Confederates claimed they were merely executing deserters. Some groups consisted of both deserters and draft evaders. Deserters or defectors became a severe problem. Deserters and presumed malingerers were captured or executed after fighting. Confederate soldiers who posed as deserters deliberately added to this impression. There were four deserters from the garrison. It was added that most of the deserters were junior officers and soldiers. Many of the deserters were taken prisoner or killed by Russian peasants. With the city empty of any army, peasants, criminals, and deserters looted the town. However, Carthage refused to deliver to Rome the Roman deserters serving among their troops. The Jacobites fled, while the deserters within the castle were hanged or flogged. The road to Versailles was filled with disorganized troops and deserters. The total number of Confederate deserters was officially 103,400. Canada refused to return about 15,000 American deserters and draft dodgers. The families of the deserters have been taken as hostages.