Civil war draft

[collin]

Hi,  I have an obituary of a relative and there is no mention of military service, he was born in October 1844 so would he not get drafted aged 20 in 1864?  His elder brother volunteered aged 19 in 1862.  Thank you

[Erato]

He would have had to register at age 20 but he might have escaped being drafted if his birthday was close enough to the end of the war.  It was also possible to pay $300 instead of serving.  This was a huge amount of money in those days.  My g-grandfather was spared because his neighbors chipped in to pay the $300, keeping him at home to look out for the widows and children in the community.  His four brothers all served in the Union Army.

[shellyesq]

There is a database of men who served in the Civil War here - https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm

If he lived until 1930 or 1910, there are questions about military service in those years' census.

[collin]

Hi, thank you for that, I didn't know about the census, he lived up to 1920 so that will determine it.
Best wishes