The Civil War was a devastating war that wiped out much of America’s population. The book written by James M. McPherson, What They Fought For 1861-1865, describes the views of the soldiers that fought in the war. McPherson uses letters left behind written by different civil war soldiers to portray a more round view of actions that took place on the battlegrounds. McPherson’s thesis does not present from both sides of the war what the soldiers, volunteers and enlisted men, of the Civil War had to faced, how they dealt with their emotions and experiences, the bond made between comrades, and how it affect their overall psychological, physical, and mental well-being of each combatant.
This book contains diary entries from Union soldiers that were from the northern states.…