Why 30,000 Irish immigrants supported their adopted Southern home in its hour of need
Union & Confederate Soldiers Motivated Mostly by Patriotism
Union & Confederate Soldiers Motivated Mostly by Patriotism
Many folks fuss about why the Confederate soldiers served. As a veteran, I find it hard to believe they would endure sickness, poor equipment and starvation simply for material gain. As harsh as it is to say, slaves represented material possession, an investment. The popular perception among some folks today is that most or all Confederate soldiers served to protect their economy or “way of life.” Surely, protecting economic interests motivated some Southerners. But, how many would endure wearing rags for shoes in winter merely to protect economic investment or a “way of life”?
In For Cause and Comrade, by James McPherson (New York: Oxford Univ. Press 1997), Dr. McPherson looked at the motivations of both the Union and Confederate soldiers. We cannot survey soldiers from 150 years ago. But, Dr. McPherson did the next best thing. He looked at personal letters and diaries of both Union and Confederate soldiers to ask the fundamental question, what motivated them to join, and then to stay in military service during very harsh circumstances.
Dr. McPherson reviewed the personal letters and diaries of some 400 Confederate soldiers. He looked at the contemporary correspondence and diaries of some 647 Union soldiers and 429 Confederate soldiers. In his career, he explains that having looked at perhaps 25,000 such records, he believed this was a representative…
Irish Murphy blood in my veins (I know, I know... "Murphy was a name adopted by criminals who didnt want to be identified". Whatever. My Irish family were southerners... one brother fought for the Confederates and the other, from Mizzou fought for the North. I'm Stars and Bars all the way. Brother wars suck. Thanks Abe. A true American ZERO. Not hero.