The land was used to peace, and in the ordinary way its experience with military matters was confined to the militia muster - awkward men parading with heavy-footed informality in the public square, jugs circulating up and down the rear rank, fires lit for the barbecue feast, small boys clustering around, half derisive and half admiring - and if war came the soldier was a minuteman who went to a bloodless field where it was always the other fellow who would get bater. Pouco antes de Fort Sumter, o Legislativo de Michigan estava debatendo uma lei permitindo ao governador elevar dois novos regimentos de milícia.
(The land was used to peace, and in the ordinary way its experience with military matters was confined to the militia muster - awkward men parading with heavy-footed informality in the public square, jugs circulating up and down the rear rank, fires lit for the barbecue feast, small boys clustering around, half derisive and half admiring - and if war came the soldier was a minuteman who went to a bloodless field where it was always the other fellow who would get hit. Just before Fort Sumter the Michigan legislature had been debating an act permitting the governor to raise two new regiments of militia.)
A terra, acostumada à paz, tinha uma experiência militar mínima, limitada principalmente a reuniões de milícias casuais. Esses eventos apresentavam exercícios desajeitados, interações sociais e festividades comunitárias, onde os moradores se deleitavam e as crianças assistiam a sentimentos contraditórios de escárnio e admiração pelos soldados. Quando surgiu conflitos, os soldados eram amplamente idealizados como minutemen, se envolvendo em batalhas onde o verdadeiro perigo parecia distante e abstrato, muitas vezes sentido apenas pelo inimigo.
Primeiro, a Guerra Civil e, especificamente, o Legislativo de Michigan estava considerando a legislação para permitir que o governador forme dois regimentos adicionais de milícias. Isso reflete a crescente urgência e seriedade da preparação militar, contrastando acentuadamente com a abordagem anteriormente informal da defesa local e a natureza alegre dos reuniões de milícias.