During the first day of the war, the confederates gained an upper hand but this success was just short lived because they were defeated during the second day of the battle. With the motive of driving the Union Army from the River Tennessee, the confederates struck with a humiliating force hoping to drive away Grants army into the Owl Creek swamps in the west. However, the confederates lines of battle got confused during the heavy fighting and instead of the Union Army falling to the Owl Creek swamp, it fell in the Pittsburgh Landing direction which was in the north-eastern direction.
The new direction provided the Unions Army with an ample time to stabilize. One of the most humiliating things during the battle was that General Johnston of the confederate army was killed on the first day of the battle and General Beauregard who was second in command opted out of the battle and decided not to assault the Unions Army in the first night of the battle. Reinforced by General Buells troops, General Grant of the Unions Army retaliated the next morning against the confederates by attacking the entire confederates battle lines. Overwhelmed by the Unions counterattacks, the confederates retreated leaving the battle field in the Northern hands.
After the battle on 6th April, the Unions army regrouped and increased in number up to 45,000. However, because of desertion and straggling, the confederates had decreased in number by 8500 men. Unaware that there were no enough men to march those of the unions army, the confederates continued with the war in anticipation of wiping away the unions army.
After the two days battle, there were other two failures by the confederates in the western theatre that followed the previous scenario. For example, 8th April 1862 witnessed the first failure of the confederates after the battle of Shiloh when the confederates failed terribly in the war of the Fallen Timbers when Sherman ordered by Grant to ascertain whether the confederates were retreating or regrouping in order to resume their surprise attacks. With two infantry troops he came across a well cleared field with a confederates hospital erected in it. A serious but a short lived attack ensued between the confederates 300 troopers guarding the hospital and the Unions infantry brigades led by Sherman. Confident that his men were in full pursuit, General Nathan Bedford Forrest whose 300 confederates troopers surrounded and guarded the hospital, led the attack only to find himself alone in the battle front after his men retreated. In this battle, Shermans men captured the confederates hospital and seriously injured General Nathan Bedford Forrest even though he managed to escape. This was therefore the first failure of the confederates after the previous scenario which was also a great win on the Unions side.
The second failure encountered by the confederates after the previous scenario was witnessed in early May 1862, when Henry Halleck reorganized and combined the Unions Army after General Grants reputation was discredited due to the first day defeat of the Unions Army in the battle of Shiloh. Commanding a well organized and a well motivated Unions army, Henry Halleck captured Corinth while another Union force destroyed the Confederates Defense Fleet near Mississippi River. By this time Grant had been demoted to the second in command position and after Halleck advanced to the East, Grant continued down and captured Vicksburg. After the fall of Port Hudson and the capture of Vicksburg in 1863, the union Army took over full control of Mississippi River and divided the confederates Army into two. Braxton Bragg was left in charge of the Mississippi Army and he was later promoted to the General position. Eager to show that he deserved the new position, General Bragg unsuccessfully invaded Kentucky which led to the new battle of Perryville. However, he retreated from the battle although there were no casualties on his side as were with the confederates Army.
Until the onset of the Civil War, there had never been any general draft in the military in America. The Confederates were the first to pass such a general draft on April 16th 1862 when 3 acts of conscriptions were passed. The Union also passed their acts of conscription one year after the 3 Confederates conscription acts had been passed. The main point behind the passing of the drafts or the conscription acts was because of the manpower shortage and drafting was seen as the only possible means of alleviating the problem.
However, the two sides received mush opposition from the public who considered the practice as an infringement of personal liberty and individual free will. The public feared that such drafting or the conscription acts would be used to give the military power to forcefully recruit young men against their free will. However, in the wake of such drafts, volunteer soldiers turned down such conscriptions which were regarded as signs of desperations after previous military defeats. One of the distinguishing features between the confederates and the Unions conscription acts was that the confederates act was full of exemptions. It recognized the great importance of agriculture, industry and organizations in the nation just like the army was vital for the protection of the nation. In this perspective, the confederates goal was not just to get numerous men in the army but it was aimed at getting the best men in the army and leaving the best workers in jobs. This was not the case with the Unions who drew all the best men in the army leaving the worst men to do the jobs.
The conscription acts were discriminative in nature both to the Union and the Confederates. The reason for this was that such drafts required only men with little or no resources to be included in the service but exempted men with property from being included in the service. Under the Unions conscription act approximately 750,000 men aged between 18-35 had been drawn into the service but only 45,000 men went into the service following serious riots which affected the proscription exercise. The confederates on the other hand marshalled more than 400, 000 men through the conscription mechanism without serious opposition from the public and activists.
Following the conscription Acts, serious problems emerged as riots ensued. After the victory of the Union Army in the battle of Gettysburg, the second drawing of men into the service was held. However, on Monday 13th July 1863, a crowd of 500 furious men and women led by the Joke Black Engine Company 33, levelled attacks on the office of the Ninth District Provost Marshal, at 47th street, Third Avenue where the drawing of men was taking place. The whole building was set on fire by the angry mob that also injured John Kennedy, the police superintendent seriously. Hence, the Unions conscription was followed by serious riots in New York as well as other major cities.
President Jefferson Davis was more prepared to be a commander in-chief when the war begun than was Abraham Lincoln. The first show of mighty by the confederates under President Jefferson Davis occurred when Major General Irvin McDowell was sent by President Lincoln to take the command of the Unions Army. Major General Irvin was sent to capture Richmond on 5th July 1861 but to his surprise his troops were largely inexperienced as compared to the confederates. At the Bull Run battle the confederates led by James Jeb Stuart, Joseph E. Johnston, Jubal Early and others defeated the Unions Army easily due to the inexperience of the Unions forces and in this regard, the South had successfully won their first battle against the Northern Union Army. As a matter of fact, the casualties in the Unions Army totalled 1,492 with over 1, 216 missing soldiers. The preparedness of the confederates army during the first day of the attack against the Unions Army in the battle of Shiloh proved that indeed the confederates army under the command of President Jefferson Davis was alert and ready for the battle. In the same regard, the information provided by General Johnston with regard to the planned attacks against the Unions Army showed clearly that indeed Jefferson Davis had a well organized army under his command.
The military strategy applied by Jefferson Davis confederate Army of a surprise attack was indeed a show of mighty military tactics which the confederated possessed and which made them effective initially. However, this edge of military strategy changed drastically by the end of war in 1865. For example, the confederates confusion was largely used by the Unions Army as the loophole through which the Unions Army begun regrouping and organizing itself. The Unions Army gained an upper hand through reinforcement strategy when more men arrived to reinforce the already overwhelmed Union forces. From this point forward, President Abraham Lincoln gained an upper hand as the most prepared commander in-chief of the Unions forces.
In the same perspective, Lincoln ensured that his men had enough supplies to advance to the battle. His coordination with the commanders in the battle field necessitated the rightful flow of information which made it easier for the right decisions to be made unlike the confederates whose information flow was wrong and thus the wrong decisions were made. For example, due to underestimation and of the Unions Army ability to fight back, Beauregard gave the wrong information that the Unions forces were completely overwhelmed though a telegram to president Jefferson indicating that the confederates had a complete victory over the Unions. Relying on this message, President Jefferson never took any drastic step to ensure that the confederates wiped off the enemy completely but rather chose to celebrate the first day of the confederates victory.
On the other hand, learning from the mistakes which had been performed by his men in the battle field, Lincoln sent a strong reinforcement through such commanders as Sherman to reinforce Grants overwhelmed men. Finally by the end of the war in 1865, Abraham Lincoln had won the battle and had the confederates under his control.
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