Southern Invincibility: A History of the Confederate HeartSouthern pride-the notion that the South's character distinguishes it from the rest of the country-had a profound impact on how and why Confederates fought the Civil War, and continued to mold their psyche after they had been defeated. In Southern Invincibility, award-winning historian Wiley Sword traces the roots of the South's belief in its own superiority and examines the ways in which that conviction contributed to the war effort, even when it became clear that the South would not win. Informed by thorough research, Southern Invincibility is the historical investigation of a psychology that continues to define the South. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
An Ominous Circumstance | 4 |
Holding Fast to the Familiar | 8 |
A Curse to Any Land | 15 |
Secession Rather Than Dishonor | 21 |
Virginia and the Spirit of the Times | 29 |
The Pending Confrontation with the Self | 37 |
Am I Not Fighting for You? | 41 |
Coping with the Animal | 201 |
An Army of Lions Led by an Ass | 212 |
Its Hard to Maintain Patriotism on Ashcake and Water | 229 |
Doing the Unthinkable | 242 |
Beating Their Own Brains Out | 256 |
Suffering Somewhat in the Good Cause | 268 |
I Know Something about It Now | 283 |
Tennessee a Grave or a Free Home | 293 |
Dont Mind My Tears They Dont Mean Anything | 61 |
Wonderfully Changed in My Sentiments | 66 |
An Ornament of the Confederacy | 78 |
We Think Every Southerner Equal to Three Yankees at Least 888 | 88 |
I Attribute All to the War | 94 |
Nothing Is New with Wises Gardeners | 109 |
A Legacy of Adversity | 117 |
I Intend to Do As Well As I Can | 130 |
Lee and Jackson and Their Invincible Army | 145 |
All Will Turn Out for the Best | 155 |
Gettysburg | 169 |
They Havent Got Us Nearly WhippedYet | 184 |
A Peace That Passes Understanding | 196 |
Shermans Sentinels | 308 |
To Justify a Reasonable Hope of Success | 317 |
Unless You Come Home We Must Die | 328 |
The South Shall Rise Again | 337 |
Words on a Tombstone | 346 |
Everybody Cried but I Would Not | 348 |
Dealing with Adversity Fred Fleet Do Not Shrink from the Battle of Life | 351 |
Epilogue | 356 |
In Explanation | 362 |
Reference Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 400 |
| 411 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Alabama Army of Northern Army of Tennessee army's artillery Atlanta attack battle battlefield Boy Colonel Bragg Braxton Bragg brigade Campaign Captain Cleburne Cleburne's combat command Confederacy confidence Davis Dawson Papers death defeat defensive diary duty early Elodie to Nat enemy enemy's Federal feel fighting fire Fred Fleet Georgia Gettysburg Gettysburg Campaign Green Mount Harry Burgwyn Harry to father Honnoll honor Hood Hood's hope Ibid Infantry Jackson Jefferson Davis Joe Johnston John John Bell Hood Johnston July June Kate later Lee's army letter Lieutenant Longstreet's major March Mary Chesnut military minie ball Mississippi mother Nat Dawson Nat to Elodie North Carolina Northern Virginia numbers officers Pendleton Papers Rebel regiment Richmond rifle Robert Robert E Sandie Pendleton Sandie's Sarah Morgan seemed Sherman's Shiloh soon South Southern spirit Stonewall Stonewall Jackson success Sword tactical troops victory W. R. Redding wounded wrote Yankees