The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926 Page: 241
330 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
the teachings of John Marshall, but he himself points out that
such extremists as Yancey, Rhett, Wigfall, and Editor Pollard
of the Richmond Examiner also supported it vigorously on the
score of constitutionality as well as necessity. With one con-
spicuous exception the other state officials also acquiesced in the
constitutionality of the law. This exception was, of course, Gov-
ernor Joe Brown of Georgia who was aided and abetted by the
Stephens brothers and Robert Toombs. This noisy little group
was able to give Jefferson Davis a great deal of trouble. An
obstructor of another type was Governor Zeb Vance of North
Carolina whose objection was less to the law itself than to the
method of enforcing it. Professor Moore, in common with prac-
tically every other writer on the Civil War, has done Vance some-
thing less than full justice. While it is clear enough that the
attitude of the brilliant young governor was extremely trying
to the Richmond authorities, anyone who takes the trouble to
look into Vance's correspondence will see that he correctly de-
scribed the dangerous state of public opinion in North Carolina,
and furthermore that he actually sought, behind the scenes, to
get a modification or review of the obstructive "in chambers"
opinions of Chief Justice Pearson releasing conscripts, for which
action he was sharply rebuked by that learned, proud and obstinate
old man. Outside of Georgia and North Carolina there was no
trouble of consequence with state officials until near the close of
the war, when because of the break-down of Confederate defense
and the approach of the Union armies controversies arose over
the control of the reservists and the state troops.
The administration of the conscript law was hampered by al-
most every conceivable obstacle. In some regions the hold of the
Confederacy was so lax that any activity of the officers drove
thousands of prospective soldiers into the Union lines, in others
the rough nature of the country gave concealment to deserters
and draft dodgers. The exemption provisions offered numerous
chances for escape; local officials interfered; and the personnel of
the Conscript Bureau, especially in regions distant from Rich-
mond, seems to have been ineffective and sometimes corrupt. In
the West, in 1863, the administration of conscription was twice
put into the hands of General Pillow who developed an organiza-
tion which sent large numbers into the army. But he aroused
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 29, July 1925 - April, 1926, periodical, 1926; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117141/m1/261/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.