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The Draft in the Civil War |
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Both the North and the South used a draft during the Civil War. Wealthier men could avoid the draft by paying $300 for a substitute to go in their place. Draftees were chosen by lottery. Counties had quotas that had to be filled with volunteers, and if the quota was not met then the county had to resort to the draft. During the war, a terrible riot broke out in New York City as many people there, especially the Irish, opposed being forced to serve in the war. Below is a partial list of men drafted in Tompkins County in July, 1863, just weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg. |
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Men drafted in Newfield: |
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Obed
A. Seely |
Leonard
Beach |
Moses
D. Whitney |
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Men drafted in Danby: |
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| Bradford
C. Hallet Jacob Ackerman Milton H. Knapp James Laine Harvey Thornton Palmer Montgomery Levi L. Beers William H. Swansbrough Dewitt Allick William E. Martin Washington Little James H. Sanford Lewis Hill John J. Miller Benjamin D. Tripp Abram Myers Jacob Kennedy Charles Bryant Manual Martin Luman Hugg Elijah Jennings Edward Brock John Hillicker Ensign Dorn Reuben Swartwout Wesley Dorn |
William
H. Wilcox Isaac Vanorder George Jones Ervin Weed John Q. Vanorman Albert G. Taylor Francis Dorn Charles Eastman Briggs Montgomery Henry L. Gardner Sylvester B. Dummond James Jefferson Oliver Seaman Marcus A. Beers John J. Sears Harmon Little Asa Button Alvin Taggart Lucian B. Beers Hiram M. Daniels John N. Gillett Isaac B. Axford Stephen Kennedy Daniel Hayward Joseph Grant
Source of drafted men: Ithaca Journal,
July 29, 1863. Found by Jeremy Clark. Typed by Michelle Jennings |
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A payment of $300 could exempt a man from the draft. Some Ithaca men formed their own insurance plan to protect themselves: "We understand there is a sort of “mutual protection society” got up among the young men liable to be drafted in this village, by which each member pays $50. Should any member of the association be drafted, then out of the fund thus formed, $300 will be paid to procure his exemption. Should so many be drafted that $50 first paid in fail to pay for them all, then, we suppose, an assessment would of necessity be made to supply the deficiency. This is both a feasible and an honorable arrangement for those who do not choose to serve if drafted, and the burden can thus be made to fall so lightly that very few will be unable to meet it." Source: Ithaca Journal, July 22, 1863. Article found by Jeremy Clark. Typed up by Josh McCabe. |
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Efforts were made to appeal to the patriotism of local men to drum up enough volunteers that the draft could be avoided. One source explained the process: "In the prosecution of the work of securing volunteers in the summer of 1862, a great war meeting was held in Ithaca on the 25th of July, at which many well known men made speeches. Under the then existing call for 300,000 men the quota for Ithaca was 83; for Dryden, and Groton, 92; for Enfield, Ulysses and Lansing, 92; for Newfield, Danby and Caroline, 84. Town committees were appointed to enroll all who were liable to draft, preparatory to the draft incident upon failure to fill the call of July 2, 1862. The quotas necessary to be raised to avoid the draft were as follows: Caroline, 72; Danby, 70; Dryden, 154; Enfield, 58; Groton, 110; Ithaca, 212; Lansing, 100; Newfield, 92; Ulysses, 104. Total, 972. Meetings were promptly held and a subscription started to raise a fund to pay each volunteer $100 bounty; nearly $15,000 were subscribed at once. This action had the desired effect, and was about the first of a series of measures for the payment of the liberal bounties that were afterwards given to the volunteers." Source: John H. Selkreg, Landmarks of Tompkins County, 1894, p. 20. This source found by Monica Nash, Lou Jackson, and Jacqueline Murphy. |
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