|
|
|
|
|
|
Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union
written by Bell Irvin Wiley
Studio : Louisiana State University Press
by Louisiana State University Press
Publisher : Louisiana State University Press
Released : 1979-06
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780807104767
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 8 reviews)
List Price : $20.95
Our Price : $4.00
|
|
| |
|
Book Description |
|
In this companion to The Life of Johnny Reb, Bell Irvin Wiley explores the daily lives of the men in blue who fought to save the Union. With the help of many soldiers' letters and diaries, Wiley explains who these men were and why they fought, how they reacted to combat and the strain of prolonged conflict, and what they thought about the land and the people of Dixie. This fascinating social history reveals that while the Yanks and the Rebs fought for very different causes, the men on both sides were very much the same. "This wonderfully interesting book is the finest memorial the Union soldier is ever likely to have. . . . [Wiley] has written about the Northern troops with an admirable objectivity, with sympathy and understanding and profound respect for their fighting abilities. He has also written about them with fabulous learning and considerable pace and humor. |
| |
|
| |
|
An engaging book |
|
Like his companion book, Life of Johnny Reb, this book looks at how soldiers were recruited and kept by the Army. The Union had the advantage of an army already in being but its expansion to meet its wartime needs changed the very nature of the Federal Army. This is a fine book and one that any real Civil War buff should have. |
| |
|
very informative |
Just as informative about the life of the Common Soldierwho served in the Northern ranks as his book The Life of Johnny Reb is of the soldier who apposed him thoughcleary better developed by the author's experience.
Very informative. Very well written.
A must have for anyone interested in the Civil War. |
| |
|
The Classic Study of the Union Soldier |
Bell Irvin Wiley (1906-1980) enjoyed a distinguished career as a professor at the University of Mississippi and Emory University and as the author or editor of over 20 books on the Civil War. His "The Life of Billy Yank: the Common Soldier of the Union" (1952) is, together with its companion volume "The Life of Johnny Reb, the Common Soldier of the Confederacy (1943), Wiley's best-known work. It presents an outstanding history of the day-to-day life of the soldier in the Union Army.
As Wiley stated in the preface to the book, his focus was "social rather than military". The book offers little of the military history of the various Civil War campaigns and little of the political aspects of the War. Rather, Wiley discusses soldering in the Union Army in all its detail and drudgery. It is an indispensable source for those wishing to understand the Civil War. The book would be of interest as well to reenactors wishing to get inside and recapture life in a Civil War Army.
The book is well-researched and documented. It draws upon the letters and diaries of innumerable Union soldiers, both published and unpublished and on other first-hand accounts. Much of the discussion is anecdotal, but Wiley makes good use of census and statistical data as well. The book is clearly written with an obvious empathy for the life of the Civil War soldier. The book leads the reader beyond its specific subject and encourages reflection of the Civil War, its terrible human cost, and its continuing importance to our country.
Wiley begins with a discussion of the recruitment process into the Union Army following the attack on Fort Sumter. The book gives a good picture of the complex relationship between state militia units, the regular army, the volunteers and the draftees -- the various units that uneasily combined to form the Union army. Bell discusses -- in a subject that continues to fascinate historians -- the motivations of the soldiers who served in the conflict. In particular, he discusses the Emancipation Proclamation and considers the extent to which Emancipation was or became a goal for a large number of Union troops. Wiley sees the many sides of this question, and the issue remains one that is vigorously discussed.
The book describes well the rigors of training and camp life, the diseases and unhealthy living conditions which plagued the army, the boredom and enforced routines, the bad food, temptations to vice, and experience of combat. There is excellent material in the book on the organization of the Union Army. Much of the material in Wiley's study is either presupposed or otherwise not covered in other well-known studies of the military of political history of the War. The book considers the morale and fighting spirit of the men and how it varied with the fortunes of war and with the support of people at home. Again, anticipating more recent studies, Wiley discusses the ambiguous, complicated relationships that developed during the War between the Union troops and their enemies in gray. This relationship, and the instances of fraternization during the midst of a total conflict, presaged the way for reconciliation, at long last, at the conclusion of the conflict. There is a brief discussion in the book of women soldiers who enlisted in the Union army and sometimes managed to avoid detection. This subject too has received much recent attention and it is interesting to see Wiley deal with it in his early account. The book ends with reflections on the way in which the Civil War helped forged the United States into a nation.
This is a study that wears its age well. It will bring the reader face-to-face with the life of the Union soldier during our nation's greatest combat. |
| |
|
Common heroes |
Bell Irvin Wiley seems to have been the first historian/writer to realize that the Civil War was not just about Lee, Pickett, Grant or Stuart or any of the other guys with stars on their shoulders. The real truth about what happened on those battlefields had to do with the guys in the tattered uniforms and the rotted shoes, trying to fight with defective rifles.
As in his companion book, "The Life of Johnny Reb", "The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union" is an unflinching look at the constant struggles of a Union soldier. This is a very sobering account, and some of the letters the soldiers wrote home are nothing short of heartbreaking. This is a truly admirable account of men who were more than common soldiers. I believe they were really common heroes. |
| |
|
Excellent |
|
The late Bell Wiley had an advantage that many researchers of the Civil War did not have: FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS FROM THE VETERANS THEMSELVES. Starting his research in the 1940's, Wiley was able to interview the aging veterans of the War. You can imagine what was going through these warriors minds as they recalled their past. Wiley also spent countless hours combing through letters, diaries, official documents and other papers to get his facts. Billy Yank tells the story of the Union soldiers as few have been able to capture. It covers more than just what the soldier wore, ate, used, etc. From his reasons for fighting, opinions of Lincoln, emancipation (pro AND con) officers, the Southern people, the topics are well covered. Reenactors of the conflict would benefit from this book. This is a gold mine of information for the "first person" impression. Even Southerners will gain insight into their former foes. |
| |
|
|
|
