Book contents
- With Ballots and Bullets
- With Ballots and Bullets
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- 1 An Introduction to Partisan Warfare
- 2 The Roots of Partisan Civil War
- Part I Mobilizing Partisan Warfare
- 3 The Press Goes to War
- 4 Filling the Ranks
- Part II Ballots in a Partisan Civil War
- Part III Legacies of Partisan Violence
- Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Index
4 - Filling the Ranks
Partisan Opinion Leadership in Violent Action
from Part I - Mobilizing Partisan Warfare
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 October 2020
- With Ballots and Bullets
- With Ballots and Bullets
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- 1 An Introduction to Partisan Warfare
- 2 The Roots of Partisan Civil War
- Part I Mobilizing Partisan Warfare
- 3 The Press Goes to War
- 4 Filling the Ranks
- Part II Ballots in a Partisan Civil War
- Part III Legacies of Partisan Violence
- Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Chapter 4 examines partisan war participation differences using soldier voting tallies and county-level data on soldier service records linked with election data to test party differences in local military enlistment, desertion, and death. Soldiers in the field voted more for Republicans than did civilians back home. Likewise, Republican places contributed a larger share of local men to fight, those men were less likely to desert once in the ranks, and they were more likely to die in service. Democratic places were less willing to shoulder the mortal burdens of war to preserve the Union by suppressing the assault from their former partisan brethren. Thus, parties substantially organized the war service of their followers beyond the mobilizing power of government. Changes in partisan enlistment gaps over time follow shifts in partisan news support for war – striking evidence of dynamic leadership. Chapter 4 also finds some local partisan influence on African American enlistment and describes women’s war service. In sum, partisanship motivated ordinary Republicans more to save the Union through violent action, even as Democratic partisanship impeded the war.
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- Information
- With Ballots and BulletsPartisanship and Violence in the American Civil War, pp. 75 - 104Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020