JANUARY 5, 1864:
Unknowingly echoing (somewhat) the ideas in
General Patrick Cleburne’s private letter to General Joseph Johnston, the Confederate
Union of Milledgeville, Georgia issues a call for “Negro nurses, negro
teamsters” to assume support services in the Confederate Army, and pronounces,
“Shame on every skulking fellow who is loafing at home or absent from his
duty.” Other than Substitutions, recently called to service, the reality is
that few absent “fellows” are either skulking or loafing. Most deserters who
avoid the firing squad or the stockade are just struggling to keep themselves
and their families alive in these bitter days. The large majority of men at
home are elderly, ill or infirm.
