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What Is The Role Of The Army In The Federal Army

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“To arms! Your Country calls!” was that slogan that echoed through the streets of every American city in the spring of 1861. On April 12, Confederate forces fired shots against the Union held Fort Sumter. Seven states declared secession from the Union before the battle, and four more seceded after. The American Civil War had begun, and the urge to fight swept over the divided country’s young men like wildfire. From all walks of life, men “charged by emotional oratory” (Robertson Jr. 20), joined ranks to live the romanticized life of a soldier, and assumed the war would be over in 90 days or less. However, what most found, if not an early death, was that the war would drag on for four years. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands “citizen soldiers” met their country's call to defend their way of life, typically in state volunteer militias, and this required organization in the federal army to ensure efficient distribution of manpower. …show more content…

There is a common misconception that the Civil War was fought between “the northern blue and the southern grey”, when, in reality, uniforms in the Federal Army ranged from grey, blue, green, to even bright red. Each regiment, many were state militias, varied largely in appearance because of esprit-de-corps and location from which men volunteered. To preserve individuality and maintain pride in units, enlisted infantry uniforms from II Corps, Army of the Potomac, were, at times, vastly different in aesthetics and construction, while others utilized “standard” federal uniforms, depending on material availability and

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