Hi George:

I can't offer you a specific example of an "oath" taken by a Yankee deserter joining the Confederate army. But it should be the same as that taken by Confederate volunteers. The Confederate enlistment oath was the same oath taken by volunteers joining the United States army with a simple substitution of "Confederate" for "United" in two places. According to David Upton's research, this enlistment oath dates back to 1795.

From the enlistment papers of several of my family members who enrolled in Confederate service in 1862:

"I [state your name] do solemnly swear, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Confederate States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whomsoever; and that I will observe and obey the orders of the President of the Confederate States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the Rules and Articles of War."

I recently did a study of Confederate POWs who "galvanized" at Fort Delaware in the summer of 1863 and joined the Federal 1st Connecticut Cavalry. A couple of days before letting them take the enlistment oath, the Federals had them sign a sworn affidavit declaring that they desired to volunteer and knew of no legal impediments to their proposed service. This legally put the burden of renouncing their Oath to the Confederate States on the shoulders of each individual. I wouldn't put it past some Confederate War Department lawyer to have thought of something similar, but have yet to come across any examples.

I have not seen a printed version of the 1861 enlistment oath - it should be the same as 1862 - covering units who transferred from state service into Confederate service. Enlistment papers were not copied into the CMSR for the two 1861 Louisiana regiments that I have studied. Enlistment papers were included and copied for another unit formed in 1862.

I'll be interested in finding examples of enlistment oaths that differ from this!

Hugh