Confederate Conscription in Hill County R A Ferguson
Confederate Conscription in Hill County, Texas
Robert Andrew Ferguson enlisted in the Confederate Army in Hillsboro, Texas in March 1862 along with his brothers-in-law. Again, a physical description is provided and it amazes me that they enlisted “for the duration of the war”. Wow.
I want to believe that these men were honorable. After all, they are my family. “For the duration of the war” seems like a huge commitment and quiet a brave thing the do. But, and there is always a but, looking back, commitment to the Confederacy isn’t a politically correct place to be. History is always more complicated than it first appears and as I have continued to pull the threads of my family tapestry (or tartan if you prefer), I have found this to be especially true.
Robert Andrew Ferguson (aka R.A., Uncle Bob, the C5 Horse and Cattleman) and his brothers-in-law joined the Confederate Army on March 28, 1962. Conscription began in April of 1862. To read more about conscription and how the citizens of Hill County may have felt about it, please read Francelle Pruitt’s paper and also this article by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Reading the Minds of the Dearly Departed
I want a time machine or a Ouiji board that works so I can ask them what they were thinking. I can only look at the evidence I have. There is no evidence or mention that they owned slaves so supporting the institution of slavery for personal gain doesn’t seem to apply to them. The conscription issue does as they would have been punished (jailed?) for not enlisting. There were significant ramifications to the men leaving. Conscription forced wives and children to manage farms and livestock. Families were unprotected and often indigent.
It seems to me that they saw that enlisting as the lesser of two evils, if you can imagine that. Their choice seems to have been go off to war and put your family at risk or not enlist, put your family at risk and go off to war with the stigma of having to have been forced to do so.
The following records are for R.A. Ferguson, but as the records are published as a set, I have also found James Ransom Davis, Benjamin Ward, Monroe Frazier, John Patterson, Archie Park and John Wood’s enlistment papers.
The Records
Robert Andrew Ferguson (aka R.A., Uncle Bob, the C5 Horse and Cattleman), joined the Confederate Army on March 28, 1962. The Confederate government voted to begin conscription on April 16, 1862. This forced men between the ages of 18 and 50 to enlist immediately in the army. To read more about conscription and how the citizens of Hill County may have felt about it, please read Francelle Pruitt’s paper and also this article by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.