The Irish Times runs a regular column entitled ‘From the Archives’ where stories from past issues of the paper are reprinted. A recent inclusion was a report from their correspondent in New York in 1864 which claimed that many Irish were being effectively abducted from the quayside by unscrupulous fellow countrymen, who sought to gain the $15 offered by the Washington Cabinet to every citizen who brought a volunteer into service. Although it is difficult to ascertain to what extent this practice went on, it makes for interesting reading none the less. The Irish Times in 1864 were clearly incensed, and lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of the policies adopted by the then British Government. The full article can be found here.