Conscription and Conflict in the Confederacy

Book excerpt: This volume deals with the conscription system in the Confederacy and the conflicts which it produced between Confederate and State authorities. It was begun with a view to discovering the effect of conscription upon the course of the war and to making available the experiences of the Confederacy, hard pressed always for fighting men, in raising its armies. I have endeavored to tell a true story, as it is revealed by the Official Records, newspapers and other source materials, and by the memories of living men and women. My chief sources of information have been the Official Records of the War and contemporary newspapers; however, I have found the Journals of Congress very useful. The Official Records contain an abundance of reliable information concerning the workings of conscription, especially in the States east of the Mississippi. Were personal records and newspapers more copious, color here and there might be added to the narrative, but it is hoped, and confidently believed, that the essential truths have been discovered and presented. If there was much dereliction among those of conscript age, contrary to prevalent notions North and South, it serves to set in a brighter light the heroism and sacrifices of the masses. If I have succeeded in making available to our leaders the extensive experiments of the Confederacy with conscription and presenting acceptably to the students of history a neglected chapter of our military and constitutional history, I shall consider myself amply compensated for my toils.