106 The American Civil War
soon as the war broke out. Some
700,000 men mustered into the Northern
armies during the initial months of the war.
Most enlisted for three years' service. Out of
approximately 1 million white males of
military age. the Confederate Congress called
on 500,000 men to enlist, which inspired
hundreds of thousands to muster into
service. Roughly 50 percent signed up for
three years and the other half enlisted
for 12 months.
Companies of 100 soldiers constituted the
primary unit of organization on both sides.
Theoretically, 10 companies made up a
regiment, four or more regiments comprised a
brigade, two or more brigades comprised a
division, and two or more divisions comprised
a corps. Companies and regiments were
frequently raised from single communities
and their officers were typically leaders in
those communities. Officers with experience
or education were frequently commanders of
brigades, divisions, corps, and armies.
As armies began to take shape, so did
military strategy. Reunion of Northerners
and Southerners was the principal goal of
Northern political and military leaders.
Preservation of the Union was paramount to
Union war aims, and politicians and
commanders planned to fight a limited war
for limited goals. By pledging to protect
noncombatants and by respecting their
constitutional guarantees (a strategy
intended to attract Southerners back to the
Union), the Union army could concentrate
on fighting the Confederate army. But
between 1861 and 1863. the means for
obtaining reunion changed dramatically. The
experience of fighting in the west brought
about fundamental political and military
changes that shifted and broadened Union
war aims. Over time, winning the war
became more important than winning
the peace.
General-in-Chief Winfield Scott initially
devised a strategic plan for the Union. The
'Anaconda Plan,' as it was known, called for
Union forces to move down the Mississippi
River and split the Confederacy, while
blockading Southern ports in an attempt to