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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

Nathan P. Kalmoe
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University
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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.

Type
Chapter
Information
With Ballots and Bullets
Partisanship and Violence in the American Civil War
, pp. 75 - 104
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Filling the Ranks
  • Nathan P. Kalmoe, Louisiana State University
  • Book: With Ballots and Bullets
  • Online publication: 20 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108870504.006
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  • Filling the Ranks
  • Nathan P. Kalmoe, Louisiana State University
  • Book: With Ballots and Bullets
  • Online publication: 20 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108870504.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Filling the Ranks
  • Nathan P. Kalmoe, Louisiana State University
  • Book: With Ballots and Bullets
  • Online publication: 20 October 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108870504.006
Available formats
×