Lincoln’s proclamation also summoned Congress to return for an extraordinary session beginning on July 4, “to consider, and determine, such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety, and interest, may seem to demand.” From April to July of 1861, in preparation for the rare summertime session, senators were engaged in a variety of war-related activities-rallying support, building the military, crafting essential legislation, and handling constituent requests.
“Within a few days the road to Washington was opened, but the men who answered the call were not soldiers, but citizens.” “The response of the loyal states to the call of Lincoln was perhaps the most remarkable uprising of a great people in the history of mankind,” wrote Senator John Sherman of Ohio.
He appealed “to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union.” As days passed, senators noted the tremendous response to the president’s call for troops. On April 15, 1861, just three days after the attack on Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling forth the state militias, to the sum of 75,000 troops, in order to suppress the rebellion.
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