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What was the draft wheel?

The Military Draft Read more from
Chapter The Home Front: 1861 to 1865

The circular wooden wheel had brass plates and fixtures, but it was—from first glance—recognizably part of nineteenth-century American culture. A blindfolded man turned the draft wheel until a certain number of cards fell out. On the cards were the names and occupations of men who had been identified by the provost marshals.