Few men in the North previous to April 12, 1861, thought that the men of the South would be so rash as to precipitate a war between the two sections, and when on that day the news flashed over the wires that the Southern fire-eaters had fired upon Fort Sumter, and that the national ensign had been pulled down, a great wave of horror and indignation swept over the land. A call for 75,000 men for three months' service was issued by President Lincoln on the fifteenth day of April, 1861.
Many persons who considered themselves wise, pronounced the number too great, and to most people it did seem to be a vast army—three times greater than the whole regular army previous to that time. But little actual fighting was done by the regiments furnished under this call, but subsequently other calls were made for volunteers to serve for three years or during the war.
On August 4, 1862, President Lincoln issued orders for a draft of 300,000 men for nine months' service, but leave was granted to Governor Andrew to fill the quota of Massachusetts by volunteers, and it was in answer to this call that the men who later became the 48th
