{
  "schema": "https://archive.neruda-archives.org/files/context/public-context-v1.schema.json",
  "identifier": "NRA-L-000062",
  "language": "en",
  "status": "published",
  "title": "What number 135 meant",
  "deck": "A high draw number in the French military recruitment lottery",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-07-30",
  "version": "1.0",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "A number that could decide military service",
      "paragraphs": [
        {
          "text": "Under the French recruitment system established by the law of 21 March 1832, only part of each annual class was required for active service. Young men drew numbers within their canton, and the contingent was filled in numerical order: the lowest numbers were exposed to call first, while sufficiently high numbers escaped it. Chabrier's number, 135 among 147, placed him close to the end of the draw. This is why the writer could reassure him that the call would almost certainly not reach him.",
          "sources": [
            1,
            2,
            3
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "evidence_limits": [
    {
      "text": "The letter records the draw and its expected consequence, but it does not give the canton's final quota or a later administrative decision confirming Chabrier's exemption. The explanation therefore clarifies the mechanism and the writer's confidence without claiming a surviving final service record.",
      "sources": [
        1,
        2,
        3
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "source-1",
      "kind": "Primary source · manuscript",
      "citation": "Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000062, letter to Monsieur Chabrier, 14 March 1857.",
      "url": "https://archive.neruda-archives.org/NRA-L-000062",
      "link_text": "View the archive record",
      "support": "Records a cantonal draw of 147, Chabrier's number 135 and the writer's assurance that the call would not reach so high."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-2",
      "kind": "Official archival record",
      "citation": "Service historique de la Défense, GR XS 456, records concerning the law of 21 March 1832 on army recruitment, 1832-1865.",
      "url": "https://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/ark/25005",
      "link_text": "View the archival notice",
      "support": "Confirms the governing 1832 recruitment law and its contemporary administrative guidance."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-3",
      "kind": "Official institutional history",
      "citation": "Assemblée nationale, 'Les fondements du service militaire universel', historical presentation of French recruitment laws.",
      "url": "https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/decouvrir-l-assemblee/histoire/1914-1918/la-loi-des-trois-ans/presentation",
      "link_text": "Read the historical overview",
      "support": "Explains that the 1832 system used drawing of lots and that favourable numbers exempted men from service."
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000062-claim-01",
      "statement": "The letter states that Chabrier received number 135 in a cantonal draw of 147 and was therefore expected not to be called.",
      "evidence_type": "stated_in_document",
      "certainty": "documentary",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000062-claim-02",
      "statement": "French army recruitment in 1857 operated under the lottery-based system established by the law of 21 March 1832.",
      "evidence_type": "independently_confirmed",
      "certainty": "confirmed",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-2",
        "source-3"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "NRA-L-000062-claim-03",
      "statement": "Number 135 was favourable because it stood near the end of the 147-number draw and would be reached only if the canton had to call almost the entire list.",
      "evidence_type": "scholarly_inference",
      "certainty": "strongly_supported",
      "source_ids": [
        "source-1",
        "source-2",
        "source-3"
      ]
    }
  ]
}