There was only one thing they could do, and they knew it would be very unpopular. In February 1862, President Davis proposed a general conscription law, which was soon passed by the Confederate Congress. Under its provisions, all able-bodied white males between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five were liable for military service. Very few exemptions were proposed.

The men already in uniform had a profound distaste for the conscription law; they said it would cheapen their efforts. The men who had previously avoided military service now found themselves in a tight spot. Women of the Confederacy, too, expressed discontent. The conscription law was easily the most unpopular measure undertaken by the Confederate government.