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The Momentous Issue of Civil War

This text explores the causes and consequences of civil wars throughout history, highlighting the immense loss of life and the complex motivations that drive soldiers to fight. It also emphasizes the importance of preserving the government and the dangers of undermining its authority.

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The Momentous Issue of Civil War

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  1. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict, without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to “preserve, protect, and defend” it.

  2. The balance sheet at the war’s beginning

  3. “No people ever warred for independence with more relative advantages than the Confederacy.” CSA General Pierre Gustave Toutante de Beauregarde

  4. “We could bring the whole world to our feet. What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years? . . England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized world with her. No, you dare not make war on cotton! No power on earth dares make war upon it. Cotton is King.” --South Carolina Senator James Hammond

  5. War for Independence, 1775-1783: 25,000 killed or wounded; 25,000 dead of disease Battle of Bunker Hill (1775): 410 killed and wounded Battle of Saratoga (1777): 800 killed and wounded Battle of Cowpens (1781 ): 340 killed and wounded War of 1812, 1812-1815: 4,400 killed or wounded Battle of Plattsburgh, 1814: 200 killed and wounded Battle of New Orleans, 1815: 71 killed and wounded Mexican War, 1846-1848: 5,700 killed or wounded; 13,000 dead of disease Battle of Resaca de la Palma, 1846: 120 killed and wounded Battle of Buena Vista, 1847: 710 killed and wounded Battle of Chapultepec, 1847: 830 killed and wounded

  6. Civil War, 1861-1865 First Manassas, 1861: 3,500 Seven Days, 1861: 29,000 Second Manassas, 1862: 19,000 Shiloh, 1862: 20,000 Antietam, 1862: 23,000 Fredericksburg, 1862: 16,000 Murfreesboro, 1862: 18,500 Chancellorsville, 1863: 22,000 Gettysburg, 1863: 40,000 Chickamauga, 1863: 28,000 Wilderness to Cold Harbor, 1864: 82,000 Nashville, 1864: 9,000 War for Independence, 1775-1783: 25,000 killed or wounded; 25,000 dead of disease Battle of Bunker Hill (1775): 410 killed and wounded Battle of Saratoga (1777): 800 killed and wounded Battle of Cowpens (1781 ): 340 killed and wounded War of 1812, 1812-1815: 4,400 killed or wounded Battle of Plattsburgh, 1814: 200 killed and wounded Battle of New Orleans, 1815: 71 killed and wounded Mexican War, 1846-1848: 5,700 killed or wounded; 13,000 dead of disease Battle of Resaca de la Palma, 1846: 120 killed and wounded Battle of Buena Vista, 1847: 710 killed and wounded Battle of Chapultepec, 1847: 830 killed and wounded

  7. Three-part model of military motivation: INITIAL MOTIVATION: factors that lead soldiers to join the army in the first place SUSTAINING MOTIVATION: factors that keep soldiers with the army on campaign COMBAT MOTIVATION: factors that drive soldiers once battle begins

  8. Three Categories of Motivators: REMUNERATIVE MOTIVATORS: money or the promise of plunder COERCIVE MOTIVATORS: threat or direct application of force NORMATIVE MOTIVATORS: withdrawal of acceptance from a peer group

  9. This government cannot much longer play a game in which it stakes all, and its enemies stake nothing. Those enemies must understand that they cannot experiment for ten years trying to destroy the government, and if they fail still come back into the Union unhurt.

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