Amateur Armies and Initial Advantages

Amateur Armies and Initial Advantages

Today, cliches about the valor of troops are part of the patriotic language of America. However, during the time of the Civil War, this was not always the case. The American army was relatively limited in size when the first shots were fired in the Civil War. In most states, the standing army had devolved into what effectively functioned more as social clubs than fighting units.[footnoteRef:1] This lack of concern about maintaining a standing army reflected the profound distrust so many Americans still felt for centralized authority and control. However, during the initial phases of the wartime struggle, volunteers were plentiful on the Union side, and it was the Confederate troops who were more unruly, as they had expected an easy victory against the Yankees. [footnoteRef:2] [1: Steven E. Woodworth, This Great Struggle: America's Civil War, (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2011), 44-45] [2: Woodworth, 52]

The Confederates also suffered from certain problems inherent to the Confederate structure of states -- by definition, they were a loosely-organized conglomeration of state entities, rather than a united fighting force, and still possessed state over national loyalties. But the Union struggled more than the Confederates to find valuable cavalry volunteers, given the nature of Southern agricultural culture.[footnoteRef:3] And the Union itself was a diverse, fractious force, despite the fact it was fighting for the preservation of the Union. America was becoming increasingly ethnically diverse in the North. [3: Woodworth, 209]

Ultimately, relying upon an all-volunteer force was not effective and likely prolonged the war. The problem with an all-volunteer force was that it was not experienced in obeying orders, fighting, or the rigors of military service. At one point, when General Grant's inexperienced troops stopped to celebrate what they perceived to be a victory, they were ambushed by their Confederate foes.[footnoteRef:4] [4: Woodworth, 61]

But perhaps most damningly, regarding the Union forces, was the fact that once the initial fervor wore low, conscription became a necessity. The Enrollment Act of March 1863 required all men ages 20-45 to register for the draft, which would be instituted if a district fell below the federally-mandated quota.[footnoteRef:5] Resistance to the draft grew, and many grumbled that they did not want to fight to keep a South in a Union, when it wished to leave. Furthermore, the way in which the draft was implemented -- allowing men to temporarily buy their way out of the draft for the price of three hundred dollars or to purchase a poorer man to go in their place -- only inflamed class tensions. At the time, three hundred dollars was a working class man's annual salary.[footnoteRef:6] [5: Woodworth, 227] [6: Woodworth, 227]