Southern invincibility : a history of the Confederate heart / Wiley Sword.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sword, Wiley.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Character.

History.

Soldiers.

Psychology.

Psychological aspects.

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

United States.

Confederate States of America--Social conditions.

Confederate States of America.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives, Confederate.

Soldiers--Confederate States of America--Psychology.

National characteristics, American.

Character--History--19th century.

Genre:

Personal narratives -- Confederate.

Physical Description:

ix, 432 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999.

Summary:

Southern pride--the notion that the South's character distinguishes it from the rest of the country--had a profound impact on how and why Confederates fought the Civil War, and continued to mold their psyche after they had been defeated. In Southern Invincibility, award-winning historian Wiley Sword traces the roots of the South's belief in its own superiority and examines the ways in which that conviction contributed to the war effort, even when it became clear that the South would not win.

Through the letters and diaries of soldiers and civilians--men and women, plantation owners and rural farmers--Sword demonstrates how the spirit of invincibility fueled the South's initial victories and how it metamorphosed into a noble pride that enabled the South to endure after it had lost the war. He takes us into Confederate camps where soldiers relied on their sense of righteousness to fight boredom, homesickness, and, later, the temptation to desert. He also leads us into several of the war's most decisive battles, where commanders used Southern pride to inspire their men to bear the brutalities of combat. Finally, he introduces us to the wives, daughters, and sisters of Confederate soldiers who depended on their belief in the justness of the cause to withstand life under military occupation and the uncertainty of their future.

Informed by thorough research, Southern Invincibility is the historical investigation of a psychology that continues to define the South.

Contents:

1. An Ominous Circumstance 4

2. Holding Fast to the Familiar 8

3. A Curse to Any Land 15

4. Secession Rather Than Dishonor 21

5. Virginia and the Spirit of the Times 29

6. The Pending Confrontation with the Self 37

7. "Am I Not Fighting for You?" / Nathaniel H. R. Dawson, Elodie Todd 41

8. "Don't Mind My Tears, They Don't Mean Anything" 61

9. "Wonderfully Changed in My Sentiments" / Sarah Morgan 66

10. An Ornament of the Confederacy / Henry King Burgwyn, Jr. 78

11. "We Think Every Southerner Equal to Three Yankees at Least" 88

12. "I Attribute All to the War" / Nathaniel H. R. Dawson, Elodie Todd 94

13. "Nothing Is New with Wise's Gardeners" / Fred Fleet 109

14. A Legacy of Adversity 117

15. "I Intend to Do As Well As I Can" / Sandie Pendleton 130

16. Lee and Jackson, and Their Invincible Army 145

17. "All Will Turn Out for the Best" / Henry King Burgwyn, Jr. 155

18. Gettysburg 169

19. "They Haven't Got Us Nearly Whipped

Yet" 184

20. "A Peace That Passes Understanding" / Sarah Morgan 196

21. Coping with the Animal 201

22. An Army of Lions Led by an Ass 212

23. "It's Hard to Maintain Patriotism on Ashcake and Water" 229

24. Doing the Unthinkable 242

25. Beating Their Own Brains Out 256

26. "Suffering Somewhat in the Good Cause" / Sandie Pendleton 268

27. "I Know Something about It Now" / Fred Fleet 283

28. "Tennessee, a Grave, or a Free Home" 293

29. Sherman's Sentinels 308

30. To Justify a Reasonable Hope of Success 317

31. "Unless You Come Home, We Must Die" 328

32. The South Shall Rise Again 337

33. "Words on a Tombstone" / Henry King Burgwyn, Jr.

"Everybody Cried, but I Would Not" / Sarah Morgan

"Dealing with Adversity" / Sandie Pendleton

"Do Not Shrink from the Battle of Life" / Fred Fleet

In Explanation 362.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [400]-410) and index.

ISBN:

0312203667

OCLC:

41400690