 Planters owning 20 slaves or more were exempted from service, with other family members exempted based on their total slaveholding.Although many states did not initially form Home Guard units, by 1863 all 11 Confederate states had done so.Initially tasked with being the defense force against any Union Army elements that might pass through the Confederate battle lines and enter into Southern territory, the Home Guard was later used to help capture Confederate army deserters returning to their homes.