246 



CONFEDERATE STATES. 



that the benefits of the conscription began 

 to be felt in the increase of the armies. Al- 

 though the act declared every man a soldier 

 with a few exceptions, between certain ages, 

 yet the number of exempts was comparatively 

 large and the number of conscripts less than 

 might be supposed. A certain number were 

 exempted in proportion to the number of slaves ; 

 the officers of the Confederate and State Gov- 

 ernments, those incapable from physical dis- 

 ability, clergymen, persons engaged in Gov- 

 ernment work and some others exempted from 

 militia duty by State laws. Still during the 

 summer months the Confederate force largely 

 outnumbered the Federal armies, and caused 

 the issue by President Lincoln in July, of a 

 call for three hundred thousand men for the 

 war and an additional three hundred thousand 

 for nine months. 



The usual consequences of the enforcement 

 of a conscription law were apparent in this 

 instance. While the enrolment was going 

 forward, substitutes were sought out and en- 

 gaged at bounties from one hundred to two 

 thousand dollars. It became such a serious evil 

 in the city of Richmond as to cause the issue 

 of the following order : 



HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF HENRICO, | 

 RICHMOND, Va., August 1, 1S62. ( 

 The obtaining of substitutes through the medium 

 of agents is strictly forbidden. When such agents 

 are employed, the principal, the substitute and the 

 agent will be impressed into the military service, and 

 the money paid for the substitute, and as a reward to 

 the agent, will be confiscated to the Government. The 

 offender will also be subjected to such other imprison- 

 ment as may be imposed by a court martial. 



By order of Brigadier General JOHN H. WINDER, 

 commanding Department, &c. 



I. K. PAGE, Assistant Adjutant-General. 



Desertions also followed in such vast num- 

 ber as to call for the interference of the War 

 Department. The following orders were ac- 

 cordingly issued from that quarter : 



WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) 

 RICHMOND, June 13, 1862. ( 



I. With the consent and approbation of his Excel- 

 lency Governor Letcher, all sheriffs, deputy sheriffs 

 and constables of the State of Virginia are authorized 

 and requested to apprehend deserters from the army 

 wherever they may be found, and to deliver them to 

 an officer of the army at the most convenient post or 

 station, or to lodge them in jail, and report their names 

 and regiments to General S. Cooper, Adjutant and 

 Inspector General, Richmond. 



Thirty dollars will be paid for all deserters delivered 

 to an officer and fifteen dollars for each deserter lodged 

 in jail. No allowance will be made for expenses of 

 apprehension or transportation. All jailors receiving 

 deserters are requested to detain them. The usual al- 

 lowance for the support of prisoners will be made. 



II. Transfers from the line to partisan corps will not 

 be permitted, and if any officer of partisan corps 

 knowingly enlist them from the line, the authority to 

 raise the partisan corps will be revoked in addition to 

 such punishment as a court martial may inflict. 



By command of the Secretary of War. 



S. COOPER, Adjutant-General. 



WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJ'T AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE, } 

 RICHMOND. July 14, 1862. ( 



General Orders No. 49. 



All persons engaged in enrolling conscripts are 

 hereby authorized and required to arrest deserters 



from the army and to deliver them to the commandant 

 of the nearest camp of instruction, or to lodge them in 

 the nearest jail, and to return their names, company, 

 and regiment to the Adjutant and Inspector General. 

 Jailers are requested to detain them, and will be allow- 

 ed the fees and charges for the detention of prisoners 

 prescribed by the laws of the State in which the jail is 

 situated. 



Enrolling officers are also required to report to the 

 Adjutant and Inspector General the names and address 

 of all persons absent from the army without leave, 

 whether by the expiration of their leaves of absence, 

 furloughs, details, or otherwise. And where this un- 

 authorized absence exceeds the time required to cor- 

 respond with the War Department, the enrolling 

 officer will arrest the person and send him to the 

 nearest camp of instruction, reporting the arrest to 

 the Adjutant and Inspector General. 



Commandants of camps of instruction are required 

 to forward deserters and persons absent without leave 

 to their regiments, and have the powers of arrest con- 

 ferred upon the enrolling officer. 



By command of the Secretary of War. 



S. COOPER Adjutant and Inspector General. 



Circular to Officers enrolling Conscripts. 

 ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, I 

 RICHMOND, July 14, 1862. ) 



Agreeably to General Orders No. 49, current series, 

 this day published, you are required to arrest all 

 deserters, and, under certain circumstances, all persons 

 absent from the army without leave. 



The public welfare requires you to discharge this 

 duty, and the more important duty of enrolling con- 

 scripts, with the utmost activity, and without fear, 

 favor, or affection. 



Our capacity to improve the brilliant victories now 

 favoring our arms depends mainly upon your exertions 

 to fill the ranks of our armies. 



If you are zealous and active we shall make our en- 

 emy taste the bitterness of war ; if you are negligent 

 we shall continue to witness its ravages on our own 

 soil. 



By command of the Secretary of War. 



S. COOPER, 

 Adjutant and Inspector General. 



This circular was issued just before the in- 

 vasion of Maryland was commenced. 



The public press appealed to the citizens in 

 all parts of the South to assist in the apprehen- 

 sion of deserters and stragglers from the army 

 "by giving information to the authorities of 

 the place of refuge of these creatures." They 

 said : " There should be no resting place for 

 the feet of these creatures. Every man and 

 woman in the country is able to do something 

 in pursuing,, shaming, and driving back to the 

 ranks those who have deserted their colors and 

 their comrades and turned their backs upon 

 their country's service. Let all ages and sexes 

 in the country assist the Government in re- 

 claiming deserters and stragglers, and in main- 

 taining the integrity of our army. We trust 

 this exhortation will not be lost upon the 

 country. Desertions are reducing our army, 

 defying its discipline, corrupting its spirit and 

 morals, and seriously endangering the fortunes 

 of our cause." 



The unrelenting vigor with which this work 

 of conscription was pushed forward was suflS- 

 cient to bring out the full power of the Con- 

 federacy. The defeat of these armies would 

 necessarily have taken away the principal 

 strength of its military resistance. 



