The Blue and the Gray 375armies were defeated by forces of equal or smaller size.
There was little to distinguish the enlisted men of the
two sides. Both, conscious of their forefathers of
1776, fought for liberty, though they interpreted the
concept in different ways.
Both sides faced massive difficulties in organizing
for a war long feared but never properly anticipated.
After southern defections, the regular Union army
consisted of only 13,000 officers and enlisted men,
far too few to absorb the 186,000 who had joined the
colors by early summer, much less the additional
450,000 who had volunteered by the end of the year.
Recruiting was left to the states, each being assigned a
quota; there was little central organization. Natty
companies of “Fire Zouaves” and “Garibaldi Guards”
in gorgeous uniforms rubbed shoulders with slovenly
units composed of toughs and criminals and with reg-
iments of farm boys from Iowa, Illinois, and
Michigan. Unlike later conflicts in which men from
all parts of the country were mixed in each regiment,
Civil War units were recruited locally. Men in each
company tended to have known one another or had
friends in common in civilian life. But few knew even
the rudiments of soldiering. The hastily composed
high command, headed by the elderly Winfield Scott,
debated grand strategy endlessly while regimental
commanders lacked decent maps of Virginia.
Lincoln’s strength lay in his ability to think prob-
lems through. When he did, he acted unflinchingly.
Anything but a tyrant by nature, he boldly exceeded
the conventional limits of presidential power in the
emergency: expanding the army without congres-
sional authorization, suspending the writ of habeas
corpus (which entitles those seized by the govern-
ment to go before a court to see if their arrest were
warranted), even emancipating the slaves when he
thought military necessity demanded that action. Yet
he also displayed remarkable patience and depth of
character: He would willingly accept snubs and insults
in order to advance the cause. He kept a close check
on every aspect of the war effort, but found time for
thought too. His young secretary John Nicolay
reported seeing him sit sometimes for a whole hour
like “a petrified image,” lost in contemplation.
Gradually Lincoln’s stock rose—first with men
like Seward, who saw him close up and experienced
both his steel and his gentleness, and then with the
people at large, who sensed his compassion, his
humility, and his wisdom. He was only fifty-two
when he became president, and already people were
calling him Old Abe. Before long they would call him
Father Abraham.
The Confederacy faced far greater problems than
the North, for it had to create an entire administra-
tion under pressure of war with the additional handi-
cap of the states’ rights philosophy to which it was
committed. The Confederate constitution explicitly
recognized the sovereignty of the states and con-
tained no broad authorization for laws designed to
advance the general welfare. State governments
repeatedly defied the central administration, located
at Richmond after Virginia seceded, even with regard
to military affairs.7001862
Union Forces Confederate Forces1863 1864 1865600500400Men (Thousands)3002001000Men Present for Service During the Civil WarFrom 1862 to 1864,
the North had twice as many soldiers as the South; by 1865, the
North had over three times more than the South.
Recruitment became more difficult as the war dragged on. This 1864
notice offered volunteers $300 to enlist in the Michigan militia.