Page:Mennonite Handbook of Information 1925.djvu/97



The military laws during the Civil War were very exacting, requiring that all men capable of service should enter the ranks at ages ranging from eighteen to forty-five years. Because of the extremity for man-power in the Southern Confederacy being reached at an early period of the War, the age limit was changed to seventeen to sixty years. In the North the laws were less stringent, as the man-power was greater, and it was not until toward the latter part of the war that draft laws were enforced.

The exemption laws were of benefit to few, and court-martial and heavy fines awaited all who failed to respond to the general call for troops. In the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where Mennonites of the Southern States were chiefly located, many of the men of this faith were drafted and forcibly taken into the army.

Some of these went from their homes leaving the solemn pledge with loved ones that they would not strike a blow, or fire a gun at the enemy. In time the purpose and conviction of these brethren became known, and they were reported to officers higher up. They were threatened with court-martial and the death sentence, but no change followed in their attitude toward the enemy. Finally they were released from bearing arms, and were assigned to