The seventy-five thousand troops called for in President Lincoln's proclamation of April 15th, were three-months men. On the 3d of May, 1861, he issued another proclamation, calling for forty-two thousand volunteers for three years, and authorizing the raising of ten new regiments for the regular army. He also called for eighteen thousand volunteer seamen for the navy. The ports of the Southern coasts had been already (April 19th) declared in a state of blockade, and it was not only desirable but absolutely necessary to make the blockade effectual. The Confederate Government had issued letters of marque for privateers almost from the first; and its Congress had authorized the raising of an army of one hundred thousand volunteers for one year.
When Congress convened on the 4th of July, President Lincoln asked for four hundred thousand men and four hundred million dollars, to suppress the insurrection; and in response he was authorized to call for five hundred thousand men and spend five hundred million dollars. What he had already done was approved and declared valid; and on the 15th of July the House of Representatives, with but five dissenting votes, passed a resolution (introduced by John A. McClernand, a Democrat) pledging any amount of money and any number of men that might be necessary to restore the authority of the National Government.
The seat of the Confederate Government was removed from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond, Va., on the 20th of May.
{ 50} [Illustration: BATTLE OF BULL RUN, JULY 21, 1861.]
{ 51} [Illustration: BRIGADIER-GENERAL McDOWELL AND STAFF.]
THE ADVANCE INTO VIRGINIA--FORTIFICATIONS ON THE POTOMAC--POPULAR DEMAND FOR OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS--CONFEDERATES FORTIFY MANASSAS JUNCTION--THEIR LINE OF DEFENCE AT BULL RUN--McDOWELL'S DEPARTURE FOR BULL RUN--A CHANGE OF PLAN--FIGHTING AT BLACKBURN'S FORD--DETOUR FROM CENTREVILLE AND FLANK ATTACK FROM SUDLEY FORD--UNION SUCCESS IN THE MORNING--DISASTROUS BATTLE OF THE AFTERNOON--LOSS OF THE BATTERIES--A REAR ATTACK--DISORDER AND RETREAT--RESULTS OF THE BATTLE.
The first serious collision of the opposing armies occurred at Bull Run, in Virginia, on July 18 and 21, 1861. It was a battle between raw troops on both sides, and at a later period in the war a few well-led veterans might have turned it at almost any time into a victory for the losers and a defeat for those who won it. It developed the strength and weakness of the men, the commanders, and the organization of the army. It opened the eyes of the North to what was before them in this conflict, and it gave { 52} pause to military operations for a better preparation. Up to Bull Run, the war might have been terminated by a single great battle. After it, the struggle was certain to be a long one.