By NED HARRISON

The first weeks of 1861 saw the failure of the final official effort to hold the Union together: On Jan. 16, the Crittenden Amendment was defeated in the Senate. When President-elect Abraham Lincoln said there was no reason to revisit the slavery issue (his decision was that slavery would remain legal in states where it existed but there would be no expansion of it), the South lost hope.

Three states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida) had already seceded when Alabama joined them on Jan. 11, 1861, and issued an invitation for delegates from other Southern states to meet in Montgomery to "consult as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted and harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for our common peace and security."

Georgia and Louisiana joined their four sister states late in January. Texas seceded on Feb. 1 and, on Feb. 4, delegates from all seven secession states met in Montgomery to form a new nation. Montgomery at that time was a frontier town of maybe 8,000 people with unpaved streets, inadequate hotels and barely adequate restaurants.

Their goal: nationhood before Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president on March 4. The loss of Union facilities was ongoing at the time. In early January, Alabama militia had seized two forts guarding Mobile; Florida troops took over the federal arsenal and naval yard at Pensacola and the federal arsenal at Apalachicola. Louisiana's militia occupied the Federal Marine Hospital near New Orleans. On Feb. 18, a traitorous general surrendered all military installations in Texas to local militia.

Congressmen from Southern states were resigning almost daily. On Jan. 21, five U.S. senators resigned. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was one of them. In his farewell address, he concurred "in the [secession] of the people of Mississippi, believing it to be necessary and proper." But that night, his wife, Varina, heard him pacing and saying over and over, "May God have us in his holy keeping and grant that before it is too late, peaceful councils may prevail."

When Davis arrived back in Mississippi, the governor met him with an appointment as major general of the Mississippi Volunteers, which was exactly what he wanted: He was an 1828 West Point graduate and decorated hero of the Mexican War. But the constitutional convention sent him a telegram: "February 9. Montgomery, Ala. Sir: We are directed to inform you that you are this day unanimously elected President of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, and to request that you come to Montgomery immediately."

The constitutional convention had accomplished a great deal: In addition to selecting Davis to head the new government, it had authorized a currency, declared the Mississippi River an open waterway, admitted Texas to the Confederacy and authorized an army and prepared for war.

The convention had also written a constitution, and therein lay the seeds of Confederate failure. It was a document that could not succeed. It was written much like the document that formed the United States, but there were changes. The president was limited to a single six-year term. He was given the authority to disapprove any specific appropriation. The importation of slaves was forbidden, but ownership and trade of slaves was specifically allowed.

It was in "states rights" that the constitution foundered. The "sovereign and independent" character of each state was affirmed. In addition, the states could sustain their own armies, enter into separate agreements with other states, make internal improvements and even amend the Confederate constitution. But the Confederate government was given no authority to levy protective tariffs, make internal improvements or overrule state court decisions.

There was no provision for a federal supreme court, and there was no discussion of political parties by the convention although two factions did arise as the war progressed. When elections were held, there was a sharp split between those who were for and those who were against the way President Davis was running the war.

Thus, the February 1861 convention in Montgomery failed. The genius of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams and George Washington was to grasp that only by checks and balances could a new nation be formed. The men of Montgomery, in their headstrong rush to independence, did not understand that elemental concept.

Virginia. and the Civil War

David Hanson, professor of history at Virginia Western Community College, e-mailed comments about a recent column on Civil War conscription: "... another thing that made the draft especially controversial in the South was the large number of exemptions. Exempted were civil servants (government employees and politicians), clergymen, apothecaries, teachers, militia officers and workers in war production jobs. A second conscription law exempted planters with 20 or more slaves and allowed drafted men to hire substitutes (thus the phrase, 'a rich man's war and a poor man's fight') ... Both Confederate and Union drafts, arguably, were not very effective because of the high number of 'bounty' soldiers who often were first to skidaddle when the shootin' started."

Hanson added, "Despite all the fuss, three-fourths of the Confederate soldiers were volunteers. ... Still, draftees were helpful in the later stages of the war, especially for the South, since the Confederate manpower shortage was acute."

The Harrison files

Both sides were forced into using new conscription laws

Mud march placed soldiers under extreme stress

Political general not equipped to lead

Lack of telegraph lines hampers the South

Role of rail transport becomes critical

Railroads were a major part of military strategy

Lee proves himself with Seven Days' Battle

The end of 'Stonewall' Jackson