Possibly Why Young Men Were So Eager to Enlist.....

Fritz1255

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Apr 20, 2005
Was it really pure patriotism that made young men eager to enlist? After getting some pension records on one of my relatives, I am starting to question that. The relative in question was John Frye Jr, who was 18 when he enlisted in 1861, and died in a hospital in Alexandria in early 1863 from disease. He was in the Sixth Maine Infantry, from far eastern Maine. After the war, his father, John Frye Sr, filed for a pension claiming that he was John Jr's dependent, and was himself an invalid. John Sr filed in 1870, claiming to be disabled and barely able to work. He had fathered 17 children by two different wives, including a 1 month old son when he was 58, so apparently some parts of him still functioned! John Jr had been in virtual slavery to his father before the war, being hired out for farming and lumbering with all his wages going to his father. I can imagine that for a young man looking forward to what must have seemed like an eternity of virtual slavery, the army must have seemed like a way out. Does anybody have any more stories about this?
 
Oh, absolutely. Most of the young men who fought the war had never been farther than 20 miles from their homes. They wanted travel and adventure. They wanted an escape from dead end jobs. They thought it was going to be a grand adventure, and they were afraid that it was going to end before they got in on it. That seems hopelessly naive to us 150 years later, but they didn't know how the story was going to play out.
 
There are genes for war as well, I know it sounds strange, but when a population goes to war there are certain genes that alter peoples behavior and make them more driven towards conflict with other populations.
 
Then there are the men with monetary motives: signing bonuses meant a lot to a poor man with a family to support; an unfortunate in this town went in the war as a paid substitute--only to die in Andersonville. And, of course, the bounty jumpers. I'm researching a man who signed up twice in Maine and deserted twice. Then he went over to New Hampshire where he enlisted again--and deserted again.
 
Quakers and Mennonites. They fought for the Confederacy. Go fish.

I did a little fishing:

“...By 1845 about 4,500 Friends still remained in the state...When a civil war became evident, Quakers again began leaving the state...some of the North Carolina Quaker families decided to join their western relatives until the war ended. When the state’s authorities noticed the number of Quakers trying to leave North Carolina, they moved to stop them when they could...the Quakers who remained in North Carolina faced a huge crisis...To escape being forced to fight for the Confederacy, Quaker men of military draft age often hid out in the woods or headed northward over the mountains to Union territory...The officials did not care if the young men believed in war or not. Government officials had excused Quakers from military service since colonial times, but the new Confederacy was not as flexible...” - excerpts from “The Quakers and Their War of Resistance” Doris McLean Bates 2000

“...In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, conscripted pacifists could secure an exemption from military service by paying a $500 commutation fee or furnishing a substitute. Although a few Mennonites fought for the Confederacy, many more attempted to flee north and avoid supporting the rebellion...these southern conscientious objectors suffered at the hands of Rebels who confiscated their crops and livestock...”
- excerpts; review of “Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War” James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt. 2007
 
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I did a little fishing:

“...By 1845 about 4,500 Friends still remained in the state...When a civil war became evident, Quakers again began leaving the state...some of the North Carolina Quaker families decided to join their western relatives until the war ended. When the state’s authorities noticed the number of Quakers trying to leave North Carolina, they moved to stop them when they could...the Quakers who remained in North Carolina faced a huge crisis...To escape being forced to fight for the Confederacy, Quaker men of military draft age often hid out in the woods or headed northward over the mountains to Union territory...The officials did not care if the young men believed in war or not. Government officials had excused Quakers from military service since colonial times, but the new Confederacy was not as flexible...” - excerpts from “The Quakers and Their War of Resistance” Doris McLean Bates 2000

“...In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, conscripted pacifists could secure an exemption from military service by paying a $500 commutation fee or furnishing a substitute. Although a few Mennonites fought for the Confederacy, many more attempted to flee north and avoid supporting the rebellion...these southern conscientious objectors suffered at the hands of Rebels who confiscated their crops and livestock...”
- excerpts; review of “Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War” James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt. 2007
Maine's Quakers were divided. Of course, they were pacifist and many adhered to this (there is the report of a Quaker who was forcibly drafted, pushed onto the battlefield and finally died in Andersonville). On the other hand, they were staunch abolitionists who had been very active with the Underground Rail Road. In my area--which has a huge Quaker population--I'd guess that the enlistment rate was pretty equal for both Quakers and non-Quakers (I'm basing this on the numbers of men who came from families that I know were Quaker; after the War, they returned to the communities but not to Meeting--so, apparently, they were dismissed but not shunned). James Jones of China, Maine was known as "the fighting Quaker" which was an appellation given to several Union soldiers.

Then, of course, there were the "Quaker Guns"--fake guns used to mislead the enemy. I believe that both sides used them--but few with the cunning of the 5th Maine Infantry which would set these guns with scarecrow soldiers.


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I guess they did not make provision back then for conscientious objectors to serve in medical or other non-combat roles?

Were southern Quakers etc. generally loyal to their states or the Confederacy? Would they have been willing to help in ways other than personally fighting?
 
Perhaps some observations regarding reenlisting would be in order.

When the 19th Ohio returned from Rich Mountain in late summer of 1861, hardly a man reenlisted in the three-year regiment that was then forming in Alliance, Ohio.

It was a different story in the winter-spring of 1864. Then it seems that most of the veterans reenlisted for another term in the 19th Ohio. Whereas the three-month felt their responsibility had been met with the Battle of Rich Mountain, the three-year had bonded the men through the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and much marching in the Western Theater.

Perhaps their shared battle experiences, marching and deprivations might have motivated the men to stay together to see the war finished and the country reunited. The bounties, up to $400 for veterans, evidently spoke to the men as well. The bounties and pension benefits were something to anticipate if they survived the war.

An interesting side note is that another industry was highly affected by having the men home during their reenlistment furlough: that of marriage. "The brave carry off the fair," states one report. "The clergy profit by the recruiting office, and the number of marriages this year will exceed all precedent."

The time at home allowed a hastily arranged marriage and the money might provide for a wedding or a possible stake in beginning a farm or other undertaking after the war.
 
Maine's Quakers were divided...

Confederate Quakers were divided as well, but mostly about whether to leave or stay. Quaker men who stayed were either drafted or had to buy a substitute.

That's sufficient for Confederate apologists to claim "Quaker Confederates" by the same logic as "Black Confederates," where in either case the actual back story is conveniently glossed over.
 
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Confederate Quakers were divided as well, but mostly about whether to leave or stay. Quaker men who stayed were either drafted or had to buy a substitute.

That's sufficient for Confederate apologists to claim "Quaker Confederates" by the same logic as "Black Confederates," where in either case the actual back story is conveniently glossed over.
The Quaker stance against slavery was pretty strong. In the Caribbean, they often were the ones who were catalysts for ending the practice. I agree, having done research into both the Danish West Indies and the Quakers of Maine and Maryland, that there are major questions about "Quaker Confederates".
 
The Quaker stance against slavery was pretty strong.

Just to deflect the imminent apologist push-back coming on that, yes it is also true that many Quakers themselves were active slave importers and owners of slaves in early America. But to your point, it's only the truth to point out that by the several decades leading up to the CW Quakers both North and South had fully purged themselves of the practice and had become actively anti-slavery (so what would otherwise be an apologist sound bite has no teeth).
 
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"Young" being the key word here. The young are expected, indeed, needed to be stupid. Where else would we get our soldiers and hookers from?

That's exactly what Mosby said! (Except about the hookers...) He was criticized for recruiting mostly teenagers and said, "Why of course. They make the very best soldiers. They will do whatever I say and haven't the sense to be afraid!"
 
I suspect many, at least early in the war, enlisted just to escape an unfortunate situation or for adventure or on a dare. My John Winn was working in Tredegar in Richmond when he enlisted which I'm sure was a difficult, dirty job. Two of his cousins, sons of a physician, joined up at the same time and I suspect they influenced him. Also, he was able to join a prestigious outfit due to his family's connections to Thomas Jefferson (the unit's founder being a Jefferson grandson) and I'm sure that was a bonus in his mind. I can't say for sure as I have no war-time letters or diary but I really doubt he joined up out of any real sense of patriotism.

While reading a number of pension application files I found that one man joined as a substitute (so, for the money) and two because they just wanted to escape what they felt were dull or tedious lives down on the farm (both having lied about their age and used aliases).
 
Two of his cousins, sons of a physician, joined up at the same time and I suspect they influenced him.
Having family members enlisting at the same time (or earlier) I think was a big factor. In my work, one of the things included is the number of close family members who were also under arms: brothers, brothers-in-law, uncles, 1st cousins and fathers. Very few from this town were the only ones in the family.
 
Forrest's posters for recruitment often alluded to both patriotism and adventure. "If you want to have a heap of fun and to kill some Yankees, come on boys!" And, he could recruit the young men by simply standing around in his uniform - he made a strong impression without saying a word. Adventure, an appeal to action, duty to hearth and home...and you could look great doing it!
 
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