DECEMBER 28, 1863:
During
the Civil War, men of means could hire substitutes to take their place in the
lines. The practice of substitution was one of the direct causes of the New
York Draft Riots in July. Never popular, on this day, the Confederacy abolished
substitution, requiring that all (white) men now bear arms for the nation. In practice,
the abolishment of substitution had little real effect in swelling Confederate
ranks. Most of those who were fit to fight were already fighting, and those
able-bodied men who chose not to fight were already dodging the “recruiters”
sent to find them.
