Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1998

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

History

Major Professor

Stephen V. Ash

Committee Members

Charles Johnson, Bruce Wheeler

Abstract

In this study wounded and unwounded Confederate veterans from Tennessee are compared to determine whether wounding made a difference in the veterans' postwar status. After briefly discussing the injuries received by the wounded veterans, it compares the social status, economic status, and family relations of the two groups of veterans. The study uses especially the Tennessee Confederate Soldiers' Pension Applications and the Tennessee Civil War Veterans Questionnaires; a statistically significant number of individuals was chosen from the 733 men who filled out both a Pension Application and a Veterans Questionnaire. Two hundred eighty-one (281) veterans were chosen, of whom 121 were wounded and 160 were unwounded. First, the veterans' prewar social, economic, and family status were established and then the same variables were examined to demonstrate the veterans' status after the war. Social status was defined in terms of prewar education level and postwar office-holding and church affiliation. Economic status was defined in terms of prewar property value, either of the veteran or his parents, and the veteran's postwar property value. Their prewar and post-war occupations were also compared. Family status was discussed in terms of marriage, family size, and when the veterans' started their families. The statistical differences found between the wounded and unwounded veterans were minimal. Being wounded did not, on the whole, affect social status. Veterans in both groups tended to have lower property values after the war and to return to their pre-war occupation. Also, the majority of men in each group married and had children, but tended to have fewer children than their parents. The most significant difference between the two groups is in when they started their families. Finally, the information revealed in the records suggests that the psychological effects of their war experiences and the changes at home may have combined to create a situation in which post-traumatic stress disorder could thrive.

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