Deserters During The Civil War Essay

During the Civil War, over 200,000 of all soldiers deserted their post (Desertion Confederate). If soldiers deserted their post and were caught, they would be known as cowards for the rest of their life. Even though the Civil War was gruesome, many soldiers decided to desert their post, and because of this it affected their side and they were punished. When soldiers desert, they leave their post before their service expires. Many Union soldiers left their post because they thought that the war would be a quick win for them, but they were wrong (Weitz). Many people believe that any soldiers who deserted their post were cowards, but this was not the case. Deserters who were considered cowards left in the face of the enemy (Weitz), while …show more content…
Deserters in the the South were more common than the North. In the Confederacy 10-15% of soldiers deserted, and in the Union 9-12% of soldiers deserted. During the Battle of Antietam, General Robert E. Lee thought that at least ⅓ of his men were absent (Desertion Confederate). The South was the first side to hold a draft, which forced any man age 18-35 to serve in the army. Due to this many Confederate soldiers decided to take refuge in the Union so that they didn’t have to fight. Some men who were supposed to serve in the war were exempt because of various reasons, which also caused the Confederates numbers to dwindle. Even though many men deserted in the Civil War, 2 out of every 3 men fell in battle because of disease (Weitz). The Union also struggled with desertion. 8% of Union soldiers deserted in one month. The Battle of Chikamauga was the battle that had the highest number of deserters because of the rugged terrain that it was in. Soldiers also left their posts because of letters from distressed family members. Many soldiers went home because of these, and because of this the Confederacy made it illegal for family members to encourage the soldiers to come home. The Union encouraged Confederate soldiers to desert because they promised to house any Confederate soldier that came to them (Desertion …show more content…
Some of the most common reasons were: desperate letters from family, no food, poor leadership, or no equipment (Desertion Confederate). Bounty-jumpers were also a big problem for the Union. Bounty-Jumpers were men who signed up for the army, then when they collected the $300 for joining, they went to hide in big cities such as New York. When Confederate soldiers signed up for duty, the government promised to provide for their families while they were gone. Most of the time this was not the case, and this caused the desperate letters from the family members