The Conscription Act of 1862 was in itself, quite controversial for understandable reasons. Coupled with other factors, like the conversion of some cavalry regiments in early 1862 to badly needed "dis-mounted" cavalry, resulted in a lot of desertions. Texans preferred to enlist in the cavalry and I believe it was the only state where cavalry regiments outnumbered infantry----and by quite a margin. A good book to read that references the change in moral is "Spartan Band: Burnett's 13th Texas Cavalry in the Civil War" by Thomas Reid.