On the first day the American Civil War broke out, Fort Sumter fell. The Northern Government's fleet carrying supplies could only watch from afar, powerless to help.
The next day, President Lincoln ordered the recruitment of 75,000 state militiamen for ninety days of service to suppress the Southern rebellion.
Clearly, the Northern Government had yet to grasp the gravity of this civil war. They believed that so long as foreign powers did not intervene, they could crush it with ease.
The Southern Government had struck first and won a military victory, but lost its political advantage.
The Northern states, whose positions had previously wavered, united in a short time. With capitalists manipulating public opinion, patriotic young men flocked into the army one after another.
Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party leader who had originally leaned toward the South, now also took the Northern Government's side and fiercely denounced the Southern Government for starting the civil war.
He publicly declared, "There are no neutrals in this civil war. You are either a patriot or a traitor."
Nearly every Northern state exceeded its recruitment quota. Insufficient training, a lack of weapons and equipment, no discipline, and too few officers—these were common problems throughout the Northern states.
But none of that mattered. They were cannon fodder anyway; a bellyful of hot blood was enough.
Looking at the armies gathering from all directions, the high-spirited President Lincoln was already prepared to welcome victory.
The Secretary of War said angrily, "Mr. President, Maryland and Delaware have refused the recruitment order, and they have forbidden federal troops from entering."
These two states were quite interesting. Some supported the South, while others supported the North. With neither side able to overcome the other, they remained within the Northern Government.
Washington in particular was still encircled by Maryland. If