The secession of Deep South states and the firing at Fort Sumter prompted Abraham Lincoln to call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion and in reaction Jefferson Davis called on volunteers. While the states of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Arkansas, disgusted at the idea of attacking their fellow southerners, seceded while Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky each declared shaky neutrality. While Lincoln and his generals began to organize soldiers and secure Maryland for operations agonist Virginia, Davis made Richmond, Virginia his new capital. From here he began to organize a government and the army. Davis decided to stay strictly on the defensive, which would allow the south to appear at the mercy of an attacking enemy and because the south was out manned and out gunned. Davis also made the choice of defending all of the south and not to give the north any land without a fight, even though such an act would spread out his thin resources; New York alone had more production than the whole south.
English: Abraham Lincoln and George B. McClellan i...
Virginia
A mountain farm along the Skyline Drive in Virgini...For most of the war Davis and a grab bag of advisors and secretaries of various capabilities would dictate the course of southern hopes and plans.
The first major forces to form were in northern Virginia. Two armies, numbering 40,000 total, were respectively commanded by the professional I.E.. Johnston and the eccentric and uneven P.G.T. Beau regard. The goal of these armies was to defend Virginal and give battle to the union army under Irvin McDowell. It was popularly believed that one battle would decide the war, and although unprepared, McDowell was forced to attack. His army approached Beau regard believing that Johnston was pinned down in the Shenandoah Valley. He was wrong and the following day he attacked a southern army nearly his own size. Despite early northern success, the...