The Civil War

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short interior lines against invaders who had to deal with long
lines of communication and to attack a broad front. The Confederacy also
had no need to divert fighting men to tasks such as garrisoning captured
cities and holding conquered territory.
In a short war, numerical superiority would not have made much of a
difference. As the war continued, however, numerical strength became a
psychological as well as a physical weapon. During the closing years of the
conflict, Union armies, massed at last against critical strongholds,
suffered terrible casualties but seemed to grow stronger with every defeat.
Any staggering Confederate losses sapped the southern will to fight. Every
material advantage of the North was magnified by the fact that the Civil
War lasted years instead of months. Money and credit, food production,
transport, factories, clothing (boots)--it took time to redirect the
economy to the requirements of war, especially because these requirements,
like the ...

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