Disunion Feed

"we may then say that an army of 500,000 men could not conquer the whole South in five years. [...] Simply this: eight or ten millions of Anglo-Saxons, lying exhausted at our feet—with an undying hatred in their hearts against us, ready to rebel again and again on every emergency [...] It would no longer be a government of consent, but a military despotism."

Three days before the first shot, an anti-war Democratic paper does the arithmetic and gets it very nearly right. The Union would enlist roughly 2.1 million men over four years; the war ran from April 1861 to April 1865; federal troops occupied the South until 1877. The paper is arguing against coercion, not forecasting for its own sake — but the estimate stands. Three passages joined with [...].

Read it in the original — Indianapolis Daily State Sentinel, Apr 9, 1861 ↗

"Supplies must be lodged in Fort Sumter at all hazards and against all opposition from armed rebels. It is carrying conciliation to its extreme when the government gives fair notice of its purpose, and contents itself with only sending the needed provisions. If the rebels fire at an unarmed supply ship, and make a perfectly proper act the pretext for shedding the blood of loyal citizens, on their heads be the responsibility. [...] The thought uppermost to-day in the popular mind is “Down with rebellion!”"

Lincoln's decision — resupply the fort, tell South Carolina in advance, send provisions only — reaches the public, and a Republican paper immediately frames the trap it sets: if the guns open on a bread ship, the responsibility is fixed. Two passages joined with [...]. Compare se-047, the same maneuver read as a deliberate decoy.

Read it in the original — New York Evening Post, Apr 10, 1861 ↗