The American Civil War

 The military aspect  of the  United States Civil War  has always attracted

 the  most attention from scholars. The roar of gunfire, the massed

 movements of uniformed men, the shrill o f bugles, and the drama of hand     to     

 hand combat have facinated students of warfare for a century. Behind the

 lines, however, life was less spectacular. It was the story of back

 breaking labor to provide the fighting men with food and arms, of nerve       

 tingling uncertainty about the course of national events, of heartbreak

 over sons or brothers or husbands lost in battle. If the men on the firing

 line won the victories, the means to those victories were  forged on  the

home front.  Never in the nation's history had Americans worked harder for

 victory than in the Civil War. Northerners and Southerners  alike  threw 

 themselves  into  the  task  of  supplying  their  respective  armies. 

 Both governments  made  tremendous  demands  upon   civilians  and,  in  

 general,  received  willing cooperations. By 1863 the Northern war economy

 was rumbling along in high gear. Everything from steamboats to shovels was

 needed        and  produced. Denied Southern  cotton, textile mills turned to wool

 for blankets and uniforms. Hides by the hundreds of thousands were turned

 into shoes  and  harness  and  saddles;  ironworks  manufactured 

 locomotives,  ordnance,  armor  plate. Where private enterprise lagged, the

 government set up its own factories or arsenals. Agriculture boomed, with

 machinery doing the job of farm workers drawn into the army. In short,

 everything that a nation needed to fight a modern war was produced in

 uncounted numbers. Inevitably there were  profiteers  with  gold       headed 

 canes  and  flamboyant  diamond  stickpins,  but  for  every crooked tycoon

 there were thousands of ordinary citizens living on fixed incomes who did

 their best to cope with rising prices and still make a contribution to the

 war effort. Those who could bought war bonds; others knitted, sewed,

 nursed, or lent any other assistance in their power.

美國內戰

 美國內戰中的軍事方面一直最吸引學者們的注意。  轟隆的炮聲、軍人大規模 的陣式，尖銳的軍號和白刃戰的場面，已吸引了戰爭研究者們一個世紀。

 然而，在后方， 生活卻沒有這般壯觀。那里的故事就是為作戰的軍人提供食物和武裝而做勞累至極的工作，

 對國家事態的焦慮和對在戰爭中失去丈夫、兄弟和兒子的撕心裂肺。  如果說前線的人們獲 得了勝利，那勝利的手段就要歸功于后方的人們。

 在其歷史上，美國人從來沒有象在內戰 中那樣為奪取勝利而如此努力。南方人和北方人一樣投入到為各自軍隊供應物資的任務中。

 雙方政府對民眾都提出巨大的要求，總的來說，得到了極積的合作。  到了 1863 年，北方戰 時經濟呈高速運轉，從蒸氣船到鐵鍬，一切都需要并且生產出來。

 由于沒有了南方產的棉

 花，紡織工廠紛紛轉用毛料生產毯子和軍衣。  幾十萬件的皮革制成了鞋、挽具和馬鞍。  鐵 廠生產出機車、大炮、裝甲板。

 私營企業不足以承擔的方面，政府就成立自己的工廠和兵 工廠。  農業迅猛發展，因為農場工人參軍后機械代替了手工。  總之，國家參加現代戰爭所

 需的多得數不清的物資都生產出來了。  不可避免地出現了一些手持鍍金手杖，戴著耀眼的 鉆石別針的投資商。 但每有一個奸詐的富翁就有成千上萬的普通市民。

 他們依靠固定的收 入盡他們最大的努力應付著上漲的物價，為戰爭做著貢獻。 那些有能力的人購買戰爭債券，

其他的人編織、縫補衣服，護理傷病人或做其它一切他們力所能及的工作。

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2012.7.7