Lincoln’s 90-Day Volunteers 1861
From Fort Sumter to First Bull Run
Author: Ron Field
Illustrator: Adam Hook
This 48 page paperback book is number 489 in the Men-at-Arms series of book available from Osprey Publishing.
On April 15th 1861, the day after the fall of Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers to enlist for three months’ service to defend the Union. This 90-day period proved entirely unrealistic and was followed by further, and much more extensive, mobilizations. Despite this, for the first few months the defense of the Capitol depended heavily on a hastily gathered, but extremely loyal, army of militiamen and volunteers. Mostly inexperienced, poorly trained, weakly officered, and provided with motley uniforms, equipment and weapons, they bought the Union time during the vital first months.
Through a wide range of period sources, this title describes and illustrates the actual appearance of this diverse and colorful force, including photographs, eyewitness accounts in period newspapers and letters, the reports of government agents, and the records of the many manufacturers who received orders to clothe and equip their state troops.
The contents of this book are;
- The Call To Arms
- Chronology
- Major Events, April-July 1861
- Service of the 90-Day Volunteers
- Units, Uniforms and Equipment
- Pennsylvania
- New York
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- New Jersey
- Massachusetts
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- District of Columbia
- Select Bibliography
- Plate Commentaries
- Index
This Men-at-Arms book is an excellent quick look at the 90 day Volunteers of the Civil War in 1861. All of the black and white photographs and color artwork provides the readers with a good insight into these soldiers. MAA 489 is a great reference book for the wargamer, historian or figure painter.
