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00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 732

On Monday, December 28, 1863 the Confederate Congress abolished all substitution for military service.  In April 1862 the Confederate Congress, at the urging of President Jefferson Davis, had passed an act drafting for three years military duty all white males between the ages of eighteen and thirty-eight, but all eligible for the draft who could secure an acceptable substitute did not have to serve.

While this act worked to enhance the size of Confederate armies, it proved unpopular with the average Southerner who came to view substitution as a gimmick to force poor white, non-slaveholding Southerners to fight for the maintenance of slavery.

So the Confederate Congress abolished all substitution for military service and promised prompt action which would expand the age pool of those eligible for future, Southern conscription.