To Arms

A Union Recruit and His Countrymen Respond to the Confederate Attack on Fort Sumter

To Arms! is designed to be a companion to The Union is Dissolved!, and the two images have many features in common. However, I have intentionally created one very important difference: while the volunteer depicted in The Union is Dissolved! seems to be solitary, the soldier seen in To Arms! is heading up what appears to be an infinite number of men. This serves to illustrate a point which would become very important as the war unfolded. Both men may very well have believed strongly in the different causes for which they fought, but as the war progressed and more and more men died for those causes, the ability of the North to replenish its army with both men and manufactured materials proved to be a key factor in its eventual victory.