Desertion

[Chrisinfp]

Can anyone recommend a book that examines desertion ? I'm curious what life was like for deserters after the war. Were most ashamed or satisfied with their decision?

 

[leftyhunter]

Good question! "Bitterly divided the Souths Inner civil War by David Williams professor of history at Valdosta State University Ga go's into great detail about CSA desertion. Up to 2/3 of the CSA was AWOL per a letter from Jeff Davis himself. Many of these deserters joined the Union Army or various outlaw gangs operating in the South. Gallager in his book "General Lees Army "also has a chapter on desertion. .Not to say plenty of soldiers also deserted from the Union Army.
I don't know how deserters fared in their communities post CW but a whole lot of young men did go west maybe that's why.
Leftyhunter

 

[damYankee]

Samuel Clements did pretty good after the war..towns like Silver City, Nevada were overflowing with people escaping the mayhem.

 

[Hans Nielsen]

Two of my family were listed as both missing in action and as deserters from the Confederate Army. They were brothers. One was 18 and the other 15 in August 1864, when they joined "Forrest's Escort. 3 months later they were in the Battles of Franklin and Nashville. On December 23, 1864, while going through Pulaski, they took a turn and headed home to Fayetteville, Tennessee. I have pictures of them in reunions of Confederate soldiers. P.S. Both became Methodist ministers after the war. I had plenty of other family in Forrest's Escort. I think they were told to go home.

 

[huskerblitz]

Can anyone recommend a book that examines desertion ? I'm curious what life was like for deserters after the war. Were most ashamed or satisfied with their decision?

I have not read this book but I knew about it because UNL published it. May be worth a look.

Desertion During the Civil War

Desertion during the Civil War, originally published in 1928, remains the only book-length treatment of its subject. Ella Lonn examines the causes and consequences of desertion from both the Northern and Southern armies. Drawing on official war records, she notes that one in seven enlisted Union soldiers and one in nine Confederate soldiers deserted.
Lonn discusses many reasons for desertion common to both armies, among them lack of such necessities as food, clothing, and equipment; weariness and discouragement; noncommitment and resentment of coercion; and worry about loved ones at home. Some Confederate deserters turned outlaw, joining ruffian bands in the South. Peculiar to the North was the evil of bounty-jumping. Captured deserters generally were not shot or hanged because manpower was so precious. Moving beyond means of dealing with absconders, Lonn considers the effects of their action. Absenteeism from the ranks cost the North victories and prolonged the war even as the South was increasingly hurt by defections. This book makes vivid a human phenomenon produced by a tragic time.

 

[leftyhunter]

Steven Sears in his book on Chanslorville (sp?) go's into great detail about desertion in the AOP after the battle of Fredricksburg and Gen.Hooker has commander of the AOP was able to reduce desertion quite a bit. Dyers Compidium lists the amount of desertion per each or at least for many regiments.

Prof. Williams attributes CSA desertion to the fact that many Southern men in particular poor Southern men did not wish to fight for the wealthy slave owners. CSA soldiers families were not given the amount of food that service families were promised and there was quite a bit of criminal gangs preying on Southern families. Many CSA soldiers deserted upon hearing their spouses beg to come back home to provide and protect their families.
Leftyhunter