One of the commanders of the 7th Mississippi Battalion, a J. Welborn, put in a statement to the U.S. Government pension board, in the 1870s, that he "organized" the 7th as conscripts. Although "Neo-Confederate" historians claim otherwise in the case of Newton Knight because his record of volunteer enlistment.
While it is also reported the records show many of these men enlisted as volunteers. Newton Knight claimed he was conscripted, while his record shows he enlisted. He not only enlisted in 1862 but he volunteered into the rolls of 8th Mississippi in 1861, but no record exist showing his activity in that unit. May he have been put into reserve?
While in the 7th Battalion Knight was promoted to 4th and 2nd Sergeant and served in the Provost Guard.
Writers and Jenkins and Stauffer dispute the records and insist that Knight was a conscript and had always been opposed to secession, the war, and the Confederacy.
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I really have a problem being labeled as a "neo" anything. What does Welborn mean when he says [he organized them as conscripts]? Who would volunteer to be a conscript? Would a conscript be in the provost guard?
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David Upton