During Civil War, a person can pay $300 to escape the draft. The rationalization for this was that unwilling troops were ineffective so the government might as well extract funds to be used as war funds from the unwilling if it got poor service.
civil war
There is a child of a Civil War soldier who is still…
There is a child of a Civil War soldier who is still alive and receiving a monthly pension from the government ($73.13) for her father’s service in the Union Army.
The Department of Veterans Affairs still pays a pension…
The Department of Veterans Affairs still pays a pension to one surviving daughter of a Civil War veteran.
During the first battle of the American Civil War, hundreds…
During the first battle of the American Civil War, hundreds of civilians from Washington DC brought picnic baskets and came to watch the battle, sure the Union would easily win. The Union lost, and the civilians were caught in the retreat of the Northern army.
President Grover Cleveland avoided the draft…
President Grover Cleveland avoided the draft by paying a Polish immigrant to fight in his place during the Civil War.
A man stayed drunk during the entire…
A man stayed drunk during the entire Civil War to avoid being drafted.
More than 60% of the Confederacy’s war finance came from printing money…
More than 60% of the Confederacy’s war finance came from printing money, which, along with bad military news, caused prices to increase 92 times over in the South during the American Civil War.
During the Civil War wounded soldiers reported mysterious glowing…
During the Civil War wounded soldiers reported mysterious glowing from their wounds that seemed to encourage healing. This turns out to be a rare bio-luminescent bacteria in the dirt of the battlefield.
The man who wrote the documents of surrender signed by Confederate general Robert…
The man who wrote the documents of surrender signed by Confederate general Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse on this day in 1865 was a Seneca Indian named Ely Parker (born Hasanoanda). Upon meeting him Lee extended his hand and said, “I am glad to see one real American here.”
Irene Triplett, an 84-year-old woman in North Carolina, still collects…
Irene Triplett, an 84-year-old woman in North Carolina, still collects a monthly Civil War pension of $73.13 from the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is the last child of any Civil War veteran still on the VA benefits rolls.
When Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the all-black 54th Regiment…
When Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the all-black 54th Regiment during the American Civil War, died at Fort Wagner, he was stripped and buried with his men as an insult. His father, however, proclaimed that he was proud to know that his son rests with his brave and devoted soldiers.
The stereotype of African Americans lovi …
The stereotype of African Americans loving fried chicken dates back to the Civil War, as chickens were generally the only animals slaves could raise on their own.