The bombardment of Fort Sumter helped unite Northerners in the Unionist cause. But the overconfidence of the people could be seen in the federal government's lack of preparation for the upcoming war. The regular U.S. Army, with less than twenty thousand troops, was unprepared to fight a long war, and it was facing a Confederate force that had already been recruiting volunteers for a month.

To raise new troops, Lincoln issued a proclamation on April 15, 1861, calling on the states to provide a total of seventyfive thousand volunteers, who would serve a term of three months. On May 3, Lincoln called for forty more volunteer regiments and asked that forty thousand soldiers and sailors enlist for three-year terms in the regular army and navy. In a special session of Congress, convened on July 4, the president was authorized to recruit five hundred thousand men, who would serve...