Second branch-enrolment, draft, &c.-One officer only was on duty in this branch, but it received the special attention of the chief of the bureau and principal assistant.

Third branch-deserters, their arrest, return, descriptive lists, &c.-One officer. Fourth branch-medical affairs, statistics, &c.-One officer, with occasional assistants for inspections, &c.

Fifth branch-the Invalid or Veteran Reserve Corps -But one officer was permanently in this branch, but during the organization of the corps there were others from time to time as circumstances required.

Sixth branch-disbursements, accounts, &c., under the enrolment act-One officer in charge, with four assistants, who paid by checks the accounts of the provost marshals.

Seventh branch-disbursements, accounts, &c., under the appropriation for collecting, organizing, and drilling volunteers.-But one officer was on duty in this branch. An adequate number of clerks was employed in each branch.

ACTING ASSISTANT PROVOST MARSHALS GENERAL.

The law created no office intermediate between that of Provost Marshal General and provost marshals of districts. In organizing the bureau, it was found to be indispensable to have an officer in each State to superintend the operations of the district provost marshals and other subordinates of the bureau, and conduct the intercourse necessary with the State authorities. The exigencies of the public service limited, as a general rule, the selection of officers to fill these important positions to those incapable of active duty; but notwithstanding this, excellent men for the purpose were secured from the regular and volunteer forces. They were assigned to their posts in April, 1863, under special instructions from this office, and were designated acting assistant provost marshals general and superintendents volunteer recruiting service for their respective States. They established their offices and organized them for business upon the same general plan as that adopted for this office, but on a scale modified to suit their more limited duties. As an illustration of the organization and management of these offices, a report from Brevet Brigadier General James Oakes, acting assistant provost marshal general for Illinois, is appended.*

SELECTION OF BOARDS OF ENROLMENT AND PREPARATION OF REGULATIONS.

The field being wholly new, unexplored, and untried, the selection of suitable persons to compose the boards of enrolment was a matter of difficulty and embarrassment. In some districts there were applicants who had no recommendations, and in others persons were recommended who had expressed no willingness to accept the positions. Before proper appointments could be made, it was necessary to get reliable information upon which to act. This necessarily consumed some time, and after the information was obtained and appointments made, delay was encountered in their acceptance; and some of the appointees declined altogether, rendering new selections necessary. The provost marshals were first selected and their headquarters designated. They were assigned to duty with the view of commencing the arrest of deserters at the earliest practicable moment. The commissioners and surgeons were next appointed, and by making every possible exertion, most of the boards of enrolment were fully organized early in May, 1863. The time consumed in making a careful selection of officers caused no delay in accomplishing the objects of the law. This period was industriously devoted to the preparation of a code of regulations, † without which the boards, if sooner organized, could have made no useful progress in their principal duties.

* See Appendix, Doc. 11.

Devising the blank forms which were indispensable to secure uniformity and efficiency in the novel and complicated business to be conducted by the bureau, formed an important feature in the preparation of the regulations. A copy of these regulations, the same in their general features as originally adopted, but modified in details to meet changes in the law and the experience of the bureau, is appended to this report. Although prepared in advance, for the execution of a measure entirely new and experimental, they have been found to provide well for the requirements of the service; and, if it shall ever become necessary hereafter to resume the business of the bureau, it is thought that they will, with the other information accompanying this report, render it comparatively an easy task to revive what was not originated without great labor and difficulty. These regulations, and the orders subsequently issued, were perhaps more exacting as to the performance of the duties required, and in the observance of forms and details, than would have been necessary in a bureau composed of experienced commissioned officers, and charged only with duties of a purely military character. The appointees were generally taken from civil life. They knew that their appointments had been made mainly through local and political influence; they were distant from headquarters, and with great powers, not clearly defined in or limited by law; they were, owing to the disturbed state of the country and the party divisions of the time, exposed to the temptations of undue and dangerous exercise of authority. In order that there should be no misunderstanding as to their duty and responsibility to the United States, and that they might be strengthened to bear up against local pressure and interest, a rigid obedience was required to rules and orders which exacted a systematic performance of duty, and which by means of frequent reports and returns, made in compliance with them, kept the chief of the bureau informed, in minute detail, of the management of each office. Decided advantages to the general government resulted from this wholesome rigor. There are not many instances on record in which officers of this bureau stepped out of their proper sphere of duty, or attempted to subordinate the public to local or private interests, and but few, if any, in which such attempts have not been defeated. The views expressed above as to the repressive influence of the strict regulations adopted are not intended to cast any reflection on the intentions, or depreciate the merits, of the officers of the bureau, whose integrity and devotion I have already expressly acknowledged

ORGANIZATION OF BOARDS OF ENROLMENT.

For the performance of the duties required of them by law, and the regulations of the bureau, the board of enrolment in each congressional district was organized as follows, viz:

Three regular clerks were appointed. One of these, in addition to his other duties, acted as recorder of the board. As the wants of the service increased, temporary clerks were engaged from time to time, and paid for the time actually employed. The business of the office was subdivided and apportioned among the clerks, to correspond with the division of duties in the superior offices.

Deputy provost marshals were allowed in each district, the number varying according to circumstances. At times they were limited to two, but when the occasion required, as many as one for each county in a district were authorized. Special agents for the detection and arrest of deserters, and the performance of miscellaneous duties, were authorized. The number of special agents employed also varied, but seldom exceeded five to a district. The average number was three to a district.

Enrolling officers were employed at the rate of one for each sub-district, (generally consisting of a town, township, or ward.) These officers were only retained long enough to make the enrolment, and were occasionally re-employed

temporarily for its correction when necessary. Their compensation was at the rate of three dollars per diem when actually employed.

No board or provost marshal was permitted to appoint a clerk, deputy, or special agent without first obtaining authority to do so from this office, giving the name of the person to be employed, rate of compensation proposed, and filing the oath of allegiance required by law.

To illustrate in detail the management of these district offices, the report of Captain Henry C. Naill, provost marshal of the fourth district of Maryland, is appended to this report.

THE ENROLMENT.

Steps were taken as early as practicable after the organization of the bureau to put in force sections 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10 of the enrolment act, approved March 3, 1863. The boards of enrolment were organized early in May, 1863, and at once subdivided their districts for the purpose of enrolment. Towns, townships, and wards were generally adopted as the most convenient subdivisions. But one enrolling officer was employed for each sub-district, as the law allowed no more. They were sworn to execute faithfully, and without partiality or favor, the duties of their office, which were defined in special instructions; and all precautions practicable at the time were taken against the employment of incompetent or dishonest persons.

Some of the districts consisted of forty (40) counties, and some were one hundred and twenty (120) by two hundred (200) miles in extent, while others in large cities presented obstacles as formidable as geographical extent to a speedy and correct enrolment.

To subdivide, and find for each subdivision a person competent and willing to make the enrolment, took time, and was attended with difficulty, especially in the sub-districts, where there were large numbers of people. opposed to the government and the war, and hostile to this particular measure.

The enrolment was commenced about the 25th of May, 1863, and pushed forward with all possible despatch. It was to form a complete register of that portion of the national forces not in the service. It was to give the names of all men liable to be called on for military duty, by lot or draft, and to furnish the basis for determining the proportion of troops to be furnished by the dif ferent parts of the country. It was to provide the means for establishing between the government and each locality an account of military service, in which a charge was to be made of all that was due, and credit given for all that should be paid. Under it every citizen legally liable, who was called upon for his proportion of military duty, was certain that it would be duly credited to him. Nothing could be more satisfactory to all who were willing to do their share in defence of their country.

As the law made the enrolment the basis for distributing among the different States and districts their respective quotas under the calls of the government for troops, justice required that it should be as nearly perfect as the nature of things permitted it to be made. The correctness or incorrectness of the method adopted for computing quotas, and the arithmetical calculations by which they were ascertained, though sometimes complicated, are susceptible of prompt and conclusive demonstration to all reasonable minds.

No well-founded differences or disputes between the government and the localities called upon, in regard to quotas of troops to be furnished, can arise from any other cause than imperfections, real or alleged, in the enrolment. The features of the law, and the circumstances under which its execution was to be commenced, were such, that in the first enrolment perfection could not be

*See Appendix, Doc. 12.

attained; and owing to this fact, and the pressing necessity for an enrolment to establish a basis upon which the re-enforcement of the armies could begin, nothing more was practicable than to effect an enumeration, which, though it might contain errors, would be made under the same rules alike in all parts of the country, and which could be subsequently revised and corrected. Sections 1, 2, and 14 of the act of March 3, 1863, are as follows:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, That all able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, except as hereinafter excepted, are hereby declared to constitute the national forces, and shall be liable to perform military duty in the service of the United States when called out by the President for that purpose.

"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the following persons be, and they are hereby, excepted and exempt from the provisions of this act, and shall not be liable to military duty under the same, to wit: such as are rejected as physically or mentally unfit for the service; also, first, the Vice-President of the United States, the heads of the various executive departments of the government, and the governors of the several States. Second, the only son liable to military duty of a widow dependent upon his labor for support. Third, the only son of aged or infirm parent or parents' dependent upon his labor for support. Fourth, where there are two or more sons of aged or infirm parents subject to draft, the father, or if he be dead, the mother, may elect which son shall be exempt. Fifth, the only brother of children not twelve years old, having neither father nor mother, dependent upon his labor for support. Sixth, the father of motherless children under twelve years of age dependent upon his labor for support. Seventh, where there are a father and sons in the same family and household, and two of them are in the military service of the United States as non-commissioned officers, musicians, or privates, the residue of such family and household, not exceeding two, shall be exempt. And no persons but such as are herein excepted shall be exempt: Provided, however, That no person who has been convicted of any felony shall be enrolled or permitted to serve in said forces.

"SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That all drafted persons shall, on arriving at the rendezvous, be carefully inspected by the surgeon of the board, who shall truly report to the board the physical condition of each one; and all persons drafted and claiming exemption from military duty on account of disability, or any other cause, shall present their claims to be exempted to the board, whose decision shall be final."

It will be seen from these sections that the law governing the enrolment was ambiguous. Under some provisions of it only the enrolment of those citizens seemed to be required between the specified ages who were not excepted from the operation of the act. Under others, it seemed to be its purport that a full enumeration should be effected by the enrolling officers, and that the exceptions and exemptions should be made by the board of enrolment after the draft. Section 12 provided that fifty (50) per cent. more than were required should be drawn to fill the places of those who might be exempted by the board, thus sustaining the view that the board of enrolment after the draft, and not the enrolling officer, should decide questions of exemption arising under the law. Whatever might be the ultimate and formal interpretation of the law in this respect, the paramount duty of the bureau was to complete an enrolment at the earliest practicable date, make it as nearly correct as possible, and under it commence the urgently needed re-enforcement of the armies. The enrolment could be made without injustice to any one, as those who were granted the special favor of exception and exemption from the operations of the act could receive the privilege to which they were entitled after being drafted. To have undertaken so to make the enrolment as not to include those who were excused from

military service by special enactment would have been to defeat the purpose of the act, in an attempt as a first duty to secure to a privileged class the immunities extended to them before they were ascertained to be due. Supposing all enrolling officers to have been honest and capable, the difficulties and delays they would have met in attempting to decide in advance all cases of exemption which would be presented by persons of the numerous class excepted by the act would have prevented the completion of the enrolment in time to be of use during the war. To this should be added the opposition to be encountered in making an enrolment of any kind, and the fact that the enrollers had, necessarily, to be selected in haste, were but temporarily employed, without power to summon witnesses, and exposed by their irresponsibility and the absence of supervison to the temptation of bribery and favoritism. All this made it clear that the best interests of the government required that the enrolling officers should not be invested with the power of deciding the questions of exemptions arising under the act. In order, therefore, to get an enrolment for immediate use, which, as stated, would be as fair to one place as to another, and which could subsequently be corrected in all places alike, I directed the boards of enrolment to instruct their enrolling officers to enrol all male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who had declared on oath their intention to become citizens, under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty (20) and forty-five (45) years, and not permit the omission from the enrolment lists of the names of persons who might claim to belong to the classes excepted by the law, and to reserve the question of their exemption for consideration after the draft.

The following extract from a report made by Captain Erhardt, the provost marshal of the 4th district New York city, the enrolment of which was made the subject of special complaint, illustrates the method of making the enrolment, and the pains taken to avoid errors. The mode of operation was not identically the same in all the districts, but varied only according to the circumstances existing in different districts, and the character of the officers and employés engaged in the work. Captain Erhardt says:

"I have the honor to state that there have been enrolled in my district— "Of first class..

54, 372 23, 405

77,777

"From these were taken those who actually lived in this district, and those alone were borne upon the consolidated lists sent to the Provost Marshal General, viz :

"Of the first class...

"Of the second class.

"A total of....

30, 844

11, 148

41, 992

With this exception, that those who were not known to live in any other district, by their own refusal to give their residence, doing business in this, were presumed to live in this, and were sent on the consolidated lists accordingly. These names were in the proportion of, perhaps, one to fifty, (1 to 50,) so that, perhaps, eight hundred may be on the consolidated lists so subject to draft here who may show, in case of their being drafted, that they reside in another district, and are not liable. This list, with the deductions of those who reside here, would leave thirty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-five (35,785) enrolled here not borne upon the consolidated lists of this district.