Drafting Into A Cause: Confederate Conscription
To many the Confederate cause was one of glory and freedom. The overreaching, power-hungry Federal Government of the United States had simply gone too far in its intrusion upon the rights and privileges of being a citizen of a Southern--and sovereign--state. Some fought strictly for the preservation of slavery, or probably more appropriately, for the preservation of their own slaves. Others caught the wave of war fever and synthetic patriotism that spawned from the Confederate capital. But the Southern cause was not universal, of course, and the wide range of war philosophies held within the ranks of the military and Confederate government proved substantial agents in the demise of the war effort. The varying ideas of what the War was about greatly hindered one major effort to continue and win the war. That effort was conscription.
The initial wave of recruits joining the Confederate cause was identical to that in the North. The Southern politicians and the Confederate government did very well in telling Southerners what they were fighting for: states' and individual rights, defense of the homeland from an invading force, and, yes, the protection of slavery from abolishment. Whatever the reasons were, Southern volunteers raced to the recruiting posts in anticipation of a short, old-fashioned butt-kicking of the Union Army.
The War began with some astonishing work done by the South's 12-month recruits. Over ½ of the Confederate recruits were on 12-month enlistments (the others were on for three years), but the autarkic flow of enthusiasm that caused so many to join the army seemed to slow to a trickle. To many, army life didn't live up to what it was cracked up to be. Further, the War was progressing further than most had dreamed, and as the days wore on casualty lists became longer. By April 1862, fewer Southerners were joining the ranks while many of those who signed on for 12 months were anxious to see their enlistment expire.
At first, the Confederate government sought to rally current enlistees to remain in the ranks by offering a 60-day furlough and $50 as a reward. Officers were called upon to implore their troops to stay by appealing to their patriotism (Channing, 1984). Nothing seemed to work for Jefferson Davis and his new government in trying to keep the army's numbers high, something that was desperately needed after such battles as Shiloh. Faced with no other option, and at the urging of Davis' military advisor, Robert E. Lee, Davis proposed and Congress passed a measure that would authorize conscription of Southern fighting-age men (ages 18-35) into the army for a period of three years while mandating an extra two years of mandatory service for those first one-year enlistees.
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