"
In a subsequent report, the War Department confessed that at the
beginning of hostilities, "nearly all our arms and ammunition"
came from foreign countries. One great reason why no military
successes relieve the gloom of 1861 was that, from a soldier's
point of view, there were no armies. Soldiers, it is true, there
were in myriads; but arms, ammunition, and above all,
organization were lacking. The supplies in the government
arsenals had been provided for an army of but a few thousand.
Strive as they would, all the factories in the country could not
come anywhere near making arms for half a million men; nor did
the facilities of those days make it possible for munition plants
to spring up overnight. Had it not been that the Confederacy was
equally hard pushed, even harder pushed, to find arms and
ammunition, the war would have ended inside Seward's ninety days,
through sheer lack of powder.
Even with the respite given by the unpreparedness of the South,
and while Lincoln hurriedly collected arms and ammunition from
abroad, the startled nation, thus suddenly forced into a
realization of what war meant, lost its head. From its previous
reckless trust in sheer enthusiasm, it reacted to a distrust of
almost everything. Why were the soldiers not armed? Why did not
millions of rounds of cartridges fall like manna out of the sky?
Why did not the crowds of volunteers become armies at a word of
command? One of the darkest pages in American history records
the way in which the crowd, undisciplined to endure strain,
turned upon Lincoln in its desire to find in the conduct of their
leader a pretext for venting upon him the fierceness of their
anxiety.
Pages:
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150