Lincoln declares the existence of an insurrection and calls for 75,000 volunteers. But the Northern “army” is disorganized. To give just one minor example: the Ohio militia, given the great popularity aroused in America by the Italian Risorgimento, adopts a red Garibaldi uniform, while a battalion from New York wears the Bersaglieri uniform with hat and plume. The Union infantry is armed with the accurate, lightweight, and powerful Springfield rifle. Congress does not even have the power to impose conscription, an institution considered tyrannical and intolerable. However, the foundations are being laid for an army completely different from the elite of the French and the barracks-like nation of the Prussians: a national and popular army composed of citizen volunteers in arms, reluctant to discipline, imbued with a democratic spirit, but ready to fight and die for a cause in which they truly believe.
