For a variety of reasons, the American Civil War has captivated the interest of people in the United States and beyond more than any other episode in U.S. history. Over the course of four years, this conflict escalated from political turmoil into a massive total war that claimed the lives of some 625,000 Americans (more than all the U.S. personnel killed in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined). In the process, the Civil War did more to influence the course of our nation than any other single event.
This fascination with the Civil War has persisted now for a full 150 years and is not likely to fade any time soon. Today, an extraordinary number of people remain interested in the War Between the States, fueling the creation of movies, documentaries, history books, and novels about it. Movies like Gettysburg and Glory gained instant followings when they were released; Ken Burns' PBS documentary The Civil War is still widely considered one of the best documentaries ever made; and novels about the Civil War, such as The Killer Angels and Cold Mountain, are regularly on the bestseller lists. Indeed, starting even before the Civil War ended in 1865, more nonfiction books and novels have been written about it than about any other conflict involving the United States.
One reason for this fervent interest is, perhaps, the proximity of the war's events to the everyday lives of so many modern Americans. Reminders of the war are provided by streets still bearing the names that appear in period accounts of its events, by towns contested by the opposing armies, and by cities and military posts named for the rival commanders. People in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Washington, DC, drive on many of the same roads that massive armies marched along some 150 years ago. Boaters cruise the same inland waterways, coasts, and rivers that U.S. Navy ships guarded, desperate blockade runners plied by night, and armored gunboats patrolled. Inhabitants of the Mississippi River Valley live within hours of the savage raids and battles of the war in the West. Citizens of places like Baltimore, Atlanta, and New Orleans live in cities that were under military occupation. Indeed, the greatest, most destructive war ever seen in North America was fought on ground many of those citizens walk across every single day.
Today, too, the incivility that has become commonplace in political discourse has sparked in some a practical interest in what can happen if the voices of moderation and common sense are unable to prevail. As enjoyable and interesting as a study of the subject can be, people should never forget or ignore what a terrible thing any civil war is.
Life in Civil War America is a broad-based introduction to the day-to-day conditions, attitudes, and events of the period from just before the conflict until a dozen years after its conclusion. While the Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865, it is a bit contrived to imagine this period can be removed from the broader era in which it existed. Thus, the years before and after are also covered to some extent, notably from abolitionist John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, through the end of Reconstruction and the Federal occupation of Southern states.
In addition to being a standalone book devoted to the topics it covers, Life in Civil War America is also designed to serve as a companion volume to other books on the struggle — especially those dedicated to specific battles or other elements — and to provide useful definitions or explanations of terms or concepts to which they refer (for example, terms like “regiment” are often used freely with little clarification of what they mean).
In any event, as a general work, there are practical limits to the depth of this book, and entire volumes have been written about any of the topics covered in a single chapter here. Those seeking additional information are thus encouraged to seek larger and more detailed works, and this book therefore provides some guidance in this regard.
Subject matter covered in this book includes an overview of the North and the South before, during, and after the war; descriptions of life during the war, including what people ate, what they wore, the sort of work they did, how they entertained themselves, how they worshipped, and where they got their information; the state of education during the era of the war; an overview of the opposing military forces and the personnel who fought in them; a timeline that describes the major events and battles of the war and its aftermath in chronological order; examples of songs and poems composed during the Civil War; and resources readers can use to do further research into specific aspects of the war.
When the first edition of this book was released as Everyday Life During the Civil War in 1999, it was recognized as a work that covered ground in a way that no other single volume did. This revised and re-titled edition of that book is, nonetheless, superior to its predecessor in every way (if only because its author is a better writer today than he was more than a decade ago). It has been reedited, reorganized, expanded, corrected as needed, and had added to it two completely new chapters, those on Education and Religion.
Enjoy! We are confident that this book will be an invaluable tool in your explorations into one of the most fascinating episodes in American history.
Michael J. Varhola