USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN

[SOURCES]
Why might McDowell be cautious when leading his troops?

(A) ** The Union forces did not know what The Confederate forces where capable of

(B) ** They surrendered at Fort Sumter

(C) Their army was too strong to lose

(D) ** The Union Army was unprepared

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -McClellan was better at organizing than fighting. He was highly intelligent, but couldn’t wage a successful campaign. He always had an excuse for not engaging the enemy: his men were outnumbered (actually, they were not); he needed more troops; and it wasn’t a good time or place or season for a battle.

Concept note-2: -Yet the key to victory was found in 1864, after President Abraham Lincoln appointed General Ulysses S. Grant the commander of all Union forces.

Concept note-3: -Lincoln expressed repeated frustration with the inability of his armies to march as light and fast as Confederate armies. Much better supplied than the enemy, Union forces were actually slowed down by the abundance of their logistics.