 A staunch supporter of Lincoln since before the war, Opdyke worked hard to raise and equip more state troops, and to prevent commercial panics on Wall Street as the Union's war successes waxed and waned.Under his leadership, recruiting efforts were renewed, particularly targeted at the vast supply of immigrants.President Lincoln and much of the Republican element of the U.S. Congress, concerned with the numbers of veteran troops whose terms of enlistments had expired and wanting to press the war to a conclusion, had approved of a conscription law to draft soldiers into the army to augment the number of volunteers.