What was a substitute in the civil war

Does that mean he had someone substitute for him or did he substitute for someone else? I suggest searching for a service record, such as on ghe site fold3. Do you know of any occurrence in the Civil War where a dying soldier asked a comrade to assume his surname for posterity sake. I was told this happened to my gt gt grandfather who was an immigrant from France. I know that immigrants sometimes assumed names of the dead from tombstones in order to Americanize their name.

Can you recommend any books, novels or non-fiction, about the practice of substitution during the Civil War? Hi, It is believed that my great great grandfather from Nova Scotia was paid as a substitute for a solider in Massachusetts. And he was killed in Petersburg. My great great grandmother received a pension, which is how we made the connection. However we are not able to find any information on my great great grandfather service.

Was this common. Thank you for your question. Have you tried checking a database such as Fold3 to see if there is a pension application for your soldier? If there is an application, there might be some information about his service.

How did people find substitutes in both the Confederacy and Union? Did you have to approach someone? Did you put an advertisement in the local paper? Was a payment made to the draft office and once payment was received a pool of ready and willing substitutes were selected? I haven't had much luck in finding specifics on this Is there any way of identifying who the name of the person for whom a confederate soldier was substituting?

My Great-great grandfather was a substitute for Unknown and was killed at Pickets Charge at Battle of Gettysburg in I have an ancestor who was paid to substitute for another New Yorker after the draft. He was MIA following engagement with one of the Irish brigades. His presumed widow received no benefits or notification. Did the person he substituted for get notice of the situation or was there any government response?

Any ideas on how to track this? Comments are not published until reviewed by NCpedia editors at the State Library of NC , and the editors reserve the right to not publish any comment submitted that is considered inappropriate for this resource. According to Perri, One could furnish a substitute and avoid service for three years in all four drafts. In the second draft, commutation bought one out of service only for that draft.

In July , Lincoln signed a bill eliminating commutation except for conscientious objectors. Effectively commutation ended after the second draft see Table One. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.

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