The March to Washington.-The response to the President's call was immediate and enthusiastic. Four times as many men offered their services as were called for. In all the States of the North men hastened to the ranks. Hardly a day had passed before regiments were on their way to Washington. Some companies from Pennsylvania reached there within two days. On the 19th of April the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment marched through Baltimore.

Here they were attacked by a mob in the streets with stones and pistol-shots. The soldiers returned the fire. Several men fell dead on each side. It was the first blood shed in the war. It is an interesting coincidence that this fight took place on the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, when the first blood of the Revolution was shed.

The South in Arms.-The enthusiasm in the North was no greater than that in the South. The firing on Sumter had been the clarion of war there also, and thousands hastened to enlist. The armory at Harper's Ferry and the navy-yard at Norfolk were seized by Virginia militia, that State having seceded when Lincoln called for troops. Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina quickly followed with ordinances of secession. On April 17, Davis called for privateers to attack the merchant ships of the North. On the 19th Lincoln replied by proclaiming a blockade of the whole Southern coast, and announcing that privateers would be treated as pirates. Only a week had elapsed since the firing on Sumter began, and in that brief interval the country had sprung from a state of peace into one of war. In North and South alike thousands of men had dropped the tools of industry and seized the weapons of war, and mustering and drilling were everywhere the order of the day. Action of the Border States.-Four more States, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, were classed with

the slave States, and were more or less in sympathy with the secessionists. Scarcely any feeling of this kind existed in Delaware, while Maryland was also largely Union in sentiment. Kentucky and Missouri were stronger in Southern sympathy, but no active effort was made except in Missouri to carry a border State from the Union. The government of Missouri was in sympathy with the Confederacy, but failed in its attempt to have an ordinance of secession passed and also to maintain a position of armed neutrality. Thus the various States took their positions for the coming conflict, and the area of the war was clearly defined.

2. THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH.

Population of the Sections.-Before proceeding with the story of the Civil War it is important to contrast the two sections, and seek to deduce their chances of success from their comparative strength and advantages. As regards population the North was much the stronger. The States which adhered to the Union contained twenty-two million people, against nine million in the seceding States, of whom three million five hundred thousand were slaves. Thus the North outnumbered the South in white men four to one.

Manufactures.-There was also a more complete system of railroads in the North, and with it all the manufactories of locomotives, cars, and rails. In manufacture generally the North had immensely the advantage. The Union States were capable of producing everything that could be used in the war, while the South was largely destitute of facilities of this kind, and could only hope to obtain supplies from abroad.

Agriculture. As regards food production the North had also the advantage. The interests of the South were agricultural, but cotton and tobacco were the leading products,

while farming, fishing, and herding interests supplied the North with an abundance of food.

Shipping Interests.-The North was also immensely superior in its shipping interests. It traded with all parts of the world, and could readily obtain abundant supplies, while its workshops enabled it to manufacture at home all its munitions of war. The navy at that time was small, and most of the ships of war were in the hands of the Confederacy, but ship-yards were numerous and this deficiency could easily be overcome, while there were many merchant ships which could readily be converted into war vessels.

The South on the Defensive.-While the North had these signal advantages, the South was not devoid of advantages. It possessed an immense territory, which offered abundant opportunities for successful defensive warfare. And the fact that the Confederacy was fighting on its own ground greatly reduced the disparity in men. Much larger armies are needed to invade than to defend.

Food and War Supplies.—As regards the lack of food; that might be largely overcome by planting grain in place of cotton and tobacco. And though munitions of war could not be manufactured to any important extent, the South possessed a large supply, since most of the guns and ammunition of the country had been within the borders of the seceding States, and had been seized.

The Blockade.-The South possessed also a source of great wealth in its cotton crop, which would bring all the supplies needed if it could be got abroad. But getting it abroad was the difficulty. The blockade proclaimed by President Lincoln was soon made so effective that it became almost impossible to get the cotton upon the sea. There were vessels called "blockade-runners" that occasionally got into and out of port, but their aid to the South was not

great.

In 1860 the cotton sent abroad was worth more than two hundred million dollars. From 1861 to 1865 this trade almost disappeared.

Its Effect. This stoppage of trade caused a cotton famine in England. Hundreds of mills were stopped, and thousands of men thrown out of work. Great suffering ensued. It was hoped by the South that this would induce Great Britain to come to its aid. But it did not, though its government showed hostile feeling to the North. If England had recognized Southern independence, France would likely have done the same. But neither did so, and the South had to fight its battles alone.

Army Officers.-There was one further advantage possessed by the South,-many of the best and most experienced officers in the army were Southern men, and seceded with their States. Among these were Generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and Thomas J. Jackson. In this respect the secession of Virginia was a serious matter. The ablest three of the Confederate generals, Lee, Johnston, and Jackson, were Virginians, and went out with their State.

Virginia. The possession of Virginia added immensely to the strength of the Confederacy. Its rivers constituted a series of strong natural defences of Richmond, which was made the Confederate capital on the secession of the State. And the possession of the Shenandoah Valley by Confederate armies kept Washington in danger of sudden capture, and opened the way for the invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Had Virginia remained in the Union, the war must have been of much shorter duration.

Hopes of the Southern Leaders.-The leaders of the South had four hopes, none of which were realized. They hoped that the North would not fight. They hoped that all

the slave States would join them. They hoped for useful aid from the Democrats of the North. They hoped for assistance from England and France. In all these hopes they were disappointed.

Wealth and Credit.—Such was the general state of affairs between North and South. The North had one further advantage, that of abundant wealth and almost unlimited credit. In this respect the South was seriously deficient, and the paper money which it issued lost its value as rapidly as did the Continental currency of the Revolution, and in the end became worthless.

The Problem of the War.-As will be seen, the North was much the superior in numbers, wealth, and general resources. The South had the advantages of being on the defensive, of possessing an immense territory, well adapted to defence, of having an initial supply of munitions of war and a number of able and skilled commanders. But these advantages would gradually disappear as the war went on, the comparative superiority of the North in wealth and resources would steadily increase, and the longer the contest continued the greater would grow the Northern prospect of success. The hope of the South lay in the defeat and disheartening of its powerful foe by greater military dash and energy.

3. THE OPENING OF THE WAR.

Strength and Position of Armies.-The armies of the two sides, in the first year of the war, did not differ greatly in numbers. In the summer of 1861 there were probably about one hundred and eighty thousand Union and one hundred and fifty thousand Confederate troops in the field. These were gathered on the border-line, the Union army reaching along the Potomac from Harper's Ferry