===Lincoln===
Lincoln, an ugly and ungainly giant, did not look the part of a president, but he performed the role brilliantly. His first priority was military victory, and he eventually became a master strategist. Working closely with state and local politicians he rallied public opinion and (at Gettysburg) articulated a national mission that has defined America ever since. His charm and willingness to cooperate with political and personal enemies made Washington work much more smoothly than Richmond. His wit smoothed many rough edges (Davis, he quipped was "that tother fellow.") Lincoln's cabinet proved much stronger and more efficient than Davis's, as Lincoln channeled personal rivalries into a competition for excellence rather than mutual destruction. With [[William Seward]] at State, [[Salmon P. Chase]] at the Treasury, and (from 1862) [[Edwin Stanton]] at the War Department, Lincoln had a powerful cabinet of determined men; except for monitoring major appointments, Lincoln gave them full reign to destroy the Confederacy. The federal bureaucracy performed exceptionally well, in contrast to all but a handful of Confederates. In the South, honor demanded a military uniform at the head of the parade; in the North, achievement accepted subordinate roles in a complex system.
===Border states===
In contrast to the unanimity of the lower seven southern states, the border slaves states were bitterly divided about secession. Border secessionists paid little attention to the slavery issue; they grew no cotton and lacked the South Carolinian dream of a slave-based empire oriented south toward the Caribbean. Rather their focus was on coercion: Lincoln's call to arms seemed a repudiation of the American traditions of states rights, democracy, liberty, and a republican form of government. Washington had usurped illegitimate powers in defiance of the Constitution, and thereby had lost its legitimacy. It was time to go; Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina seceded and joined the Confederacy '''after''' Ft Sumter. Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and Delaware, with much stronger ties to the North than to the South, were paralyzed. Kentucky tried to proclaim itself neutral.
The Sumter crisis galvanized Washington, which immediately began a series of vigorous actions. Pennsylvania and Massachusetts regiments raced to protect Washington, and in the process seized control of Maryland. The major border slave cities of Washington, Baltimore, Wheeling, Louisville, Lexington and St. Louis came under Unionist control; Confederate sympathizers were driven out, disarmed, threatened, arrested and imprisoned without trial. With scarcely a fight the Confederacy lost control of 12 of the 34 slave cities, together with their railroads, docks, factories, shops, banks, churches and newspapers. (The North of course kept control of all its 98 cities.) Lincoln was alive to the necessity of controlling the border; he told one delegation that he hoped God was on his side, "but I '''must''' have Kentucky."
In the confusion of the first weeks of the war, small units acting quickly proved decisive, and in every case they were federals. Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia were secured, as well as most of Missouri and half of Virginia. The western third of Virginia seceded from the state and joined the U.S.A. as the state of West Virginia. That radical move was possible because Union general George McClellan overpowered and outwitted rebel forces. The peace in Kentucky collapsed in September, as both sides invaded. Grant took western Kentucky for the Union, while Sherman assumed control in Louisville and Lexington. Lincoln won over Kentucky's economic and political elites by promising that the slaves of loyal owners would not be freed. Both sides vigorously recruited soldiers--sometimes with enemy encampments practically facing each other. Families divided, as men on one side (76,000 USA) or the other (25,000 CSA). Rebs soon had to move south (where they formed the "orphan brigade" because federal provost marshals and unionist judges systematically cracked down on the secessionist minority. "<ref> Benjamin Hardin Helm (West Point, 1851) was one of two Orphan Brigade generals killed in Confederate service. He was Lincoln's brother-in-law.</ref>
Border cities had grown up where they were because they controlled the choke points of the communications network, such as the falls of the Ohio (Louisville) and the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers (St. Louis). Federal forces radiated out by river or railroad and easily controlled the hinterlands in the border. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad became vital to the federal logistics system. The Confederates were reduced to harassing tactics, like burning railroad trestles or sniping at riverboats. Throughout the war tens of thousands of Yankee soldiers were assigned to guard duty to protect against the sabotage and keep open the rail and river lines pointing south. The Confederacy tried a few unsuccessful raids, but only in remote mountainous areas where guerrillas and bushwhackers operated, could there be any permanent challenge to the Stars and Stripes.
==See also==
* [[Confederate States of America]]