But it can be shown, I think beyond contradiction, that the numbers
given by the representatives of the various States which Mr. Adams
quotes from "_The South_," and from other Southern publications, are
enormously exaggerated.
We may test the accuracy of this estimate of theirs briefly as follows:
The total military population of the 11 seceded States in 1861 was
984,475, not taking into account that about one-fourth of our territory
and population became unavailable for recruiting purposes within one
year of the breaking out of the war. If we add one-tenth for the
extension of the military age by Confederate law down to 17 and up to
50, we have 98,447; and, if we add 12 per cent. for youths reaching
military age in four years, we have 118,137, aggregating 1,201,518. But
from this we must deduct, as military writers agree, 20 per cent. for
men exempt for physical and mental disability, viz., 240,303, which
leaves available for military duty in the four years of the war, through
the whole extent of the Southern territory, 961,215. Now, if we accept
the figures of the State historians, we have 935,000 enrolled in the
Confederate Army; and the reports of the United States War Department
state that, exclusive of West Virginia, there were 55,000 soldiers in
the Union Army from these same Southern States, which makes an aggregate
of 990,000 men furnished to both armies, which, it will be observed, is
nearly 30,000 more than the entire military population! Without going
any further, this shows that there has been serious error in the above
estimates of Confederate enrollment.
But there are several other matters to be considered. In the first
place, by the spring of 1862 at least one-fourth of the territory of the
seceded States was under the control of the United States Army; and,
therefore, that much of the territory was not available as a source of
supply for the Confederate Army. This cuts off nearly one-fourth of the
military strength. Calculated on this basis, the writers alluded to make
the aggregate of Southern soldiers more than 200,000 in excess of the
entire military population!
Again, the conscript law, drastic as it was, was very imperfectly
executed, as those in charge of it at the time amply testified. The
opposition of the Governors of Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and
North Carolina to the conscript law will be remembered. We must also
remember that thousands of men were employed on the railroads, in the
Government departments and in various branches of manufacture necessary
for the support of the army and the people, and also for agricultural
labor. It must also be remembered that there were thousands of men in
all the Confederate States exempted by State authority.
If these things are considered, it becomes plain that the previously
quoted estimates of the several States of the Confederacy cannot
possibly be accepted as at all near the real facts.
Let us now compare these estimates of the Southern writers quoted with
the military population of some of the States:
The military population of Virginia in
1861, exclusive of West Virginia, is
estimated by Livermore at 116,000
Add one-tenth for extension of military
age down to seventeen and up to fifty 11,600
Add twelve per cent. for youths maturing
to seventeen in four years 13,920
-------
Total 141,520
Deduct exempts for physical and mental
defects, twenty per cent 28,304
-------
Available military population 113,216
But the representative writer in "_The South_" puts the number of men
furnished by Virginia to the Southern armies at 175,000, which is
61,784 more than the available military population! Could there be a
more palpable _reductio ad absurdum_?[13]
Besides, as I have shown, in Virginia and all the States there were
large numbers of men exempt as State officers. This considerably
increases the twenty per cent. which Colonel Fox says are in all
countries exempted from military service.
Take next Florida:
Her military population in 1861 was 15,739
Add one-tenth for extension of military
age down to seventeen and up to fifty 1,573
Add twelve per cent. for youths attaining
seventeen years in four years 1,888
-------
19,200
Deduct exempts, twenty per cent. 3,840
-------
Available military population 15,360
But the writer quoted by Mr. Adams states that Florida furnished 15,000
to the Confederate States army, and the War Office records show that
she furnished the Union army 1,270; making a total of 16,270, which is
900 more than the entire available military population!
Georgia.--Military population in 1861
was 111,005
Add one-tenth for extension of military
age down to seventeen and up to fifty 11,100
Add twelve per cent. for youths attaining
seventeen years in four years 13,320
-------
Total 135,425
Deduct twenty per cent. for exempts 23,085
-------
Available military population 112,340
But the alleged enrollment in the Confederate States army is 120,000,
which is 7,110 more than the available military population, making no
allowance for the failure of the conscript officers to put into the army
every man liable to military duty, and none for the thousands exempt
from service.
North Carolina.--Military population
was 115,369
Add one-tenth for the extension of military
age down to seventeen and up to
fifty 11,500
Add twelve per cent. for youths maturing
to seventeen years in four years 13,800
-------
Total 140,669
Deduct twenty per cent. for exempts 28,133
-------
Leaving available 112,536
Alleged Confederate enrollment 129,000; furnished to the Union army,
3,156; total, 132,156; which is 19,620 more than the available military
population, although in one-fourth of the State the conscript law could
not be executed, and although many thousands were exempted from service
by State law.
South Carolina.--Military population 55,046
Add one-tenth as above 5,504
Add twelve per cent. as above 6,605
-------
Total 67,155
Deduct twenty per cent. 13,231
-------
Leaving available 53,924
The alleged Confederate enrollment was 75,000, which is more than 21,000
in excess of the total number of men available for service, though here
also there were thousands of State exemptions.
Mississippi.--Military population 70,295
Add one-tenth for extension of military
age 7,029
Add twelve per cent. for youths maturing
to military age in four years 8,435
-------
Total 85,759
Deduct twenty per cent. for exempts 17,151
-------
Leaving available 68,608
The alleged Confederate enrollment was 70,000, and furnished to the
United States army 515, which is nearly 2,000 more than the total
military population, taking no account of the large number of exempts
and of the failure to execute the conscript act.
Alabama.--Military population was 99,667
Add one-tenth for the extension of military
age down to seventeen and up to
fifty 11,500
Add twelve per cent. for youths maturing
to seventeen years in four years 11,796
-------
Total 121,959
Deduct twenty per cent. for exempts 24,391
-------
Leaving available 97,568
The alleged Confederate enrollment was 90,000, and furnished to the
Union army, 2,576, making a total of 92,576; which is within 5,000 of
the total available, taking no account of the large number exempted for
State officers and other causes, and taking no account, either, of the
number of men who could not be reached by the conscript officers.
Tennessee.--Military population 159,353
Add one-tenth as before 15,935
Add twelve per cent. as before 19,222
-------
Total 194,510
Deduct twenty per cent. 38,902
-------
Leaving available 155,608
The alleged Confederate enrollment was 115,000, and the State furnished
the Union army 31,092, a total of 146,092, which is within 9,000 of the
total available military population, without taking account of the men
not reached by the conscript officers, and, further, taking no account
of the fact that so large a part of the State was in occupation of the
Federal armies.
As to Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, it is enough to say that they were
in that Trans-Mississippi Department of which the Confederate
Government lost control in July, 1863. Hence, it is not surprising that
even those inflated estimates of the number of men furnished the
Confederate army fall far short of the estimated military population. In
Arkansas, however, the estimate comes within 5,000 of the total
available,--58,289 out of 63,665.
In the light of the facts just stated we must conclude that the Southern
writers quoted by General Adams have, in their zeal for the honor and
glory of their several States, greatly overestimated the number of men
contributed by the same to the Confederate armies. This would be more
probable _a priori_, than that the leading men in the Confederate army
and Government who were at the sources of information, and who ought to
have been well informed, should have so enormously underestimated the
strength of the armies of the South; but the tests to which we have now
submitted the figures given by these State historians demonstrate their
error beyond the possibility of doubt. They must be cut down by several
hundred thousand. A large element of this error is to be found, as I
have suggested, in the failure to observe the great number of
re-enlistments that undoubtedly took place, especially in 1862, when the
terms of service of nearly all the Confederate regiments expired. This
duplication, in the opinion of the military Secretary of the United
States, reduces the total by twenty per cent.
As a sample of how errors creep into reports of numbers, it is stated
(W. R., ser. iv., vol. iii, p. 96) as to a certain number of conscripts,
"We find some men were reported three times." And again (_Id._ p. 99)
that the "Adjutant-General's report contains an error in which he has
accounted for 14,000 men twice."
Let it be observed, finally, that when we have reached a reasonably
probable conclusion of the men enlisted in the Confederate armies during
the four years of war, we must then proceed to ascertain, if we can, the
probable number of these enlisted men who were _detailed_ for various
duties and occupations ancillary to the support of the government and
the army. And only when this number has been deducted from the total
enlistments will we have ascertained the probable number of men actually
serving with the colors and making up the fighting force of the
Confederacy.