HEARTS TORN ASUNDER: Trauma in the Civil War's Final Campaign in North Carolina

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The war's final campaign in North Carolina began on April 10, 1865, one day after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. More than 120,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were still in the field bringing war with them as they moved across the state's verdant heartland. General William T. Sherman was still out to destroy the South's ability and moral stamina to make war. His unstoppable Union troops faced General Joseph E. Johnston's demoralized but still dangerous Confederate Army of Tennessee. Thousands of desperate, distraught, and destitute paroled Rebels added to the chaos by streaming into the state from Virginia. Grief-stricken civilians, struggling to survive in a collapsing world, were caught in the middle.

Explores the psychological experience of these soldiers and civilians during the chaotic closing weeks of the war. Their letters, diaries, and accounts reveal just how deeply the killing, suffering, and loss had hurt and impacted these people by the spring of 1865. Deftly recounts the experiences of men, women, and children who endured intense emotional, physical, and moral stress during the war's dramatic climax. Their emotional, irrational, and often uncontrollable reactions mirror symptoms associated with trauma victims today, all of which combined to shape memory of the war's end.