Tag Archives: Confederate conscription laws

14 January 1865: “After all what is the use of “putting men into the Army” whether they be white or black if we cannot keep them there?”

Item Description: Letter from William Porcher Miles to Gen. Beauregard about use of slaves as soldiers in Confederate Army.  Miles goes back on his earlier idea of arming the slaves because he believes that will make them more likely to … Continue reading

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13 February 1863: “Attention! Conscripts! Recruits Wanted!”

Item description: This broadside, with a purported date written in pencil on the bottom left of the document, calls for recruits to the defend the “Old North State” and “drive back the vile invaders of our soil.”   Item Transcription: … Continue reading

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31 January 1863: “in St. Clair County south of this they are resisting the conscript law & two loyal men have been killed by the conscripts…”

Item description: A letter, 31 January 1863, from John Tate and Sarah Ann Gordon Finley, Rocky Point, Alabama, to Dr. Robert Franklin and Carolina Gordon Hackett. Item citation: From the Gordon and Hackett Family Papers #1040, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson … Continue reading

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22 August 1862: “Feeling a deep interest and even anxiety in the speedy and faithful execution of the conscript law, I cannot allow myself to be represented as opposed or even neutral towards it.”

Item description: Clerk’s copy of a letter, dated 22 August 1862, from North Carolina Governor Henry T. Clark to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The letter continues a discussion about conscription among Clark, Davis, Confederate Secretary of War George W. Randolph … Continue reading

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5 August 1862: “Major Mallett reports that the desertions are numerous and that 200 men overpowered 10 guards and went off in a body.”

Item description: Clerk’s copy of a letter, dated 5 August 1862, from Confederate Secretary of War George W. Randolph to Jefferson Davis. The letter concerns conscription. Peter Mallett was a merchant of Fayetteville, N.C., and New York City; and a … Continue reading

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30 June 1862: “I am induced to believe that the law is not as “distasteful” as his Excellency imagines and with his cooperation and assistance there would be comparatively no objection to it.”

Item description: Letter, 30 June 1862, from Peter Mallett, head of Conscription for North Carolina, to Gen. George W. Randolph, Confederate Secretary of War.   Item citation: From folder 6 in the Peter Mallett Papers, #480, Southern Historical Collection, The … Continue reading

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24 June 1862: “The conscript act is very distasteful to our people and doubts of its constitutionality have been raised…”

Item description: Clerk’s copy of a letter, dated 24 June 1862, from North Carolina Governor Henry T. Clark to Maj. Peter Mallett, head of Confederate conscription in North Carolina.       Item citation: From folder 6 in the Peter Mallett … Continue reading

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6 May 1862: “The conscript law too which takes so many producers from the country will reduce the crops one half and a scarcity of Bread stares us in the face.”

Item description: Entry, dated 6 May 1862, from the diary of David Schenck (1835-1902). Schenck reflects on recent news including the fall of New Orleans and the Confederate conscription law. More about David Schenck: David Schenck (1835-1902), son of a … Continue reading

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18 April 1862: “…at this time, out of 800 men who formerly were active firemen 500 of them are in active service.”

Item description: Letter, dated 18 April 1862, from Moses Henry Nathan, Chief Engineer of the Charleston Fire Department, to William Porcher Miles, member of the Confederate House of Representatives and chair of its Military Affairs Committee. Nathan writes to ask … Continue reading

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