In August of 1862, the North and the South met in Manassas for what was going to be the second battle of Bull Run. It is called Bull Run because of the river that runs through there. This battle was also much larger than the first one. The North also had quite a bit more troops than the Confederates had, but the result was the same as the first battle of Bull Run, which was a southern victory. This battle was all part of the plan by Lee and Davis to strike the Union while their leadership was a mess and they were hoping Lincoln would lose the majority he had during the mid term elections.
This brings up the debate of the military leadership in the North, they had generals but they were nothing like the generals of the south, Pope was no where near as good as Stonewall Jackson. This is when the North brings McClellan back in to command the Northern Army, McClellan is a great general no doubt but on the battlefield is where he lacks in his leadership. He's a great organizer and a great trainer as he did assemble the largest Army ever recorded in North America but when it came to fight, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee were the best generals in the country.
The Democratic Party in the North was divided at time, there was the Peace Democrats and these people also known as Copperheads wanting nothing but peace and an immediate end to the Civil War. There was also the War Democrats they wanted to have a more aggressive policy when dealing with the Confederate South and they supported Lincoln. To help with the war effort against the South Lincoln enabled the 1st and 2nd Confiscation Acts; the 1st Act gave the north the power to confiscate any property that the confederate was using. the 2nd Confiscation Act was basically freed any slaves that were under Union Control.
To me the North was struggling from late 1862 to early 1863 because of many reasons. The Democratic party in the North being divided and not agreeing with Lincoln and the Republican party during a time of war especially the Civil War one important thing to have is agreement among the two parties, you can't get anything accomplished if there divided but when there together things happen. Also the military generals of the North were good generals but compared to the generals of the South they weren't on the same level. Jackson and Lee were the best military minds of their time and that hurts the North militarily. Even though the North had the numbers the South had the brains. The North in my opinion needed help with their military leadership big time. I believe they got a big boost of help when Stonewall Jackson died.
I agree with you that the generals of the South were much more advanced and trained than the generals of the North. I think that the North did have more numbers and they were smarter than the south, if they weren't, they would have lost the war. I do think though that the south was physically better than the North. The soldiers were tougher and stronger than an average Northerner.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the North struggled early in the 1860's I don't think it was that much because of the Democratic party in the North being divided. It is one of those things that people argued about then the same as they do now which was do we pull our troops out of war or keep them there? Even though there were peace democrats and war democrats, they still agreed on the main focus which was ending slavery in America. However, I do think that it did cause some drama at the time because like you stated, there was a lot going on during that time period and everyone wanted their thoughts to be heard.
I also agree that the Southern officers were better than ones from the North. It also seemed the South had more to fight for. The North was challenging their way of life, and that gave the South a reason to fight harder. Makes a person wonder if the men in the Northern army had the same passion when it came to fighting. I would assume not.
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