardships and sacrifices that could be endured through faith, courage, and patriotism. Confronting this conventional approach was a "pragmatism" that guided soldiers desperately seeking to survive with honor the filth,…

From James' list on the common people of the Civil War.