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Union army
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==Desertions and draft riots== [[File:Anti Civil War Draft Rioters in Lexington Avenue New York 1863.jpg|thumb|250px|Rioters attacking a building during the New York anti-draft riots of 1863]] [[Desertion]] was a major problem for both sides. The daily hardships of war, forced marches, thirst, suffocating heat, disease, delay in pay, solicitude for family, impatience at the monotony and futility of inactive service, panic on the eve of battle, the sense of [[war-weariness]], the lack of confidence in commanders, and the discouragement of defeat (especially early on for the Union army), all tended to lower the morale of the Union army and to increase desertion.<ref>Ella Lonn, ''Desertion During the Civil War'' (U of Nebraska Press, 1928)</ref><ref>Chris Walsh, "'Cowardice Weakness or Infirmity, Whichever It May Be Termed': A Shadow History of the Civil War." ''[[Civil War History]]'' (2013) 59#4 pages: 492β526.[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/civil_war_history/v059/59.4.walsh.html Online]</ref> In 1861 and 1862, the war was going badly for the Union army and there were, by some counts, 180,000 desertions. In 1863 and 1864, the bitterest two years of the war, the Union army suffered over 200 desertions every day, for a total of 150,000 desertions during those two years. This puts the total number of desertions from the Union army during the four years of the war at nearly 350,000. Using these numbers, 15% of Union soldiers deserted during the war. Official numbers put the number of deserters from the Union army at 200,000 for the entire war, or about 8% of Union army soldiers. Since desertion is defined as being AWOL for 30 or more days and some soldiers returned within that time period, as well as some deserters being labeled missing-in-action or vice versa, accurate counts are difficult to determine. Many historians estimate the "real" desertion rate in the Union army as between 9β12%.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Desertion_Confederate_during_the_Civil_War#start_entry|title=Desertion (Confederate) during the Civil War|website=encyclopediavirginia.org|access-date=13 October 2017}}</ref> About 1 out of 3 deserters returned to their regiments, either voluntarily or after being arrested and being sent back. Many deserters were professional "[[bounty jumper]]s" who would enlist to collect the cash bonus and then desert to do the same elsewhere. If not caught and executed, this crime could pay well.<ref>Shannon Smith Bennett, "Draft Resistance and Rioting." in Maggi M. Morehouse and Zoe Trodd, eds., ''Civil War America: A Social and Cultural History with Primary Sources'' (2013) ch 1</ref><ref>Peter Levine, "Draft evasion in the North during the Civil War, 1863β1865." ''Journal of American History'' (1981): 816β834. [http://www.oah.org/site/assets/documents/08_JAH_1981_levine.pdf online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192058/http://www.oah.org/site/assets/documents/08_JAH_1981_levine.pdf |date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> Irish immigrants were the main participants in the famous "[[New York Draft riots]]" of 1863.<ref>Adrian Cook, ''The armies of the streets: the New York City draft riots of 1863'' (1974).</ref> Stirred up by the instigating rhetoric of Democratic politicians,<ref>{{Cite book|quote=Rioters were mostly Irish Catholic immigrants and their children. They mainly attacked the members of New York's small black population. For a year, Democratic leaders had been telling their Irish-American constituents that the wicked 'Black Republicans' were waging the war to free the slaves who would come north and take away the jobs of Irish workers. The use of black stevedores as scabs in a recent strike by Irish dockworkers made this charge seem plausible. The prospect of being drafted to fight to free the slaves made the Irish even more receptive to demogogic rhetoric. |author-link=James M. McPherson|first=James M.|last=McPherson |url=https://archive.org/details/drawnwithswordre00mcph|url-access=registration|date=1996 |title=Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War |publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc.|location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drawnwithswordre00mcph/page/91 91]β92|isbn=978-0-19-509679-8}}</ref> the Irish had shown the strongest support for Southern aims prior to the start of the war and had long opposed abolitionism and the free black population, regarding them as competition for jobs and blaming them for driving down wages. Alleging that the war was merely an upper-class abolitionist war to free slaves who might move north and compete for jobs and housing, the poorer classes did not welcome a draft, especially one from which a richer man could buy an exemption. The poor formed clubs that would buy exemptions for their unlucky members. As a result of the [[Enrollment Act]], rioting began in several Northern cities, the most heavily hit being New York City. A mob reported as consisting principally of Irish immigrants rioted in the summer of 1863, with the worst violence occurring in July during the [[Battle of Gettysburg]]. The mob set fire to African American churches and the [[Colored Orphan Asylum]] as well as the homes of prominent Protestant abolitionists. A mob was reportedly repulsed from the offices of the staunchly pro-Union ''[[New York Tribune]]'' by workers firing two Gatling guns. The principal victims of the rioting were African Americans and activists in the anti-slavery movement. Not until victory was achieved at Gettysburg could the Union army be sent in; some units had to open fire to quell the violence and stop the rioters. Casualties were estimated as up to 1,000 killed or wounded.<ref>Iver Bernstein, ''The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War'' (1990)</ref> There were a few small scale draft riots in rural areas of the Midwest and in the coal regions of Pennsylvania.<ref>Shannon M. Smith, "Teaching Civil War Union Politics: Draft Riots in the Midwest." ''OAH Magazine of History'' (2013) 27#2 pages: 33β36. [https://archive.today/20150407173123/http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/2/33.short online]</ref><ref>Kenneth H. Wheeler, "Local Autonomy and Civil War Draft Resistance: Holmes County, Ohio." ''Civil War History.'' v.45#2 1999. pages 147+ [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001276214 online edition]</ref>
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