The wars outcome came down to timing, the strength of will and money. The Souths will was always strong and North had to find a way destroy to eliminate it. The North's problem was finding ways to find the will the fight in the face of large losses. Lincoln found the will through bounty money. The continued destruction of Southern manpower, unreplaced, was quicker than the Union's. The Union had a ready supply of German mercenaries willing to come over and die for a $300.

Even so, the South still had strong enough will to continue killing, until the harsh winter of '64-'65. By then, the South's will was checked by the need to preserve what was left of their families and the need to stay close to home. The will to protect their wifes and children overshadowed the need to win a war and independence. Had the Southern armies not lost so many men in that winter and had protected their strength enough to field a sizeable army, they could have continued through the summer of '65...one more year may have broken Lincoln's bank- it was not endless.