Fight: For Your Country or Your Survival?

An 18 year old store clerk in 1861 debating whether to join the Civil War. His friends are all joining the Union, but he isn’t sure if he would rather fight for his country or save his own life. This was a common scenario in the Civil War. Many young men were unsure whether to join the army and fight. They were faced with the dilemma of whether service to their country or self preservation was more important. This dilemma was made harder because of the influx of new war technology and tactics that made the fighting more brutal.

There was a lot of patriotism and pride on both sides of the Civil War. The Confederates saw the war as not only defending their land, but defending their morals and lifestyle. For this reason they were determined to win the war. They also needed to defend themselves from the Union. The Union also felt like fighting in the war was very important. They felt like they were fighting for their beliefs on slavery. All of these reasons meant there was a lot of pride on both sides. This pride for their country made young men eager to join the war effort on both sides and made the dilemma much worse.

Fighting in the Civil War was not easy and was very bloods. The weapons developed at that time were far ahead of any defensive measures, so there were a lot of bad wounds. Minié balls were much better than previous bullets and they destroyed bone and anything else they hit in a soldier’s body. Other new weapons included landmines, railroad artillery, and early machine guns. On top of this was the naval invention of ironclads. Ironclads were almost invincible to other ships because of their armor and could annihilate an entire old fleet. All of these brutal weapons caused all sorts of injuries and while many soldiers died, some were saved by, now crude, advancements in surgery. Anesthetics were just starting to be used and a popular choice was chloroform. Amputation and resections of limbs improved greatly and saved the lives of many soldiers. However, it was still largely chance that a soldier would survive the surgery and avoid infection.

Despite all of the gruesome risks of war, many young men in the era still decided to join the war. They were drawn in by the chance for adventure and to leave home. They also felt a lot of pride for their country and felt obligated to defend it. However, the brutal reality of war was not so glamorous. Many people were hurt or killed and people had to weigh that against other factors. They had to personally answer the moral question of whether to fight for their country or themselves.