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Journal Article
Desertion as Localism: Army Unit Solidarity and Group Norms in the U.S. Civil War
Peter S. Bearman
Social Forces
Vol. 70, No. 2 (Dec., 1991), pp. 321-342
Published by: Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.2307/2580242
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2580242
Page Count: 22
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Topics: Military desertion, Soldiers, War, Family desertion, Civil wars, Armies, Military enlistment, Solidarity, Censuses, Civil society
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Abstract
Drawing from the experiences of 3,126 enlisted men from North Carolina who fought for the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War, this article focuses on the determinants of desertion. I argue that men deserted because their identity as Southerners was eroded by an emergent localism, sustained and organized within the Confederate army. Desertion rates were highest in companies that evidenced a high degree of local homogeneity - company solidarity thus bred rather than reduced desertion rates. There is no support for any of the historical models of desertion that search for individual-level determinants, such as social class, occupation, status, family structure, age, or time of enlistment. Finally, contextual variables seem to be weak proxies for the central variable accounting for desertion - the emergence of a localist identity.
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Social Forces