The Mississippi in the Civil War Message Board

Re: No Expert Opinion Required

Dennis --

Under the Furlough and Bounty Act of Dec 11, 1861, any Confederate soldier enlisted for less than the full term (three years or the war) was allowed a $50 bounty and a sixty-day furlough. No expert opinion required. For further information, see the following --

The manpower crisis facing the Confederate armies in the spring of 1862 was a result of legislative incompetence, specifically, the Confederate Provisional Congress' foolish re-enlistment law of Dec. 11, 1861. The "bounty and furlough act" demonstrated, in the words of historian John C. Ropes, that "the difference between an army and a congeries of volunteer regiments was not appreciated." Every soldier who re-enlisted for three years or for the duration of the war was promised a bounty of $50 and a 60-day furlough. He could choose his arm of the service, and if he did not like his company, he could join a new one. Men could elect their own officers, "rewarding those who curried favor by laxity and demoting those who had enforced discipline," in the words of Douglas S. Freeman.
Freeman wrote, in "Robert E. Lee": "A worse law could hardly have been imposed on the South by the enemy. Its interpretation was confusing, its effect was demoralizing, and it involved nothing less than a reconstruction of the entire land forces of the Confederacy in the face of the enemy." He cites Union general and military historian Emory Upton, who wrote later that the bounty and furlough law should have been styled "an act to disorganize and dissolve the provisional army." The CSA Congress only made matters worse when it passed a series of hurried measures, designed to dangle more bait for re-enlistments.
http://www.etymonline.com/cw/conscript.htm

Until Mar 8, 1862, the 2nd Mississippi Regiment had been in winter camp at Dumfries VA. At that time the regiment moved to Fredericksburg VA, and thence overland through Richmond to the defenses of Yorktown on the Virginia Peninsula. The regiment should have arrived by the second week in April. Fort (or Camp) Fisher must have been along the Yorktown line.

On April 23, 1862, the regiment reelected officers and reorganized as required under the Conscript Act of April 16, 1862.

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need an experts opinion on Co.K 2nd MS Inf.
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