Deserting the Confederate Army
According to Ella Lonn, one in seven Confederate soldiers deserted the Southern army, or about 103,000. (Weitz) Desertion had a severely detrimental effect on the Confederates. Their army was half as large as the Army of the Potomac. At the beginning of the war men enlisted, but after the first year of fighting it became obvious that the South needed more personnel. The Confederate government called for a draft. Men who were scared of being drafted chose to enlist. Not all Southerners were eligible to be drafted. Men who were railroad workers, telegraph operators and miners were all exempt. The fear of a slave uprising allowed for other exemptions, such as overseers on plantations. These exemptions coupled with the drastically smaller overall population forced the South to be considered underdogs for most of the war.
Most Southerners were farmers or dependent on agriculture. The loss of the majority of the workforce made it difficult for many to survive. Struggles on the home front deterred men from enlisting. Losing battles contributed to the morale of soldiers. Unhappy soldiers were forced to live in awful conditions. There was not enough food, not every soldier had sufficient clothing, and the pay was unsatisfactory. Some Southern soldiers worried about their wives and children. Women wrote their husbands letters, telling of their struggles. The men deserted the army in order to return home and help their families survive during a war that affected everybody, not just the soldiers directly involved. |