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John A. Coke Papers (Records of the Confederate army enrolling office for the Third Congressional District of Virginia)

Call Number

MS 670.6

Date

1861-1865, inclusive

Creator

Coke, John Archer, 1842-1920

Extent

1.6 Linear feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

The documents in this collection are in English.

Abstract

This collection contains correspondence and official documents relating to John A. Coke's work as the enrolling officer for the Confederate army in the Third Congressional District of Virginia, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. It includes papers relating to enrollment, conscription, exemptions, substitutes, detail assignments, and other documents concerning the availability of men for service in the Confederate army. The materials in this collection have been digitized and are available online to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

Biographical / Historical

John Archer Coke was born in Williamsburg, Virginia, on July 14, 1842. In the years preceding the Civil War, he attended William and Mary College, graduating in 1860. In March, 1861, he enlisted in the Lee Artillery, an organization formed at Williamsburg, under Captain W.R. Garrett. Initially elected second lieutenant of the unit, Coke was subsequently promoted to captain. In 1862, Captain Coke was re-assigned to duty as enrolling officer for the Third Congressional District of Virginia, with headquarters at Richmond, under command of Col. John C. Shields, commander of the Conscript Department of Virginia (later replaced by General J.L. Kemper).

As enrolling officer, Coke was charged with enforcing the conscription law passed by the Confederate Congress on April 16, 1862. The first conscription law in American history (preceding the Union draft by nearly a year), the Confederate act drafted all white males between 18 and 35 for a three-year term of service. In September 1862, as southern casualties mounted, the conscription age was raised to 45, and by February 1864, the limits were 17 and 50.

Exemptions were provided for certain occupations considered to be vital to the war effort, such as railroad workers, miners, telegraph operators, and druggists. More controversially, the "Twenty-Negro law" allowed the owner or overseer of a plantation with 20 or more slaves to avoid army service. Wealthy southerners were also permitted to hire substitutes to take their place in the army. These exemptions were widely resented as belonging to "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight," and were both eventually abolished in the face of increasing manpower shortages.

Coke remained at his position until Richmond was evacuated, at which point he accompanied General Kemper, with a party of other officers, to Halifax County. Hearing of Lee's surrender, the party attempted to join General Johnston's army. When Johnston also surrendered, Coke returned to Danville, Virginia, and gave his parole to the Federal authorities.

Returning home to Williamsburg, Coke studied law and in September, 1865, opened a law practice in Richmond. In 1867, he married Emma Overbey, with whom he had several children. He died January 27, 1920.

Arrangement

This collection is organized in three series:

Series I. Richmond County/District-wide Records
Series II. Hanover County Records
Series III: Records of other counties within the Third Congressional District

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correspondence and official papers relating to Captain John Archer Coke's work as enrolling officer for the Confederate army in the Third Congressional District of Virginia. The papers concern enrollment, exemptions, substitutes, work details, partially disabled soldiers on limited service, senior reserves, deserters and other absentees from active units, conscription policies, and the availability of men for the Confederate army from Richmond, Hanover, Charles City, Henrico, Charles City, James City, York, and New Kent Counties.

Documents include individual applications for exemptions, correspondence, general and special orders issued and received, circulars and regulations, conscription reports and lists from each county, and papers relating to substitutes, deserters, manpower for essential industry, senior reserves, and details for men on limited service. Of particular interest are conscription reports and detail assignments for "free negroes." There are also documents relating to the Mounted Guards (employed by the conscription office to execute the conscription law) and to the internal operations of the conscription office.

The collection has been arranged into series by county. Series I, Richmond County/District-wide Records, includes enrollment records from Richmond County (headquarters for the Third Congressional District), as well as documents relating to District-wide enrollment policies and procedures. Enrollment records from the other counties of the Third Congressional District (Hanover, Charles City, Henrico, Charles City, James City, York, and New Kent) are found in Series II and III. Within each series, documents have been organized by type.

The materials in this collection have been digitized and are available online to on-site researchers and to users affiliated with subscribing institutions via EBSCOhost.

Subjects

Conditions governing access

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Items that include presidential signatures will be presented to researchers in duplicate form.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the John A. Coke Papers, MS 670.6, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Sources

Evans, Clement A. (1899). Confederate Military History; a library of Confederate states history. Atlanta, Ga: Confederate Pub. Co.

Collection processed by

Susan Kriete.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:14 -0400.
Language: Description is in English

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024