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CHAPTER XII

MILITARY LEGISLATION IN 1864

N January 16th an amendment was made to the resolution of December 23, 1863,1 with respect to the money paid in by men seeking to escape service under the draft.2 Allusion has already been made to the postponement until January 5, 1864, of the draft for the 300,000 men demanded in the President's call of October 17, 1863, in order to permit Congress to make some necessary amendments to the Enrolment Act. The plan contemplated was, as the Provost Marshal General pointed out: *

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"1st, to offer a large bounty to the man presenting himself as a recruit, this bounty being divided into instalments and distributed through the period of his enlistment; 2nd, to secure the services of active and reliable men as recruiting agents, who, liberally remunerated by the premium allowed for each man they presented, would devote themselves wholly to the business, be under the control of the government, and held responsible for their behavior.

"A dread of the draft on the part of some, and a commendable pride in having their localities escape compulsory service on the part of others, resulted in defeating these two main objects. To fill their respective quotas and avoid the draft, towns, counties, and States offered bounties and premiums so greatly in excess of those offered by the government as to make the latter of inappreciable effect,' especially as the local bounties were generally paid in full at the time of enlistment.

"In the anxiety of towns and States to fill quotas, useful regulations and wholesome restraints upon fraud and abuse were, in some instances, pronounced by the public to be unnecessary and vexatious obstacles to success in recruiting, and were consequently defeated or disregarded.

"The opportunities for fraud and gain, in connection with the increase of local bounties, grew rapidly, and with the bus

iness open to the bad as well as the good, very soon produced the class of men known as bounty and substitute brokers. The network with which they covered the country was so well contrived and so skilfully managed, that it was difficult for recruits or substitutes to get into the service without passing through their hands..

"THE WRONGS TO INDIVIDUALS, AND THE INJURY TO THE RECRUITING SERVICE AND THE CAUSE OF THE COUNTRY, RESULTING FROM THE OPERATIONS OF THESE SUBSTITUTE AND BOUNTY BROKERS, AND FROM THE LARGE LOCAL BOUNTIES . . . ARE OF SUCH A CHARACTER AND EXTENT AS TO PROVE THE NECESSITY, under similar circumstances, if they should arise hereafter, OF AN ENTIRE SUPPRESSION OF SUBSTITUTE BROKERAGE, as practised during the late war."

A long discussion in Congress ended in a number of amendments to the Enrolment Act and the new law was approved on February 24th. The first section went straight to

the point by declaring

"That the President of the United States shall be authorized, whenever he shall deem it necessary during the present war, to call for such number of men for the military service of the United States as the public exigencies may require."

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That Congress was in earnest this time is manifest from the provisions of this act. The quotas to be furnished by any subdivision were to be proportioned to the resident. males liable to military duty, including those already supplied, and in the event of deficiency repeated drafts were to be made until the entire quota was filled. In case a substitute were furnished, the immunity of the original was made wholly dependent upon the immunity of the substitute; and if the substitute were, or became, subject to draft, the name of the original was to be restored to the list of those enroled as liable for service, and even the payment of money was to afford no exemption beyond a year at the outside. The most drastic provision of all limited the persons exempted from enrolment and draft to

"Such as are rejected as physically and mentally unfit for

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service, all persons actually in the military or naval service of the United States at the time of the draft, and all persons who have served in the military or naval service two years during the present war, and been honorably discharged therefrom." Resistance to enrolment or to the arrest of any spy or deserter was made punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or five years' imprisonment. Fines were also imposed for false statements,11 and fines or imprisonment for false reports, 12 fees in excess of those prescribed by law,13 and for the procuring of substitutes by enroling officers, provost marshals or surgeons or any of their employees.1 All ablebodied male negroes were to be enroled in, and form part of, the national forces. In the case of a slave drafted into service, his master was to receive the usual bounty of $100.15 The power of provost marshals and boards of enrolment was properly enlarged, and certified copies of their records were declared to be valid "evidence in any civil or military court." 16 The fact that a person of foreign birth had voted was declared "conclusive evidence that he is not entitled to exemption from military service," and all claims for exemption were to be verified under oath or affirmation.17 Men who were "conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms or prohibited from so doing by their religion were to ❝ be considered as non-combatants" and assigned to duty in hospitals or might be exempted on the payment of $300 to be applied to the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers," but any declaration of conscientious scruples was to be supported by evidence showing that the man's "deportment has been uniformly consistent with such a declaration." 18

In a word, the former law was recast virtually in toto and a genuine effort made to eradicate the existing defects.19

On May 20th 20 an act was approved which organized a regiment of veteran volunteer engineers from men in the Army of the Cumberland. The term of service was fixed "for three years or during the war," and all officers were to

be appointed and commissioned by the President 21— both very wise provisions.

The Act of June 15th stipulated that all coloured men mustered into the military service should receive from and after January 1, 1864, the same equipments, emoluments, etc., as other regular or volunteer soldiers; while those who joined after the act went into effect were entitled to bounties to the amount of $100, the same provision being made for every volunteer, irrespective of colour, who was mustered in under the call of October 17, 1863. Negroes who were free and in the military service on April 19, 1861, were declared to be entitled to pay, bounty and clothing allowed by the laws existing at the time of their enlistment. The 5th and last section provided

"That all enlistments hereafter made in the regular army of the United States, during the continuance of the present rebellion, may be for the term of three years." 22

The Act of February 24th had not been in operation for four months before it was found to contain certain objections which it was sought to overcome by an amendatory Act of July 4th.23 That great difficulty had been encoun ́tered in securing men even under such a drastic measure as drafting is evident from the opening sections. The first provided

"That the President of the United States may, at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number of men as volunteers, for the respective terms of one, two, and three years, for military service . . . and every volunteer who is accepted and mustered into service for a term of one year, unless sooner discharged, shall receive, and be paid by the United States, a bounty of one hundred dollars; and if for a term of two years, . . . a bounty of two hundred dollars; and if for a term of three years, a bounty of three hundred dollars; one-third of which bounty shall be paid to the soldier at the time of his being mustered into service, one-third at the expiration of onehalf of his term of service, and one-third at the expiration of his term of office. .

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The second section, not content with the former mandatė that, in the event of a deficiency in any district, drafts were to be continued until the shortage had been made good, went to the length of ordering "a draft for one hundred per centum in addition to the number required to fill quota of any district." 25 Surely no force bill could have been harsher, and Congress had apparently awakened to a realization of the truth of Washington's declaration that a long and bloody war cannot be prosecuted on patriotism alone but must be aided by a prospect of interest or some reward," and that "a peremptory draft" is the only effectual solution. 26

CALLS FOR TROOPS DURING 1864

The folly of enlisting troops during hostilities for any period less than " for the war" was demonstrated anew and in a most conclusive manner during this year. The expiration of the terms of service of the officers and men called out during 1861 for three years, and during 1863 for six months,27 necessitated the raising of new armies, doubly so since the draft during the latter year had fallen short of producing the number of men required to carry on the war successfully.28

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Allusion has already been made to the President's call on October 17, 1863, for 300,00 men.29 This was supplemented by another issued on February 1, 1864, for 200,000, but, although those raised by the draft in 1863 were embraced in these calls,30 the response fell below the requirements, insomuch as only 6312 per cent. of the 500,000 were furnished.3 On March 14th an additional call was made for 200,000 men for three years, but in this case the number who came forward far exceeded the quota fixed.32 Once again recourse was had to militia and, by a call dated April 23rd, 85,000 were summoned for service limited to one hundred days. 33

On July 18th a fourth call was made, the number asked.