www.cwc.lsu.edu

Anchor text: "Statistical Summary: America's Major Wars" (2001)</ref> ===Volunteers and conscription=== The vast majority of Union troops were volunteers; of the 2,200,000 Union soldiers, about 2% were draftees, and another 6% were substitutes provided by draftees. The draft ("conscription") was started in 1863 primarily as a device to encourage volunteers who were usually paid generous signing bonuses by their locality, while draftees were not. A man who was drafted could go war, or provide a substitute (like a younger brother), or pay $300 to the government,<ref>John Whiteclay Chambers, ed. ''The Oxford Companion to American Military History'', p. 181.</ref><ref>James W. Geary, ''We Need Men: The Union Draft in the Civil War'' (1991)</ref> Towns had a quota to fill for the draft law, and gave very generous bonuses for volunteers--as much as $400 when $1 a day was the typical wage in the civilian economy. Some took the bonus but then deserted and then went elsewhere to claim another bonus by enlisting again. Other deserters went to Canada, or kept hidden with help from family and friends. Using incomplete records, the Army guessed there were 200,000 men who deserted one or more times 1863 to 1865. About 15,000 went to Canada, 5,000 to the western territories, and perhaps 1,000 to Europe. The vast majority were somewhere in the North, of whom 80.000 had been recaptured. After the war ended, there was no punishment and most returned to a normal life.<ref>Joan Cashin, "Deserters, Civilians, and Draft Resistance in the North" in Cashin, ed., ''The War Was You and Me: Civilians in the American Civil War'' (Princeton UP, 2002) pp.262-285.</ref> ===Death and survival=== {{Main|Medicine in the American Civil War}} [[File:Surgical tools US Civil War.jpg|thumb|450px| Union Army surgical kit from 1864, designed for quick amputations.

Wikipedia: Social history of soldiers and veterans in the United States