USA > Wisconsin > Iowa County > History of Iowa County, Wisconsin > Part 83
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The services of the citizens soldiering in the cause of freedom and liberty are imbued with a decp, undying interest, which gather additional prestige by the waning years. Following are synoptical sketches of the war records of cach full company, contributed by Iowa County.
GENERAL EVENTS.
Numerous events that transpired during those years of anguish and anxiety could be woven into voluminous narratives, but, in the absence of the necessary space, we present herewith, in chronological order, a brief account of the principal events of that dark era :
Miners' Guard, the first to volunteer for service, assigned to the Second Regiment as Com- pany 1. Left for Camp Randall, liberally supplied with commissariat stores by the ladies of Mineral Point. Linden raising and drilling a company of volunteers. Report that Secesh flag had been raised in Highland. Dodgeville commenced recruiting. Fifth Wisconsin Regiment organized, with Col. A. Cobb and Surgeon George D. Wilber, of Mineral Point, on the list of officers.
Extract from a local paper :
" The call for volunteers to fill the ranks of the Miners' Guard was so promptly answered by the patriotie young men of this vicinity that the number was increased to 100 in a very short time. The inquiry . who will go ?' was soon changed to 'who will stay ?' for word came that but seventy-eight would be received .in a company. To decide this matter with regard to
548
HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
the Miners' Guard, a committee outside the company was chosen to select. The task was a very unpleasant one for the committee, as all the volunteers were good men, and anxious to be counted in. The committee had no criterion by which to be governed, except to select out such to remain behind as had families or business that most required the attention of those who offered to go. Considerable disappointment was felt by some on being left behind, but we feel that the committee acted from pure motives, and, however much many desired to be in the first company from this place, they will rally for a new company, the ranks of which are being rapidly filled."
At the battle of Bull Run, Thomas Maloney, of the Miners' Guard, was reported among the missing. When exchanged, he related the following story to account for his absence, which on investigation proved literally true : After Col. O'Connor had been mortally wounded, he aided in removing him from the field of battle. He then returned and assisted Sergt. James Gregory to the hospital of an Indiana regiment. Learning that his brother-in-law, John Tregea. was yet in the field, he returned in search of him. In the darkness of the night, he approached a body of soldiers, whom he mistook for Union troops, and was there taken prisoner. He was soon after paroled and sent to Annapolis for exchange.
September, 1861 .- Capt. L. H. Whittlesey, forming a company, received thirty-five appli- cations the first day. Capt. Ashmore, of Arena, and Capt. Loeber, of Dodgeville, organizing companies. Lieut. Cornelius Koutz enlisting men for German regiment of Milwaukee. Capt. Whittlesey, with Farmers' Guards, ordered to Camp Randall.
October .- Letter from Miners' Guard from Camp Advance, Va., asking for thirteen men to fill vacancies in company. Capt. Landworthy, of Company K. and Lieut. Meredith, of Com- pany H. arrived in quest of recruits. Gen. Thomas Stephens commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of Second Wisconsin Cavalry, opened a recruiting office in Dodgeville. Constitutional Guards, of Arena, numbering sixty, fearing to be omitted from the Eleventh Regiment, went to Madison and united with Randall Zouaves, assuming latter name. Capt. W. E. Patton, First Lieut. E. D. Partridge, Second Lieut. llenry Blake. H. Downs, formerly Captain, was elected Orderly Sergeant. John Bracken commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment. Twenty- five young men enlisted with Col. Bracken, for service in the Miners' Guard, then at Washing- ton, D. C.
Dodgeville Guards mustered into Twelfth Regiment as Company C at Camp Randall. Levi Sterling obtained a Captain's commission, with authority to raise a company for Second Wis- consin Cavalry ; opened a recruiting office in H. P. George's store, Mineral Point.
At this, the Tribune says : " We are gratified to be able to say that Levi Sterling has already commenced raising a company in this place and vicinity, and will no doubt succeed in filling its ranks in a very short time with first-class volunteers. Quite a number have long been waiting for an opportunity to join a cavalry company. who will now, we presume, come forward and unite with Capt. Sterling's company. With officers who dare to lead where brave men dare to follow, we anticipate a bright future for the Second Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment."
December .- Meeting held at Camp Curtis, MId., to thank ladies of Mineral Point for appropriate gift of 102 pairs of mittens. Nine volunteers froin Iowa County enter Second Cav- alry, under Capt. Palmer, at Camp Washburn. W. A. Owens, James Gregory, G. W. Dilley. F. Bremer and Walter P. Smith, of Miners' Guard, captured at Bull Run, and exchanged.
Mineral Point Soldiers' Relief Circle instituted, Amelia A. Knibbs, President ; Kate Tyack, Secretary. Memorial presented to Capt. Devlin on resigning command of Miners' Guard.
January, 1862 .- Shipment of underclothing to soldiers from ladies of Mineral Point. Sergt. James Gregory, of Miners' Guard, presented with a beautiful silk banner by a Union lady, resident in Richmond, Va. Capt. Loeher, of Dodgeville Guards, detained at home by illness. rejoins his regiment at Fort Leavenworth. Kan. Private Budlong, home on leave of absence. opens a recruiting office at the Wisconsin House, Mineral Point.
April .- George II. Otis elected Captain of Miners' Gnard, vice W. W. La Fleiche, resigned.
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
May .- Sergt. William Nelson, formerly a printer in the office of the Mineral Point Tribune, eulogized for following feat of bravery : In May, an attack was made upon Point Rock Bridge, near Huntsville, Ala., by a band of irregular cavalrymen, numbering from 200 to 300, as afterward ascertained. Sergt. William Nelson was on guard, with fifteen men. The assault began at midnight, by the enemy advancing upon both sides of the railroad, and pouring volley after volley into the little band, from rifles, guns, revolvers, and every species of arms that bushwhackers could get together. The noble Union band replied with decision, and, in reply to each repeated demand to surrender, the brave Sergeant would reply with warmth, consigning the rebel crew to a base region, and accompanying the condemnation with a charge to his men to "Give it to 'em, boys!" Sergt. Mckinnon, of Company H, same regiment, hearing firing, came to the rescue with ten men. After a fight of three hours' duration, the enemy were driven off. This defense is unparalleled in modern warfare.
July .- Lieut. Col. Guppy tendered the command of the Twenty-third Regiment, to be raised in the Third Congressional District. Capt. Devlin appointed to the command of new company called Stanton Guards.
August .- Enthusiastic war meeting at Dodgeville. Col. Amasa Cobb, of the Fifth Wis- consin ; Col. Thomas Stepliens, of the Second Cavalry, were present, and delivered stirring addresses. Hon. L. W. Joiner, of Wyoming, was Chairman ; Revs. Thomson and Mathir spoke in favor of the county granting a bounty. Resolutions were adopted recommending the County Board to pay $5 per month to families of enlisted soldiers. L. S. Burton commissioned to raise a company ; Joel C. Squires and Fred Moeller, commenced recruiting.
Large war meeting in Mineral Point. A committee appointed to collect subscriptions in aid of the families of volunteers. Maj. T. S. Allen, for distinguished bravery at Bull Run, pro- moted to the colonelcy of Twenty-third Regiment. Busy at Mineral Point recruiting office. In one day, thirty-five men were enlisted from Mifflin, and twenty-five from Linden. Mineral Point citizens subscribed $40 to each man who volunteered without being drafted. Death of Lieut. Col. L. H. D. Crane, of Third Wisconsin Regiment, who fell in battle at Culpeper, Va., pierced by two bullets. While a citizen of Iowa Connty, he had held the office of Prosecuting Attorney, and was subsequently chosen Clerk of the Assembly.
September .- Call for 638 men from Iowa County. Meetings of Soldiers Aid Society, pre- sided over by Mrs. George W. Bliss, for preparing lint bandages and hospital supplies. Burton Guards elected following officers : Captain, L. S. Burton ; First Lieutenant, William H. Gill ; Second Lieutenant, Frank Carver. Successful Soldiers Aid Picnic, attended by Dodgeville and Highland companies, just organized. Addressed by Gen. William R. Smith. Rev. J. Lawson presented each man with a Bible on behalf of Iowa County Bible Society. The ladies donated each man a needle-case. Receipts, $115. J. F. Suddeth, appointed Adjutant of the new Thirty-first Regiment, to which the Dodgeville company was assigned. Capt. Wigham's Highland company, assigned to the Twenty-seventh Regiment. Lieut. Col. Sterling opens a recruiting office at Dodgeville for Second Cavalry.
. October-Capt. Devlin's new company, the Stanton Guards, and the Burton Guards received marching orders for Camp Randall. Non-commissioned officers of the Burton Guards, were Sergeants, F. J. Rowe, Thomas O'Kent, John Suffcool, William E. Keeney, Joseph Chey- noweth ; Corporals, Thomas W. Carter, Thomas Leysen, Arthur Gleason, William Wallace, Daniel Kober, John R. Bainbridge, Le Roy Humbert, William L. Williams; Commissioner Beacken appointed Draft Commissioner.
January, 1863 .- Capt. Otis in camp, was presented with an elegant sword and belt, by the Miners Guard. Damascus blade, beautifully mounted, with hilt set in pearls and covered with an embossed sheath. The whole was encased in a neat walnut box. with an address to the recipient. Cost, $65. Sergt. Legate made the presentation in name of his comrades.
Marchi-Union League established, George W. Bliss, F. Vivian and A. Wilson, officers. At a subsequent meeting, a gavel, formed from the timbers of the Merrimack, was received from Col. Whipples of the Nineteenth Regiment.
550
HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
August-Company formed at the City Hall, Mineral Point, in pursuance of a petition for organization : Captain, Harvey S. Keys ; First Lieutenant, H. F. Thayer ; Second Lieutenant, H. H. Walters ; Orderly, John Bracken ; Sergeants, R. R. Davis, John Stansmore, Henry Dunstan, Delos P. Beech. Members, James Roberts, George Goldthorp, John T. Owens, Joseph Phillips, William H. Prideaux, J. S. Beardsley, A. McAllister, Phillip Lawrence, J. J. Davey. J. V. Mayhew, N. Olmstead, P. M. Hanscom, R. Robinson, Alex Wilson, J. Grey, J. Shep- herd, R. Lanyon, H. Schellenger, George Harris, Amasa Cobb, G. W. Bliss, William Smith, J. Francis, J. Hollingshead, N. Lathrop, F. Wheeler, P. Lawrence, A. K. Ladd, William H. Chenoweth, E. Curnow, C. C. Neal, C. Schlosser, B. Stevens, J. Spensley, Joseph Phillips, B. Fairchild, W. J. Jackson, Zeton Storen, J. C. Goldthorp, D. Mellhatton, J. Harris, William Coade, S. E. Dixon, Thomas Luchsinger, James Dunner, James Lee, R. V. Smith, C. H. Cox, G. S. Mosher, T. J. Otis, Max Adler, J. T. Spencer, W. Trewartha, William Lanyon, Sr., John Prideaux, J. D. Ansley, O. Paddock, J. Ivey, Jr., W. Jacka, J. L. Beardsley, E. Wiesen, S. W. Reese, J. Bonner, H. Dunstan, J. Whitman, A. J. Slye, William Elliot, H. H. Walters, Jo- seph Rogers, G. W. Lewis, F. J. Cowan, J. T. Owens, William H. Jones, Duane Wheeler, J. C. Wilcox, John Mitchell, P. J. Morris, I. Stuart, H. F. Thayer, J. W. Vandmyre, W. W. Williams, Thomas Thomas, R. R. Davis, B. S. Morris, Samuel Erskine, William H. Prideaux, R. Cline, Samuel Clandon, G. Thomas, Thomas Rowe, George Sanden, A. McAllister, J. T. Pryor, Jr., S. Henderson, George Sims, Jr., J. Leddicoat, John Rogers, J. R. Roberts, J. Johns, W. R. Owens, J. P. Davis, John W. Williams, William J. Thomas, Evan E. Evans, William II. Hughes, J. Lawson, B. Hoskins, William Sonden, James Roberts, D. MI. Jones, William Jacka, Jr., John Javel, Joseph Craig, George C. Ettershanks, Josiah Lanyon and John Wearn.
1864-65-John Green, of Moscow, commissioned to raise a company for the Thirty-seventh Regiment. Return of Farmers' Guards, Company E, Eleventh Regiment on furlough. Banquet with Second Cavalry veterans, at City Hall, on Wednesday, April 20, 1864. On July 13, 1864, Maj. George H. Otis took charge of the Tribune and returned colors of the Second Regiment to Gov. J. T. Lewis. April 11, 1865, Dr. J. H. Vivian, Surgeon of the Fiftieth Reginent, pre- sented by the Clerks of the Provost Marshal's office, with a beautiful sword and belt. Septem- ber 6, 1865, dinner given by the ladies of Avoca, to returned soldiers from that district.
RIOTOUS VETERANS.
The events in the county during the feverish struggle at the front partook of none of the prevailing excitement, and local affairs were administered in the quiet tenor of every-day har- mony. The only incident worthy of mention occurred in the summer of 1864, on the occasion of the arrival home of a company of the Thirtieth Regiment on furlough. Inflated with the pleasures attendant on relief from arduous camp service, and rejoiced with the attention of friends, the gallant "boys " imbibed too freely of stimulants, and, in their exhilarated condition, threatened to burn up several putative "copperheads " and sack their houses. The threats were principally directed againt Dr. Van Dusen, an outspoken Democrat. Anticipating an attack, some of his friends, namely, Reuben Libby, William J. Healey and Edwin Prideaux, mounted guard on the premises until after the departure of the ultra-loyalists.
During the furlough, an imminent riot on Commerce street was averted by the cool and intrepid conduct of John P. Tramel, who was at the time Mayor. A squad of the Thirtieth, while passing down Commerce street, encountered a piece of timber obstructing the sidewalk in front of Joseph Lanyon's shop. One of the leaders kicked it into the street, and, on being ordered to replace it, the squad turned upon the offending carpenter and drove him into his shop, which they proceeded to despoil. They had already broken the windows with their rifles when interrupted by the Mayor who appeared on the scene, and, accosting the leader personally, dis- armed him. This attack had a salutary effect on the other rioters, who submitted to the civil authority and quietly resigned their arms. Such collisions between the military and civil powers were only of rare occurrence, and were the natural outcome of a troop of active spirits released from the fettering restraints of a rigid camp life.
551
HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
THE DRAFT.
The conscriptive summons of the President was generally responded to with enthusiastic celerity; and in the instance of the first draft, in 1862, many distriets were found to have fur- nished volunteers greatly in excess of the quota required by law. Arena, Mifflin, Pulaski and Wyoming were enumerated among the towns of Wisconsin that gained exemption by so valiant an evasion of the draft. In no section of the county were compulsory or arbitrary measures resorted to to enforce conscription. Citizens with families dependent on their individual efforts for maintenance justifiably manifested an indisposition to be forcibly ostracised from their wives and babes, but not in a single instance was this dissatisfaction expressed save in murmuring at the immutable deerees of a hard fate. Unlike contiguous counties in Southwestern Wisconsin, Iowa harbored no rank rebels, as her patriotic citizens resented such an unnatural union. Southern sympathizers were taught to repress their disloyal feelings by force of reasoning, and, when the power of moral suasion was futile, then the secessionist was moved by physical pun- ishment to abjure his pernicious doctrines.
As stated elsewhere, volunteering was lively at the outset of the war, which, in a measure, ameliorated the subsequent draft. The first draft of 1862 called for the services of six hundred and thirty-eight men from Iowa County. This quota, as reduced by volunteering to two hun- dred and twenty-three men, was distributed among the towns as follows: Clyde, 23; Dodge- ville, 30; Highland, 11; Linden, 15; Mineral Point, 42; city of Mineral Point, First Ward, 14, Second Ward, 20; Moscow, 10; Ridgeway, 51, and Waldwick, 7.
Men drafted in November, 1862, in Iowa County, by Commissioner Bracken :
Clyde .- John Shelton, Edgar Harkins, Owen McWeeney, Lewis Jackson, Patrick Ben- nett. Charles Mix, Mark Delaney, Abram F. Hall, Theodore Harris, James Farregan, James C. Anderson, Abel Thurber, Michael Murphy, Knudt Anneson, Welcome Hoxe, Charles Front, Henry W. Calvin, Ranson Bennett, George Martin, Alexander Razy, Gilbert Helson, Leonard A. Phillips and Thomas Hoxey.
Dodgeville .- Thomas Owens, Ross Forbes, F. Higgins, George W. French, Peter Spang, K. Oleson, Matthias Koss, John Collingwood, Chris Johansen, John Prideaux, James Smith, Andrew Anderson, Samuel W. Davey, Ed Rowen, Thomas Williams, Ole Ferguson, James George, Thomas Holland, William Sellers, Gude Halversen, Francis R. Walters, Thomas Kar- keek, Sr., Frank Munger, Ole Andersen, Samuel Crowley, Joseph Curnah, Ole Navvison, Jack Ludavick, Peter A. Griffith and Mathew Launder.
Highland .- Henry Smith, John Lampkins, Neis Knueson, Joseph Nagle, Francis Lord, John Wichberg, Hans Jacobs, Henry Edwards, Dennis MeGrath, John Toskelson and Peter Christianson.
Linden .- Richard Richards, William Notman, Mathew Holman, John Hazwell, George Wearne, John Mitchell, George Warren, Henry K. Hughes, William Temby, Fred Jewell, John Rundell, George Wearne, Joseph Bowden, Jr., Thomas Adams, Henry Baker and John Hancock.
Moscow .- Ole Gilbertsen and Jesse Moorman.
Mineral Point Town .- Richard Biekell, William Wallis, Jr., William Malkaha, Joseph Brock, Thomas James, Matthias Smith, Samuel Fitzsimmons, Jr., Edward Phillips, Thomas Gundry, John Ash, Joseph Phillips, Edward Evans, Robert Quick, John Bartle, Richard Jack- son, Jr., John Thomas, Jonathan Matthews, John Hale, Michael Shiff, Samuel Jole, Robert George, Martin O'Dowd, Henry Spittspot, Samuel Frisk, Mark Gilbank, Moses Stevenson, William Parkinson and Charles Curry.
Ridgeway .- William Cook, Jonathan Paull, John B. Williams, Timothy Hamilton, Peter Petersen, Joseph Leysen, David Evans, William Rudessdorf, Evan Thomas, Nick Seversen, William H. Williams, Miles Wilcox, Joseph Crossen, O. C. Thompson, James Hyde, Thomas Powell, Robert Lloyd, Andrew Pierce, William Truchall, James Priestley, William MeDermaid, Benjamin Williams, Michael MeDermaid, William Curtis, Charles Adams, John Carey, J.
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
Raymond, D. Lewis, William H. Baker, William Miller, John Conway, R. Simpson, Ole Nichol- son, Ole Andersen, Ilugh Lewis, Benjamin Evans, Charles H. Buley, Edwin Holley, Isaac Harnis, David Williams, Jacob Laird, Thomas Reese and Seever Oleson.
Waldwick .- George F. Humbert, John Pile, Ed MeDermott, Jonathan White, Samuel Zollinger, Daniel Kernin and John Wilcox.
Under the draft of 1863, the Draft Commissioners issued a call for 195 recruits. The quotas of the respective towns were : Clyde, 7; Pulaski, 10; Wyoming, 5 ; Arena, 16 ; Ridge- way, 22 ; Dodgeville, 34 ; Highland, 24 ; Mifflin, 14; Linden, 15; Mineral Point, 1st Ward, 10; Mineral Point, 2d Ward, 10; Town of Mineral Point, 12; Waldwick, 9, and Moscow, 7.
On equalizing the President's call of 1864, it was found that the quota of Iowa County was 585 men, as follows : Pulaski, 18; Clyde, 19; Linden, 35 ; Mifflin, 26 ; Wyoming, 7 ; Arena, 33; Ridgeway, 65; Dodgeville, 108 ; Highland, 90; Linden, 35; Mifflin, 26; Mineral Point town, 25; City of Mineral Point, 1st Ward, 26; City of Mineral Point, 2d Ward, 26; Wald- wick, 24, and Moscow, 22.
BOUNTY DIFFICULTIES.
Among the few counties of the State that refused to encourage enlistment by the appropri- ation of money for the support of deserted families, Iowa ranked foremost, for, with the excep- tion of a paltry sum of $6 monthly to the penniless families of soldiers, no other appropriation was made. Even this trifling sum doled with niggardly exactitude was considered extravagant by members of the Board of Supervisors, who at the annual meeting in February, 1862, adopted the following self-explanatory resolution :
Resolved, That the benefits of the resolution of 1861, granting relief to the soldiers' families. be extended to all the soldiers' families of Iowa County (except substitutes), whether volunteers or drafted men.
And, whereas, a general impression seems to prevail that the aforesaid resolutions were intended to offer a monthly pay to the families of soldiers, and, unfortunately, it would seem, by the action of some of the town boards, that they have fallen into the same error, we therefore wish it to be distinctly understood that it was never intended to be considered or offered as a regular monthly pay, but only as a fund to be drawn upon when all other resources had failed, and only in such case is it to be considered a legal charge against the county.
Corporately the County Board did nothing until their cool demeanor provoked the citizens of Dodgeville to present a unanimous petition praying the board to levy a tax sufficient to guarantee a bounty of $25 to each volunteer from the county. By referring to Section 1, Chap- ter 13, of the General Laws of 1862, it was found that the board was not invested with the authority required to levy a tax for that purpose. A proposition of the petitioners that the county assume the extra State pay of $5 per month to volunteers until February. 1863, was adopted, on condition that the same papers required by the Secretary of State be presented to the Clerk of the board and assigned to the county.
In April, 1862, the care and support of volunteers' families was turned over to the several towns in which they resided. The apathetic attitude of the Supervisors was a marked contrast to the individual exertions of citizens who, in all parts of the agitated county, raised by subscrip- tion money sufficient to bounteously subsidize their local recruits.
On December 19, 1863, a meeting of citizens was held at Mineral Point to devise means for raising the quota without enforcing the draft. Hon. John Toay was Chairman. Resolutions were adopted requesting the Common Council to levy a tax of $5,000, for the purpose of offer- ing a bounty of $200 to all volunteers ; any surplus on hand after securing the number of men, was to be paid to the families of soldiers already in the army. At this meeting. C. H. Cox pre- sented a subscription list for a fund to purchase wood for families of soldiers in war. Following are the amounts subscribed on the spot, although a considerable fund was afterward accumulated :
C. HI. Cox. $5; Alexander Wilson, $5; R. Lanyon, $5; Toay & Allen, $5; T. S. Ans- ley, $5; Richard Argall, $1; John James, $1; N. Olds, $1; Samuel Cole, $2; E. Jeffrey, 75 cents ; T. Mitchell, J. Prideaux, R. Penrose, R. White, H. S. Keys, George Bottomly and Abram Hole, $1 each ; R. Jeffrey, $2; John Francis, $2; George W. Bliss, $5, and John B. Terry, five loads of wood.
553
HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
As an inducement te volunteers, the City Ceuneil ef Mineral Peint, en the 22d day of April, 1861, passed a reselutien te appropriate $6 per menth te the families of the first twelve married men whe enlisted here. The first families to avail themselves of this aet were those ef Messrs. Rule, Sleep and White.
At the annual election of 1863, a vote was taken to raise meney te defray the expenses of the war, by tax, which was defeated. Again in December, a special meeting to raise $3,000 was held and the project carried. This was followed by another meeting early in February ef the following year, which resulted in raising $5,000 more to prevent a draft ; and by the 19th of the same month, William T. Henry, who was City Clerk, reports $10,367 on hand, which had been obtained partially by subseription. Aside frem this, various parties bought substitutes, sometimes paying very high figures, so that in reality no accurate estimate ef the amount of funds paid out for the war can be made ; suffice it to say it was large.
Enrolling went vigorously ferward in 1863, under the stimulus of $300 State bounty, and $200 town bounty. All defections were quickly remedied, and the ranks were rapidly filled. The final draft of 1864, as an invocatien to the loyalty ef the people, taxed their depleted home- steads te supply. The flower and chivalry of the land had gone forth already, and, to meet the two preceding drafts, every nerve had been strained. This, it was eenjeetured, weuld lead te a erisis in the county necessitating the intervention of the Provost Marshal to assert the dignity of the law. The law was not invoked, as the citizens, by a master effort, eventually answered the draft, and enrolled themselves, irrelevant of coercive measures.
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