Hey everyone, welcome to episode number 51 of our Civil War podcast.

My name is Rich.

I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Thanks for tuning into the podcast. A year after he

went to war, a home six soldier in the 24th Mississippi posed a rhetorical

question to his fiance. Why am I here? Was it merely that I might be an actor and

scenes novel and exciting that I turn my back on all the delights of home and

subjected myself to the untold trials and privations of camp life and the

fearful dangers of the battlefield? No, he answered. I'm here because a

numerous and powerful enemy has invaded our country and threatened our

subjugation. On the first anniversary of his enlistment, a soldier in the 36th

Pennsylvania wrote of himself in his comrades. When we enlisted in this war, we

did know idle thing. We were an earnest. One year has passed away and all the

fancied romance of campaign life has proved itself to be a stern reality to us.

But we are still an earnest. Ready for another year of harder bloodier work if

such is necessary to crush this wicked rebellion. In this episode, we want to

look at some of the powerful factors that motivated men to enlist in the Union

and Confederate armies at the start of the Civil War. We're basically going to

try to answer the question, why did Northern and Southern men sign up to fight?

In seeking to answer why civil war soldiers were willing to sign up to fight

and willing to give the last full measure of devotion in the war itself, we're

fortunate to have a great wealth of evidence that provides us with a window

into what the men and the armies really thought and felt. That window into

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