This Week in the Civil War Posted at: 03/01/2013 9:08 AM By The
Associated Press This Week in The Civil War, for week of Sunday,
March 3: Lincoln signs Enrollment Act to draft new troops. When
the Civil War erupted in April 1861, many on both sides of the
conflict had expected it to be a short-lived war. But nearly two
years later, after several big battles and horrific numbers of
casualties, President Abraham Lincoln was compelled to sign the
first Enrollment Act _ instituting the first wartime draft in
American history on March 3, 1863. The move 150 years ago during
the Civil War was a controversial step. But the conflict was
dragging on far longer than any had expected and the Union
wasn’t raising enough troops for combat by other means. Thus,
Lincoln needed more manpower for the fight, much as the
Confederacy did in resorting to a draft months earlier. The act
required enrollment of every male citizen ages 20-45, with
certain exemptions, and male immigrants of that age who had
signed intent of becoming U.