The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat

Modern War Studies

by Earl J. Hess

Describes the agony and horrific nature of the Civil War from the perspective of the soldiers who fought in it. Draws upon the letters, diaries, and memoirs of Northern soldiers to reveal their deepest fears and traumas, and their sources of inner strength. By identifying recurrent themes found in those accounts, Hess (history, U. of Tennessee), constructs a multilayered view of the ways in which these men coped with the challenges of battle. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Genres: Civil War, History, Military History, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Earl J. Hess is Stewart W. McClelland Chair in History at Lincoln Memorial University and the author of numerous books on the Civil War.

Reviews

[Jonathan Schneiderman]

Reminiscent of This Republic of Suffering in form and even to a certain extent in content; I suppose it's appropriate that I read it because it was assigned by Drew Faust.

[W. Charles Young]

An excellently researched book into the experience of US soldiers in the Civil War. Hess takes the reader into the army, through combat, and beyond Appomattox as he examines the thoughts an emotions of soldiers. A must read for those interested in the experiences of Federal soldiers in the war.

[Shawn]

Fantastic read even if it's about the horrors of the civil war.. puts a whole new perspective on the battles as seen through the eyes of the soldier.

[Brandon Benner]

A circumspect and immersive study, Hess's book is a perceptive view into the psyche of the Union soldier of the American Civil War. Hess makes it clear that there is no 'one' experience of a man in service of the Union for those bloody four years. These men experienced the war in a variety of different manners and dealt with its hardships in almost as many different methods as there were men in the field. Hess displays plainly that these men were individuals, and they cannot be simply glossed over and painted by one archetypal image. Rather, we can study what they felt in the course of war and see how that reflects upon the character of Americans and our society at the time. From this study, one can draw a universal lesson on the study of men at war: each man will find war differently in his own mind. He will adapt differently, will persevere differently, and remember it differently. Hess breaks down the monolithic image of the cookie-cutter soldier of old and showed that these soldiers were in fact just like us: human.

[William]

As moving a description of Civil War combat as one is likely to read, yet the later chapters paint a narrow and often contradictory picture of the motivations and stresses of the Union soldier

[Jeremy Raper]

Read for a college class on the Civil War; don't recall too much about it, would suggest only for academics or those with a deep interest on the subject.

[JerryDeanHalleck]

Short, informative, mediocre. Best for those with little knowledge of the subject.