NF Fighting Means Killing

[James S.]

"War means fighting, and fighting means killing." Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest famously declared.

The Civil War was fundamentally a matter of Americans killing Americans. This undeniable reality is what Jonathan Steplyk explores in Fighting Means Killing, the first book-length study of Union and Confederate soldiers' attitudes toward, and experiences of, killing in the Civil War.

Drawing upon letters, diaries, and postwar reminiscences, Steplyk examines what soldiers and veterans thought about killing before, during, and after the war. How did these soldiers view sharpshooters? How about hand-to-hand combat? What language did they use to describe killing in combat? What cultural and societal factors influenced their attitudes? And what was the impact of race in battlefield atrocities and bitter clashes between white Confederates and black Federals? These are the questions that Steplyk seeks to answer in Fighting Means Killing, a work that bridges the gap between military and social history—and that shifts the focus on the tragedy of the Civil War from fighting and dying for cause and country to fighting and killing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/070062628X/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

 

[jgoodguy]

View attachment 170991

"War means fighting, and fighting means killing." Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest famously declared.

The Civil War was fundamentally a matter of Americans killing Americans. This undeniable reality is what Jonathan Steplyk explores in Fighting Means Killing, the first book-length study of Union and Confederate soldiers' attitudes toward, and experiences of, killing in the Civil War.

Drawing upon letters, diaries, and postwar reminiscences, Steplyk examines what soldiers and veterans thought about killing before, during, and after the war. How did these soldiers view sharpshooters? How about hand-to-hand combat? What language did they use to describe killing in combat? What cultural and societal factors influenced their attitudes? And what was the impact of race in battlefield atrocities and bitter clashes between white Confederates and black Federals? These are the questions that Steplyk seeks to answer in Fighting Means Killing, a work that bridges the gap between military and social history—and that shifts the focus on the tragedy of the Civil War from fighting and dying for cause and country to fighting and killing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/070062628X/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

Thanks for finding this book.

 

[Cavalry Charger]

View attachment 170991

"War means fighting, and fighting means killing." Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest famously declared.

The Civil War was fundamentally a matter of Americans killing Americans. This undeniable reality is what Jonathan Steplyk explores in Fighting Means Killing, the first book-length study of Union and Confederate soldiers' attitudes toward, and experiences of, killing in the Civil War.

Drawing upon letters, diaries, and postwar reminiscences, Steplyk examines what soldiers and veterans thought about killing before, during, and after the war. How did these soldiers view sharpshooters? How about hand-to-hand combat? What language did they use to describe killing in combat? What cultural and societal factors influenced their attitudes? And what was the impact of race in battlefield atrocities and bitter clashes between white Confederates and black Federals? These are the questions that Steplyk seeks to answer in Fighting Means Killing, a work that bridges the gap between military and social history—and that shifts the focus on the tragedy of the Civil War from fighting and dying for cause and country to fighting and killing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/070062628X/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

This looks like a great book, and an interesting reflection on the nature of the war, and warfare in general. Thanks for sharing. It's being added to my reading list as we speak.

 

[TinCan]

Sadly, truer words were never spoken. While your goal would be to make the other side surrender to you, the way to achieve that would be to kill more of them than they kill of you.

 

[mofederal]

That has always been the way of it whether fighting with rocks or sticks to the most sophisticated weapons. When disputes go beyond words, the only thing left is war. and as stated war means fighting and killing. Unfortunately for us, I think we like it too much, and we cannot stop it.

 

[Burning Billy]

It sounds like an interesting book.

The bit about how soldiers viewed sharpshooters made me wonder if it perhaps included an incident I heard mentioned by a historian on either C-span or PSN a couple years back. I can't recall the specifics now but it involved a Union sharpshooter (one of Berdan's men if I'm remembering right) that wounded a Confederate someplace where the lines were static, and when other Johnnies came out with a stretcher for him he killed them. A Union officer from one of the volunteer units that observed it was furious and thought it cold-blooded murder.

I've been looking to find something more concrete on that since, particularly since my memory of the particulars is hazy.

 

[Jimklag]

View attachment 170991

"War means fighting, and fighting means killing." Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest famously declared.

The Civil War was fundamentally a matter of Americans killing Americans. This undeniable reality is what Jonathan Steplyk explores in Fighting Means Killing, the first book-length study of Union and Confederate soldiers' attitudes toward, and experiences of, killing in the Civil War.

Drawing upon letters, diaries, and postwar reminiscences, Steplyk examines what soldiers and veterans thought about killing before, during, and after the war. How did these soldiers view sharpshooters? How about hand-to-hand combat? What language did they use to describe killing in combat? What cultural and societal factors influenced their attitudes? And what was the impact of race in battlefield atrocities and bitter clashes between white Confederates and black Federals? These are the questions that Steplyk seeks to answer in Fighting Means Killing, a work that bridges the gap between military and social history—and that shifts the focus on the tragedy of the Civil War from fighting and dying for cause and country to fighting and killing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/070062628X/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

Looks like a good one, James. I will have to order it.

 

[Nathanb1]

That has always been the way of it whether fighting with rocks or sticks to the most sophisticated weapons. When disputes go beyond words, the only thing left is war. and as stated war means fighting and killing. Unfortunately for us, I think we like it too much, and we cannot stop it.

"It is well war is so terrible, lest we should grow too fond of it." You nailed it, mofederal.

 

[Hawkeye Brehm]

Awesome! I wonder how it compares to "Bloody Crucible of Courage".