67 The American Civil War

The military aspect of the United States Civil War has always attracted the most attention from scholars. The roar of gunfire, the massed movements of uniformed men, the shrill o f bugles, and the drama of hand to hand combat have facinated students of warfare for a century. Behind the lines, however, life was less spectacular. It was the story of back breaking labor to provide the fighting men with food and arms, of nerve tingling uncertainty about the course of national events, of heartbreak over sons or brothers or husbands lost in battle. If the men on the firing line won the victories, the means to those victories were forged on the home front. Never in the nation's history had Americans worked harder for victory than in the Civil War. Northerners and Southerners alike threw themselves into the task of supplying their respective armies. Both governments made tremendous demands upon civilians and, in general, received willing cooperations. By 1863 the Northern war economy was rumbling along in high gear. Everything from steamboats to shovels was needed and produced. Denied Southern cotton, textile mills turned to wool for blankets and uniforms. Hides by the hundreds of thousands were turned into shoes and harness and saddles; ironworks manufactured locomotives, ordnance, armor plate. Where private enterprise lagged, the government set up its own factories or arsenals. Agriculture boomed, with machinery doing the job of farm workers drawn into the army. In short, everything that a nation needed to fight a modern war was produced in uncounted numbers. Inevitably there were profiteers with gold headed canes and flamboyant diamond stickpins, but for every crooked tycoon there were thousands of ordinary citizens living on fixed incomes who did their best to cope with rising prices and still make a contribution to the war effort. Those who could bought war bonds; others knitted, sewed, nursed, or lent any other assistance in their power.

美国内战

美国内战中的军事方面一直最吸引学者们的注意。 轰隆的炮声、军人大规模的阵式，尖锐的军号和白刃战的场面，已吸引了战争研究者们一个世纪。 然而，在后方，生活却没有这般壮观。 那里的故事就是为作战的军人提供食物和武装而做劳累至极的工作，对国家事态的焦虑和对在战争中失去丈夫、兄弟和儿子的撕心裂肺。 如果说前线的人们获得了胜利，那胜利的手段就要归功于后方的人们。 在其历史上，美国人从来没有象在内战中那样为夺取胜利而如此努力。 南方人和北方人一样投入到为各自军队供应物资的任务中。双方政府对民众都提出巨大的要求，总的来说，得到了极积的合作。 到了1863年，北方战时经济呈高速运转，从蒸气船到铁锹，一切都需要并且生产出来。 由于没有了南方产的棉花，纺织工厂纷纷转用毛料生产毯子和军衣。 几十万件的皮革制成了鞋、挽具和马鞍。 铁厂生产出机车、大炮、装甲板。 私营企业不足以承担的方面，政府就成立自己的工厂和兵工厂。 农业迅猛发展，因为农场工人参军后机械代替了手工。 总之，国家参加现代战争所需的多得数不清的物资都生产出来了。 不可避免地出现了一些手持镀金手杖，戴着耀眼的钻石别针的投资商。 但每有一个奸诈的富翁就有成千上万的普通市民。 他们依靠固定的收入尽他们最大的努力应付着上涨的物价，为战争做着贡献。 那些有能力的人购买战争债券，其他的人编织、缝补衣服，护理伤病人或做其它一切他们力所能及的工作。