Lincoln's Mercenaries: Economic Motivation among Union Soldiers during the Civil War (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) Hardcover – Illustrated, November 6, 2018

This is a terrific book by a leading Civil War historian that will likely change your views about the motivation of the men who signed up for the Union army. Marvel's approach is two-pronged. First, as he explains at the outset, he employs statistical data from the 1860 census (using the names of the members of 94 sample Union companies across the north) to show that a large majority (70-71%) of the men who signed up in 1861 were from families below median household wealth. Except for the 100-day volunteers of 1864 (the perfect opportunity to collect bounties while minimizing chances of actually seeing combat), a majority (usually a significant majority) of volunteers came from below-median wealth families throughout the war. This data is enough to make the book notable all by itself. But second, Marvel supplements the statistical analysis with hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, excerpts from letters, and personal stories that demonstrate the interplay among: calls for volunteers; the draft; bounties offered by federal, state, county and city governments; the ability to avoid the draft through commutation and the purchase of substitutes; the length of enlistment; and (last but not least) the financial circumstances and objectives of volunteers. The research is breathtaking, and the insights are impressive. Of course, Marvel has a thesis: the economical motivation of a significant majority of Union volunteers. He does not deny that many volunteers had more noble motives, or mixed motives, but the portrait he paints puts a whole different perspective on the war. A major contribution to Civil War research.

William Marvel has again hit a home run with his newest book. Having heard him lecture on this subject, he has uncovered much truth about an area of the Civil War that has not been investigated. His facts and figures are stunning and accurate, as he details the reason why so many signed up to join the Union army. A book that should be required reading for any graduate student of American History; a page-turner which I was not able to put down. I wish I had seen this research years ago when I first went to graduate school. The author has drawn accurate conclusions from the data compiled on the economic conditions of the early volunteers from every northern state during all the major recruitment periods of the war and the results of his data definitely support his conclusion that the majority of them came from the poorer half of their state. He also is correct in delving into the economic depression of the early 1860s which led to thousands of folks losing their jobs. Too many current historians have simply ignored the newspaper and soldier accounts that prove that they were motivated by the money. So many of these men had to rely on military pay to support their families. My highest recommendation.

As the author notes, the economic motivation behind those enlisting at the North was found anecdotally in many places but no detailed look at this existed. Lincoln's financial scheme of greenback fiat money enabled the war machine to exist and with which to pay what essentially were mercenaries in blue. With difficulty after 1863's draft riots on the North to obtain recruits, the emphasis on paying veterans exorbitant bonuses plus home furloughs for re-enlisting worked well. This along with Lincoln's reelection assured by those surrounding himA welcome addition to my library -- thanks Mr. Marvel!

If by the word 'mercenary' we mean a professional soldier for hire, entire units for hire by foreign governments, then the title is off base. But the author does shine a light on just how difficult it was to flesh out the volunteer effort and reward those who did adequately. (It's a myth that it was 'easy' to replace the losses, especially of '64. Grant would have been astounded to be told that was the case.) Warm bodies are one thing, but only combat makes veterans. Desertion was high in theater armies who lost frequently (Confederate West) and low in those who scored victories with inspiring leadership. (Confederate East) The soldiers of the Army of the Potomac left in droves when their terms expired. It's not too romantic, but the Social Contract was in the air from the beginning in our society. The book reveals much wasted money, bounty jumping, bad feeling on the part of the veterans who had volunteered, etc. Northern Governors loved raising groups of 9 month paid volunteer and conscript regiments compared to the much harder work of raising 1-3 year regiments, the author shows. Such issues have always been a problem for popular government societies. Our own Congress's failure to pay the Revolutionary era soldiery was one reason the fight for independence had stalled by 1780. This country's mythologizing of the 'Minuteman' ethic caught us ill prepared at the time of the Civil War to sustain large field armies. These lessons served us well in WW II; an example of what I think of as a volunteer draft; ultimately, the Federal Government was going to take care of the soldiers or pay the price of social unrest, even upheaval and low morale troops. Poor policy decisions fractured morale during Viet Nam. For a compelling analysis of the material in Mr. Marvel's book I recommend the review by Christopher M. Rein PhD for Army University Press. Well organized, thorough and with much detail that carries the ideas along. I just feel there is more to the impetus of social responsibility by the Northern soldier, (hence 4 stars), than is implied here. I wonder how the Confederate soldier would have responded to their government honoring a system of terms of enlistment?