# Please help me source (verify) US Civil War claim **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-source-verify-us-civil-war-claim/583809 "2011-05-31T02:27:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-source-verify-us-civil-war-claim/583809/1 "2011-05-31T02:27:25Z")
Hi Folks I recall some years back a history professor of mine telling us that during the civil war one of the European (Prussian?) observer making a statement to the effect that if the North and South were unified they would be stronger than all the armies of Europe. Now, recognizing that it is possible that this didn’t actually happen, are there any civil war buffs here that could help me find our exactly what was said and who said it? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-source-verify-us-civil-war-claim/583809/2 "2011-05-31T02:45:47Z")
Well, one of the reason why England stayed out of the war was that the Union Army was the largest army in the world at that time. According to [this](http://www.civilwarhome.com/armysize.htm), it had nearly a million men under arms serving for much of the war. The South had about 400,000. I doubt Europe could gather together that many men – and the Union had plenty of manpower left over. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-source-verify-us-civil-war-claim/583809/3 "2011-05-31T03:10:07Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Hi Folks > > I recall some years back a history professor of mine telling us that during the civil war one of the European (Prussian?) observer making a statement to the effect that if the North and South were unified they would be stronger than all the armies of Europe. > > Now, recognizing that it is possible that this didn’t actually happen, are there any civil war buffs here that could help me find our exactly what was said and who said it? > > Thanks Maybe that European (Prussian?) observer went by the name of Abraham Lincoln: "All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. " ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-source-verify-us-civil-war-claim/583809/4 "2011-05-31T03:37:51Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > Maybe that European (Prussian?) observer went by the name of Abraham Lincoln: > > "All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. " The Lincoln quote was from 1838 (at which point I’m pretty sure the U.S. Army was a comparatively small force, as it tended to be when the U.S wasn’t actually fighting a war all through the 19th Century and on up until the build-up to World War II). To the extent the Lincoln quote has any validity as an observation about military affairs, it is as a commentary on the difficulty of mounting an intercontinental invasion. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-source-verify-us-civil-war-claim/583809/5 "2011-05-31T04:24:53Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > Maybe that European (Prussian?) observer went by the name of Abraham Lincoln: > > "All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. " Great quote! And, BTW, the reason those foreigners can’t drink from the Ohio is because of our God-given _**Second [del]Commandment[/del] Amendment**_. Cite? Threads right here at SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-source-verify-us-civil-war-claim/583809/6 "2011-05-31T05:45:02Z")
According to my husband, it might be [Justus Scheibert](http://books.google.com/books?id=o-rz3r7rtAUC&pg=PR11&lpg=PR11&dq=inauthor:%22Justus+Scheibert%22&source=bl&ots=bpJySO-sQZ&sig=YwMmlLFS-wT926HHbEwh7MDeqU8&hl=en&ei=cH_kTdD9E8ahtwehrrzeCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false), an observer on J.E.B. Stuart’s staff.