In the book Touched With Fire: Five Presidents And The Civil War Battles That Made Them, author James Perry explores the lives of five former United States presidents, who all participated in the civil war, and evaluates the way their civil war battles influenced them and shaped them as people. The impact of their civil war experiences could be found in the way they subsequently lead their armies, troops or companies, or it could be found in how they governed and acted as a President when they made it all the way to the White House. Though there have been other presidents who have participated in wars, it was the Civil War, “the most wrenching of all U.S. wars” as Perry wrote, that produced the most presidents with combat experience.
The five…show more content… When the war began, James Garfield was a Senator in Ohio. He wasn’t a great student and was fatherless and poor. He joined the Union Army in April, and by August, Garfield was given the task of serving as the commanding officer of the 42D Ohio Volunteers. Ultimately a month later he ended up being promoted to colonel, which secured his formal command of the regiment and meant he finally achieved his goal of rising through the ranks very quickly. Important battles in Garfield’s career included the Battle of Middle Creek and Chickamauga. These battles shaped him because they proved that you don’t need West Point experience to be a successful army commander. He, like Grant, was also seen as a hero. In fact, he was so well liked that he returned to his seat in the Senate when he returned from the war, even though he didn’t campaign. Ultimately, he was elected president in 1891 and was assassinated 4 short months into his…show more content… I find it most interesting because I can look back to coursework and reading and see a lot of similarities in what I’ve learned and read and was able to use a different perspective when reading this book. For instance, it is interesting to note how many of these five men had similar family life, socioeconomic status, and education. A common trend amongst these five men was the fact that almost all of them grew up impoverish. Perry was able to note how this affected each of their lives, and subsequently played a role in them joining the Union Army. Recently in coursework we were assigned an article by Sarah Abruzze and in it she attested to and reinforced this concept by quoting a woman who lived and worked in Atlanta who said, “I still think that in many ways the armed forces is unfortunately one of the few viable options for young people growing up in inner cities who may lack resources for college and have few other opportunities for upward mobility.” We can see that this is possibly a reason why some of the former presidents joined the military when Perry, who is referencing Grant says “He returned to the army because he felt it was his duty and because he sensed soldiering would turn out to be a better line of work for him than clerking in his father's leather shop.” Many of the five presidents referenced in this book had lived a difficult life, either poor or fatherless, and joining the army was a way to develop
