In 1863, the Federal Government instituted a national draft that overrode the previous system. If you were of military age and had not volunteered, you would be drafted, and the draft would be enforced. The only way out was to hire a substitute who was willing to go in your stead, or pay a commutation fee, which would let you off until there was another call for troops with another quota attached. How do the Armed Services obtain recruits today? When was the last time there was a draft law in effect?

You can see that Royal Whitman rose steadily and rapidly through the ranks from his original status as an "NCS" (non-commissioned sergeant). After the War, all the state regiments were disbanded and the surviving soldiers returned to their homes. Many men like Royal Whitman then decided to join the regular United States Army, which was embroiled in Indian Wars in the West. The rank he had attained as an officer in a state volunteer regiment could not be carried over into the regular U.S. Army, so Whitman joined the 3rd U.S. Cavalry as a mere lieutenant. He found himself fighting Apache Indians in Arizona, where he gained a rather unpleasant reputation which may or may not be deserved. Here is a website that will tell you what happened in Arizona. It is somewhat biased in favor of the Native Americans, but the details appear to be true.

Royal Whitman died in Washington, D. C. in 1913.

Royal Whitman was busily recruiting volunteers for the army in and around Turner. By the summer of 1862, the Federal Government had established a state quota system by which the number of troops required from each state was assigned. The quotas were then apportioned among the municipalities of each state according to the numbers of men in each town who were of military age. If a town's quota was not met by a sufficient number of volunteers, individuals could be drafted to fill the deficit.

Click for a transcript of Royal Whitman's Enlistment Cards.

Summary service record cards like these were created by the Adjutant General's Office for every soldier from Maine who served in the Civil War. The information that appears on each card was abstracted from the regimental rolls, including muster-in, muster-out, descriptive information and other details of each man's service. The numbers that appear on the right of each card refer to the page numbers in the original rolls from which the information was taken. "M.O." means mustered out; F & S means that the individual was both a Field and Staff Officer.