GENERAL ORDERS, 
No. 99. 
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Adjutant General’s Office, 
Washington, August 9, 1862. 
REGULATIONS for the enrolment and draft of 
THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILITIA. 
In 'pursuance of an Order by the President of the United States, 
bearing date August 4, 1862, whereby it is provided that a draft of 
three hundred thousand militia be immediately called into the service 
ot the United States to serve for nine months, unless sooner discharged, 
and that the Secretary of War shall assign the quotas to the States 
and establish regulations for the draft; also, that if any State shall 
not by the 15th of August furnish its quota of the additional three 
hundred thousand volunteers authorized by law, the deficiency of vol- 
unteers in that State shall also be made up by special draft from the 
militia, and that the Secretary of War shall establish regulations for 
this purpose— 
It is ordered : 
First. The Governors of the respective States will proceed forthwith 
to furnish their respective quotas of three hundred thousand militia 
called for by the Order of the President, dated the fourth day of 
August, 1862, which quotas have been furnished to the Governors 
respectively by communication from this Department of this date 
according to the regulations hereinafter set forth. 
Second. The Governors of the several States are hereby requested 
forthwith to designate rendezvous for the drafted militia of said States, 
and to appoint commandants therefor, and to notify the Secretary of 
W ar ot the location of such rendezvous and the names of the com- 
mandants. 
It is important that the rendezvous should be few in number, and 
located with a view to convenience of transportation. 
lhird. The Governors of the respective States will cause an enrol- 
ment to be made forthwith by the assessors of the several counties, or 
by any other officers to be appointed by such Governors, of all able- 
bodied male citizens, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, 
within the respective counties, giving the name, age, and occupation 
of each, together with remarks showing whether he is in the service 2 
of the United States, and in what capacity, and any other facts whicl 
may determine his exemption from military duty. 
All reasonable and proper expenses of such enrolment, and of the 
draft hereinafter provided, wrill he reimbursed by the United States 
upon vouchers showing the detailed statement of service performed 
and expenses incurred, to be approved by such Governors. 
Fourth. Where no provision is made by law in any State for carry- 
ing into effect the draft hereby ordered, or where such provisions are 
in any manner defective, such draft shall be conducted as follows: 
1. Immediately upon completion of the enrolment, the lists of en- 
rolled persons shall be filed in the offices of the sheriffs of the counties 
in Avhich such enrolled persons reside. 
2. The Governors of the several States shall appoint a commissioner 
for each county of their respective States, whose duty it shall be to 
superintend the drafting, and hear and determine the excuses of per- 
sons claiming to be exempt from military duty. Such commissioner 
shall receive a compensation of four dollars per diem for each day he 
may be actually employed in the discharge of his duties as such com- 
missioner. 
3. The enrolling officer shall immediately, upon the filing of the 
enrolment lists, notify said commissioner that said lists have been so 
filed, and the commissioner shall thereupon give notice, by handbills 
posted in each township of his county, of the time and place at which 
claims of exemption will be received and determined by him, and shall 
fix the time to be specified in the order aforesaid within ten days of 
the filing of the enrolment at which the draft shall be made, and all 
persons claiming to be exempt from military duty shall, before the day 
fixed for the draft, make proof of such exemption before said commis- 
sioner, and if found sufficient, his name shall be stricken from the list 
by a red line drawn through it, leaving it still legible. 
The commissioner shall, in like manner, strike from the list the 
names of all persons now in the military service of the United States, 
all telegraph operators and constructors actually engaged on the fifth 
day of August, 1862, all engineers of locomotives on railroads, all 
artificers and workmen employed in any public arsenal or armory, the 
Vice President of the United States, the officers, judicial and executive, 
of the Government of the United States, the members of both houses 
of Congress and their respective officers, all custom-house officers and 3 
their clerks, all post officers arid stage drivers who are employed in the 
care and conveyance of the mail of the Post Office of the United 
States, all ferrymen who are employed at any ferry on the post road, 
all pilots, all mariners actually employed in the sea service of any 
citizen or merchant within'the United States, all engineers and pilots 
of registered or licensed steamboats and steamships, and all persons 
exempted by the laws of the respective States from military duty, on 
sufficient evidence, or on his personal knowledge that said persons 
belong to any of the aforesaid classes, whether the exemption is claimed 
by them or not. 
Exemption will not be made for disability, unless it be of such per- 
manent character as to render the person unfit for service for a period 
of more than thirty days, to be certified by a surgeon appointed by 
the Governor, in each county, for that purpose. 
5. At the time fixed as before provided by the commissioner for 
making the draft, the sheriff of the county, or, in his absence, such 
person as the commissioner may appoint, shall, in the presence of said 
commissioner, publicly place in a wheel or box, of a like character to 
such as are used for drawing jurors, separate folded ballots, containing 
the names of all persons remaining on said enrolment lists not stricken 
off as before provided, and a proper person, appointed by the com- 
missioner, and blindfolded, shall thereupon draw from said box or 
wheel a number of ballots, equal to the number of drafted men fixed 
by the Governor of such State as the proper quota of such county. 
6. A printed or written notice of his enrolmemt and draft, and of 
the place of rendezvous of the drafted military force shall thereupon 
be served by a person to be appointed by the commissioner, upon each 
person so drafted, either by delivering the same in person or by leaving 
it at his last known place of residence. 
7. Any person so drafted may offer a substitute at the time of the 
rendezvous of the drafted militia force, and such substitute, if he shall 
be an able-bodied man, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five 
years, and shall consent in writing (with the consent of his parent or 
guardian, if a minor) to subject himself to all the duties and obliga- 
tions to which his principal would have been subject, had he personally 
served, shall be accepted in lieu of such principal. 
8. The persons thus drafted shall assemble at the county seat of 
their respective counties, within five days after the time of drafting, 
whence transportation will be furnished them by the Governors of the 
several States to the place of rendezvous. 4 
9. As soon as the draft has been made and the names marked on 
the enrolment lists, the commissioner will send a copy of the draft to 
the commandant of rendezvous, and another of the same to the Adju- 
tant General of the State, who will immediately organize the drafted 
men into companies and regiments of infantry, by assigning one hun- 
dred and one men to each company, and ten companies to each regi- 
ment, and send a copy of the organization to the commandant of the 
rendezvous. 
JO. At the expiration of the time allowed for the drafted men to 
reach the rendezvous, the commandant shall proceed to complete the 
organization of the companies and regiments by proclaiming the names 
of the regimental commissioned officers, which shall be designated in 
accordance with the laws of the respective States, the number and 
grade being the same as in the volunteer service; and in case the laws 
of any State shall provide for the election of officers, they shall be 
elected under the direction of the commandant of the rendezvous, and 
reported forthwith to the Governors of such States in order that they 
may be commissioned, and the non-commissioned officers may be 
appointed either before or after muster, as the colonel of the regiment 
shall decide. 
11. As soon as the officers of the companies and regiments are desig- 
nated, the muster-rolls shall be made out under the direction of the 
commandant of the rendezvous, and the troops inspected and mustered 
into the service of the United States by the mustering officer appointed 
for that purpose. 
12. In States where enlistments have been made by municipalities 
and towns, instead of counties, the Governors of such States are 
authorized to apply the foregoing rules of draft to such municipalities 
and towns, instead of counties. 
Fifth. Provost Marshals will be appointed by the War Department 
in the several States, on the nomination of the Governor thereof, with 
such assistants as may be necessary to enforce the attendance of all 
drafted persons who shall fail to attend at such places of rendezvous. 
Sixth. In case any State shall not, by the 15th day of August, 
furnish its quota of the additional three hundred thousand volunteers 
called for by the President on the 2d day of July, 1862, unless other- 
wise ordered, all incomplete regiments shall then be consolidated, 
under the direction of the Governors of the respective States, and an 
additional draft shall be made, as before provided, sufficient to fill up 
such quota; the number to be drafted from each county of the State 
to be fixed by the Governor thereof. 5 
Seventh. From and after the 15th day of August, no new regiments 
of Volunteers will be organized, hut the premium, bounty, and advance 
pay will continue to he paid to those volunteering to go into the old 
Regiments. 
After order, August 14, 1862. 
Eighth. That in filling all requisitions for militia, the quotas of 
the several States will be apportioned by the Governors among the 
several counties and (where practicable) among the subdivisions of 
counties, so that allowance shall be made to such counties and sub- 
divisions for all volunteers theretofore furnished by them and mustered 
into the service of the United States, and whose stipulated term of 
service shall not have expired. 
By order of the Secretary of War: 
L. THOMAS, 
Adjutant General.