Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Confederate Conscription Acts, 1862 to 1864, were a series of measures taken by the Confederate government to procure the manpower needed to fight the American Civil War. The First Conscription Act, passed April 16, 1862, made any white male between 18 and 35 years old liable to three years of military service.
Control and operation of the Confederate States Army was administered by the Confederate States War Department, which was established by the Confederate Provisional Congress in an act on February 21, 1861. The Confederate Congress gave control over military operations, and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the president of ...
Following the secession of seven states in December 1860 and the creation of the Confederate States of America two months later, in February 1861, the size of the Regular Army rapidly shrunk as hundreds of officers and men resigned to join the newly formed armies of the Confederacy.
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting against the United States forces to win the independence of the Southern states and uphold and expand the institution of slavery. [3]
The document in which Abraham Lincoln set in motion the Union's military response to the launch of the U.S. Civil War is now among Illinois' prized papers of the 16th president, thanks to a ...
Confederate conscription was not universal; it was a selective service. The First Conscription Act of April 1862 exempted occupations related to transportation, communication, industry, ministers, teaching and physical fitness. The Second Conscription Act of October 1862 expanded exemptions in industry, agriculture and conscientious objection.
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces opened fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. [47] Its status had been contentious for months. Outgoing President Buchanan had dithered in reinforcing its garrison, commanded by Major Robert Anderson.
The legislature's failure to act meant that the state, and the Confederacy, would not have an effective militia in the final critical months of the war. Furthermore, the Confederate Conscription Act of February 17, 1864, inaugurated a policy of conscription that inevitably led to conflict between the state and the Confederacy.