NY still life – Central Park, summer 1863
… the almost universal expression is that of satisfaction and acquiescence in the wisdom and propriety of the measure.
Especially if you can find a substitute or come up with $300 for the IRS
From The New-York Times July 11, 1863:
THE DRAFT; IT BEGINS TO-DAY. The Ninth District First in the Field. WHO MUST GO AND WHO ARE EXEMPT. WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY. THE NINTH DISTRICT THE BOARD OF ENROLLMENT WHO CAN BE DRAFTED? REGULATIONS
The announcement in the TIMES, of Friday, that Capt. MANIERRE, of the Eighth Congressional District, had completed his arrangements for the proposed draft, and had issued his formal notice to the able-bodied citizens of the Eighteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first Wards that the drawings would take place at the District Headquarters on Monday next, produced the most intense excitement amongst the people of the City, and brought home to them, for the first time, as reality, that which for months has been an expectation, and, to a certain extent, a byword and a joke. In justice to our people, it must be recorded that the almost universal expression is that of satisfaction and acquiescence in the wisdom and propriety of the measure.
Captain and Assistant Provost-Marshal JENKINS, of the Ninth District, must be entitled to the honor of being first in the field with the actual procedure. On information from those who should know, it was stated that the Eighth District was the only one ready, and was the one in which the draft would first be made, and so far as public notice was concerned, that fact remains undisputed. In to-day’s TIMES, however, due notice is given that taking time, or at least 48 hours of it, by the forelock, Capt. JENKINS appears in the van, and at 9 o’clock this morning, in public, at his headquarters at No. 677 Third-avenue will open the game, which will result in the conscription of several thousands of our most desirable citizens. …
The number of names ticketed and boxed ready for the draft in this District is 3,800. The number to be drawn is 1,[???]00.
In view of the absolute certainty of to-day’s proceedings, it becomes a matter of the greatest interest to every citizen to know first
In answer to this question the act expressly declares that “All able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of 20 and 45, with certain exceptions, to be subject to draft.”
Those persons being enrolled, are divided into two classes, the first of which comprises all persons subject to do military duty between the ages of twenty and thirty-five years, and all unmarried persons subject to do military duty above the age of thirty-five and under the age of forty-five; the second class comprises all other persons subject to do military duty. The latter are not to be called into the service of the United States until those of the first class have been called. …
And in regard to those who are thus drafted, the following have been prepared:
Any person drafted and notified to appear may, on or before the day fixed for his appearance, furnish an acceptable substitute to take his place in the draft, or he may pay to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in the Congressional District in which he may reside, the sum of $300. On the receipt of this sum, the Collector of Internal Revenue will give drafted persons paying it duplicate receipts. One copy of these receipts will be delivered to the Board of Enrollment on or before the day in which the drafted person is required to report for duty, and when so delivered to the Board, the drafted person will be furnished by the Board with a certificate of exemption, stating that such person is discharged from further liability under that draft, by reason of having paid the sum of $300. Any person failing to report after due service of notice as herein prescribed, without furnishing a substitute, or paying the required sum therefor, shall be arrested by the Provost-Marshal and sent to the nearest military post for trial by Court-martial, unless, upon proper showing that he is not liable to military duty, the Board of Enrollment shall relieve him from the draft. All drafted persons will, on arriving at the rendezvous, be inspected by the surgeon of the Board, who will report to the Board the physical condition of each one; and all persons drafted and claiming exemption from military duty on account of disability, or any other cause, shall present their claims to be exempted to the Board, whose decision will be final. As soon as the required number of able-bodied men liable to do military duty shall be obtained from the list of those drafted, the remainder are required to be discharged. The persons drafted are to be assigned by the President to military duty in such corps, regiments or other branches of the service as the exigencies of the service may require. …
Benjamin Franklin Manierre was Provost Marshal in his Congressional District.
Patriotic NY – Fort Sumter remembered meeting 4-11-1863
The image of Union Square back in April 1863 was published in the April 25, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly and hosted at Son of the South
