Why did the Civil War last so long?

The Civil
War lasted from 1861-1865. Many
people thought it would be a shorter conflict. One reason why
the Civil War
lasted four years is that the South had better military generals than the
North
had. Many of the military schools were located in the South, and the
generals tended to fight on
the side that their home state had supported. For
example, Robert E. Lee, who some people
regarded as the best American general
at that time, stated he would fight on the side that his
home state of
Virginia was supporting. Since Virginia joined the Confederacy, General Lee
led
the Confederate army.

President Lincoln had to replace
some of his generals
because they werent effective. For example, General
McClellan hesitated to move his army at
times. At Antietam in September 1862,
he failed to pursue the retreating General Lee, possibly
costing the Union a
chance to end the Civil War at that time.

Another reason

why the Civil War lasted four years is that the Union had to fully conquer the South.
The South
only had to fight a defensive war, but the North needed to
completely defeat the South in order
to win the Civil War.

There also was some opposition to the Civil War in the
North. The
Peace Democrats wanted President Lincoln to negotiate a settlement with the

Confederacy. Thus, not everybody in the North fully supported the Unions war
efforts.

There are reasons why the Civil War lasted four
years.

href="http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/civil-war/war/war-overview/">http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/civil-war/war/war-overview/


href="https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h730.html">https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h730.html