ARMY, r SITED STATES. 



vious call by a supplementary one for 200,000 

 men, " to supply the force required to be drafted 

 for the navy, and to provide an adequate reserve 

 force for all contingencies." The order also 

 provided as follows : 



The 15th day of April, 1864, is designated as the lime 

 up to which the number required from each ward of 

 a city, town, etc., may be raised by voluntary enlist- 

 ments, and drafts w'ill be made 'in the ward of a 

 city, town, etc., which shall not hare filled the 

 quota assigned to it within the time designated, for 

 the number required to fill said quota. The drafts 

 will be commenced as soon after the loth day of 

 April as practicable. The Government bounties as 

 now paid continue until April 1st, 1864, at which 

 time the additional bounties cease. On and after 

 that date one hundred dollars bounty only will be 

 paid, as provided by act approved Julv - 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



The severe losses sustained by Gens. Grant 

 and Sherman, the disasters connected with the 

 Red River campaign, and other untoward cir- 

 cumstances, far more than neutralized the results 

 obtained from the calls of February and March, 

 and induced the President to make still another 

 h'vy. Congress had meantime made important 

 changes in the law of enrolment, as will be 

 seen by the following proclamation : 



W7t treat, By the act approved July 4, IS 64, en- 

 titled, "An act further to regulate and provide for 

 the enrolling and calling out the national forces and 

 for other purposes," it is provided that the President 

 of the United States may, " at his discretion, at any 

 time hereafter, call for any number of men, as volun- 

 teers, for the respective term of one, two, and three 

 years, for military service," and "that in case the 

 quota, or any part thereof, of any town, township, or 

 ward of a city, precinct, or election- district, or of a 

 country not so subdivided, shall not be filled within 

 the space of fifty days after such call, then the Pres- 

 ident shall instantly order a draft for one year to till 

 such quota, or any part thereof, which may be un- 

 filled ;" 



And whereas the new enrolment heretofore or- 

 dered is so far completed as that the aforemen- 

 tioned act of Congress may now be put in oper- 

 ation, for recruiting and keeping up the strength 

 of the armies in the field, for garrisons, and such 

 military operations as may be required for the pur- 

 pose o'f suppressing the rebellion and restoring the 

 authority of the United States Government in the 

 insurgent States ; 



Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of 

 the United States, do issue this my call for five 

 hundred thousand volunteers for the military ser- 

 vice ; provided, nevertheless, that this call shall be 

 reduced by all credits which mav be established 

 under section eight of the aforesaid" act, on account 

 of persons who have entered the naval service dur- 

 ing the present rebellion, and by credits for men 

 furnished to the military service ' in excess of calls 

 heretofore made. 



Volunteers will be accepted under this call for one, 

 two, or three years, as they may elect, and will be 

 entitled to the bounty provided by the law for the 

 period of service for which they enlist. 



And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct that im- 

 mediately 'after the fifth day of September, 1864, 

 being fifty days from the date" of this call, a draft for 

 troops to serve for one year shall be had in every 

 town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election 

 district, or county not so subdivided, to fill the quota 

 which shall be assigned to it under this call, or any 

 purt thereof which may be unfilled by volunteers on 

 the said fifth day of Se'ptember, 1 - 

 VOL. iv. 3 A 



In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my 

 hand and caused the seal of the United States 

 to be affixed. 



Done at the City of Washington this eigh- 



r -. teenth day of July, in the year our Lord 



one thousand eight hundred and six*y- 



four, and of the Independence of the 



United States the eighty-ninth. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

 By the President : 



WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. 



The allowance of credits having diminished 

 the number of men to be obtained under this 

 call to somewhat above 200,000 (although, ac- 

 cording to the President's statement, 250,000 

 men were actually put into the army and navy 

 under the call), a further call for 300,000 volun- 

 teers to serve for one, two, or three years, was 

 issued on Dec. 20th. Quotas of States, districts, 

 and sub-districts were directed to be assigned 

 by the Provost Marshal General, and in case 

 these should not be filled by Feb. 15th, 1865, a 

 draft to supply the deficiency was ordered to 

 commence forthwith. 



The number of men called for during the 

 year may be thus recapitulated : 



Call of Feb. 1st. .. .. 500,000 



Call of March 14th 200,000 



Call of July ISth 500,000 



Call of Dec. 20th 300,000 



1,500,000 



Deducting from this aggregate 300,000 men 

 under the February call, who were really in- 

 cluded in the October call of 1863, and 300*,000 

 cancelled by credits on the July call, which 

 made it equivalent to a call for 200,000, we 

 have 900,000 as the number required to recruit 

 the army and navy in 1864. If we also con- 

 sider the December call as practically intended 

 for 1865, the number is still further reduced to 

 600,000. 



In the third volume of this work the number 

 of men in the military service at the close of 

 1863 was estimated at somewhat less than 

 600,000. The degree to which the army was 

 depleted during 1864 by the casualties of the 

 field, discharges for physical incapacity, deser- 

 tion, and the expiration of terms of service, 

 cannot be estimated with any approach to ex- 

 actness ; and in like manner it is impossible, 

 in the absence of official statements, to ascer- 

 tain how largely it was recruited. For reasons 

 of public policy the Government has long 

 ceased to afford information on the subject, and 

 has even on several occasions arrested and 

 punished persons, whether connected with the 

 army or in civil life, who have stated, from 

 official sources, facts tending to show the 

 strength of the national forces. Had 600,000 

 men been actually raised in 1864 and added to 

 the army, its total strength, even after deduct- 

 ing a liberal percentage for losses of all kinds, 

 would have approximated probably to 1,000,000. 

 The latter estimate, however, is notoriously 

 very far from the truth, notwithstanding the 

 statement of Senator Wilson, Chairman of the 

 Military Committee of the Senate, that between 

 October, 1863, and June, 1864, 600,000 white 



