This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War

Here, the author explores death among civilian populations impacted by the war. Many people not wearing uniforms or otherwise involved with military efforts still lost their lives due to disease, weapons fire, or unexploded ordnance. It was common for people in cities and towns near battle sites who took in the wounded to catch the diseases they brought with them. Further, army construction led to conditions that were ripe for malaria and yellow fever, which then spread to the surrounding populations. Especially heartbreaking are the stories of children who died from contracting such diseases; one well-known example of this was Abraham Lincoln’s son, Willie, who contracted typhoid fever in 1862 and died because of it.

Additionally, many African Americans who escaped slavery and rushed north contracted diseases from contact with others in their situation, including those living in temporary camps set up by the Union army to shelter escapees. Faust writes that “[m]any who escaped to freedom never lived to enjoy it” (2200-01).

The conditions in the South were especially bad, in regard to the ability to cope with death, disease, and other home-front adversity. One challenge faced by those in the South—in the army or out of it—was hunger and, in many cases, famine. The South aimed its industrial capacity and agricultural production at the war effort; if the Southern soldiers weren’t fed, clothed, housed, and equipped with weapons, then the South would lose the war. This lack of resources threatened the home front’s ability to keep itself functional.

Enslaved African Americans often took the opportunity of the distraction of the war to attempt escape. Many did so, and many survived; yet many others died in the attempt or because of unsafe conditions after they escaped. The prospect of escape was enough for many to commit acts of violence against slave-owners and vice versa. This was yet another form of death that occurred during the war.

In the wake of all this death, a little part of those left behind died along with their loved ones. This is illustrated by the Longfellow poem “Killed at the Ford,” an excerpt of which is included in this chapter. The loss of a loved one reduced many survivors to the equivalent of walking wounded, unable to cope with a world that no longer had in it the people who were their inspiration. Faust writes, “Even without the actual demise of the body, the bereaved might suffer a living death of spirit, heart, and hope” (2271).

If it was difficult for a loved one to process one death, it often proved relatively easy for other soldiers, chaplains, and hospital staff to do so, as “[d]eath had become too commonplace even to take note of” (2296-97).

With the grief and mourning came the mourning attire. Widows and other female family members were expected to wear black often, if not exclusively, and the mourning-clothing industry got a boost. Publications like Godey’s Lady’s Book showed its readers exactly how a mourning woman should be dressed. The inherent assumption is that the woman dressed this way in order to be seen in public as having done so. A grieving widow was not free to shut herself away from the world, and the wearing of mourning attire was a mode of paying homage to the social rules of the time.

Shared grief sometimes helped mourners, reminding them that they were not alone, even if they felt like it. Support networks were not unknown. Also, the death of prominent people afforded people the opportunity to grieve collectively, incorporating the loss they felt for loved ones and friends into the public mourning for a revered figure. Two examples from the text are that of Stonewall Jackson and Lincoln himself; in each case, the public took an extended opportunity to mourn and pursue catharsis. The author includes many details of the story of Lincoln’s body after his death.

The last part of this chapter focuses on funeral eulogies and sermons, noting that these were also opportunities for a shared outpouring of grief. Such public ceremonies offered people a way to externalize their sadness.