Tag Archives: draft quotas

“promenade in blue”

The federal occupation of Richmond allowed President Lincoln to see it 150 years ago today. The fall of Richmond also increased volunteer recruits in New York City because it was believed that becoming a Union soldier suddenly was much less … Continue reading

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cold(-hearted) draft

Three clippings from Seneca County, New York newspapers in March 1865: The Terrors of the Draft. The hardships of the draft are being seriously felt in many parts of the State. – Families are broken up and in many cases … Continue reading

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wheels of fortune

150 years ago this month the Confederacy had enacted a law to enlist slaves in Southern armies and was beginning the law’s implementation. The draft in the North to implement President Lincoln’s call for 300,000 more troops was plodding along. … Continue reading

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poor conscription

After four years of war it was hard to scrounge up enough new recruits to satisfy the Union government’s draft quotas. The Seneca Falls supervisor was recruiting in New York City. Men were available, but there wasn’t enough money to … Continue reading

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draft dilemmas

150 years ago this month another Union draft was rapidly approaching, but a local town still didn’t know what its quota would be. The town supervisor was down in New York City headhunting for recruits to fill his town’s requirements. … Continue reading

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review board

Many states and localities were dissatisfied with the quotas assigned them under the December 19th call for 300,000 more soldiers. President Lincoln ordered a board to determine fair quotas so the draft could proceed speedily. I do not know if … Continue reading

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pleading with the president

New York State and its localities were unhappy with the way the federal government was conducting the draft in the winter of 1865. Governor Reuben Fenton sent a couple state senators to Washington, D.C. to complain to the nation’s chief … Continue reading

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sourcing recruits

Conscription in early 1865 was kind of a fluid thing. Here are three short pieces from the Seneca Falls, NY library big notebook of Civil War clippings that show 1) the quota for the 24th New york Congressional District didn’t … Continue reading

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“service years” quota

150 years ago this month a newspaper up in Wayne County, New York complained about how it understood the federal government was implementing President Lincoln’s December 1864 call for 300,000 more soldiers. The new quotas would be based on the … Continue reading

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“new thinning out”

September 1864 was another draft month in the North. Here’s some sarcasm, first from a paper in central New York State and then from the Richmond Dispatch as it reported on Ohio Governor John Brough’s warning against draft resistance. From … Continue reading

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