September 8, 1864---A meal and a ticket home

SEPTEMBER 8, 1864:       

In what ranks as self-deception on an Orwellian scale (or perhaps a brilliant use of propaganda by a clever Virginia Unionist) the Richmond Daily Dispatch, known to be second only in the South to the Charleston Mercury in its secessionist fervor, publishes the following reportage from Petersburg:

Grant has just issued the following as an offset to General Order No. 65. It is, however, having but little or no effect. I give it, however, as showing the straits to which he is reduced:

Headq'rs Armies of the United States, "In the Field, Virginia, August 28th, 1864.

"Special Orders, No. 82. [Extract.]

"Hereafter deserters from the Confederate Army who deliver themselves up to the United States forces will, on taking an oath that they will not again take up arms during the present rebellion, be furnished subsistence and free transportation to their homes, if the same are within the lines of Federal occupation.

"If their homes are not within such lines, they will be furnished subsistence and free transportation to any point in the Northern States.

"All deserters who take the oath of allegiance, will, if they desire it, be given employment in the quartermaster's and other departments of the army, and the same remuneration paid them as is given to civilian employees for similar services.

"Forced military duty, or service endangering them to capture by the Confederate forces, will not be exacted from such as give themselves up to the United States military authorities.

"By command of Lieutenant-General Grant.

 "T. S. Bowers,

"Assistant Adjutant-General."

Despite the (“just issued”) Order having “little or no effect,” and despite the fact that the Order is framed as a bribe that will not turn the heads of true-hearted Southerners,  the editors of the Dispatch seem not to grasp the fact that, especially given its supposed “straits,” they could not have aided the Union cause more than had they sold advertising space to Abraham Lincoln himself. For the Order reads (intentionally or not) like a modern-day travel brochure. The fact that the Order was issued at all means that Confederate deserters are becoming a matter of some concern to the Federal Army, and the offer to feed and to transport the war-weary ex-Confederates to their homes is an inducement that many homesick, ill, hungry, and emotionally depleted men cannot resist.

Rebel desertions have been rising steadily in the week since Atlanta fell; after the publication of this (supposedly mocking) news article, they begin to reach a significant level. Eventually the Army of Northern Virginia will lose 200 men a night on average to the Union lines. Around Christmastime this number will double. Whole units will be Absent Without Leave at morning roll call on Christmas Eve.