Creating CHAPTER XXVII CIVIL AFFAIRS DURING THE WAR ENLISTING TROOPS, NORTH AND SOUTH THE first soldiers enlisted on each side were volunteers, furnished by the states in response to calls made by the respective presidents. They came freely in a period of great enthusiasm, and were of the best quality. But ardor eventually cools, and by the end of 1862 volunteering in the North was nearly at an end. In the South it ceased to be considerable at an earlier date. By this time the federal congress realized how serious a struggle was being waged, and used its power to enforce military service. The result was a law ordering a draft of all men liable for military duty. Enrollment districts were created, and drafts were held by officers duly appointed. A man drafted might furnish a substitute or be exempt on payment of $300. Draft New York. The act was attacked by the democrats as unconstitutional, and it undoubtedly contravened the principles of state rights to which they were bred. Although it was generally enforced, the criticism of the democrats found much support with the people who were unable to secure substitutes or purchase exemption. In New York the Eastside population broke into riots. The people were largely foreign-born, and recognized an ancient grievance in forced military service. On the second day of the draft, July 13, 1863, they broke up the drawings and, joined by habitual thieves, looted stores until they ruled in the city from Union Square to Central Park. Negroes were beaten and hanged to lamp posts, well-to-do citizens were robbed, and the police were powerless. The city had been stripped of soldiers to oppose Lee at Gettysburg, but at last on July 14 an armed force of more than 3000 policemen, marines, and citizens were able to check the depredations. Next day troops began to arrive, and by the 16th the mob was under control, after 1000 persons had been killed or wounded and private property worth $1,500,000 had been destroyed. Investigation showed that the allotments of the democratic enrollment districts were excessive, and when the error was corrected the draft proceeded quietly. News that the chief Northern city was resisting the draft ENFORCING CONSCRIPTION 573 gave the confederates a passing hope that the North would not support the war. "Bounty After July, 1863, the people accepted the draft as a military necessity, but it was very unpopular. Out of 470,942 persons drawn in two drafts in 1864, July 18 and December 19, those failing to report were 94,636. To stimulate enlistment, Jumping." large bounties were offered, not only by the federal government, but by the state and county authorities. In New York City in 1864 these aggregated $677. The regular pay of a private was $16 a month. Two evils now appeared, "bounty-jumping" and the activities of substitute brokers. The latter fixed the scale of payments for substitutes, and often were able to prevent the acceptance of a man as a substitute who did not have their services. They were in close association with "bounty-jumpers," men who deserted as soon as the bounty was received and enlisted elsewhere under other names. A case was discovered in which a man had “jumped" the bounty thirty-two times. Serious charges were made in many places involving the integrity of officers and physicians who conducted enlistments. The system was undoubtedly badly administered; but there was little disposition to look closely into it as long as it furnished men for the defense of union. The early enlistments were the pick of Northern manhood, and to the last there was excellent material in the new men; but as the months passed, the proportion of newly arrived foreigners and shirkers increased. This gave rise to the charge that the armies were recruited from European mercenaries. When the war ended there were 1,052,038 men in the army. Negro Troops. In 1863, after the emancipation policy was adopted, negro troops began to be enlisted. Among the prisoners captured in New Orleans, May, 1862, was a colored regiment organized by the confederates. This was an example which the antislavery element of the republican party in the North thought worthy of imitation. Lincoln, with the opinion of the border states in mind, opposed such a step; but the confiscation act of the summer of 1862 gave him authority to use such troops for the defense of the union. In the final emancipation proclamation he announced that negro volunteers would be accepted. The first regiment of them was the 54th Massachusetts, led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, socially and intellectually eminent in Boston. Many persons had predicted that negroes would not fight, but the result proved the contrary. Though generally used for garrison duty, they exhibited marked courage in some severe emergencies. At Fort Wagner Shaw's regiment charged most bravely and suffered severe loss. Grant, and many others in a position to know, declared that the negro troops fought well. At the end of the war 183,000 had been enlisted. The confederate congress enacted May 1, 1863, that white officers commanding negro soldiers should when captured be treated as Negro Soldiers as War Prisoners. persons inciting blacks to insurrection, but there is no evidence that the threat was carried into execution. Negro soldiers when captured were sometimes killed by their captors, but such cases as occurred were due to the feelings of the privates and not by order of the confederate authorities. The most notable case was at the capture of Fort Pillow by Forrest, April 12, 1864; but investigation showed this was without orders of Forrest, who offered to receive the negroes as prisoners of war when he demanded the surrender of the fort. His demand was refused, and as no flag of surrender was raised, his storming party slew its defenders, white and black, who fought desperately, until Forrest himself arrived on the scene and stopped the slaughter. When negro prisoners were identified as escaped slaves they were returned to their masters. The confederacy was unwilling to exchange negro prisoners, and on that ground all exchanges stopped for a while; but from this attitude the confederates retreated early in 1864, only proposing to retain those who were known to be fugitive slaves. At this time Grant was determined to send no prisoners back to swell the ranks of the Southern armies, and no exchanges of any kind occurred until January, 1865, when the confederacy was in its last gasps. FEDERAL FINANCES Providing funds for war expenses was a mammoth task. When congress met in extra session, July 4, 1861, the national debt was Measures of 1861. considered large at $76,000,000. The people, therefore, were startled when they knew that the legislature had authorized a loan of $250,000,000 in bonds and interestbearing notes. Additional taxes were laid by which it was expected that a total revenue of $75,000,000 would be raised. Two features of the plan were a tax of three per cent on incomes over $800, and a direct tax. It was believed that these taxes were as heavy as the country would stand. The execution of the financial laws fell on Chase, who proved himself an able secretary of the treasury. The Legal of February 25, 1862. But expenses were enormous, and when congress met again, December 2, there was a deficit of $143,000,000. The war had sorely distressed business, bonds were selling slowly, specie had been drawn out of the country, and December 30 the Tender Act banks suspended specie payment, compelling the government to follow their example. Something must be done quickly or the war could not go on. The result was the law generally known as the Legal Tender Act of February 25, 1862, providing for: 1. The issue of $100,000,000 in treasury notes, which, as well as the $50,000,000 authorized in July, 1861, were to be legal tender for all dues except the payment of import duties; and 2. The issue of an additional loan of $500,000,000 in six per cent 5-20 bonds, |