Guerrilla's were they really fighting for a cause? Or a need to enrich themselves I've often wondered why guerrilla fighters never enlist in the regular armies and there reasons why.
Theirs a common parallel between modern insurgents and guerrilla fighters from the civil war most were poorly educated and had been in trouble with the law at some point, And problem of self esteem and moral values.
While I don't dispute the fact that many guerrilla's harboured family feuds and operated in their local areas you have to question the reasons why.
Good post Lefty it will be interesting to see some answers.
A guerrilla is just a generic term for a hit and run fighter who is not enlisted in a regular armed force and generaly does not wear a uniform.A guerrilla may wear an enemy uniform. Per the Leiber Code Union soldiers and or militia could simply execute guerrillas on the spot. The Confederacy often did the same.
Has for motivations they are as varied as any other human endevor.
I wouldn't stereotype guerrillas in terms of motivation.
There are a number of reasons why a man would choose to become a guerrilla over an enlisted soldier;
1. Age- to young or to old or not in good physical condition.
2. Inability to cross enemy lines to enlist i.e. it was extremely dangerous to cross the mountains from East Tennessee to Kentucky to join the Union Army.
3. Not happy with conventional military service i.e. Frank James who was enlisted on the Missouri State Guard did not want to join the Confederate Army and fight out if state.
4. Protect one's family
5. No love of regimentation or the hard ships of military service.
Not to say there are not other reasons.
Guerrilla warfare is as old as the hills.
Arguably the first written account is the Jewish Book of Maccabee written well before the birth of Christ, concerning Jewish guerrillas who drove the Hellenic Syrians out of Biblical Israel.
Leftyhunter