This paper discusses the problems that President Lincoln had in finding capable military leadership for the Civil War and emphasizes discussiong on the “political generals” & General Grant.
There was hope for reconciliation, or at least an avoidance of protracted civil war up to the point when the Confederate Army began their bombardment of Fort Sumter, the Union stronghold in Charleston, South Carolina. General PGT Beauregard had called for the surrender of the Union fort since December of 1860. On April 12, 1861 at 4:30 a.m. the Confederates began firing and shelled the Union Army for 36 hours straight. War had begun. The end was far from a foregone conclusion and the bloodiest war in American history had just commenced.