A Desperate Fight

Henry B. Motty’s A Desperate Fight views Civil War Louisiana through the lens of its soldiers’ experiences—and interdependence—with civilians. Louisiana fielded approximately sixty thousand men for the Confederacy, equaling nearly 18 percent of the state’s white population. Most of these men came straight from civilian life. Although separated from their loved ones, soldiers and civilians did not endure the war in isolation, and the importance of the social bonds that developed between soldiers and civilians cannot be overstated. Motty focuses on these vital relationships and interactions, explaining how these communal attachments kept most of the state’s soldiers fighting throughout the war.

Participation in military campaigns and engagements shaped the world of Louisiana’s soldiers and also affected civilians, who had to deal with the ensuing destruction. Both civilians and soldiers contended with the injury or death of family members, property damage or loss, and shortages or lack of necessities; their wartime experiences were intertwined. Soldiers, the majority of whom intended to be citizen-soldiers, needed civilian support, and many civilians who sympathized with the Confederacy expected their soldiers to protect and defend them. While the ideology of patriotism and nationalism motivated men to enlist, Motty argues that soldiers’ civilian relationships provided a meaningful connection to their sacrifices and that many soldiers believed they were fighting primarily to protect and defend their families and conceptions of civilian freedom.