The Union soldier in battle enduring the ordeal of combat
By: Earl J. Hess.
Series: Modern war studies
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Lawrence
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: United States. Army -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; United States. Army -- Military life -- History -- 19th century; Combat -- Psychological aspects -- History -- 19th century; Soldiers -- United States -- Psychology -- History -- 19th century; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Psychological aspects
Description: With its relentless bloodshed, devastating firepower, and large-scale battles often fought on impossible terrain, the Civil War was a terrifying experience for a volunteer army. Yet, as Earl Hess shows, Union soldiers found the wherewithal to endure such terrors for four long years and emerge victorious.

A vivid reminder that the business of war is killing, Hess's study plunges us into the hellish realms of Civil War combat - a horrific experience crowded with brutalizing sights, sounds, smells, and textures.

Drawing extensively upon the letters, diaries, and memoirs of Northern soldiers, Hess reveals their deepest fears and shocks, and also their sources of inner strength. By identifying recurrent themes found in these accounts, Hess constructs a multilayered view of the many ways in which these men coped with the challenges of battle.

He shows how they were bolstered by belief in God and country, or simply by their sense of duty; and how they came to rely on the support of their comrades; and how they learned to muster self-control in order to persevere from one battle to the next.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-237) and index.