Exodus of non-Confederate citizens from the South

USS ALASKA

Captain
Joined
Mar 16, 2016
Was reading a railroad article from the Richmond Dispatch, 4/23/1861, p. 1...

City Railway. – This work progresses, though we imagine it will hardly be completed this season, all circumstances being taken into account. The track-layers were at work last Saturday in front of the County Court-House, operations having been commenced at the junction of Main and Pear streets, near Rocketts. A small vessel was unloading iron at the Dock, a day or two ago, which, we suppose, is for this railway. A citizen, who was looking at the work on Main street, asked us why it was that all the laborers were imported from the North, when so many of our own citizens were out of employment? We could not answer the interrogatory.

...since the date of this is about a week after Virginia seceded from the Union, (and the Battle of Fort Sumter), it just got me wondering if there was a sort of mass migration from the South to the North of those who didn't agree or want to be part of the Confederate movement. Have often read about individuals who went south to serve the Confederacy but can't recall reading anything about just the normal / average / everyday working bee that was caught up in the South and wanted to return home. Was there an exodus from the Confederacy in 1861?

Thanks for the help,
USS ALASKA
 
Was reading a railroad article from the Richmond Dispatch, 4/23/1861, p. 1...

City Railway. – This work progresses, though we imagine it will hardly be completed this season, all circumstances being taken into account. The track-layers were at work last Saturday in front of the County Court-House, operations having been commenced at the junction of Main and Pear streets, near Rocketts. A small vessel was unloading iron at the Dock, a day or two ago, which, we suppose, is for this railway. A citizen, who was looking at the work on Main street, asked us why it was that all the laborers were imported from the North, when so many of our own citizens were out of employment? We could not answer the interrogatory.

...since the date of this is about a week after Virginia seceded from the Union, (and the Battle of Fort Sumter), it just got me wondering if there was a sort of mass migration from the South to the North of those who didn't agree or want to be part of the Confederate movement. Have often read about individuals who went south to serve the Confederacy but can't recall reading anything about just the normal / average / everyday working bee that was caught up in the South and wanted to return home. Was there an exodus from the Confederacy in 1861?

Thanks for the help,
USS ALASKA
Yes, many foreign and Northern men left the South, but mostly in the first third of 1862, when the fear of the new Conscription Law took hold. Even in 1862, many workers stayed in the South, if they had protected jobs, until the demand for manpower in early 1864 caused almost every military-age man to be enrolled into the military and then detailed back to his "safe" job.
 
Yes, many foreign and Northern men left the South, but mostly in the first third of 1862, when the fear of the new Conscription Law took hold. Even in 1862, many workers stayed in the South, if they had protected jobs, until the demand for manpower in early 1864 caused almost every military-age man to be enrolled into the military and then detailed back to his "safe" job.

Thank you sir - just what I was looking for!

Were there any 'recognized' routes or 'neutral' ports-of-exit that were understood by both sides to be used for this internal migation? Was there any formal process used to ensure those fleeing their current location were returning to their origin and not just attempting to dodge conscription?

Thanks again,
USS ALASKA
 
Thank you sir - just what I was looking for!

Were there any 'recognized' routes or 'neutral' ports-of-exit that were understood by both sides to be used for this internal migation? Was there any formal process used to ensure those fleeing their current location were returning to their origin and not just attempting to dodge conscription?

Thanks again,
USS ALASKA
To get out of the country, you had to have proof that you were not a Confederate citizen. This was frequently a pass from a foreign consul, who looked at length of time resident in the South, the purchase of land, the joining of local organizations, getting married and statements from the candidate's friends that he had not expressed an intention of becoming a US/CS citizen.

Once you had such a pass, you could move freely out of the South by any route you desired -- the Union being only too happy to help you leave the South. Where you went, after you left the South, was your business (return to your homeland was not necessary).
 
To get out of the country, you had to have proof that you were not a Confederate citizen.

Indeed sir, the foreign visitor should not be too much of an issue. If I were a factory tech-rep from the Baldwin Locomotive Works who came south to instruct and make sure the product worked, how do I get home? I wouldn't need to bring proof to travel within the US, then suddenly I'm in a self-proclaimed new country. How the heck do I get out? OK, in the above example, the Philly patois would be a dead give away... :wink:
61

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
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Indeed sir, the foreign visitor should not be too much of an issue. If I were a factory tech-rep from the Baldwin Locomotive Works who came south to instruct and make sure the product worked, how do I get home? I wouldn't need to bring proof to travel within the US, then suddenly I'm in a self-proclaimed new country. How the heck do I get out? OK, in the above example, the Philly patois would be a dead give away... :wink:
61

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
The Confederacy was not formed in an instant. There was plenty of time, from the first state's proclamation to the first Battle of Manassas for men to have made their way north. Only those who traveled from significant places (Charleston) to Washington were under suspicion, and that only after about the first of April. The Mississippi River was open, the Louisville & Nashville RR, the Nashville & Chattanooga RR, the Mobile & Ohio RR, the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac RR were all available for the northerner to use to go north.
 
Was reading a railroad article from the Richmond Dispatch, 4/23/1861, p. 1...

City Railway. – This work progresses, though we imagine it will hardly be completed this season, all circumstances being taken into account. The track-layers were at work last Saturday in front of the County Court-House, operations having been commenced at the junction of Main and Pear streets, near Rocketts. A small vessel was unloading iron at the Dock, a day or two ago, which, we suppose, is for this railway. A citizen, who was looking at the work on Main street, asked us why it was that all the laborers were imported from the North, when so many of our own citizens were out of employment? We could not answer the interrogatory.

...since the date of this is about a week after Virginia seceded from the Union, (and the Battle of Fort Sumter), it just got me wondering if there was a sort of mass migration from the South to the North of those who didn't agree or want to be part of the Confederate movement. Have often read about individuals who went south to serve the Confederacy but can't recall reading anything about just the normal / average / everyday working bee that was caught up in the South and wanted to return home. Was there an exodus from the Confederacy in 1861?

Thanks for the help,
USS ALASKA
During the battle of New Orleans foreign conscript's mutinied while manning critical forts and surrendering to the Union. It was not unknown for foreign conscript's to desert or defect to the Union. One Irish deserter joined a Unionist regiment and killed General John Hunt Morgan.
Leftyhunter
 
During the battle of New Orleans foreign conscript's mutinied while manning critical forts and surrendering to the Union. It was not unknown for foreign conscript's to desert or defect to the Union. One Irish deserter joined a Unionist regiment and killed General John Hunt Morgan.
Leftyhunter
Those New Orleans guys moved fast -- Conscription was only enacted one week before the Battle of New Orleans.
 
There are never more than a few hints about people leaving. In one report someone suggests that many railroad employees in the southern states were from the north, and left as the secession crisis escalated.
Another report claims people in East Tennessee left early in the war, which would make sense once the Confederates executed several alleged spies because the burned railroad bridges.
Other people claim some Tennessee farmers moved to places in Illinois and grew cotton, mainly to create a source of seed of American varieties.
Other people left for California or Oregon.
The people most likely to leave would be young single men and men with young families.
The number would probably be small but the Confederacy was so short on white manpower that any loss was going to have an impact.
 
The other hint I have read is the suggestion that when Grant broke into W. Tennessee including Nashville before Confederate conscription was enforced, thousands of men were put beyond the reach of conscription.
 
Other reports suggest there was a reverse flow of Confederate sympathizers from border states leaving to join Confederate armies. So it was not a total loss for the Confederacy.
 
The people most likely to leave would be young single men and men with young families.
And foreign nationals who were in the South for a job and were unwilling to be conscripted and shot at.

There are many mentions of men leaving in business letters and business and government reports. There are also reports of skilled workmen unwilling to come to the South unless they could be guaranteed exemption from Conscription. To my knowledge, no one has done a useful study of the subject, but there are more authoritative mentions than you imply.
 
The other hint I have read is the suggestion that when Grant broke into W. Tennessee including Nashville before Confederate conscription was enforced, thousands of men were put beyond the reach of conscription.
Conscription was enforced in these areas whenever Confederate army units re-entered the area. There are orders to commanders to enforce conscription in western Tennessee on several expeditions/raids.
 
Missouri's fighting age white males: 232K. Kentucky 180K, Tennessee1 159K. I think by the time the numbers were published in 1864 there was significant evidence that the Confederacy was fighting from a narrowing population base.
Any loss northward would cause the Confederate armies to run out of manpower sooner.
Its hard to determine how much out migration occurred during the war as opposed to after the war, when even ex-general had to advocate in public that men stay in Virginia and help to rebuild the economy.
 
Conscription was enforced in these areas whenever Confederate army units re-entered the area. There are orders to commanders to enforce conscription in western Tennessee on several expeditions/raids.
The incentive to get north was real and there was a further incentive to get to Montana or Oregon.
And southerners were not unique in adopting that strategy.
 
There are never more than a few hints about people leaving. In one report someone suggests that many railroad employees in the southern states were from the north, and left as the secession crisis escalated.
Another report claims people in East Tennessee left early in the war, which would make sense once the Confederates executed several alleged spies because the burned railroad bridges.
Other people claim some Tennessee farmers moved to places in Illinois and grew cotton, mainly to create a source of seed of American varieties.
Other people left for California or Oregon.
The people most likely to leave would be young single men and men with young families.
The number would probably be small but the Confederacy was so short on white manpower that any loss was going to have an impact.
The book " the Uncivil War unconventional warfare in the upper South" has a discussion on the many Unionist refugees from Arkansas fleeing into Missouri.
Leftyhunter
 
Was reading a railroad article from the Richmond Dispatch, 4/23/1861, p. 1...

City Railway. – This work progresses, though we imagine it will hardly be completed this season, all circumstances being taken into account. The track-layers were at work last Saturday in front of the County Court-House, operations having been commenced at the junction of Main and Pear streets, near Rocketts. A small vessel was unloading iron at the Dock, a day or two ago, which, we suppose, is for this railway. A citizen, who was looking at the work on Main street, asked us why it was that all the laborers were imported from the North, when so many of our own citizens were out of employment? We could not answer the interrogatory.

...since the date of this is about a week after Virginia seceded from the Union, (and the Battle of Fort Sumter), it just got me wondering if there was a sort of mass migration from the South to the North of those who didn't agree or want to be part of the Confederate movement. Have often read about individuals who went south to serve the Confederacy but can't recall reading anything about just the normal / average / everyday working bee that was caught up in the South and wanted to return home. Was there an exodus from the Confederacy in 1861?

Thanks for the help,
USS ALASKA
@major bill had a thread about Unionists in Texas. A large group of German immigrants were killed when they tried to flee to Mexico.
Leftyhunter
 
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