and seaboard have produced results that might have been expected. They have animated the people with a spirit of resistance so general, so resolute, and so selfsacrificing, that it requires rather to be regulated than to be stimulated. The right of the State to demand, and the duty of each citizen to render military service, need only to be stated to be admitted. It is not, however, a wise or judicious policy to place in active service that portion of the force of a people which experience has shown to be necessary as a reserve. Youths under the age of eighteen years require further instruction; men of matured experience are needed for maintaining order and good government at home, and in supervising preparations for rendering efficient the armies in the field. These two classes constitute the proper reserve for home defence, ready to be called out in case of any emergency, and to be kept in the field only while the emergency exists.

But, in order to maintain this reserve intact, it is necessary that in a great war like that in which we are now engaged all persons of intermediate ages not legally exempt for good cause, should pay their debt of military service to the country, that the burdens should not fall exclusively on the most ardent and patriotic. I therefore recommend the passage of a law declaring that all persons residing within the Confederate States between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years, and rightfully subject to military duty, shall be held to be in the military service of the Confederate States, and that some plain and simple method be adopted for their prompt enrollment and organization, repealing all of the legislation heretofore enacted which would conflict with the system proposed.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The 1st of April found not only the new levies and reënlisted men in the ranks, but the Confederate Congress, in compliance with the above Message, was about to pass a conscript law to bring all men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five into the field. All furloughs were revoked by the following order from the War Department:

ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, }

RICHMOND, March 24, 1862.
General Order, No. 16.

All leaves of absence and furloughs, from whatever source obtained, are revoked; and officers and men absent from duty, except on surgeon's certificate of disability, will return at once to their respective commands. It is with extreme reluctance that the Department adopts a measure which deprives our patriotic soldiers of the relaxation they have so well earned; but the enemy presses on every side, and the necessities of the service demand new illustrations of that Doble self-denial which has been so many times evinced since the commencement of our struggle for independence. The furloughs of all who have engaged for the war, which are thus curtailed, will be extended hereafter, when circumstances will permit. But judging from the past, no fears are entertained of an unwilling response to the call. Those who have so many times proved their devotion to their country, cannot be diffident or backward in the hour of her greatest need By order of the President. S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector-General. Thus, although the Confederate losses were severe at first, they were soon prepared to meet the enemy. The danger which they escaped was thus stated at Richmond: "The disasters we have suffered are mortifying to us, and exhilarate our enemies; but they have startled without crippling the Confederacy. Had it lain still two months more, with the army dwindling daily under the furlough system, disgusted with the inaction of stationary

camps, while the Government was quarrelling with the generals, and the people sinking under indifference, we would have been overrun between the 15th of April and the 1st of May."

On the 16th of April the conscript act, having passed both Houses of Congress, was approved by the President. This act annulled all previous contracts made by volunteers, and by explicit terms made all men under the age of thirty-five years and over eighteen years, soldiers for the war, or until they attained the age of thirty-five years. It drew every male citizen within the prescribed ages immediately and entirely from the control of State action, dent during the war. and placed them at the disposal of the PresiIt also provided, "That all persons under the age of 18 years, or over the age of 35 years, who are now enrolled in the military service of the Confederate States, in the regiments, squadrons, battalions, and companies hereafter to be organized, shall be required to remain in their respective companies, squadrons, battalions, and regiments for ninety days, unless their places shall be sooner supplied by other recruits, not now in the service, who are between the ages of 18 and 35 years, and all laws and part of laws provided for the reorganization of volunteers, and the organization thereof into companies, squadrons, battalions, and regiments, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed."

The existing organization of companies, regiments, &c., was preserved, but the companies were required to be filled up to the number of 135 men. When thus filled up, the privates had the privilege of electing their officers in the same manner as under former laws, but the commissions were issued by the President. The provision of the law annulling the contract with volunteers and requiring those under 18 years or over 35 to continue in service 90 days after its passage, without regard to their term of enlistment, was construed by these volunteers as entitling them to a discharge on the 16th of July. Previous to that date, however, an order was issued by the War Department placing them on the same footing as conscripts, and requiring them to continue in the service. So extreme was this order that it retained in service all enlisted men without regard to the time of their enlistment or their ages. Thus youths of 17 and men of 50 were not allowed' to withdraw, nor any who were in the army at the time of the passage of the law. In a word, the law set aside all contracts, and the Government retained all the soldiers in the field and sought to add to them every man between the required ages. Not even physicians were exempted. President Davis, in a letter to the governor of Georgia, thus states the reason for this injustice to the volunteers:

I would have very little difficulty in establishing to your entire satisfaction that the passage of the law dispensable: that numerous regiments of 12 months' was not only necessary, but that it was absolutely inmen were on the eve of being disbanded, whose places would not be supplied by new levies in the face of su

perior numbers of the foe without entailing the most disastrous results; that the position of our armies was so critical as to fill the bosom of every patriot with the liveliest apprehension, and that the provisions of the law were effective in warding off a pressing danger. The regulations for executing the law detailed an officer to each State to take charge of the enrolment, mustering in, subsistence, transport ation, and disposition of the recruits. The cooperation of State officers in making the enrolment was requested of the governors of the States, and in any cases in which such assistance might be refused, the duty was performed by officers of the army. Not more than two camps of instruction were established in each State, where the recruits were made ready for the field with the utmost despatch. The recruits were not organized in force as separate bodies, but were sent to supply deficiencies in regiments, battalions, squadrons, or unattached companies, and, so far as practicable, in corps from their own region of country. Recruits were allowed to choose any corps to which they desired to be attached, in which vacancies existed. They could also join any corps, the formation of which had been authorized by the Government. All 12 months' volunteers in service were required to reorganize by the election of new officers within 40 days after the act passed. Those who preferred a guerilla service were authorized to form as partisan rangers by an act specially passed for that purpose. The operation of the act was suspended in Missouri and Kentucky, under a provision authorizing it to be done by the President. Troops from those States were received under the acts passed previous to the conscription law. Maryland was regarded as exempt from the law, as appears by the following from the Secretary of War, dated April 26:

Major J. A. Weston:

In reply to your letter of the 17th inst., you are respectfully informed that Marylanders are not subject to the conscription act.

G. W. RANDOLPH, Sec. of War. This extreme measure met with much opposition on the part of the people in the Southern States. It was an evidence, in itself, that the ardor of the people had ceased to be a safe medium of reliance in the conduct of the war. It was a measure which had never before been adopted in the States of the Union during any previous war. It necessarily established a consolidated government founded on military principles, and was thus spoken of by some of the Southern leaders:

If it be absolutely necessary to save us from a conquest by the North, we are willing to submit to it, but we fear the public mind must prepare itself for a great change in our government.

President Davis, in the letter to Governor Brown of Georgia, above mentioned, argued at much length that the act may be pronounced constitutional" in spite of its seeming invasion of State rights, and said:

There seems to me to be a conclusive test on that whole subject. By our constitution, Congress may de

clare war offensive as well as defensive. It may sequire territory. Now, suppose that, for good cause and to right unprovoked injuries, Congress should de clare war against Mexico and invade Sonora. The militia could not be called forth in such case, the right plain that the law now under discussion, if passed under to call it being limited "to repel invasion." Is it not such circumstances, could by no possibility be aught else than a law to "raise an army?" Can one and the same law be construed into a "calling forth the mili tia," if the war be defensive, and a "raising of armies,” if the war be offensive?

At some future day, after our independence shall have been established, it is no improbable supposition that our enemy may be tempted to abuse his moral power by depredations on our commerce, and that we may be compelled to assert our rights by offensive war. How is this to be carried on? Of what is the army to be composed? If this Government cannot call on its arms-bearing population more than as militia, and if the militia can only be called forth to repel invasion, protect our rights. War has been well styled the we should be utterly helpless to vindicate our honor or terrible litigation of nations." Have we so formed our government that in litigation we may never be plaintiff? Surely this cannot have been the intention of the framers of our compact?

The most serious opposition to the act was manifested in the State of Georgia. The attempt was made to enrol militia officers holding commissions as such under the State authority. The following correspondence took place between the governor of that State and the Confederate Secretary of War:

ATLANTA, June 17, 1882.

Your enrolling officers have enrolled several of the State officers of the militia, who will not be permitted in your letter of the 20th ultimo that no State officer is to be carried away from their commands. You stated liable to enrolment, and asked me to call your atten tion to it if done. Please send me by telegraph an order for the release of all such who have been enrolled, and direct Major Dunwoody to stop the enrolment of who arrests a State officer. I wish an immediate reply. State officers, or I shall order the arrest of each officer

JOSEPH E. BROWN.

Hon. G. W. RANDOLPH, Sec. of War, Richmond. The Secretary of War replied as follows: RICHMOND, June 18, 1882 Major Dunwoody has been instructed not to enrol militia officers recognized by the State authorities as in commission. Request him to show you his instruc tions. If you arrest him, or any of our enrolling offcers, in their attempts to get men to fill up the Georgia regiments now in the face of the enemy, you will cause great mischief. I think we might as well drive out cur common enemy before we make war on each other. G. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War. His Excellency Governor BROWN. To this the Governor in answer said: MARIETTA, June 23, 1862. As Major Dunwoody's subordinates in different parts of the State do not seem to regard your orders to him, please direct him to give them the necessary instructions to stop the enrolment of the officers of the militia. I agree with you fully that we should unite all our energies to drive out the common enemy, and not make war among ourselves. I am most happy, therefore, that the Confederate Govern ment has decided to respect the constitutional rights of the State so far as not to force her to the alternative of permitting any department of her constitutional government to be disbanded and destroyed, fend the existence and integrity of her government by force. JOSEPH E. BROWN. Hon. G. W. RANDOLPH, Sec. of War, Richmond.

or to de

Soon after, some measures were taken to test the constitutionality of the law before the courts of that State. James M. Levingood, who had been enrolled as a conscript, sued out a writ of habeas corpus before Judge T. W. Thomas, of the superior court in the county of Elbert, Georgia. The principal point made before the court was thus expressed: "The conscript act is unconstitutional, and therefore the act itself, and all regulations and orders based upon it, are likewise void." A lengthy opinion was given by the court, which concluded thus:

In the preamble of our Confederate Constitution care is taken to assert and maintain that the States are sovereign and independent. In what sense can this be said of Georgia, if every man of her militia can be taken from under the control of her constitutional commander-in-chief without his consent? Must he abdicate his most important duties by permitting himself to be disarmed of his forces, and all this too in violation of his oath of office, in case he should think them necessary for the protection of the State?

If Congress can pass a conscript act with certain exemptions, they can pass it without exemptions. No one will deny this. If, therefore, they have the power to prescribe what shall be militia and to conscribe at pleasure, they may take the governor, general assembly, and the whole judiciary, and thus annihilate the State government.

The palpable infraction of the Confederate compact is sometimes-indeed, principally-defended on the plea of necessity. What a dangerous fallacy! We have expended 100,000 lives and untold millions of money to maintain the constitution and the independence of the States, and shall we now violate it, and destroy the State government? As reasonably might we commit suicide to avoid personal danger.

Nor is this plea of necessity true in fact. The conscript law can only furnish men. We have, and had before, State laws to reach every man in the State between 18 and 45, and to say the conscript law was necessary to procure men is to maintain the arithmetical absurdity that there is more men in the country beWhereupon, and for these reasons, it is ordered and adjudged by the court that the act of the Confederate Congress known as the conscript law, and entitled "An act to further provide for the public defence," is void; and the plaintiff, James M. Levingood, be released and discharged from the custody and control of Sidney P. Bruce, and from the custody and control of the sheriff of this court, and be set at liberty, to go wherever he pleases.

tween 18 and 35 than between 18 and 45.

The case was immediately carried up to the Supreme Court of the State, which overruled this decision.

Subsequently, on the approach of the Federal forces into Camden county, an application was made to Governor Brown for authority to call out the local militia for its defence. Instead of authorizing the call of the non-conscripts, he laid the subject before the Legislature. The joint committee to whom it was referred were divided. A majority reported most decisive resolutions against the constitutionality of the conscript act, but the minority recommended acquiescence in the measures of the Confederate Congress. (See GEORGIA.) While the discussion was going on in the Legislature, the subject was taken up before the people, and Mr. A. H. Kenan, a member of the Confederate Congress, delivered a public address at Milledgeville, the seat of government, in which he thus stated

that their safety depended on the success of the conscription law:

Georgia is the last State that ought to complain and resist this law. Georgia has not yet been invaded. We have not yet suffered at our doors and in our estates defence have been fought hundreds of miles away from from the presence of a hostile foe. The battles in our us. The Virginians have suffered in person and property to an extent that you who are at home and far from the enemy cannot appreciate. You have never had your patriotism and devotion to our cause and property, their negroes, their food, their all. Their country tested. The people of Virginia have lost their houses, their barns and fences have been burned before their eyes, their wives and children insulted and driven from home, and themselves carried away captives, and still they are true. You know nothing of the ravages of war. When you and your wives and children are driven from home without food and clothing, to hide in the mountains and caves, your negroes stolen and the torch applied to your premises, then your patriotism will be tested. Can you endure that? Had you not better do all you can to keep the war away from your borders? Is it well for you to be squabbling about State rights and who shall appoint captains and colonels when the enemy is thundering at your doors? We have had brilliant victories, and our arms have performed such deeds as history has nowhere recorded. Conscription has done it for us. If this war goes on, we have to whip 500,000 of the best men the enemy has got before next spring, or they will whip us. If it we will fail.' we whip them, conscríption will have done it without

In Alabama a citizen not exempt under the law, was elected a justice of the peace. The probate court refused to accept his bond on the ground that he was ineligible, being between the ages of 18 and 35, and virtually a conscript. An application was made to the circuit court for a mandamus to the probate court. The circuit court, Judge Henry, ruled: 1st. That the probate court had no right to inquire into the question of eligibility. 2d. The court also ruled, obiter dictum, that by the passage of the conscript law, and the call of the President, and instructions of the Secretary of War, every man between the ages fixed by the law was virtually a conscript, and could not, by having office cast upon him subsequently, escape the conscription.

These were the most important instances of opposition to the law. All methods were resorted to by private individuals to escape its operation which the most skilful ingenuity could devise. In the city of Mobile, nearly 500 men of the ages subject to military duty, applied for and received certificates of citizenship from consular agents. These were certificates of their allegiance to other powers than the Southern Confederacy. Others took shelter under the exemptions to be found in the militia laws of the State Legislatures. This, in some instances, was acquiesced in by the Confederate authorities, although the conscript law did not recognize any acts of State Legislatures.

The call of the President was for the whole body of men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. Immediately after the publication of the call the enrolment commenced. Much time elapsed during the preliminary arrangements and it was not until the month of June

that the benefits of the conscription began to be felt in the increase of the armies. Although the act declared every man a soldier with a few exceptions, between certain ages, yet the number of exempts was comparatively large and the number of conscripts less than might be supposed. A certain number were exempted in proportion to the number of slaves; the officers of the Confederate and State Governments, those incapable from physical disability, clergymen, persons engaged in Government work and some others exempted from militia duty by State laws. Still during the summer months the Confederate force largely outnumbered the Federal armies, and caused the issue by President Lincoln in July, of a call for three hundred thousand men for the war and an additional three hundred thousand for nine months.

The usual consequences of the enforcement of a conscription law were apparent in this instance. While the enrolment was going forward, substitutes were sought out and engaged at bounties from one hundred to two thousand dollars. It became such a serious evil in the city of Richmond as to cause the issue of the following order:

HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF HENRICO, RICHMOND, Va., August 1, 1862. The obtaining of substitutes through the medium of agents is strictly forbidden. When such agents are employed, the principal, the substitute and the agent will be impressed into the military service, and the money paid for the substitute, and as a reward to the agent, will be confiscated to the Government. The offender will also be subjected to such other imprisonment as may be imposed by a court martial.

By order of Brigadier General JOHN H. WINDER, commanding Department, &c.

I. R. PAGE, Assistant Adjutant-General. Desertions also followed in such vast number as to call for the interference of the War Department. The following orders were accordingly issued from that quarter:

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE, RICHMOND, June 13, 1862.

1. With the consent and approbation of his Excellency Governor Letcher, all sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and constables of the State of Virginia are authorized and requested to apprehend deserters from the army wherever they may be found, and to deliver them to an officer of the army at the most convenient post or station, or to lodge them in jail, and report their names and regiments to General S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector General, Richmond.

Thirty dollars will be paid for all deserters delivered to an officer and fifteen dollars for each deserter lodged in jail. No allowance will be made for expenses of apprehension or transportation. All jailors receiving deserters are requested to detain them. The usual allowance for the support of prisoners will be made.

from the army and to deliver them to the commandant of the nearest camp of instruction, or to lodge them in the nearest jail, and to return their names, company, and regiment to the Adjutant and Inspector General Jailers are requested to detain them, and will be allow ed the fees and charges for the detention of prisoners prescribed by the laws of the State in which the jail is

situated.

Enrolling officers are also required to report to the Adjutant and Inspector General the names and address of all persons absent from the army without leave, whether by the expiration of their leaves of absence, furloughs, details, or otherwise. And where this unauthorized absence exceeds the time required to correspond with the War Department, the enrolling officer will arrest the person and send him to the nearest camp of instruction, reporting the arrest to the Adjutant and Inspector General.

Commandants of camps of instruction are required to forward deserters and persons absent without leave to their regiments, and have the powers of arrest conferred upon the enrolling officer.

By command of the Secretary of War.

S. COOPER Adjutant and Inspector General.

Circular to Officers enrolling Conscripte.
ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE
RICHMOND, July 14, 1862.

Agreeably to General Orders No. 49, current series, this day published, you are required to arrest all deserters, and, under certain circumstances, all persons absent from the army without leave.

The public welfare requires you to discharge this duty, and the more important duty of enrolling conscripts, with the utmost activity, and without fear, favor, or affection.

Our capacity to improve the brilliant victories Dow favoring our arms depends mainly upon your exertions

to fill the ranks of our armies.

If you are zealous and active we shall make our enemy taste the bitterness of war; if you are negligent we shall continue to witness its ravages on our own soil.

By command of the Secretary of War.
S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector General. This circular was issued just before the invasion of Maryland was commenced.

The public press appealed to the citizens in all parts of the South to assist in the apprehension of deserters and stragglers from the army "by giving information to the authorities of the place of refuge of these creatures." They said: "There should be no resting place for the feet of these creatures. Every man and woman in the country is able to do something in pursuing, shaming, and driving back to the ranks those who have deserted their colors and their comrades and turned their backs upon their country's service. Let all ages and sexes in the country assist the Government in reclaiming deserters and stragglers, and in maintaining the integrity of our army. We trust this exhortation will not be lost upon the country. Desertions are reducing our army defying its discipline, corrupting its spirit and morals, and seriously endangering the fortunes of our cause."

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJ'T AND INSP.GENERAL'S OFFICE,

General Orders No. 49.

All persons engaged in enrolling conscripts are hereby authorized and required to arrest deserters

At the time when the conscript law was passed by the Confederate Congress, another act, to provide for Partisan Rangers, was also adopted. It was as follows:

"An act to organize bands of Partisan Rangers:" SECTION 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President be and he is hereby authorized to commission such officers as he may deem proper, with authority to form bands of Partisan Rangers, in companies, battalions or regiments, either as infantry or cavalry, the companies, battalions or regiments to be composed, each of such number as the President may approve.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That such Partisan Rangers, after being regularly received into the service, shall be entitled to the same pay, rations and quarters, during their term of service, and be subjected to the same regulations as other soldiers.

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That for any arms and munitions of war captured from the enemy by any body of Partisan Rangers, and delivered to any quartermaster at such place or places as may be designated by a Commanding General, the Rangers shall be paid their full value in such manner as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

Approved April 21, 1862.

Its practical operation is fully set forth in the following correspondence between a member of the Senate from Missouri and the Secretary of War:

SPOTTSWOOD HOTEL, RICHMOND, July 15, 1862. Hon. GEORGE W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War: SIR-I respectfully desire to know from you whether the several Partisan Corps of Rangers, now organized or that may be organized in the several States of the Confederacy, are to be regarded as part of the army of the Confederacy, and protected by the Government as such; and whether, if any of said corps are captured in battle, or otherwise while in the line of their duty, by the enemy, this Government will claim for them the same treatment, as prisoners of war, which is now exact ed for prisoners belonging to our provisional army. Are not all Partisan Rangers, organized by your authority, emphatically a part of the Confederate army, and will they not be regarded and treated as such? I consider that it is not only the right, but the duty of every loyal citizen of the Confederate States, to resist, by all means in his power, even to the death, if necessary, the attempt of the enemy in a body or singly to invade his domicile or to capture his person, or that of his wife, child, ward, or servant, or to take from him against his will any of his property; and if, in making such resistance, whether armed or not, our citizens are captured by such invading enemy, have they not the right to demand to be treated by the enemy as other prisoners of war; and will not this Government exert all its power, if necessary, to the end that its citizens are thus protected and treated?

This is a war waged against the sovereignty of the several States of the Confederacy, and against the lives liberty and property of every citizen yielding alle giance to the States and Government of their choice, in which they reside. Such a war has no parallel in the history of Christian nations.

I respectfully request you to give me your opinions on the several points in this letter, in a form to be submitted to my constituents, to enlighten them in regard to the extent of their rights and powers as viewed by this Government, and how far their Government will protect them in the exercise of those rights, which, to an intelligent freeman, are dearer than life itself. Your early answer is respectfully requested. With great respect,

JOHN B. CLARK.

WAR DEPARTMENT, RICHMOND, Va, July 16, 1862. CONFEDERATE, STA, 14, IRRICA, } Hon. John B. Clark, Confederate States Senate: SIR-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, and to reply, that Parti

san Rangers are a part of the provisional army of the Confederate States, subject to all the regulations adopted for its government, and entitled to the same protection as prisoners of war. Partisan Rangers are in no respect different from troops of the line, except that they are not brigaded, and are employed oftener on detached service. They require stricter discipline than other troops to make them efficient, and without discipline they become a terror to their friends and are contemptible in the eyes of the enemy.

With reference to your inquiry as to the protection which the Government will extend to private citizens taken in hostile acts against the enemy, it is not easy to lay down a general rule.

War, as conducted by civilized nations, is usually a contest between the respective governments of the belligerents, and private individuals, remaining quietly at home, are respected in their rights of person and property. In return for this privilege they are expected to take no part in hostilities, unless called on by their government.

If, however, in violation of this usage, private citizens of Missouri should be oppressed and maltreated by the public enemy, they have unquestionably a right to take up arms in their own defence, and if captured and confined by the enemy, under such circumstances, they are entitled, as citizens of the Confederate States, to all the protection which that Government can afford; and among the measures to which it may be useful to resort is that of the lex talionis.

We shall deplore the necessity of retaliation, as adding greatly to the miseries of the war, without advancing its objects; and, therefore, we shall act with great circumspection, and only upon facts clearly ascertained. But if it is our only means of compelling the observitate to resort to it when the proper time arrives. Very ance of the usages of civilized warfare, we cannot hesrespectfully your obedient servant.

GEORGE W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War. Notwithstanding these extreme efforts by the Confederate Government to obtain men, such ling nearly six hundred thousand fresh volunwas the power of its adversary, now marshalteers for the field, and such the reduction of the Confederate forces by desertion, sickness, and losses in battle, that renewed exertions were demanded. The Confederate Congress, therefore, in September, passed another act of conscription, calling out every man between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five, and all youths as soon as they became eighteen years of age. The important part of the act was as follows:

An act to amend an act, entitled “ An act to provide further for the public defence," approved April 16,

1862.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President be, and he is hereby authorized, to call out and place in the military service of the Confederate States, for three years, unless the war shall have been sooner ended, all white men who are residents of the Confederate States, between the

ages of thirty-five and forty-five years, at the time the call or calls may be made, and who are not at such time or times legally exempted from military service; or such parts thereof as, in his judgment, may be necessary to the public defence, such call or calls to be made under the provisions and according to the terms of the act to which this is an amendment; and such authority shall exist in the President, during the present war, as to all persons who now are, or may hereafter become, eighteen years of age; and, when once enrolled, all persons between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years shall serve their full time; Provided, That if the President, in calling out troops into the service of the Confederate States, shall first call for only a part of the persons, between the ages hereinbe