[133] The Act of 1795 only permitted the use of the
militia until thirty days after the next session of
Congress; this session being now summoned for July
4, the period of service extended only until August
3.
[134] When General Grant took command of the Eastern
armies he said that the country should be cautioned
against expecting too great success, because the loyal
and rebel armies were made up of men of the same race,
having about the same experience in war, and neither
able justly to claim any great superiority over the
other in endurance, courage, or discipline. Chittenden,
Recoll. 320.
[135] The third, fourth, and sixth. Schouler,
Mass. in the Civil War, i. 52.
[136] Schouler, Mass. in the Civil War, i.
72.
[137] Mayor Brown thinks that the estimate of these
at 20,000 is too great. Brown, Baltimore and
Nineteenth April, 1861, p. 85.
[138] N. and H. iv. 98; Chittenden, 102; Lee’s
biographer, Childe, says that “President Lincoln
offered him the effective command of the Union Army,”
and that Scott “conjured him ... not to quit
the army.” Childe, Lee, 30.
[139] Shortly before this time he had written to his
son that it was “idle to talk of secession,”
that it was “nothing but revolution” and
“anarchy.” N. and H. iv. 99.
[140] Childe, Lee, 32; Mr. Childe, p. 33, says
that Lee’s resignation was accepted on the 20th
(the very day on which his letter was dated!), so
that he “ceased to be a member of the United
States Army” before he took command of the state
forces. Per contra, N. and H. iv. 101.
[141] Childe, Lee, 34.
[142] Greeley in his Amer. Conflict, i.
349, says that the “open Secessionists were
but a handful.” This, however, is clearly
an exaggerated statement.
A REAL PRESIDENT, AND NOT A REAL BATTLE
The capture of Fort Sumter and the call for troops
established one fact. There was to be a war.
The period of speculation was over and the period
of action had begun. The transition meant much.
The talking men of the country had not appeared to
advantage during the few months in which they had
been busy chiefly in giving weak advice and in concocting
prophecies. They now retired before the men of
affairs, who were to do better. To the Anglo-Saxon
temperament it was a relief to have done with waiting
and to begin to do something. Activity cleared
the minds of men, and gave to each his appropriate
duty.
