The causes of the American civil war can be traced back to a wide variety of reasons all having to do mainly with slavery. Problems started to occur when the number of free states began to outnumber the slave states. Eventually the republican party was created and Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States the southern states then succeeded for the US.

The civil war is the backbone of the novel, meaning that every thing that eventually took place in the novel can be linked back to the civil war. Inman would have never left Cold Mountain to join the army if the south were not fighting the west and would never have been wounded or, killed. Also Ada would not have learned to survive on her own.

During the Civil war desertion was a problem for both the union and the Confederacy, but in the later part of the war, it was a huge factor for the Confederates can be described as `sweeping through the ranks`. To help quell desertion the Confederacy created the home guard, groups of volunteer soldiers that would round up deserters and protect the south from union attack. The home guard were often made up of men who never had any training and put the law in there own hands.

 The `home guard play and important role in the novel. Inman is constantly on watch for the home guard since if he were to be captured by them he would either be returned to the front or most likely killed. At the end of the novel, Inman is caught in a furious fight with the home guard in witch his is killed.

The battle of Bull Run was one of the first large battles of the American civil war. The Union faced off against the Confederacy at Manses Junction, at the begging it seemed as if the Union had the upper hand but, the Confederates eventually won the day. After the battle the Confederates had lost over two thousand men.

The battle of Bull Run is one of the first battles described in the novel Cold Mountain, it is the battle in witch Inman is obtains his injury. There are many times throughout the novel in witch Inman relates to his service in the confederate army, and it is the result of such battles the Inman finds himself in his current position.

During the first part of the war, agriculture in the south was helped by the large amount of slaves, and the fact that there were still a lot of young men around to do most of the work. Towards the end of the war, slaves began to escape to join the Union Army, and many of the young men were off fighting. This caused the farms to be run by females and elderly men who could not fight, hurting southern agriculture.

In the novel Cold Mountain Ada finds her self alone on the farm her father owned after, he has died and there Slave worker has fled to the North. She is desperate and can barely survive when there is no hired help to be had in the town since all the men are off fighting. She is relieved to meet another woman by the name of Ruby who helps her to become an expert in agriculture and farm life.