Daily AncestorSubstitute
A substitute was a man paid to serve in place of someone who had been drafted or called up, a legal practice in the Revolution and the Civil War.
The Enrollment Act of 1863 let a drafted man avoid service by furnishing a suitable substitute. District provost marshals kept lists of substitutes accepted, and descriptive lists of drafted men can give the date a substitute entered the army.
Substitution was much older than the Civil War. Revolutionary War pension files include veterans who served as substitutes for neighbors, sometimes for a single month. If your ancestor appears as a substitute, the man he replaced may be named, which can point to the town and family he served for.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Substitute." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/substitute. Last checked 2026-10-03.