Despite the war's gradual turn in favor of the Union, the enthusiasm and excitement felt by Union soldiers on their first enlistment was changing to weariness, fear, and cynicism as the war dragged on. The rush of volunteers eager for the adventure of war slowed to a reluctant trickle; to make up for the shortage of volunteers, the U.S. Congress passed the Military Conscription Act in 1863. This law required all men between the ages of twenty and forty-five to register for the draft. Each state was also given a quota of volunteer soldiers to fill. If a state did not meet its volunteer quota, draftees were called up for service. A draftee could have a substitute take his place or he could pay a three-hundred-dollar bounty. As a result of the bounty law, few members of the upper classes served in ordinary infantry regiments...