The main reason why the North needed to maintain control of the border states during the Civil War was because "(B) President Lincoln needed the region’s political support to maintain <span>the presidency," since these states remained loyal to the Union but were not necessarily "free states". </span>
During Grant's war of attrition,<em> it was bad that the Union army stayed on the offensive</em> <em>because their defensive positions each time were poor</em>. Their number of casualties grew poorer each time that they battled. But, despite this, Grant believed that the Union's supplies and manpower could overwhelm the Confederacy. Grant predicted that <em>this war of attrition would weaken the Confederacy</em>. Finally, there was no winning of neither side, but future consequences, as the Confederacy came to an end.
