Peter Bearman
Desertion as Localism: Army Unit Solidarity and Group Norms in the U.S. Civil War
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
drawing experiences 3126 enlisted men north carolina fought confederacy us civil war article focuses determinants desertion argue men deserted identity southerners eroded emergent localism sustained organized within confederate army desertion rates highest companies evidenced high degree local homogeneity company solidarity thus bred rather reduced desertion rates support historical models desertion search individuallevel determinants social class occupation status family structure age time enlistment finally contextual variables seem weak proxies central variable accounting desertion emergence localist identity