One of the most persistent myths of Reconstruction is that a massive Federal military presence overawed and oppressed the white Democrats of the South. In fact, not only was the military presence fairly small in the Reconstructing states, the total size of the military nationally was small. After June of 1865 the army began a rapid demobilization. By 1868 it was roughly 5% of the size it had been at the end of the Civil War, just two-and-a-half-years earlier. A significant part of the army in 1868 was assigned to operations against Native Americans and garrisoning coastal fortifications and posts along the Mexican and Canadian borders. This left few soldiers to try to control the outbreaks of violence occurring during the months before the election of Ulysses S. Grant as president.
Andrew Johnson’s December 9, 1868 Annual Message (“State of the Union”) gives a sense of the continued reduction in the army. The full text may be found here.
The lack of any sizable force in the former Confederate states made it difficult to contain violence directed against Black voters by terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, particularly in rural areas far from army posts.
Here is the section of the State of the Union covering the cuts to the army:
The strength of our military force on the 30th of September last was 48,000 men, and it is computed that by the 1st of January next this number will be decreased to 43,000. It is the opinion of the Secretary of War that within the next year a considerable diminution of the infantry force may be made without detriment to the interests of the country; and in view of the great expense attending the military peace establishment and the absolute necessity of retrenchment wherever it can be applied, it is hoped that Congress will sanction the reduction which his report recommends. While in 1860 sixteen thousand three hundred men cost the nation $16,472,000, the sum of $65,682,000 is estimated as necessary for the support of the Army during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1870. The estimates of the War Department for the last two fiscal years were, for 1867, $33,814,461, and for 1868 $25,205,669. The actual expenditures during the same periods were, respectively, $95,224,415 and $123,246,648.
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An interesting observation. But I suppose it is all relative, Patrick. 43,000 was still between 2 and 3 times the size of the pre-war army. Viewed as fellow countrymen, 25,000 or 30,000 Federal troops in the South would scarcely have been noticed. But viewed as a foreign occupying force, they might have seemed omnipresent. In 1857, the size of the British occupying force in India was 45,500, and in 1880 it was 66,000. So I think the absolute number of Federal troops was less important than the manor in which they and their function were perceived.
I believe that is actually the whole point. Despite the number of Union soldiers being quite small the perception was an overreaction, so you get the whole Dunning School fantasy of the occupied, prostate South under the oppressive boot-heel of Union occupation.
There were just 500 troops in the whole state of North Carolina 1876-1877.
https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/reconstruction-north
Curious if anyone’s gone through the rolls to see how many were Confederate Army vets.
Other figures I’ve found have shown that the size of the military continued to decrease throughout the 1860s and 1870s, reaching a total of 38,000 in 1875 for all branches of the military. These would have been divided between various duties, including the West, so that the number of troops in the South would have been just a portion of that.
https://www.alternatewars.com/BBOW/Stats/US_Mil_Manpower_1789-1997.htm
Good point. I will be posting more in-depth info on Army sizes at various points during Reconstruction.