Confederate Soldiers in the Civil War: Masculinity, War Experience, and Religion

ABSTRACT CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR: MASCULINITY, WAR EXPERIENCE, AND RELIGION by © Dillon Jackson Carroll 2009 Master of Arts in History California State University, Chico Spring 2009 Although there is a large body of work that deals with the experience of Civil War soldiers, there are relatively few male gender studies of the war. This project seeks to examine the relationship of masculinity and the Confederate soldier in the American Civil War. This project seeks to shed light upon ideas of 19th century masculinity and how it was invoked, shaped and ultimately changed by the Civil War. Masculine roles were changing in the 19th century; the southern ideal of manhood was beginning to become obsolete in the face of the new Self-Made Man of the Market Revolution. In order to protect their homes and preserve their manliness, Southern men embarked on the bloody affair known as the American Civil War. Historians that I consulted to help introduce and explain 19th century masculinity include Michael Kimmel, E. Anthony Rotundo, Craig Thompson Friend and Lorri Glover. ix Courage and religion are interwoven with 19th century notions of manhood and the manly soldier and must be examined. Confederate soldiers in the Civil War initially believed that the courageous soldier who never flinched in the face of enemy fire would not be killed. They also comparatively believed that the soldier who had an unyielding faith in God would be protected. These ideas were dramatically molded by the experience of soldiering. The popular ideal of what made a courageous soldier was quickly modified to suit realistic purposes. Faith in religion was used to explain the unexplainable in battle and camp, and generally became stronger during the war. Historians I consulted for information concerning courage and religion include but are not limited to Bell Irvin Wiley, Gerald Linderman, and James M. McPherson. This project additionally seeks to intimately shed light on the war experience by closely examining the lives of several Confederate soldiers who lived and died during the war. The letters that these men wrote home during their service have been meticulously researched specifically seeking to examine how they dealt with masculinity, courage and religion during their war experience. The published letters of Joshua K. Callaway, James M. Williams, Edwin H. Fay and William Dorsey Pender were examined. The unpublished letters of Walter Lenoir were examined as well.