At this point, in late 1861, the war is not going well for the Union. The early battles of the Civil War were mostly Union defeats, or at least draws where the Rebel army got away. There were not any definitive victories, that’s for sure. And because of that, the Confederacy still existed. It was sort of like the American strategy during the Revolutionary war - as long as General Washington and the Continental Army still existed, the British hadn’t won. Similarly, as long as the Confederacy still existed, the Union had not won. And this gave hope to the Confederates, and frustrated the people of the Union.
What is A Short Walk through Our Long History?
I think that if you want to understand the world we live in today, it helps to understand the important events of history. In this series, we are going to look at major events, people, documents, places, books, and ideas that have shaped history, and thus shaped our modern world.