Summary:
Pennsylvania politician and ex-Secretary of War Simon Cameron writes Secretary of
War Edwin Stanton in August, 1864, to announce the trip of Mr. Eyster to
Washington to attempt to secure draft exemptions for the men of Chambersburg.
Cameron claims that due to the poverty and suffering caused by the Confederate
burning of the town, it would be better if the men were exempted from the draft.
Cameron also states that volunteering was going well throughout Pennsylvania,
and that little draft coercion will be needed.
Hon. E. M. STANTON:
HARRISBURG,
August 26, 1864.
DEAR SIR:
Mr. Eyster goes to Washington to see you in relation to the draft of Chambersburg. The leading men there among our friends think that in consideration of the distress and poverty created by the rebels in the burning of the town the men liable to the draft should be exempted for the present. To my mind it seems clear that those people have suffered more than their share by this war, and that if your Department has the power it should be exercised for their benefit.
Mr. Eyster now lives in Chambersburg and with his brothers, who are among the most enterprising men there, he has been for some time largely engaged in business. He has some plan which to me seems reasonable, and which he will explain.
I am glad to tell you that volunteering was never more brisk in this State, and that I feel confident we will need very little coercion.
Very respectfully,
SIMON CAMERON.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 3, Volume 4, Serial No. 125, Pages 642, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
