President Swain Requests Exemption of UNC Seniors from Conscription

On this day in 1863, university president David Lowry Swain wrote to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, requesting exemption from conscription for university seniors. There were many exemptions to conscription, most resting on the petitioner’s class—one was automatically exempt for owning twenty or more slaves, and one could buy exemption for $300 (around $5,500 in 2013 dollars)—or social status (certain government employees and workers deemed necessary, such as railroad workers). Below is the response, dated November 3rd, from Colonel Peter Mallet, Commandant of Conscripts for North Carolina.

(University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives)
(University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives)
(University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives)
(University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives)