Less prepared for war than ever

A statement I read in Battle Cry of Freedom really surprised me today. Not because of what was said, because it seemed so obvious, but more how it was said. Dr. McPherson stated that America tends to prepare for war after the war has started, and that the Civil War, more than any other war, typifies that approach. At first I was a little surprised, until I began to think about just how unprepared both sides truly were. Neither side had much of an army or navy to speak off when the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter. To me it shows how much the country had come to expect someone to step in with another compromise to once again save the day. With all the discord between North and South, you would think that there would have been a lot more preparation taking place.