The Impact of War on the Growth of the Military

The Impact of War on the Growth of the Military

Introduction

It takes an extraordinary person to fight for his land. And we have seen many generations of our U.S. men and woman go to battle for our country. I think that goes to show how dedicated soldier is to his land. I believe that all Soldiers have stories to tell about their experience during war, and I'm sure that most of the men and women fighting for our country aren't comfortable telling these stories. However, we are lucky to have such a rich history of letters saved for many wars including the Civil War.

Discussion

Civil War

During the Civil War, the soldiers endured a great amount of hardships. The whole scope of the hardships was not evident to the soldiers until after the fighting began. In the beginning of the Civil War the soldiers of the North and the South were eager to fight. The general perspective of soldiers from each army was that the war would not last long. Most of the soldiers estimated that the war would be over in a month and surely not last longer than a year. The soldier's perspectives on the length of the war were influenced by the motivation to protect their way of life. In describing the sentiments of Union and Confederate soldiers we can use some examples that are in letters sent home by the soldiers. One Kentucky confederate wrote, “I choose to fight for southern rights and southern liberty against the vandals of the North who were determined to destroy slavery”. Another opinion by a Wisconsin Union soldier states his reasons for fighting in the war, “ I have no heart in this war if the slaves cannot go free” Both the North and the South believed to be fighting to preserve the society that was prevalent in the respective regions of the United States . The South was trying to protect the institution of slavery and their society. The North, at the start of the war, only had the intention to overcome the succession, but they later realized that it could only do this by destroying slavery.

The soldiers of the North and The South quickly learned how gruesome war could be. There was no adventure or romance, only the wounded, dead and dying. The letters that many soldiers sent home during the war can give us a sense of the feelings that these soldiers went thru while on the battlefield. A passage from a letter that Thomas Warrick wrote to Martha in 1863 reflects upon the carnage that reined on the battlefield after a battle. The South may have lost the war but the Southern generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were and still are praised heroes. Each of these men had careers before the Civil War. Robert E. Lee was a West Point commandant and “at the outbreak of the American Civil War, he resigned is commission and three days later ...