The Confederate army essentially ceased recruiting in April, 1862 with the implementation of the conscription. Men subject to conscription could avoid the actual conscription by joining volunteer units, either forming or in active service. The Confederate Army itself concentrated upon the conscription thereafter. The conscription acts of 1862-1864 had declared all free white men aged 17 to 50 years to be soldiers in the Army of the Confederate States unless exempted by the same laws. Many once joined, "detailed" to various duties outside of the ranks. The Confederate Army itself managed the conscription. Each State had a conscription officer, aided by the CS forces in that State, and the State authorities.
The number of actual conscripts, or men who would not volunteer, actually taken into service, instructed, and assigned to existing units was calculated by the Confederate Conscription Bureau as of February, 1865 as less that 90,000.
- Number of conscripts enrolled and assigned to the C.S. Army from camps of instruction since the act of Congress, April 16, 1862:
Virginia .... 13,933
North Carolina 21,348
South Carolina 9,120
Georgia ... 8,993
Alabama, exclusive of the operations of General Pillow. 14,875
Mississippi , exclusive of the operations of General Pillow. 8,061
Florida, suspended and under General Cobb until January, 1863. 362
East Louisiana, from September report, commenced in August, 1864. 81
East Tennessee. 5,220
Total Conscripts to the army....... 81,993.
At the same time, the Bureau of Conscription reported the number of men subject to conscription, etc., who had actually joined the Army to February, 1865 as somewhat less...
B. Approximate estimate of men who have joined the army since April, 1862, without passing through camps of instruction.
Virginia ... 15,000
North Carolina 8,000
South Carolina 6,800
Georgia .. 26,400
Alabama. 10,060
Mississippi 3,032
Florida ... 2,000
East Louisiana. 500
East Tennessee. 500
Total minimum estimate of enlistments from April, 1862 ...... 72,292
President Davis stated in his speech at Palmetto, Georgia in late 1864 that two-thirds of the Confederate army was absent from the ranks for various reasons. The situation did not improve markedly by April, 1865.
As of March 1, 1865 the Army of Northern Virginia had on its rolls over 116,000 personnel. however only a third were on hand and effective.
View attachment 540931
View attachment 540930
But as of its surrender on April 9, there were only about 28,000 on hand, of whom not more than 8,000 were armed and organized for combat.
From the accounts of Union soldiers, etc., the Confederate army definition of "effective" was extremely generous.
Throughout the conflict, General Lee had urged the Confederate government to recruit for the armies, but it declined for its own reasons, preferring the conscription acts in imitation of the Europeans, which Col. Oates of the 15th Alabama observed post-war kept about as many troops away from the front, enforcing them, as they provided to the rank and file of the armies at the front. And as far as the situation generally, stated General Grant's observations were accurate:
View attachment 540933
View attachment 540934
Bringing the