Sons and Soldiers: Deerfield, Massachusetts and the Civil War

SONS AND SOLDIERS: DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS AND THE CIVIL WAR Emily J. Harris The Civil War monument in the town of Deerfield, Massachusetts is inscribed as a memorial to the 42 "lamented sons and soldiers who for their country and for Freedom laid down their lives in the war of the Great Rebellion." These 42 were among the 303 individuals credited to Deerfield in the Union's war records, 167, or 55 percent, of whom were Deerfield's "sons"—men who resided in the town—and 136 of whom were "soldiers"—recruits hired from near and far to fill the town's quotas (see Table 1). The story of how these troops were raised, and of who they were, provides an instructive case study of one northern community 's war experience. It is essentially a record of how the community accommodated its behavior to constant national demands. At the outset of the war, Deerfield accepted responsibility for inspiring selfsacrifice among its citizens. By the end, the town expressed its commitment to the Union by assuming a collective financial burden. For the most part, Deerfield's "sons" who went to war left home in 1861 and 1862. Starting in 1863, the town answered the Union's calls primarily with "soldiers" who were not Deerfield natives, but this shift occurred within the context of constant local patriotism.1 The author acknowledges the assistance of the Elizabeth Fuller Fellowship, Historic Deerfield. 1 Few historians have approached the Civil War from the point of view of a northern town's community experience. One exceptionally good model for this approach is Michael Frisch, Tou>n into City: Springfield, Massachusetts, and the Meaning of Community 1840-1880 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972). Chapter 3 addresses the local response to the war and its impact on the changing definition of community. "The Civil War," chapter 8 of Paul Jenkins's The Conservative Rebel: A Social History of Greenfield, Massachusetts (Greenfield: 1982), suggests a transition from enthusiasm to a mood that was "subdued," but does not offer any details of the town's response after 1863. Studies which provide insight into the later response are Richard H. Abbott, "Massachusetts and the Recruitment of Southern Negroes, 1863-65," Civil War History, 16 (September 1968): 197-210; Adrian Cook, The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1974); Hugh G. Earnhart, "Commutation: Democratic or Undemocratic?" Civil War History 12 (June 1966): 13242 ; Peter Levine, "Draft Evasion in the North during the Civil War, 1863-1865," Journal of American History 67 (March 1981): 816-34; Eugene C. Murdock, One Million Men: The Civil War Draft in the North (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1971); Arnold M. Shankman, The Pennsylvania Anti-War Movement (Cranby, New Jersey: As157 s TABLE 1 Deerfield "Sons" and "Soldiers" by Year of Enlistment Year No. SONS % of Total Enlistees for Year %of Total Sons No. SOLDIERSTOTAL SONS AND SOLDIERS % of Total%of%of Total EnlisteesTotalWho Served for Year Soldiers No.for Deerfield 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 Unknown Total 49 80 17 13 8 167 65 82 50e 30e 23e 55 29 48 10 8 26 18 17e 29e 26e 20e 136 35 18 50 70e 77e 45 19 13 13e 21e 15e 19 75 98 34e 42e 34e 20e 303 25 32 11 14 11 7 * The totals and percentages of "soldiers" for 1863-65 are low because enlistment dates for these men could not be substantiated.·· These percentages are high because of the group of "soldiers" for whom enlistment year is unknown. DEKRFIELD, M ASSACIIUSKTTS159 When the "Great Rebellion" began in 1861, Deerfield's population was approximately 3,073, an increase of 27 percent over 1850. Roughly 17 percent, or 510, of Deerfield's residents were men between the ages of twenty and forty-five, and therefore potentially eligible to serve in the Union army. Much of the population growth in this New England farming village resulted from the influx of native and immigrant laborers who came to work in the cutlery in Cheapside (the town's northern section), on the railroads, or in smaller industries such as wallet making in South Deerfield. In this...