“In August 1863 the Shaker leaders at South Union, Kentucky, petitioned President Lincoln to exempt their young men from the draft; when several brethren were drafted that December, a despatch from Secretary of War Stanton of 30 December 1863 ordered them paroled indefinitely, subject to recall.”

Context. The National Park Service summarises the outcome as Lincoln exempting Shaker males from military service, making them some of the first conscientious objectors in American history.