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24 Chapter 4 Columbia County and the Draft, 1863 As the political parties began arguing about the upcoming gubernatorial election, the armies were again on the move. In the east, Major General Joseph Hooker, the latest commander of the Army of the Potomac, began maneuvering his 120,000 men in late April. He managed to surprise General Lee, whose own army was understrength because a sizeable detachment had been sent to menace the Union troops in Suffolk while foraging expeditions collected foodstuffs . Lee recovered quickly and bluffed Hooker onto the defensive. The resulting Battle of Chancellorsville is widely considered to be Lee’s greatest victory. Outnumbered more than two to one, Lee’s veterans drove the Yankees back across the river to Falmouth. However, Lee suffered 12,000 casualties (compared to Hooker’s 17,000), including Stonewall Jackson, his most trusted corps commander. Out west, General Grant’s Army of the Tennessee was still maneuvering to capture the Confederate citadel of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grant marched part of his army down the west side of the Mississippi, crossing at Bruinsburg in late April. Moving quickly, Grant drove a wedge between the Confederate garrison and a growing Confederate force at Jackson, the Mississippi capital. In a series of small engagements, Grant placed Vicksburg under siege as reinforcements began to arrive to protect his rear against General Joseph E. Johnston’s troops. In Louisiana, Major General Nathaniel P. Banks moved a large portion of his field troops northward, isolating the Confederate garrison at Port Hudson , which was placed under siege later in May. If both Grant and Banks were successful, the Mississippi River would be open to commerce its entire length and the Confederacy cut in two. In fact, the military operations during the spring of 1863 did not bode well for a quick end to the war. A Union naval assault on Charleston, South Carolina , was repelled in April, after which Union ground troops began a series of siege operations against the bastion of the Confederacy. In mid-Tennessee, Major General William S. Rosecrans kept his Army of the Cumberland inactive, Columbia County and the Draft, 1863 25 complaining that he lacked enough men and supplies to attack his opponent, General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee. These protracted military operations meant that the Peace Democrats continued their shrill condemnation of the war, the Lincoln administration, and the assault on civil liberties. In Pennsylvania, as elsewhere across the North, General Fry appointed state provost marshals (each state director was given the rank of assistant provost marshal), who in turn began appointing district marshals and their boards to begin collecting the names of all males eligible for the draft. On April 21, Fry issued a circular detailing the regulations that all assistant provost marshals would follow. Each man would keep open communications with the governor of the state and as many other civil officers as deemed necessary. Two clerks could be hired, as well as at least two deputy provost marshals for districts comprising more than one county. Up to four special officers or agents could also be hired; these men would search for and arrest deserters in the district. Fry spelled out the duties to be performed and cautioned that all assistant provost marshals must be alert, understand their locales, and be in constant communication with Washington.1 On April 24, Fry assigned Lieutenant Colonel Charles F. Ruff of the Third US Cavalry as assistant provost marshal for Pennsylvania. Fry described Ruff as an “officer of superior ability and a gentleman of attainments.” Fry followed up this appointment with an explanatory letter that indicated clearly that Governor Curtin would have no control over the operations of the provost marshal’s bureau. However, he wrote, “you will be required to acquaint yourself with his views and wishes, and give them due weight in determining as to the best interests of the General Government, of which you are the representative.”Ruff clashed repeatedly with Curtin and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel J. V. Bomford on May 25.2 To help the provost marshal, on April 28 the Adjutant General’s Office created the Invalid Corps, composed of men unable to perform active military duty because of wounds or illness. Individual companies would be formed across the North, with these grouped into battalions and regiments as enough men enlisted to warrant larger units. Men still with their units or in hospitals were eligible to enlist in this new corps. Soldiers who had been discharged...

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