The Civil War Rank and File

Catalog description

This course pursues an extended consideration of the personal letters, diaries, and drawings produced by Civil War soldiers and nurses. Such material provides unparalleled access to the vivid experiences of enlistees in Confederate and U.S. armies and in the associated medical corps. Gripping testimony from this "People's Contest," supplemented by scholarly accounts, will introduce students to the rigors of war, the burdens of separation from loved ones, and the jolting experience of combat. Additionally, the course offers a range of perspectives on the most revolutionary period of American history, as chattel slavery was overthrown, racial hierarchies were recast, and Americans witnessed a fundamental shift in role of government and the meaning of citizenship. In reflecting on historians' use of letters and diaries, the course raises broader questions about building life stories from self-authored evidence.