ENROLMENT AND DRAFT. 



361 



discovery of that fact, he classified these ante- 

 silurian strata, which are now helieved to corre- 

 spond with the upper and lower groups of Dr. 

 Emmons's Taconic system, as the"Huronian 

 and Latirentian" systems. Following _ hard 

 upon this, ante-silurian formations of fossilifer- 

 ous rocks were discovered in Sweden and Bo- 

 hemia, and distinguished geologists in both 

 these countries, recognizing the correspondence 

 between their primordial formations and their 

 contained fossils, with those described by Dr. 

 Ernmons in America, made haste to announce 

 the fact and to award praise and credit to the 

 American geologist for discoveries made, but 

 not believed in, some fifteen years previously. 

 Within a comparatively recent period, also, the 

 Canadian geologists, reviewing their work, have 

 obtained evidence which compels them to ad- 

 mit that their former hypotheses were wrong, 

 and that the opinions of Dr. E. were in all 

 probability wonderfully correct. And indeed 

 so overpowering is the evidence accumulated 

 in favor of the Taconic system, that most of 

 the American scientists have ceased their oppo- 

 sition, and showed themselves ready to award 

 praise and honor where they formerly gave ridi- 

 cule and contempt. Of the extent to which his 

 reputation and discernment have been vindicat- 

 ed, Dr. Emmons, however, was never probably 

 fully aware. In 1858-'9, he was appointed by 

 the Legislature of North Carolina to conduct the 

 geological survey of that State. Here he ren- 

 dered farther essential service to science by 

 determining the probable geological age of the 

 belt of red sandstones and shales, which, oc- 

 cupying the valley of the Connecticut, stretch 

 along the eastern slope of the United States as 

 far south as North Carolina, and whose period 

 of deposition has always been one of the vary- 

 ing problems of American geology. 



The breaking out of the rebellion found Dr. 

 E. still in North Carolina, prosecuting the sur- 

 vey; and here, either through inability to 

 leave, or from a desire to protect certain min- 

 ing properties, he remained until the time of 

 his death, cut off from all scientific or other 

 communication with his Northern friends and 

 associates. It has been surmised that, on ac- 

 count of his knowledge of the State and its 

 resources, he was detained a prisoner on parole 

 by the Confederate Government. (See AN- 

 NUAL CYCLOPAEDIA, 1861, TACONIO SYSTEM.) 



ENROLMENT AND DRAFT. This pro- 

 cess for obtaining men to serve in the national 

 armies, and known in other communities by 

 the term " Conscription," was for the first time 

 adopted in the United States by an act of Con- 

 gress, approved March 3d, 1863. The leading 

 features of the act were the enrolment ; the 

 calling forth by draft; the reception of sub- 

 stitutes ; the arrest of deserters. It was pro- 

 vided in the act that the enrolment should 

 begin about the first day of April ensuing, 

 and whenever it was necessary the President 

 was authorized to call for a quota of the men 

 so enrolled. 



The plan by which this act was to be carried 

 into effect, was the appointment by the Presi- 

 dent of a provost-marshal-general, whose office 

 should be at the seat of Government, forming 

 a separate bureau of the "War Department. 

 The United States were then divided into dis- 

 tricts, of which the District of Columbia con- 

 stituted one ; each territory constituted one or 

 more, and each district for the election of a 

 member of Congress, one. For each district a 

 provost-marshal was appointed, by the Presi- 

 dent, and made subject to the orders of the 

 provost-marshal-general. With each district 

 provost-marshal there were associated two per- 

 sons, one of whom was a licensed physician or 

 surgeon. These were also appointed by the 

 President. For the purpose of making the en- 

 rolment, each district board was authorized to 

 divide its district into as many sub-districts as 

 might be necessary, and to appoint an enrolling 

 officer for each. 



On the 17th of March, by an order of the 

 War Department, Col. James B. Fry, assistant 

 adjutant-general of the United States army, 

 was detailed as provost-marshal-general of the 

 United States, and authorized and required to 

 perform all the duties of provost-marshal-gen- 

 eral set forth in the act of Congress, and " all 

 such other duties as may properly pertain to 

 his office." In order to secure the cooperation 

 of State officers and act in harmony with them, 

 officers of the army were detailed to act as 

 provost-marshals-general of States, and direct- 

 ed to take posts at State capitals. 



In each district the provost-marshal, exam- 

 ining surgeon and commissioner, constituted the 

 board of enrolment. By the instructions of 

 the War Department, the provost-marshal, as 

 president of the board, was authorized to ap- 

 point two deputy provost-marshals, subject to 

 the approval of Col. Fry, with compensation 

 not exceeding $100 per month. The district 

 was subdivided into towns and wards, and an 

 enrolling officer appointed for each, whose duty 

 was to enrol all persons subject to military 

 duty, noting their residence, age, occupation, 

 and color. The act declared that all able-bod- 

 ied male citizens of the United State?, and all 

 persons of foreign birth who had declared on 

 oath their intention to become citizens, between 

 the ages of twenty and forty-five, should be 

 liable to perform military duty, with some ex- 

 ceptions. These exceptions were stated in the 

 second section of the act, which was as fol- 

 lows : 



SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the following 

 persons be, and they are hereby excepted and exempt 

 from the provisions of this act, and shall not be liable 

 to military duty under the same, to wit : such as are 

 rejected as physically or mentally unfit for the service ; 

 also, first, the Vice President of the United States, the 

 judges of the various courts of the United States, the 

 heads of the various Executive Departments of the 

 Government, and the governors of the several States. 

 Second, the only son liable to military duty of a widow 

 dependent upon his labor for support. Th'ird, the only 

 son of aged or infirm parent or parents dependent 

 upon his labor for support. Fourth, where there are 



