Early in the Civil War, when the Union armies were suffering
repeated defeats, Abraham Lincoln was discussing the war
situation with his cabinet.

"How many men do you estimate are in the Confederate army?" a cabinet member asked.

"About a million and a half," said Lincoln.

"That many?" said another member. "I thought the number was considerably
less."

"So did I," said Lincoln, "but every time one of our generals
lose a battle, he insists that he was outnumbered three to
one - and we have about 500,000 men."