An outstanding analysis of how the Lost Cause mythology emerged. The author uses the experiences of Walter Lenoir, a Unionist from North Carolina, who is disgusted with the Southern plantation system and slavery and wants to move to the upper Mid-West.
When President Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion after Fort Sumter is fired upon, Lenoir, like many southerners joins the Confederate Army to defend the South. Badly wounded at Second Bull Run, Lenoir begins to rationalize his wound and ensuing physical, emotional and financial suffering to embrace what became the mythology of the "Lost Cause."
When President Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion after Fort Sumter is fired upon, Lenoir, like many southerners joins the Confederate Army to defend the South. Badly wounded at Second Bull Run, Lenoir begins to rationalize his wound and ensuing physical, emotional and financial suffering to embrace what became the mythology of the "Lost Cause."
