I am looking for a way for one of my MCs to avoid conscription without serious disability. This will be difficult - it happens in 1864 and he is in the South so they are of course desperate for men, draft age range was 17 to 50 (!) at that point. The character is a fairly healthy 38-year-old man, roughly middle class and opposed to slavery due to his relationship with my heroine. So of course his number comes up....
I was thinking of having him have a mishap with an ax while chopping firewood. The injury isn't intentional, but he's angry over a lover's quarrel and possibly drunk, so being careless. How badly would he need to slice up his foot or leg in order to be rejected for military service? Would that just be a temporary deferment with them calling him up after it heals, if it isn't bad enough?
The story takes place in Virginia, Blue Ridge foothills (Charlottesville area) if that is relevant. I assume this would all be happening in early spring (so about a year before "present action" in my novel), so I need to figure out how much the accident would still be affecting him a year or so out as well.
I was thinking of having him have a mishap with an ax while chopping firewood. The injury isn't intentional, but he's angry over a lover's quarrel and possibly drunk, so being careless. How badly would he need to slice up his foot or leg in order to be rejected for military service? Would that just be a temporary deferment with them calling him up after it heals, if it isn't bad enough?
The story takes place in Virginia, Blue Ridge foothills (Charlottesville area) if that is relevant. I assume this would all be happening in early spring (so about a year before "present action" in my novel), so I need to figure out how much the accident would still be affecting him a year or so out as well.
