What is "bounty jumper"

jumper \jump"er\ (j[u^]mp"[~e]r), n.

1. One who, or that which, jumps.

2. A long drilling tool used by masons and quarrymen.

3. A rude kind of sleigh; -- usually, a simple box on runners which are in one piece with the poles that form the thills. [U.S.]
   --J. F. Cooper.

4. (Zo["o]l.) The larva of the cheese fly. See Cheese fly, under Cheese.

5. (Eccl.) A name applied in the 18th century to certain Calvinistic Methodists in Wales whose worship was characterized by violent convulsions.

6. (Horology) spring to impel the star wheel, also a pawl to lock fast a wheel, in a repeating timepiece.

   Baby jumper. See in the Vocabulary.

   Bounty jumper. See under Bounty.

Bounty \Boun"ty\, n.; pl. Bounties. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bont['e], fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]

1. Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [Obs.]

   Nature set in her at once beauty with bounty.
   --Gower.

2. Liberality in bestowing gifts or favors; gracious or liberal giving; generosity; munificence.

   My bounty is as boundless as the sea.
   --Shak.

3. That which is given generously or liberally. ``Thy morning bounties.''
   --Cowper.

4. A premium offered or given to induce men to enlist into the public service; or to encourage any branch of industry, as husbandry or manufactures.

   Bounty jumper, one who, during the latter part of the Civil War, enlisted in the United States service, and deserted as soon as possible after receiving the bounty. [Collog.]

   Queen Anne's bounty (Eng. Hist.), a provision made in Queen Anne's reign for augmenting poor clerical livings.

   Syn: Munificence; generosity; beneficence.

n. (context US slang historical English) One who, during the latter part of the Civil War, enlisted in the United States service, and deserted as soon as possible after receiving the bounty.

Bounty jumpers were men who enlisted in the Union or Confederate army during the American Civil War only to collect a bounty and then leave. The draft of 1863 allowed individuals to pay a bounty to someone else to fight in their place rather than be drafted. Bounty jumpers commonly enlisted numerous times in the army, collecting many bounties in the process.