This week on Facebook, Manassas National Battlefield Park posed a really good question…
While I know a lot of folks would disagree with me, I don’t think we should look to give an answer to the question so quickly. One might feel confident in answering, based on ancestry, “heritage”, “patriotism”, etc., but keep in mind… your decision in answering this so quickly is a reflection of all of the modern day baggage you bring with you, not to mention the 150+ years that have literally buried the complexities faced by those who faced that decision in 1861. Hindsight is 20-20… right?
So, before you answer in the affirmative (“Yes, I’d serve, or “No, “I wouldn’t serve”) try… however difficult it might be… to cast aside that “baggage” and give thought not so much to what you think you might have done, but more along the lines of… well, “Do I really know how difficult such a decision was to make for them, at that time?” It’s not based on simply one person from the past, either. Consider the wide array of persons who had to make the decision, where they were living at the time, and the challenges that might be particular and representative to that locality (for example… say, Tidewater Virginia vice Shenandoah Valley). Consider that scrap of Virginia or Pennsylvania (just two examples, of course) soil you swear you’d defend to the death… and ask yourself… really?
Ask yourself why you responded so quickly… or even question your thought-based response. Is it missing something?
I think the question isn’t as valuable to see where one (making that decision today, in retrospect) would stand, but I think it has a lot more value when it forces us to really think about all that they faced in making such a decision at that time. The real value in this is learning or becoming more aware of the context of that time in which they lived, and the challenges they faced in making a decision.
It might seem like a simple question, but it’s not so simple, really.
Kudos to MNBP for provoking thought.
Cenantua's Blog 
Richard
January 13, 2016
I have thought of this before and you’re right – it isn’t easy.
At the time, most of my family, including the McCormicks, was in Kentucky, It wasn’t a real hotspot of patriotic fervor, “fighting for Southern rights” or “preserving the union.” Assuming I lived here, that wouldn’t give me much of a clue.
One of my 4x great-grandfathers was a justice of the peace. Perhaps he had connections to get me a commission, but I believe his grandson joined as a private, so probably not.
I did have a couple ancestors fight in the war, but only one signed up early in the war. Most waited at least a year or two before enlisting. I don’t think there is enough there to let me know what I would have done. It does not seem like there would have been a lot of family “peer pressure” to enlist immediately.
How old would I have been? My current age is in the low 40s. If that was the same, I may have felt too old rot enlist. Others that age did join, so, yet again, maybe not.
Of course, the next question is if I did go to war, which side? My only war ancestors were all Union me, as far as I know, even some from a slave-holding family? Would I have followed them, or were others in my family supporters of the Confederacy? There are no family letters or diaries or even oral traditions that clarify this. How would I have thought, living in a “neutral” state?
Another question similar to this I have pondered is whether I would have supported Lincoln. I am orobably a “Lincoln Admirer” these days, but I tend to prefer smaller government, so would “internal improvements” and those type of theories have impressed me? Again, I do not know. I can imagine myself preferring a policy of “leaving everything as is” approach.
I know ths is a lot of words just to say “I don’t know” and “I agree with you,” but it’s the best I can do right now
Robert Moore
January 13, 2016
“… but I tend to prefer smaller government”
Which is also interesting considering how the Confederate government was, in itself, a problematic machine… even superimposing authority in various circumstances (that’s most certainly a point that’s often forgotten).
“I can imagine myself preferring a policy of ‘leaving everything as is’ approach.”
Welcome to Bell’s Constitutional Union Party. 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Richard.
neukomment
January 26, 2016
I had a great grandfather who was in his 40’s when he enlisted. He had health issues the examining Doctor choose to wink at and as a result Grandpa was more of a liability then an asset to the Union cause. He ended up with a medical discharge… The pension application papers reveal the whole affair…
Sarah Kay Bierle
January 13, 2016
Well said and thought-provoking reminder! Thank you. I’ve shared your article on a Facebook event page for a 1861 CW history conference.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1537232386590064/
Robert Moore
January 13, 2016
Thanks, Sarah!
mib8
January 13, 2016
Yes, Richard and Robert both make some good points. To come to an answer, more information specific to the individual circumstances is required.
Some who might otherwise have enlisted might object because the governments resorted to forced drafts/conscription/involuntary servitude. Many would hold back because of family, business and other loyalties… even because they have a beau or belle on the “other side”. Still others because of misunderstanding of the ideological positions of one or both sides. Some, as Robert has noted before, would sign up, then learn things which changed there minds (yes, the dangers and fear of battle, but the ideas of those they find close around them in the midst of it may,uh, revolt them).
But still others were thinking they wished it had never begun, but once it had, they were duty-bound to join in.
Robert Moore
January 14, 2016
I’m also interested in those who would not obligate, in early war, and then decide otherwise as the war progressed… sometimes influenced to do so in opposition to the side which most annoyed them.
Cotton Boll Conspiracy
January 13, 2016
Living in South Carolina, which I believe was the only Southern state not to send at least one unit of white troops to fight for the North, and given the pro-Secession sentiment in the state, I think it’s safe to say that were I alive 150-plus years ago I would have fought for the South. It’s important to consider that especially in the Deep South there would have been great social pressure for men of age to enlist. I would assume that there would have been similar pressure, though perhaps not quite as great, in Northern states for men of age to join the Union army. The fear of being considered a coward or even a traitor by your friends and neighbors is a very strong motivating force.
Robert Moore
January 13, 2016
“Probability” certainly holds something of value whe considering respective localities. So based on your locality in SC, you might have been more likely (willing or unwillingly) to serve, but… has anyone calculated desertions, etc? Also, though there were no white Union regiments from SC, what about war refugees who left and did not fight? On another note, social pressure certainly weighed-in. As for the North, I don’t think there was the same level of peer/social pressure comparable to that in the South. Then too, localities may have varied in pressure.
Cotton Boll Conspiracy
January 13, 2016
To be certain, it’s difficult to get an accurate gauge on the number of individuals who may have left the state rather than fight, or chosen to move to pockets that weren’t as pro-Secessionist as the rest of the state.
My own research has shown that those soldiers with shallower ties to South Carolina, such as recent immigrants from foreign nations, were more likely to desert, particularly as the war wound down.
Robert Moore
January 14, 2016
Speaking of SC, one of the things that is interesting to me is the lack of claims made by white South Carolinians in the Southern Claims Commission applications. I’ve wondered if, even in that, societal pressure convinced persons who might make application not to do so… or, is it, I wonder, a true demonstration of the lack of white Southern Unionists in the state.
Cotton Boll Conspiracy
January 14, 2016
I’ve not looked into the Southern Claims Commission applications – and probably should – but I bet it’s a combination of the two. Plus, if you were in any way a vocal supporter of Secession, it would have been tough to deny it afterward.
Robert Moore
January 14, 2016
Regarding being “vocal supporters of secession”… that didn’t stop some folks I’ve encountered elsewhere. One such example from the Shenandoah Valley… here.
Cotton Boll Conspiracy
January 14, 2016
Yeah, nothing like playing both sides of the fence. I can’t say I have much respect for somebody so brazen in their efforts to secure compensation from the side they were, apparently, actively conspiring against. Great research and a great post.
Robert Moore
January 14, 2016
Thanks, CBC, and thanks for commenting.
Brian Lee
January 14, 2016
I would think I would’ve served in the Civil War, had I been around then. I don’t know however, WHICH SIDE I would’ve fought for. I’m from Maryland, which sent men to both armies.
Robert Moore
January 14, 2016
Then too, there were many “of age” Marylanders who did not serve.
Richard Williams
January 19, 2016
How about forming the Free State of Augusta County? Would that be an option? 😉
Robert Moore
January 20, 2016
Had family who did that! Free State Hollow, in Madison County. Being nestled in the east side of the Blue Ridge made that possible. Augusta is a little more in the open, but… Huckleberry Hollow might have promise. 😉
Richard Williams
January 20, 2016
Yes, I’ve considered the “Free State of Huck Hollow” – can’t get the tightwad neighbors to pony up any taxes though.
Richard Williams
January 19, 2016
(Minus the “county”)