Chapter 6

In This Chapter

Exploring the different categories of units that fought the war

Uncovering who was in charge

T he Civil War was a war fought by amateurs. Only a very small number of men in America had military experience. Volunteers and militia units called up for active service for a specific period of time had always fought wars. These units were of notoriously poor quality, unless thoroughly trained and properly led.

As the new soldiers found out rather quickly, joining the army didn’t necessarily mean wearing a fancy uniform and impressing the women (although that certainly was a motivator for signing up). It often meant tedious hours of marching, standing in formation, inspections, waiting, and learning how to use all the equipment the army issued to you. It meant learning to follow orders, working and thinking as a unit, and developing the skills necessary to survive in battle. The American men who rushed to join the colors in 1861 weren’t always too thrilled to conform to the ways of the military. For them, experience would be a stern teacher.

Making Civilians into Soldiers

Between Fort Sumter in April 1861 and the battle of First Manassas in July 1861, the Union and Confederate governments worked to take tens of thousands of eager civilian volunteers with a smattering of professional officers and enlisted men and train, equip, and deploy them in organized military units that were capable of more than just looking good and consuming supplies. This is not a rapid process in the best of situations. For both armies there were far too few experts in military training available to do the teaching. It took months for everyone to learn this new trade. Even then, the quality of training in units varied widely. Often, it was the test of combat that determined whether or not a unit was capable of functioning properly. Training improved over time, but the first few months of 1861 were chaos.

Fighting in the frontier: The regulars

The Union had a core of regular (professional) soldiers, but rather than employ this talent to train the volunteers the government kept regular units separate from volunteers. Thus, the regular army remained small throughout the war, much of its strength still parceled out on the western frontier guarding against American Indian raids. The Confederacy, of course, had no regular army, but did make the best use of those regulars who had joined the Confederate army. These officers were integrated into the volunteer units to provide valuable leadership and training. For both armies, the process of turning civilians into soldiers fell to a combination of professional officers and former West Point graduates who returned to active service.

Responding to the call: The militia

Nearly every state had militia units, the forerunner of our National Guard units today. Militia units were locally recruited volunteer military units that the state intended to use in an emergency or called up to join the regular army during a war. Over the years, they had become more social drinking organizations than military units. The few called up for the Mexican War were so poor that they were never used in combat. In reality, other than having a rudimentary knowledge of military formations and use of weapons, the vast majority of militia units were of no immediate use.

Joining to fight: Volunteers

Volunteer units were the most common military organizations at this early stage of the war. Young men from towns and cities formed ad hoc military organizations, usually companies, volunteering for military service for 90 days (others volunteered for three years). These units would report to their state capital, where they would be combined with other volunteer units to form regiments. Volunteer companies elected their own officers, usually the most popular or best politician among the group.

After volunteer regiments were formed, they were shipped to an assembly point, most often the capital city (either Richmond or Washington), were equipped as best as possible, organized into divisions, and introduced to the discipline and drill necessary to maneuver and fight in battle. In most cases, the regimental, division, and army commanders of these new units had only a bit more experience than their soldiers did.

Electing officers is a bad idea

While a good idea for the Kiwanis club, having the rank and file elect leaders in military units is not wise. Military leaders have the unenviable task of ordering their soldiers to do things that will result in possible wounds or death. Friendship in this case must be set aside, and those who are ordered to face such danger have to have confidence in the man giving the order. The one who won the popularity contest may not necessarily be up to such a task or the responsibility. Although the election of officers continued for some years (especially in the Southern armies), the practice mostly died out, and a system of merit promotions based on demonstrated ability took its place.

Qualifications of Union and Southern Officers

In the Union army, state governors gave rank to officers of the newly formed regiments. Some of these officers inevitably were political friends, given a plum assignment because they had influence at election time. President Lincoln appointed Generals. While many Generals he appointed had experience as regular army officers, a fair number of appointments went to Democrats or influential Republicans in key states who helped Lincoln maintain his precarious wartime coalition. Others — representatives of key ethnic minority groups with powerful voting blocs — received General’s stars. In those days, the key ethnic minority groups were the Irish and the Germans.

In the Southern armies, officers with political influence at the state level were usually former U.S. senators or rich planters hoping to make a name for themselves. President Davis initially relied on his pool of experienced officers for Generals. Later, he did not usually promote an officer to General’s rank until that officer had displayed battlefield leadership.

When comparing the overall quality of officer talent between the North and South, the advantages clearly lay with the Confederacy. Some of the most capable officers in the U.S. Army had joined the Southern cause. The South also was blessed with a superior cadre of mid-level officers who had graduated from the many military colleges found in nearly every Southern state. These men easily integrated into the army and immediately made their presence felt, providing leadership and discipline for the often-unruly volunteers. The depth of military talent and experience within the Confederate officer ranks helped them to create a viable military force within a relatively short period of time.

Military bloopers: The political Generals

The political Generals, as the Generals who were appointed for solely political reasons were known, continued to plague both armies throughout the war. Lacking any military talent and blundering from one disaster to another, they nonetheless remained as a symbol of the critical link between politics and war. Most of these Generals sought more useful (and safer) opportunities for national service outside of the army after their first taste of combat. To be fair, some officers who received their commissions through political connections displayed skill and talent and rose to positions of great responsibility. Two such officers come to mind — Daniel Sickles and John Logan. (Grant and Sherman were both West Point graduates with military experience; political Generals had neither.)

Rookies learning a new trade

In the early months of the war, it was not unusual to see Captains, Majors, Colonels, and Generals in the camps of both armies pouring over instruction manuals, trying to stay one step ahead of their trainees. Because so many officers were required for the new large armies, there was not enough expertise to go around. Officers with military experience were usually promoted to high rank early in the war. That left all the junior officers ranks to be filled with volunteers who had no idea what their role was in a military organization. Not only did the privates have to learn what soldiers did, but also the new officers had to learn soldier skills in addition to learning their own jobs. Even President Lincoln took time to study military science to acquaint himself with the terms and concepts of military operations — in just about the same way you are doing now!