Replies

Well, Doodle, my family were those wild Irish who were being conscripted into the army by Lincoln and fought viciously to stop it. It was the Irish immigrants who pulled the dreadful draft riots in NYC in which God knows how many poor blacks were lynched. In fact, the great Irish Rep in NYC recently put on a play about it. Not pretty. Lincoln did offer immigrants citizenship if they signed up - probably had officers waiting at the docks as the greenies got off the boat. And I speak as a fan of Lincoln.

Whatever you say about Johnny Reb, he willingly joined up.

Actually both sides used conscription as a means of filling out the ranks. The confederates were first, passing the Conscription Act on March 28, 1862. The union came next with the Militia Act on July 17, 1862.

Both sides allowed exemptions that permitted the rich to employ surrogates. They also both employed the “carrot vs. stick” with regard to conscription, offering much better terms for volunteers. As the war wore on and recruiting proved increasingly difficult the confederate army redefined the tours “for the duration”. As a result desertion became quite rampant.

The Army of Virginia had three classifications for deserters. The lowest severity was called “stragglers” - where soldiers would disappear for a day to a couple of days. The next group was called “French leave”, soldiers who take off for a few days to a few weeks to conduct family business or visit family and friends. The last group were the true deserters who left with no intention of coming back.

Lee himself estimated that a third of his force was absent at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. The confederate army imposed increasingly harsh measures to fight the spiraling desertion rate including the use of sharpshooters along the rear to shoot stragglers. Union commanders encouraged enemy desertion through promises of amnesty and it is estimated that 30,000 confederate solders took them up.

In the course of my research I’ve discovered that conditions and circumstances were far more intricate and complicated than I ever imagined.

Not pretty. Lincoln did offer immigrants citizenship if they signed up - probably had officers waiting at the docks as the greenies got off the boat. And I speak as a fan of Lincoln.

If you haven't seen "Gangs of New York", you need to treat yourself. It was a very entertaining movie, and it touches on the Irish riots in New York.

It's been some years since I've seen it, but I seem to remember it showing the Union forces conscripting the Irish right off the boats.

The other day when I was looking for something else, I stumbled across some commentary from the period.

White workers compared their value unfavorably to that of southern slaves, stating that "[we] are sold for $300 [the price of exemption from war service] whilst they pay $1000 for negroes."

I thought to myself that was a very sobering way to regard the situation they found themselves in. They were effectively Slaves at 1/3rd the price. Till they were killed anyway, and then they were worth nothing.

Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York” includes some great scenes of the New York Draft Riots. And the Irish being recruited right off the boats. Well worth watching if you haven’t seen it.

To stop the riots Lincoln sent troops fresh from the Battle of Gettysburg and had them firing cannon on the rioters. There’s good reason the Posse Comitatus Act passed after the War.

Well, Doodle, my family were those wild Irish who were being conscripted into the army by Lincoln and fought viciously to stop it.

I'm Irish, too, though my dad's family came over after the war.

It was the Irish immigrants who pulled the dreadful draft riots in NYC in which God knows how many poor blacks were lynched.

And it was the Southern cavaliers who revolted and took whole counties out of the confederacy, refusing to provide draftees to the Southern cause.

And I speak as a fan of Lincoln.

LOL!!!

Whatever you say about Johnny Reb, he willingly joined up.

Did he now? The Confederacy enacted conscription in the spring of 1862, over a year before the Union did. At the same time the Confederacy also extended all enlistments for the duration of the war, something the Union never resorted to. By the end of the war most of the Confederate army were there because they had to be and not necessarily if they wanted to be.