Directions: Use the document and your knowledge of history to answer the questions that
follow.
Question 1: Explain why a historian might not think that Joseph F. Green’s letter reflects the
morale of the entire Union Army.
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Question 2: Three documents are described below. Explain whether each document could be
used to support Joseph F. Green’s claims about the morale of the Union Army. If the document
could not be used to support the account, explain why not.
a. A speech by President Lincoln in 1863 that describes the Union soldiers as brave.
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“Well we are trying to get a long the best we can and I tell you that is poor a nough. The
troops all Seem to be discouraged Since the last battle at Fredericksburgh. I tell you that they
hadent better ever take this army back to Alexandria or they will all [desert] and go home. I
dont see what our government is doing.”
Source: Letter from Joseph F. Green, a soldier in the Union Army, to his friend Julia
Reynolds on January 2, 1863.
CONTINUE ON BACK
b. An 1863 document from the US government that shows many Union soldiers had
recently deserted.
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c. An 1861 letter from a Confederate soldier to his mother that describes how two of his
friends had deserted.
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