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

Written by James M. McPherson

Narrated by David Colacci

General John A. Wickham, commander of the famous 101st Airborne Division in the 1970s and subsequently Army Chief of Staff, once visited Antietam battlefield. Gazing at Bloody Lane where, in 1862, several Union assaults were brutally repulsed before they finally broke through, he marveled, "You couldn't get American soldiers today to make an attack like that." Why did those men risk certain death, through countless bloody battles and four long, awful years? Why did the conventional wisdom-that soldiers become increasingly cynical and disillusioned as war progresses-not hold true in the Civil War?

It is to this question-why did they fight-that James McPherson now turns his attention. He 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.

McPherson draws on more than 25,000 letters and nearly 250 private diaries from men on both sides. For Cause and Comrades lets these soldiers tell their own stories in their own words to create an account that is both deeply moving and far truer than most books on war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Mar 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781515943891

James M. McPherson

James M. McPherson taught U.S. history at Princeton University for forty-two years and is author of more than a dozen books on the era of the Civil War. His books have won a Pulitzer Prize and two Lincoln Prizes.

Reviews for For Cause and Comrades

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This slim book is a distillation of 25,000 soldiers; letters and 20 diaries, and analyzes the variety of reasons Civil War soldiers fought --emphasize fought --McPherson focused chiefly on soldiers who did front line fighting (and in any cases died in battle); he did his best to mirror the percentages of soldiers from the different states in each army and the branches of service (infantry, cavalry, artillery) . He admits that he has a disproportionately number of officers (especially on the Confederate side) and a disproportionately small number of black soldiers responses (because 70% of black soldiers were illiterate, while 90% of Union troops overall were literate, and 80% of Confederates). Numerous soldiers wrote home, and there was no censorship, so they gave very frank opinions about themselves. their fellow soldiers and officers, and how they felt about the war. While there were some honest cowards who said they were glad not to be where the bullets were flying, a remarkable number were determined to do their duty and die if necessary, even in the face of conditions of appalling danger.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you wish to know how the soldiers viewed the war, the issues, their life in the conflict and how those views changed as their situation changed, this is a wonderful source. McPherson presents the letters from both sides of the conflict discussing the same issue so you can see how the soldiers' opinions may be based on the background or personal history. While at times repetitive, this was completing reading and it often made me feel the soldiers' loneliness because they were away from home for years. We also get a sense of what life was for their families without the main bread winner there to do the work.

[ckoller_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really great insight into the reason why soldiers fought in the Civil War. Great read!

[missmath144 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

McPherson wrote a shorter version of this called WHAT THEY FOUGHT FOR. I liked that so much that I read this later, longer version. It is an excellent explanation of why men fought in the Civil War. He covers northern and southern motivations and differentiates between reasons to enlist and motivations for going into battle. McPherson is also clear about the statistics, letting the reader know which groups are over- or under-represented in his sampling and how that might effect the outcomes.

[sgerbic · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reviewed Dec. 2006 My first Civil War book of the season it surly won’t be the last. McPherson uses over 1000 letters and diaries of Union and Southern soldiers to answer the questions: Why did you enlist...”duty, patriotism, honor and ideology.” How did they sustain motivation to fight...”impulses of courage, self-respect and group cohesion.” Both sides used the “founding fathers” and the energy of “1776” to fuel their opinion of being on the “right side.” Confederates “fought for independence, for a way of life, for their homes, for their very survival as a nation.” Northerners fought because they “believed that they would no longer have a country worthy of the name.” Confederates “professed to fight for liberty and independence from a tyrannical government.” “Unionists said they fought to preserve the nation conceived in liberty from dismemberment and destruction.” Both speak to the American Revolution. The Union soldiers did not in the beginning fight to free slaves but as the war progressed and they saw the cruelty and backwardness of the South they began to become convinced that saving the Union would be impossible without “striking against slavery.” “As long as slavery exists...there will be no permanent peace for America.” 28-2006