By the end of 1862, both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis had reason to be dissatisfied with their military commanders. Discuss. When Civl War did break out in 1861, few predicted that the battles that would occur would be so brutal

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By the end of 1862, both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis had reason to be dissatisfied with their military commanders. Discuss.

        When Civl War did break out in 1861, few predicted that the battles that would occur would be so brutal. Many men were lost during the course of the two years- some historians have estimated the figure to be over the 100,000 mark. The reason for this is that it was brothers fighting brothers, and friends fughting friends. It is a fair assesment that the American civil war has set a precedent for the brutality of future civil wars. However, by the end of 1862 both Abraham Lincoln, president of the Union, and Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy had reason to be dissatisfied with their generals in terms of the victories actually gained. Surely though, even in the days before modern transport, it could not be the case that in such a short space of time both of these leaders were dissatisfied, with neither gaining the upper hand. However, this was in fact most certainly the case. In this essay I will be discussing how far this statement applied, and thanks to whom and what (battles) caused the presidents to have such great headaches over the state of their military affairs.

        It is fair to say that for any president, especially in war time, that personal survival as president depends on reducing the amount of criticism gained. This could come from all sorts of places, including the press, congress, and indeed increasingly from public opinion in those times. Military success would no doubt still this opposition. Lincoln in particular needed this. Early in his presidency he had lost around half his country's support through secession, and now therefore he simply had to put down this insurrection. He could have even tried to force a peaceful neogitiation to do this. Jefferson Davis on the other hand, also needed military success. He himself was trying to survive, and make sure others in the Confederacy would not start to question the act of seceeding. He was also in a way trying to win votes- by this of course it is meant that he needed and wanted to attract other slave states to the Confederacy. These border states were in particular Maryland and Kentucky. Yet one of the main points that Jefferson Davis tried to achieve often goes unthoughtof. This was international recognition. He felt that it was key to the success of the war that if other ocuntries such as Britain or France viewed the Confederacy as an actual country, then the Union might have no choice but to simply let it pass. Yet, to achieve this, both parties recognised the fact that military success was vital. Yet both commanders could argue that their commanders did not go about it in the right way at all in order to acheive this either.

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        The first major battle of the war was the 1st Battle of Bull Run/Manassas. This was fought in Maryland, an Eastern state. The Union, in an attempt to iutwit the Confederates, were caught in doing so. On this day alone, they lost some 15,000 men. The second loss, coming only two months later was the battle at Wilson's Creek, in Missouri. Until the end of 1862, this was in fact their sole military loss fought on the Western side of the country (at the time)! This was soon followed by Jackson's valley campaign, from April-May 1962, and then in May-July ...

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