In April 1862, the Confederacy faced a dire military situation. Its forces were badly outnumbered, the Union army was threatening on all sides, and the twelve-month enlistment period for original volunteers would soon expire. In response to these circumstances, the Confederate Congress passed the first national conscription law in United States history. This initiative touched off a struggle for healthy white male bodies-both for the army and on the home front, where they oversaw enslaved laborers and helped produce food and supplies for the front lines-that lasted till the end of the war. John M. Sacher's history of Confederate conscription serves as the first comprehensive examination of the topic in nearly one hundred years, providing fresh insights into and drawing new conclusions about the southern draft program. Often summarily dismissed as a detested policy that violated states' rights and forced nonslaveholders to fight for planters, the conscription law elicited strong responses from southerners wanting to devise the best way to guarantee what they perceived as shared sacrifice. Most who bristled at the compulsory draft did so believing it did not align with their vision of the Confederacy. As Sacher reveals, white southerners' desire to protect their families, support their communities, and ensure the continuation of slavery shaped their reaction to conscription. For three years, Confederates tried to achieve victory on the battlefield while simultaneously promoting their vision of individual liberty for whites and states' rights. While they failed in that quest, Sacher demonstrates that southerners' response to the 1862 conscription law did not determine their commitment to the Confederate cause. Instead, the implementation of the draft spurred a debate about sacrifice-both physical and ideological-as the Confederacy's insatiable demand for soldiers only grew in the face of a grueling war.
John M. Sacher is associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida and author of A Perfect War of Politics: Parties, Politicians, and Democracy in Louisiana, 1824-1861.
John M. Sacher's welcome study of Confederate conscription--the first full-scale treatment in nearly a century--is now the indispensable book to consult on the topic. It emphasizes the degree to which debate and broad consensus, rather than overwhelming opposition, characterized reactions within the Confederacy and sheds considerable light on state-building efforts in the slaveholding republic.-- "Gary W. Gallagher, author or editor of more than forty books on the Civil War, including "The Enduring Civil War: Reflections on the Great American Crisis"" "Resisting oversimplification, the book on one hand dramatically increases the number of Confederate men historians believe were conscripted and questions the long-standing presumption that the Confederate army was an overwhelmingly volunteer force. At the same time, it defies reductionist conclusions that equate dissent over the workings of the draft with opposition to the war. . . . Confederate Conscription and the Struggle for Southern Soldiers clearly qualifies as an important book. It is sure to keep historians and students talking about the role of class and competing priorities within Confederate nationalism, the role of civil and military authority, and state-building in the Confederacy for a long time."--American Historical Review "John M. Sacher's Confederate Conscription and the Struggle for Southern Soldiers, is the first major account published on this subject this century, and also in close to one hundred years. . . . Drawing on numerous primary sources from various collections and archives, including papers from Confederate politicians, military leaders, and other citizens, Sacher is able to weave a compelling argument and narrative about the reaction to Confederate conscription. This work is a welcomed addition to the historiography of the Confederacy during the Civil War, specifically the relationship between the government and its people."--Journal of American History "Confederate Conscription and the Struggle for Southern Soldiers is now the best study of its subject for both academic and popular readers."--Michigan War Studies Review
