Browse Items (32 total)

On April 16, 1862, Jefferson Davis signed America's first national compulsory military service law...The new law prevented the one-year volunteers from leaving the army for two more years and provided for the conscription of additional three-year…

At the Beginning of the Civil War, the Confederate States of America could hardly have foreseen the enormous problem that desertion in its army would have become. Amid the initial enthusiasm following the outbreak of the conflict, the rush of…

That the Confederate soldier has no superior in the annals of war is an article of the American Creed. His accomplishments against overwhelming odds, through four years of heroic suffering, are his monument. Magnificent in his forbearance and his…

Drawing from the experiences of 3,126 enlisted men from North Carolina who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, the author focuses on the determinants of desertion. Men deserted because their identity as Southerners was eroded by an emergent…

"In place of open mutiny, [powerless groups] prefer desertion...They make use of implicit understandings and informal networks...When such stratagems are abandoned in favor of more quixotic action, it is usually a sign of great desperation." Scott…

Discussions between governor Zeb Vance, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis on the impact that desertion made on the Confederate effort during the Civil War. This article points out that popular support for the Confederacy was never "robust" in the…

THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY
IN CIVIL WAR DESERTION
Judith Lee Hallock
Communities, like individuals, have personalities, and their response to
crises reflect their peculiar characteristics. During the Civil War,
Northern communities played an…

Lewis Bitting Banner was born in 1805 in Surry County, North Carolina. In 1856, Lewis B. Banner, his wife Nancy Meadow Flipping, and their seven children moved to Watauga County, North Carolina where their eighth child was born. He bought two…

Near Culpeper,
July, 25th 1863.

My Dear wife:
I have the opportunity of dropping you a few lines this evening, informing you that I am not very well. I have been unwell since we left Winchester, and the march has set very hard upon me, but I…

Near Orange, Va.
January, 30th, 1864.

My Dear wife:
I have the pleasure of dropping you a few lines, informing you that I arrived at the company yesturday evening. I got all my boxes here safe, but lost my valice and every thing in it. But I…