The half-billion dollars paid in bounties by the North represented something of a transfer of wealth from rich to poor—an ironic counterpoint to the theme of rich man’s war/poor man’s fight. By 1864 a canny recruit could pyramid local, regional, and national bounties into grants of $1,000 or more. Some men could not resist the temptation to take this money, desert, assume a different name, travel to another town, and repeat the process. Several of these “bounty jumpers” got away with the practice several times. “Bounty brokers” went into business to seek the best deals for their clients—with a
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