The fierce conflict which had been waged in the United States of America
for four long years between the North and the South was terminated by
the subjugation of the latter in the spring of 1865, and the tattered
battle flags of the Confederate forces were furled forever. Over a
million of men, veteran soldiers of both armies, were still in the field
when the Civil War ended, and when these mighty forces were disbanded,
hundreds of thousands of trained warriors were thrown upon their own
resources, without occupation or employment. While the majority of these
soldiers quickly resumed their old business or farming pursuits, yet
there remained idle a vast number of turbulent and restless spirits who
were ready and willing to embark in any fillibustering expedition that
might present itself. These men were all trained and seasoned veterans
of both the Union and Confederate armies--soldiers who were inured
to the hardships and rigors of many campaigns and fierce battles, and
thousands of them readily enrolled themselves under the Fenian banners
in anticipation of a war being inaugurated against the British nation,
with the invasion of Canada as the first step.