-The status of the Union
-The status of the Confederacy
-Union strategy
-Confederate strategy
-The first major battle and its aftermath

[SLIDE 1]

Lincoln took the oath of office at the beginning of March. On April 12, Fort Sumter was attacked, causing President Lincoln to call for an emergency meeting of Congress on July 4. At that time, Congress did not form a steady presence in Washington. In fact, the Constitution requires only that Congress meet once each year. It often met only from December to March. Lincoln, therefore, conducted the onset of the war, having just assumed office, without legislative support. Short of soldiers, experienced officers, weapons, supplies, and assistance, he was faced with having to create an army fit to wage suppress an insurrection. The president had lawful authority under the Militia Act of 1795 to call up short-term troops for no longer than three months, and he did so in April. The maximum number allowed by law was only 75,000 men, since that part of the law dated to 1799 and hadn't been adjusted to reflect the tremendous population growth the country had experienced in the meanwhile. Still, as those volunteers arrived from their various states, it was necessary to use the Capitol building to house the growing numbers of them, and the city itself became an armed camp mobilized to protect itself. As the war commenced and casualties mounted, Washington would become a hospital city. Washington only had a population of 75,000 but would house as many as 50,000 patients. The government established 25 military hospitals in the city and nearby counties. At the height of the war, the Washington, D.C. area had as many as 85 hospitals.

[SLIDE 2]

It is Congress, according to the Constitution, that must make a declaration of war. Lincoln did not have Constitutional or legal authority to call for long-term military recruits, but he did it anyway only a couple of weeks after calling for the temporary recruits. He justified his actions by virtue of the emergency need. By the time Congress did convene in July, both the public and the governors of the Union states were clamoring for war.

[SLIDE 3]

Meanwhile, a naval blockade of Southern ports began to be implemented and was designed to prevent the South from exporting its cotton or from importing weapons. General Winfield Scott developed a strategy, later known as the Anaconda Plan, which called for the capture of the Mississippi River and a blockade of Southern ports. By cutting off the eastern states of the Confederacy, Scott hoped to force the surrender of the Confederacy with minimal loss of life on either side. Recall that Winfield Scott was himself a Southerner. Most Northern newspapers, however, wanted an immediate assault on the Confederacy and ridiculed his plan.

[SLIDE 4]

When Congress convened in an emergency session on July 4, Lincoln argued before them that his actions, which were arguably unconstitutional, were necessary because of the exigent situation. Congress quickly supported his actions

[SLIDE 5]

The North enjoyed an overwhelming superiority in manufacturing strength and population, as well as a good many other strengths.

[SLIDE 6]

If Lincoln had trouble navigating between Radical Republicans and irate Northern Democrats, the Jefferson Davis had to navigate a government that placed sovereign authority in each of its individual states. Each of those states had its own ideas about how to conduct the war. The Confederacy needed to accumulate supplies, troops, war materials, and naval ships. Since the Confederacy had no military ships and no ability to build them, they devised a plan for retrofitting existing ships for military use. In addition, they mined the entrances to their harbors. But coming up with sufficient arms and equipment for troops was a challenge. Despite creating factories and foundries to manufacture small arms, the Confederacy couldn't keep up with its need. When the Confederate congress authorized 400,000 additional troops in 1861, one half had to be turned away for lack of equipment.

[SLIDE 7]

The Confederate strategy of Jeff Davis was to fight a defensive war to wear down the Union. His thinking was that if the war was costly enough, the Union's resolve would falter and it would quit. Jefferson's approach alienated his constituency, which wanted to fight aggressively and win.
The Confederacy sought support for its war effort from Great Britain. The South had a longstanding trade relationship with Britain, having shipped massive amounts of cotton to it over the years. They did not receive the assistance they wanted because Queen Victoria declared British neutrality, but they were granted belligerent status, which was more than the Union would have wanted. British–Union relations nearly unraveled a few months later over the Trent Affair, but Lincoln successfully handled the matter.

[SLIDE 8]

Despite the fact that the Union's new troops were untrained, many in the government and among the public clamored for war. Though General Winfield Scott counseled that the army needed more time to train, Lincoln ordered an offensive against the Confederate capital of Richmond. Irvin McDowell led a force of 30,000 men south. Battle was engaged in what became known in the Union as the First Battle of Bull Run. Such was the mood that civilians with picnic lunches, including some members of Congress, gathered in Virginia about 30 miles from Washington for a day's entertainment watching the impending battle. Although the battle began well for the Union and continued so for most of the day, the Confederates received reinforcements led by Thomas Jackson, who gained the name "Stonewall” for his steadfastness that day. In the afternoon the Union Army was sent into retreat, ending the Union's hope for a speedy end to the war and disrupting the relaxation of the shocked party goers, who were forced to flee along with the army. One congressman did not retreat fast enough: he was captured and became a prisoner of war. 

[SLIDE 9]

The embarrassing defeat at Bull Run made clear that there would be no easy or quick victory. The army now settled down to training under the auspices of General George B. McClellan. It was reorganized as the Army of the Potomac, which would be the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War; it was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in May 1865 following the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in April 1865.