Tag Archives: Conscription

give greenbacks a chance

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1864: The Draft Postponed. The action of Congress continuing the government bounties until the 1st of April, is received by the Secretary of War as an intimation from that body not to … Continue reading

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Friends indeed?

The February 27, 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly at Son of the South discussed whether Quakers should be exempted from the draft on conscientious grounds. The editorial respected the Quakers for their beliefs but realized that if anyone could claim … Continue reading

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confusing government?

On February 1, 1864 President Lincoln ordered a draft of 500,000 men. Democrat papers in upstate New York examined the president’s words to try to figure out how many previous enrollees might be credited toward the new call. I’m about … Continue reading

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“speaking trumpet” to be muted?

As a major bill was winding its way through the Confederate Congress, a Richmond newspaper found one proposed change to draft exemptions particularly troubling. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch February 1, 1864: Congress and the Press. The Confederate Congress, unless … Continue reading

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“childish despondency”

Late in 1863 the Confederate Congress abolished substitution – those conscripted could no longer hire replacements to serve in the CSA army. The Congress went further (third paragraph) in January 1864 by requiring “that men who had hired substitutes report … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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examining greenbacks?

From The New-York Times October 9, 1863: Arrests for Defrauding the Draft. ROCHESTER, N.Y., Thursday, Oct. 8. PETER P. MURPHY, examining Surgeon of the Board of Enrollment at Lockport, has been held to bail in $5,000 for accepting money; and … Continue reading

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Gorilla Gone from Gotham

150 years ago yesterday the draft resumed peaceably in New York City. Army, militia, and police forces were present in large if unostentatious numbers. A reorter found “no less than seven huge columbiads on trucks in the depot of the New-Jersey … Continue reading

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No Scrooge

I know from the schedule that 150 years ago today draftees from the Town of Tyre in Seneca County, New York appeared in Auburn for their examinations. Here’s a comment from a Democrat newspaper from Seneca County in 1863: Mr. … Continue reading

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Waterloo exemptions

According to James M. McPherson’s discussion of conscription in the North, “If a man’s name was drawn in this [draft] lottery, one of several things would happen to him next – the least likely of which was induction into the … Continue reading

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