unquenchable

Hey, we got a Union to save.

From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six:

CALL FOR 300,000 VOLUNTEERS, OCTOBER 17, 1863.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

A Proclamation.

Whereas the term of service of a part of the Volunteer forces of the United States will expire during the coming year; and whereas, in addition to the men raised by the present draft, it is deemed expedient to call out three hundred thousand volunteers to serve for three years or during the war, not, however, exceeding three years:

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, and of the militia of the several States when called into actual service, do issue this my proclamation, calling upon the governors of the different States to raise, and have enlisted into the United States service, for the various companies and regiments in the field from their respective States, the quotas of three hundred thousand men.

I further proclaim that all the volunteers thus called out and duly enlisted shall receive advance pay, premium, and bounty, as heretofore communicated to the governors of States by the War Department through the Provost-Marshal-General’s office, by special letters.

I further proclaim that all volunteers received under this call, as well as all others not heretofore credited, shall be duly credited and deducted from the quotas established for the next draft.

I further proclaim that if any State shall fail to raise the quota assigned to it by the War Department under this call, then a draft for the deficiency in said quota shall be made in said State, or in the districts of said State, for their due proportion of said quota, and the said draft shall commence on the 5th day of January, 1864.

And I further proclaim that nothing in this proclamation shall interfere with existing orders, or with those which may be issued for the present draft in the States where it is now in progress, or where it has not yet been commenced.

The quotas of the States and districts will be assigned by the War Department through the Provost-Marshal-General’s office, due regard being had for the men heretofore furnished, whether by volunteering or drafting; and the recruiting will be conducted in accordance with such instructions as have been or may be issued by that department.

In issuing this proclamation, I address myself not only to the governors of the several States, but also to the good and loyal people thereof, invoking them to lend their cheerful, willing, and effective aid to the measures thus adopted, with a view to reinforce our victorious army now in the field, and bring our needful military operations to a prosperous end, thus closing forever the fountains of sedition and civil war.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed…………………

A. LINCOLN.

By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

President Lincoln noted the draft had not even been completed in some vicinities. James McPherson has written that the draft was “a clumsy carrot and stick device to stimulate volunteering.^[1]. This call for volunteers would appear to be a similar sort of strategy. There was a quota for each state enforceable by draft in the new year, but President Lincoln also dangled the carrot of a federal bounty. “The federal government got into the [bounty] act in October 1863 with a $300 bounty (financed by the $300 [draft] commutation fee) for volunteers and re-enlistees”.^[2]

Union gets top billing

1. ^[1]McPherson, James M. The Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Ballantine Books, 1989. Print. page 605.↩
2. ^[2]ibid.↩