Why did they fight?

[Tin cup]

You can thank Lincoln for that.

I THANK GOD Lincoln had the where with all to uphold the US Constitution, to bring DOWN that illegal rebellion and bring erring States BACK into the Union.

Kevin Dally

 

[ikesdad]

I reckon they felt that way about King George too.

 

[Tin cup]

I reckon they felt that way about King George too.

Not sure what "King George" had to do with anything Civil War related?

Kevin Dally

 

[John S. Carter]

This. Simple.

The South fought as you state,the WEST fought for fear of the Confederacy control of the ports along the Mississippi River.and the North fought out of a life time commit of attempts at removing slavery from the South ,which stained the true democracy as they interpreted it ,and even though certain Northerners carried if they left ,once the South acted in an offence manner by attacking a Union property this provided a eventual opportunity to react and for the radicals to finally attach and to remove that stain which they had desired for so many generations, Question; the Eastern bankers and investors in the cotton plantations ,would they have been motivated to war in hopes of gaining control of that system once the South was defeated esp. since the planters were in the rears to these men, or would they prefer that no war came?New York is one that would be in this.

 

[jackt62]

I guess at the most basic level, they fought for the guys next to them touching shoulders.

 

[Greywolf]

I often wonder if the NE states involved in the Hartford convention thought they were wrong or traitors for considering secession. Though it didn't quite happen, I would suppose that some of them certainly believed in the right of secession without question.

 

[Copperhead-mi]

I often wonder if the NE states involved in the Hartford convention thought they were wrong or traitors for considering secession. Though it didn't quite happen, I would suppose that some of them certainly believed in the right of secession without question.

The states themselves never threatened secession at the Convention and this is taking the thread off-topic.

 

[Lnwlf]

The point was, what motivated an individual soldier to fight.

Please remember that this thread deals with why individual soldiers fought and not the greater, more complex issues that caused the war.

Posted as casual Moderator

Since casual blue didn't work, consider the above request as a warning. Any more off topic posts dealing in the macro cause for the war will be deleted.

Posted as Moderator

 

[leftyhunter]

No one has mentioned why did blacks join the Union Army? Why did Indians fight on both sides? Why did many Indians in the Indian Territory first fight for the Confederacy then defect to the Union?
Why did Mexican American's fight in both sides?
Why did so many Southners fight for the Confederacy then defect to the Union?
Why did some Southners risk their lives to cross over the mountains from East Tennessee to Kentucky to join the Union Army?
Leftyhunter

 

[chucksr]

As I posted earlier, what's wrong with the idea that most of the combatants went off to war as kind of a serious lark? Most young people North or South never traveled further than ten miles from their birthplaces and the war created an adventurous escape from the monotony of life--even with the costs associated. To fight along "My people" (Foote), or "to see the elephant" was motivation enough--read the letters of farm boys that are all of a sudden not just in the state capitol signing up but training and then read the letters as they travel from state to state--at least in the case of recruits in the West. They describe exciting new things and compare things and places they know with the new ground they find themselves on--comparing farms and crops, houses, and, yes "the girls"
I'm sure the existence of state militias also added to the "why" they fought--many of these men trained for years in these militia groups and the war was exactly what all that training and "preparation" was about.
I cannot imagine that, at the outset, there were long discussions among 17-20 year old young men about the "morality" of slavery and the necessity of preserving the Union. The American male, then or now don't need economic theory or political theory to motivate them to fight--Americans simply fight--it is in their nature then and probably is still in that nature.
I would imagine much of the reason is far simpler, your friends were going, your brother, father, uncle, cousin were going and, by god, you were going--some of it was no doubt "duty" but I suspect most went out of curiosity and simply to get out of Dodge and get paid to boot!

 

[Lnwlf]

No one has mentioned why did blacks join the Union Army? Why did Indians fight on both sides? Why did many Indians in the Indian Territory first fight for the Confederacy then defect to the Union?
Why did Mexican American's fight in both sides?
Why did so many Southners fight for the Confederacy then defect to the Union?
Why did some Southners risk their lives to cross over the mountains from East Tennessee to Kentucky to join the Union Army?
Leftyhunter

Could it be that most of the questions you pose are off topic? Considering the OP is asking why soldiers fought for the Confederacy. They are good questions to be pursued, in another thread dedicated to them.

 

[major bill]

Are we even able to guess why most Southerners joined the Confederate Army? How could we even do such? I would have to guess that they at some level supported the protection and expansion of slavery. Some I am sure had more loyalty to thier state than the nation. But how would we know?

 

[E_just_E]

Are we even able to guess why most Southerners joined the Confederate Army?

No need to guess. They were conscripted.

 

[AnnaLee]

Hello and welcome from Appomattox, Va.

 

[major bill]

Many were conscripted. Some did join. The Civil War has to be one of the few wars where why the soldiers served is a major concern. We can not know why a particular solder served and I have serious doubts we can even know why most soldiers served. Most soldier probably had more than one reason and coming up with a single reason may well have stumped them.

 

[Rebforever]

Are we even able to guess why most Southerners joined the Confederate Army? How could we even do such? I would have to guess that they at some level supported the protection and expansion of slavery. Some I am sure had more loyalty to thier state than the nation. But how would we know?

I would lay out that I believe my G-Grand fought for the money which his father could use on the farm.

 

[OpnCoronet]

Which is what my post was about. Coronet, you keep jumping to the larger issue. Everybody knows the Army doesn't care whether you believe or not, just that you follow orders, & do what you're supposed to do. That's not the point. The point was, what motivated an individual soldier to fight. I realize it's an uncomfortable truth that many thousands of Southern boys did NOT fight for slavery slavery slavery as so many want to represent. The greater cause is a separate argument, as it is today.

My point is, that anyone fighting for the csa, is fighting For Slaver(no matter the state of his mind or convictions), because Slavery was a Vital goal for which it had their men in the Armies of the confederacy.

Lincoln had the same problem with Unionists, who claimed that they would fight for the Union but, Not, Emancipation. Lincoln noted, that did it really matter, the reason(s) you fought for the Union, as long as the Union prevailed?

 

[CSA Today]

No need to guess. They were conscripted.

For North Carolina, approximately 19,000 conscripts out of an estimated 125,000-130-000 total.

 

[Greywolf]

It would be easy to say that many southern men were fighting from a sense of patriotism. If we can say Northern soldiers were fighting mostly for the Union, i would say most southern men for fighting for their Union, which was the Confederacy.

 

[BlueNGrey]

For North Carolina, approximately 19,000 conscripts out of an estimated 125,000-130-000 total.

It is my understanding that many Southern men enlisted in order to NOT be conscripted. It was thought to be less than of an honor to be conscripted.
In Texas, Gideon Lincecum claimed everyone in his neighborhood had volunteered since "they hate the idea of being drafted." Elsewhere, North Carolina Colonel Zebulon Vance - soon to be elected the state's governor - believed that "Men liable to draft . . . had better come along at once and fill up their companies like white men, and not wait for the sheriff to bring them to me."
http://essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/conscription.html