From: KARLIN@BNLCL6.BNL.GOV (P.L. Cowan)
Subject: Question concerning the secession of Virginia.
Summary: Relation of Lincoln's call for troops to Va's secession.
Keywords: Lincoln, Virginia, Davis, secession, Fort Sumter
Reply-To: COWAN@ANL.GOV
Organization: BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 22:17:23 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23

Okay, I know things got a little rough when we discussed the secession
of South Carolina, but things seem to be settling down, so ...

What really puzzles me is the secession of Virginia. If any of the
following hits a sour note to the ears of our Southern brethren please
be gentle, I'm just a Yank that wants to understand both sides.

After slowly, painfully, grappling with problem, I think I have gained
some feeling and understanding (not to say approval) for why South
Carolina would secede following the election of Lincoln. I can also
accept (for now) the notion that once the precedent had been set, it
was fairly easy for the next 6 states to follow.

What is troubling me now is the secession of the 4 states that
followed Fort Sumter. In particular, Foote states that Virginia had
held a convention (prior to Fort Sumter) which voted not to secede.
Then, a short time later they did secede. Foote (and others) cite
Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops as the reason for the second wave of
secession. 

It is clear that the governors of the 4 second-tier states (Va, NC,
Tenn. and Ark.) plus Ky. and Mo. expressed outrage at Lincoln's call
for men. This seemed to have taken Lincoln by surprise, and I can't
blame him since it puzzles me too.

There seems to be a lack of consensus among various sources whether
Lincoln's call for men followed or preceded a call by Davis for
100,000 men for the CSA. Hendrickson (for one), in _Fort Sumter: The
First Day of the Civil War_, states clearly that the CSA Congress
passed a law on March 6, 1861, authorizing an army of 100,000 for 12
month enlistments. Lincoln's call for 75,000 men (with 3-month
enlistments) came on April 15, two days after the surrender of Fort
Sumter.

If Lincoln's call for men followed Davis's similar call by over a
month (and also followed the attack on Fort Sumter) it seems to me that 
by calling for 25,000 fewer men, to serve 1/4 as long as their CSA
counterparts, Lincoln was proceeding rather cautiously (perhaps
excessively so). I don't see how this action would so offend Virginia
(in particular) as to change their decision from not seceding to
seceding.

I suppose one explanation is that the 2nd-tier states were inspired by
the CSA sucess at Fort Sumter that they wanted to join the victorious
cause, but I have a hard time imagining much inspiration came from a
force of 7,000 men defeating 80-odd regulars isolated on an island. 



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P. L. Cowan     Please send replies, comments etc. (no flames thank you) to 
COWAN@ANL.GOV   (I'm posting this from a friend's account)

     "I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall 
adopt new views so fast as they appear to be true views." 
  -  A. Lincoln, Letter to the Editor, New York Tribune, August 22, 1862

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