83. JEFFERSON DAVIS SIGNS A CONFEDERATE DRAFT ACT JEFFERSON DAVIS (1808 - 1889) President of the Confederacy who led his armies beyond the surrender at Appomattox. Historically important war-date manuscript D.S. "Jefferson Davis", also signed by Confederate Vice President and President of the Senate ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS and Speaker of the House of Representatives THOMAS S. BOCOCK, 1p. folio, Richmond, [May 1, 1863], an Act of the Confederate Congress ordering that American citizens in lands within the limits of the Confederacy were to be liable for draft and service within the Confederate Army! The bill reads in part: "Enrolled, An Act to provide for placing in the military service of the Confederate States, citizens of the United States, residing or sojourning within the limits of the Confederate States...The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact as follows: All white male persons, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, claiming to be citizens of any of the States, or Territories of the United States, residing or sojourning within the limits of the Confederate States, and who would, if citizens of the Confederate States, be subject to military duty under the laws now in force, or which may be hereafter enacted, shall, if within the Confederate States, upon or after the first day of July, A.D., one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, be held subject to military duty in the same manner as if such persons were citizens of any of the States composing the Confederate States...It shall be the duty of the President, within ten days after the passage and approval of this act to issue his proclamation, giving notice of the provisions herein contained...[and] it shall be the duty of the proper officers to enforce said provision...". Davis, Stephens and Bocock have all signed at bottom. On the verso, the document has been docketed with a brief description beneath which House Congressional Clerk A.R. LAMAR notes that the act had been read before Congress three times between Apr. 9 and Apr. 27, 1863, Senate Secretary JAMES H. NASH notes the same readings between Apr. 30 and May 1, 1863, and Lamar certifies on May 1 that the bill originated in the House. The document is in a delicate state, with extensive dampstains to left margin and right side, a tear with negligible loss at one fold, all of which costs but two or three words of text. Davis signature has been intentionally scratched-off, yet the signature is undeniably that of the Confederate President, Stephens signature is a bit light, Bocock's about 3/10 yet fully legible. This is a most intriguing document! According to historian John M. Coski of the Museum of the Confederacy, this Act is likely H.R. 64. According to the Journal of the Confederate Congress, it was signed, enrolled, and presented to the president for his approval. Of course, we know that the document was signed — the document itself considers it the president's "duty" to sign the document. The act does not, however, appear in the statutes, nor was it ever published on its own. Coski speculates that the reason may be because this document was either misplaced or diverted, or the president ultimately refused to approve it. The latter may be the case, as Davis may have decided to obliterate his own signature. However, although Davis' papers note that he vetoed a bill on May 1, 1863, this apparently was not that bill. So...this bill will remain shrouded in mystery. We do know that two months later, Lee and his armies were well into Pennsylvania and this law would have allowed him, and for that matter any Confederate general taking American territory, to forcefully seize American citizens for service in the Confederate Army. To our knowledge, this is the only signed act of the Confederate Congress to ever be offered for sale. $10,000 - 15,000