Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/460

422 merely seized upon this and other successes of the Confederates to worry the Washington administration and to hold a position from which either side could be taken as the war might turn.

The belligerent effect on the Northern mind by the battle of Manassas appears to have been really produced by the boldness displayed by Mr. Lincoln. He rallied the terrified Congress to provide for an army of 500,000 men, stirred up the war governors and called General McClellan to Washington to take charge of the work of organizing, equipping, and disciplining the great force with which he proposed to renew the contest. The fears of &quot;a border outbreak, which had in part caused the passage of the panic resolution of Mr. Crittenden, contributed, however, to a change of the field of military operations from the ill-fated territory of Virginia to the Southern coast and the Western States, thus diverting the thoughts of the Federals from their bad fortune at Manassas. In August strong naval expeditions were sent southward, which succeeded in securing a foothold on the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia; armies were collected in the West for the purpose of holding Missouri and Kentucky; and with an ever-present fear that Washington might be captured, it was carefully curtained with an increasing number of defenses.

The hope of the Southern people that peace would follow this bloody battle was deferred by these Northern preparations for more powerful and extensive invasions. The Confederate States after uttering their congratula tions found it to be necessary to prepare again for battle, and although Congress recorded its gratitude for victory and its hope for peace, the demand for war legislation was as great as ever. President Davis nominated Beauregard for the rank of general, which was at once unanimously confirmed by Congress. As a special distinction the commission was dated July 21, 1861, the date of the Confederate victory at Manassas. Two ad-