from New Jersey

This paper expands upon theories presented by John A. Lynn in Bayonets of the Republic and James McPherson in For Cause and Comrades, which focus on soldiers’ initial, sustaining, and combat motivations. These authors argue that a soldier’s motivations can be divided into categories focusing on why the soldier enlisted, why they continued to serve, and the choice to engage in combat. Previous authors have created a general study of soldiers, and this trend is slowly being applied to Civil War soldiers. For my discussion, I have narrowed the focus to Civil War soldiers in New Jersey while still maintaining the overall framework set forth by Lynn and McPherson. In doing so I hope to expand the narrative and produce a more inclusive discussion of motivations. Specifically I investigate the cornerstones of the motivation discussion: the cause and comrades, while also making the critical inclusions of economics, personal interest, religion, and a desire for adventure. iii To explore these motivational influences I grounded my research in the writings, predominantly letters, of Civil War soldiers. Supplementing this is other contemporar