For an explanation of the draft, and how it worked in Vermont, please refer to the 1863 Adjutant & Inspector General's Report.
No. 4.--AN ACT FOR THE AID OF DRAFTED SOLDIERS.
SECTION SECTION 1. Towns authorized to raise money to pay bounties to those who have been, or may hereafter be drafted, or for paying any debts previously contracted, &c. Proviso
2. Money payable under this act not subject to the trustee process.
3. Act takes effect from its passage.
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
Sec. 1. Any town, at a town meeting legally warned and holden, may grant and vote such sums of money as they may judge best, to be paid to those persons who have been, or may hereafter be drafted from said town, into the military service of the United States, or for the purpose of paying any debts contracted by the selectmen of such town, to pay any bounty to such drafted man, agreeably to any previous vote of such town, or for the purpose of defraying the expense and amount of bounties to such drafted men, which bounties may have been paid to such drafted men by private subscription, or from private means. Provided, that nothing in this act shall be construed to give any town authority to raise money to pay any bounty or reward to any drafted man who shall not, either actually enter the military service of the United States, or be exempt therefrom by having furnished an accepted substitute.
Sec. 2. No money payable, or received under the provisions of this act, shall be subject to the trustee process.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect from its passage.
Approved, November 10, 1863.
Source: Laws of Vermont, 1863, pp 4-5.
Draft Statistics
(Contrasting Vermont with the Nation)
Status Nationwide (Percent) Vermont (Percent) Drafted 207,000 2,948 (1.42%) Paid commutation 87,000 (42.03%) 1,927 (65.37%) Hired substitute 74,000 (35.75%) 660 (22.39%) Served 46,000 (22.22%) 361 (12.25%)
Sources:
James M. McPherson. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era,(New York, Ballantine Books, 1988), pp. 601.
Peter T. Washburn. Report of the Adjutant and Inspector General of the State of Vermont, from October 1, 1863 to October 1, 1864, (Montpelier: Walton's Steam Printing, 1864), Appendix E.
---. Report of the Adjutant and Inspector General of the State of Vermont, from October 1, 1864 to October 1, 1865, (Montpelier: Walton's Steam Printing, 1865), Appendix E.
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