A history of the United States of America; its people and its institutions . ources. The South had the advantages of being on thedefensive, of possessing an immense territory, well adaptedto defence, of having an initial supply of munitions of warand a number of able and skilled commanders. But theseadvantages would gradually disappear as the war went on,the comparative superiority of the North in wealth andresources would steadily increase, and the longer the contestcontinued the greater would grow the Northern prospect ofsuccess. The hope of the South lay in the defeat and dis-heartening of
A history of the United States of America; its people and its institutions . ources. The South had the advantages of being on thedefensive, of possessing an immense territory, well adaptedto defence, of having an initial supply of munitions of warand a number of able and skilled commanders. But theseadvantages would gradually disappear as the war went on,the comparative superiority of the North in wealth andresources would steadily increase, and the longer the contestcontinued the greater would grow the Northern prospect ofsuccess. The hope of the South lay in the defeat and dis-heartening of its powerful foe by greater military dash andenergy. 3. THE OPENING OF THE WAR. Strength and Position of Armies.—The armies of thetwo sides, in the first year of the war, did not differ greatlyin numbers. In the summer of 1861 there were probablyabout one hundred and eighty thousand Union and onehundred and fifty thousand Confederate troops in thefield. These were gathered on the border-line, the Unionarmy reaching along the Potomac from Harpers Ferry 356 THE CIVIL United States Flag, to the mouth of the river, and thence to Fortress Mon-roe the Confederate forces occupying the country southof the Potomac. There were opposing forces alsoin West Virginia and Missouri. The Contest for Mis-souri.—The possession ofMissouri was of importanceto both sides. Tlie gover-nor had failed in his effortto have that State secede,while the attempt to keepit neutral was defeated byCaptain Lyon, in commandat St. Louis, who seized theState arsenal and routedthe hostile militia. A Confederate force cjuickly gatheredand a fight for the possession of the State began. It was atfirst favorable to the Confederates, who won battles at Car-thage and Wilsons Creek. General Lyon was killed in thelatter. In September the Confeder-ate General Price captured Lexingtonand took a large number of Fremont, of California fame,now took command, and drove Pricesouthward to Springfield. He
Size: 1609px × 1552px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidhistoryofuniteds07morr
