A Book by James McPherson

Continuing on with my recent dip back into books on the American Civil War, I decided to try a book by James McPherson that I was unfamiliar with. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War is an older collection of excerpts from first-hand material (the author states he combed through 25,000 letters and nearly 250 private diaries) created to see what soldiers were thinking and feeling during the conflict. The American Civil War has a lot of ahistorical information out there (Lost Cause mythology is perhaps the biggest offender in my opinion), and I wish more historians would do something like this because these actual letters and diary entries spell out just what was going on. McPherson does a great job of being impartial, allowing the words speak for themselves, as well as show both sides of political and societal opinions.

“[McPherson] shows that, contrary to what many scholars believe, the soldiers of the Civil War remained powerfully convinced of the ideals for which they fought throughout the conflict. Motivated by duty and honor, and often by religious faith, these men wrote frequently of their firm belief in the cause for which they fought: the principles of liberty, freedom, justice, and patriotism. Soldiers on both sides harkened back to the Founding Fathers, and the ideals of the American Revolution. They fought to defend their country, either the Union–“the best Government ever made”–or the Confederate states, where their very homes and families were under siege. And they fought to defend their honor and manhood. “I should not lik to go home with the name of a couhard,” one Massachusetts private wrote, and another private from Ohio said, “My wife would sooner hear of my death than my disgrace.” Even after three years of bloody battles, more than half of the Union soldiers reenlisted voluntarily. “While duty calls me here and my country demands my services I should be willing to make the sacrifice,” one man wrote to his protesting parents. And another soldier said simply, “I still love my country.”

This is one of those books that honestly debunks a LOT of Lost Cause Mythology content being produced for the last 150+ years. Just like with the fact that almost every state that conceded talks at length about how their decision to leave The Union was based on a fear that slavery would be abolished, that tone creeps into almost all of the letters and diaries seen here. You have many people, from all walks of life, talking about their thoughts on slavery, descriptions of how they knew they were fighting for/against slavery, and how many felt when seeing it first hand after venturing into plantations they may not have had in their areas. Some politicians use coded language such as “our peculiar institution”, but make no qualms about where they stand on it. Sure, I guess the conflict was about state rights – the right to have slavery.

The book is organized into sections where the letters converge, and some of them are not the sort of content you would expect. The aforementioned slavery discussion takes up a decent amount of real-estate, even with Northerners angry about the Emancipation Proclamation, or Southerners hoping they ship slaves back to Africa. There are chapters about armies referring to the enemy side as “the elephant”, the general excitement of the beginnings of the war versus hating war later on, attitudes towards officers, and even small things like food. For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War has a lot of good information and would serve as a great jumping off point for further research.

I wouldn’t say this book challenged any preconceived notions about the war that I might have, but some of the takes, especially ones atypical to the normal zeitgeist of the two armies and their opinions, are interesting. This book was perfect for quick chapter reads before bed, and I assume would make an excellent audio book. As long as you aren’t scared of having your Elementary School opinions of The Civil War potentially rattled, this was a solid read.