Out of the mountains : the motivations of Confederate soldiers from western North Carolina

Out of the mountains : the motivations of Confederate soldiers from western North Carolina

Combat -- Psychological aspects

Confederate States of America. Army -- Biography

North Carolina -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Biography

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Psychological aspects

Jones, Gregory Robert

2007

Macaulay, Alexander, 1972-

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This thesis examines the motivations of Confederate soldiers from the mountain counties of western North Carolina during the Civil War. This thesis shows the gradual decline of the Confederacy by studying the disincentives, or forces that made soldiers not want to fight, evidenced in letters. This thesis marks two significant turning points in the mentality of the soldiers. The first turning point was the summer of 1862 when soldiers stopped believing in the ideology of the Confederate cause and fought for survival. The second dramatic change came in the summer of 1863 after key losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg that caused soldiers to desire a rapid end to the war with less concern for victory. The soldiers wanted to be home, away from the army and its dangers. As a result, this decline of the Confederacy was a story of desertion and destruction for the southern people. These soldiers from western North Carolina fought in battles from Gettysburg, PA to Chickamauga, GA. Their service was not that of bushwhacking deserters, but gallant fighting men and they deserve to be remembered accordingly.

2014-10-20

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Western Carolina University Restricted Electronic Theses and Dissertations