In 1864, the Union faced two questions imperative to the war’s outcome, and the country’s very fate: would veteran white Northern soldiers re-enlist, and would President Abraham Lincoln be re-elected? Each must be analyzed independently, but to fully grasp the grave circumstances under which the Civil War’s third year was waged, the intricate link between re-enlistment and re-election also needs to be explored.
Based on his exciting new research, psychiatrist and war historian Dr. Stephen A. Goldman will discuss the several inducements offered to the Union’s most experienced soldiers to prevent their leaving the army starting in April 1864, and their respective impacts. He will then examine what motivated more than half of the eligible white Northern soldiers to risk their lives in a second term of service, and in a connected, striking display of faith, to help re-elect Abraham Lincoln on a platform that called for a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery forever, and supported use of black troops.