The Gentlemen and the Roughs: Violence, Honor, and Manhood in the Union Army - Softcover

Foote, Lorien

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1479897841 ISBN 13: 9781479897841

Publisher: NYU Press, 2013

Synopsis

Finalist for the 2011 Gilder
Lehrman Lincoln Prize

"A seminal work. . . . One of
the best examples of new, sophisticated scholarship on the social history of
Civil War soldiers."

—The Journal of Southern History

“Will undoubtedly, and properly, be
read as the latest word on the role of manhood in the internal dynamics of the
Union army."

—Journal of the Civil War Era

During the Civil War, the Union
army appeared cohesive enough to withstand four years of grueling war against
the Confederates and to claim victory in 1865. But fractiousness bubbled below
the surface of the North’s presumably united front. Internal fissures were rife
within the Union army: class divisions, regional antagonisms, ideological
differences, and conflicting personalities all distracted the army from
quelling the Southern rebellion.

In this highly original
contribution to Civil War and gender history, Lorien Foote reveals that these internal
battles were fought against the backdrop of manhood. Clashing ideals of
manliness produced myriad conflicts, as when educated, refined, and wealthy
officers (“gentlemen”) found themselves commanding a hard-drinking group of
fighters (“roughs”)—a dynamic that often resulted in violence and even death. Based
on extensive research into heretofore ignored primary sources, The Gentlemen and the Roughs uncovers
holes in our understanding of the men who fought the Civil War and the society
that produced them.

About this title

About the Author:

Lorien Foote is Professor of History at Texas A&M and the author of Seeking the One Great Remedy: Francis George Shaw and Nineteenth-Century Reform.

Review:

"A much as the Union army was at war with Confederate troops, according to Foote, it was also simultaneously internally at was along fault lines created by changing ideas of what it meant to be a man in a rapidly modernizing northern economy and social order. . . This book will undoubtedly, and properly, be read as the latest word on the role of manhood in the internal dynamics of the Union army." (Leeann Whites Journal of the Civil War Era)

"Lorien Foote's new book is another innovative attempt to rewrite American military history using the methodology of social history." (Jonathan D. Sarris American Historical Review)

"It is commonplace to observe that war is the ultimate test of the & manhood of soldiers. But in the Civil Waras probably in all warsthe meaning of manhood was contested, as Lorien Foote makes clear in this fine study of Union soldiers. Making intelligent use of regimental reports and court-martial records, among other kinds of evidence, she teases out the various perceptions of manhood in this study that offers stimulating new interpretations of the values of soldiers in the broader context of American Victorian culture." (James M. McPherson,author of the Pulitzer Prize winning Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era)

"Lorien Foote in The Gentlemen and the Roughs provides a fascinating perspective on the pervasive issues of manhood and honor that served to undermine the cohesion of the Union army . . . Her research, which looks at the social history of military relationships, is invaluable to broadening our overall undertanding of the American Civil War." (Ryan Keating Register of the Kentucky Historical Society)

"The Gentlemen and the Roughs" is an interesting book, carefully researched and covering an area of the Civil War that has been virtually ignored." (J.W. Thacker The Daily News-Bowling Green Kentucky)

"This book is one of the best examples of new, sophisticated scholarship on the social history of Civil War soldiers." (Anne J. Bailey The Journal of Southern History)

"From hazing with mule urine to pistols at ten paces, Foote provides a lively portrait of & conduct unbecoming and offers new insights into American masculinity in post-Civil War America." (Catherine Clinton,author of Mrs. Lincoln: A Life)

"Foote's monograph is complex and well written, and focuses the lens of gender and manhood studies on the Civil War North . . . Manditory reading for any scholar of 19th-century masculinity." (A.R. Todd Choice Magazine)

"Lorein Foote's study of conflict in the Union army makes an insightful contribution to our understanding of the military experience of the common soldier" (Keith P. Wilson Journal of American History)

"This might be the first & military history to take gender seriously, as well as the first gender history to accord military history its due." (Amy S. Greenberg,author of Manifest Manhood and the Antebellum American Empire)

About this edition

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1479897841
• ISBN 13: 9781479897841
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 252