Why the North Won the American Civil War Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman observed to a Southern friend that "in all history, no nation composed of simple farmers has ever waged a victorious war against a country.” nation of mechanics. You are doomed to failure. Even if Sherman's statement turned out to be accurate, its flaw lies in its assumption of a decisive Northern victory and its failure to account for the long years of difficult fighting it took for the Union to achieve victory. victory. Undoubtedly, the war was won and lost on the battlefield, but many factors influenced the war effort in favor of the North and hindered the South's ability to mount a successful campaign. The advantages of the Union entering the war were numerous. The system of government had long been established in the North and came with the advantages of treasury and a well-prepared army and navy. The South had no system of government or infrastructure before the war. As the North prepared for battle, the South faced the question of reviving a nation. They were responsible for creating distinct Northern institutions and culture that did not rely on slavery as its center. In other words, it was not enough for the Confederacy to simply be the Union with slavery; they were to create a sense of nationalism through an autonomous and coherent southern identity. The war effort united Southerners around a common goal as the fighting began, but after 1863, as the war continued and the years passed, Southerners began to lose faith in the Confederacy (Perman, 229) . identity, the necessities of war diminished the morale of the citizens of the Confederacy. From the beginning, the South believed that Europe would be a... middle of paper ...... new war it was waging was not an epic Napoleonic battle but a war of attrition. He implemented his plan to slowly shrink Confederate territory and destroy Lee's army to the point that the South could no longer mount a viable defense. Ultimately, Grant succeeded and Lee's men were all that remained of the Confederate army. Grant surrounded them in trenches at Richmond until Lee was forced to surrender. Although many important elements contributed to the Union's ability to wage war, the South was not without its advantages. Years of fighting and bloody battles prove that the match between Union and Confederacy forces was more balanced than either side thought at the start of the war. However, the Union's inherent advantages in size and industry as well as infrastructure and leadership outlasted the South's ability to defend its lands...