The Draft.
February 22, 1865
Drafting, in this district, has already commenced. It seems that volunteering has not been very brisk in this section during the past week. Although our county made a move in the right direction, it was too late to save us from the much dreaded draft. Reports from other Districts indicate better success in reducing their quotas; some counties paying as high as $500 bounty.
The following dispatch was received here last Sunday evening:
POINT PLEASANT, WEST VA.,
FEBRUARY 9, 1865
COL. JOHN H. OLEY:--I will commence the Draft in Braxton and Nicholas Counties tomorrow at 10 o'clock; also in Roane and Clay Counties on Tuesday, in Kanawha on Wednesday and Thursday, and in Putnam on Friday.
JAMES. A. SMITH
Capt. And Prov. Marshal
3rd Dist. West Va.
The following were the instructions from the Provost Marshal General's Office:
WAR DEP'T PROV. MAR. GEN'S BUREAU
WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 13, 1865.
To all Acting Assistant Provost Marshal Generals, except Connecticut, Iowa, California, and Oregon:
See that all boards of enrollment in your jurisdiction, which are not busily employed in enlisting and mustering recruits, prepare at once to commence drafting. Report as soon as possible what districts are not rapidly filling quotas, and the day on which the Board are prepared to draft, so that an order for draft may issue from this office.
J.B. FRY, Provost marshal General.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: February 1865