Existing comment:
A Call to Arms:
-- "Now, therefore, I Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States... have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several states of the Union." -- President Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation, April 15, 1861
At the beginning of the war, Americans answered the call to arms willingly. Patriotic enthusiasm ran high and volunteers were plentiful. In Wisconsin, for example, so many men volunteered in the spring of 1861 that Governor Alexander W. Randall delayed accepting over fifty volunteer companies.
But as the war dragged on, recruitment became more difficult. A variety of techniques, ranging from a draft to the promise of cash bounties, were used to attract manpower into the state units. This combination of incentives and threats kept enlistments up.
Wisconsin spent $12 million to raise troops for the war; $8 million of which was raised by counties and municipalities. Total expense amounted to some $150 for every man, woman, and child in the state.
-- "The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed." -- President Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861 |