Militia Act

[atlantis]

Each side had similar a Militia act so instead of conscription/draft why didn't they just change the call up duration from 90 days to say 3 years.
Would this have been better changing the call up duration or are there practical problems.

 

[Lubliner]

I remember when Floyd was in the Alabama, Tennessee area, he had problems with conscription enrollment due to militia calls. There were technicalities of the laws between the State and Confederate Government that drained the regular army.
Lubliner.

 

[atlantis]

Interesting, you would think that would have prompted congress to correct any issues.

 

[leftyhunter]

Each side had similar a Militia act so instead of conscription/draft why didn't they just change the call up duration from 90 days to say 3 years.
Would this have been better changing the call up duration or are there practical problems.

The Milita Act only allowed Militas to be deployed for ninety days therefore it was necessary for Congress to change the law.
Leftyhunter

 

[atlantis]

The Milita Act only allowed Militas to be deployed for ninety days therefore it was necessary for Congress to change the law.
Leftyhunter

Are you aware of any bills in either congress to do that?

 

[leftyhunter]

Are you aware of any bills in either congress to do that?

The Enrollment Act of 1863 the first federal Conscription Law.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

Are you aware of any bills in either congress to do that?

The Confedracy enacted a Conscription Law in 1862.
Leftyhunter

 

[atlantis]

The Confedracy enacted a Conscription Law in 1862.
Leftyhunter

The point is why not just change the call up number from 90 days to something else.

 

[leftyhunter]

The point is why not just change the call up number from 90 days to something else.

Because the President can't change a law. Only the Congress can do that. A president can induce legislation generaly by quid pro quo.
Leftyhunter

 

[atlantis]

Because the President can't change a law. Only the Congress can do that. A president can induce legislation generaly by quid pro quo.
Leftyhunter

I am referring to congress not the president. Sorry I didn't make that clear. I find the congress on both sides disappointing in their work product.

 

[leftyhunter]

I am referring to congress not the president. Sorry I didn't make that clear. I find the congress on both sides disappointing in their work product.

Not seeing what Congress did wrong. The Milita Act only allowed the President to call up 75k milita men for ninety days. The Union Army could not win based on that law so the law was changed out of necessity. Congress nor the President can not just change laws on a whim they have to go through the constitutional process.
Leftyhunter

 

[Copperhead-mi]

The Milita Act only allowed Militas to be deployed for ninety days therefore it was necessary for Congress to change the law.
Leftyhunter

The original Militia Act of 1792 which was the Militia Act that was on the books until the Militia Act of 1862 was passed and signed into law on July 17, 1862, only allowed a troop call-up by the President if Congress was not in session. Any troop call-up under the Act while Congress was adjourned would expire 30 days after Congress had reconvened.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

Because the President can't change a law. Only the Congress can do that. A president can induce legislation generaly by quid pro quo.
Leftyhunter

Executive Order?

 

[leftyhunter]

Executive Order?

No not in terms of Conscription. Executive Orders are rather limited in scope.
Leftyhunter

 

[hoosier]

The Militia Act of 1862 allowed for members of organized militia units to be called into U. S. service for a period not exceeding nine months.

The state of Vermont was charged with raising ten regiments during 1862, but they were having a great deal of difficulty finding more than five regiments of men willing to serve for three years. Once the Militia Act was passed, they were able to raise five regiments of men willing to serve for nine months. These five regiments formed the Second Vermont Brigade.

My great-grandfather was one of those who chose to join a militia unit and eventually became a member of the 16th Vermont. I tend to believe that he found the militia/nine months approach to be a much more practicable alternative than signing up with the regular army for three years.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

No not in terms of Conscription. Executive Orders are rather limited in scope.
Leftyhunter

You are accurate, but I do think that both Lincoln and Davis did reach pretty far

 

[leftyhunter]

You are accurate, but I do think that both Lincoln and Davis did reach pretty far

Both sides were desperately short of manpower and had serious desertion problems although the Confedracy also had an even worse problem with defecting to the Union or it's deserters becoming Unionist guerrllas Newt Knight being the most famous example.
Desperate situations call for desperate measures.
Leftyhunter

 

[Carronade]

There was no need to change the Militia Act, rather, Congress when it convened enacted new legislation to provide the forces needed for the war.

 

[OpnCoronet]

Each side had similar a Militia act so instead of conscription/draft why didn't they just change the call up duration from 90 days to say 3 years.
Would this have been better changing the call up duration or are there practical problems.

I do not know abot te confederate Militia Act, but, the United States Acts, provided for the recritment of Volunteers, which although not precisely military units, they were under federal control and administration as if a part o the United States Army.This was the part of the Militia Act, that Lincon used to call for volunteersfor 3 years, immediately after calling up of the states militias.

All the men enlisted under Lincolnps original call to arms in 1861 were deemed Volunteers as, for 3 years, opposed to the already existing units in the regular service of the United States, i.e., the Armmy and Navy.