The departure of the Southerners gave Lincoln's party firm control of Congress, but they were unable to prevent the start of the war.
Charles Johnson was a 17 year old farm boy, living near Pocahontas, Illinois, a community in Bond County, about 17 miles southwest of Mulberry Grove, Illinois. He notes in his book, Muskets and Medicine or Army Life in the Sixties, the great deal of interest citizens had in the development of the war.
As the spring of 1861 approached much was said about the critical situation of Major Anderson at Fort Moultrie; about the firing upon the steamship Star of the West, by South Carolinians in Charleston Harbor; about the right and feasibility of coercion by the National Government, etc. Finally, when Major Anderson evacuated Fort Moultrie and occupied Fort Sumter, all eyes were concentrated on him and his gallant little band of soldiers.
One day, near the middle of April (1861), the mail-boy came with a larger-than-usual supply of papers, and these in extra heavy headlines had the words: "Fort Sumter Falls"; "Heroic Defense of the Garrison"; "Thirty-six Hours of Terrific Bombardment!" Then followed several columns giving details of the whole dramatic affair, the gallant defense of the noble Commandant and his devoted followers. Immediately upon the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued a call for seventy-five thousand volunteers. But the War of the "Great Rebellion" had continued only a few months when Lincoln found urgent need for many more soldiers, and was severely criticised for not making his first call much larger. That call, by the way, was for volunteers to serve three months, as the belief at first prevailed that the war would last only a short time, and conquering the enemy would be merely "a breakfast-spell," to use a phrase of that period.
It didn't take long for the Union to realize the Southern Rebellion was not going to be put down quickly. A large and well trained army was going to be needed.
Congress met in a special session on July 4, 1861, and President Lincoln addressed them, recommending four hundred thousand men be enrolled and four hundred million dollars be appropriated for the war. Instead, Congress approved five hundred thousand men and five hundred million dollars. The war was on.
While the battles were far from Bond County, Charles Johnson described one unusual local occurrence:
While the battles were far from Bond County, Charles Johnson described one unusual local occurrence:
Towards night, one dreary, foggy day in February 1862, the boom of cannon was heard away off to the southwest. Next day it was learned that a great victory had been won. That Fort Donelson, on the Tennessee River, had fallen. Fifteen thousand Confederates were reported captured, with all their arms and accoutrements. The cannonading heard proved to be the firing of a National salute at St. Louis, more than forty miles distant. Fort Donelson surrendered February 14, 1862, and it must have been the evening of February 17 that the salute was heard. It is unusual for cannonading to be heard forty miles and more distant, but the damp, heavy atmosphere of the time, together with the level prairie, over which the sound wave traversed, had much to do with the long distance reached.
In the spring of 1862, the Army of the Potomac, under General McClellan, began the Peninsular campaign into Virginia. After nearly 3 months the Union Army had made little progress. In fact, just the opposite.
In the spring of 1862, the Army of the Potomac, under General McClellan, began the Peninsular campaign into Virginia. After nearly 3 months the Union Army had made little progress. In fact, just the opposite.
On July 2, 1862 the Army of the Potomac retreated to Harrison's Landing, on the James River. This costly and humiliating repulse of McClellan was disappointing to the North. But Lincoln did not give up. The President issued a call in the last days of July 1862 for 300,000 volunteers, which soon was increased to 600,000.
