NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 07952591 5
THE
Confederate Records
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA
COMPILED AND PUBLISHED UNDER AUTHORITY
OF
THE LEGISLATURE
BY
ALLEN D. CANDLER. A. M.. L. L. D.
VOLUME II.
State Papers of Governor Joseph E. Brown Relat-
ing to the Public Defense, the Organization and
Equipment of Troops, Provision for the Fami-
lies of Soldiers, etc., 1860 toJ865. inclusive.
Atlanta, Oa.
Chas. P. Byrd, State Printer.
1909.
f..%
THE NEW YORK
i^OBLIC LIBRARY
A8TOF>, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOU. .DATION8.
H li)10 L
PREFATORY NOTE.
It was the original design of the editor to include in
one volume both the State Papers and the Official Corre-
spondence of Governor Joseph E. Brown, from 1861 to
1865. It was soon discovered, however, in the progress
of the work, that such a volume would be entirely too
large and inconvenient to handle. Hence it was con-
cluded to divide the manuscript and make two volumes,
the one containing the State Papers of Governor Brown
and the other his Official Correspondence.
The matter for the State Papers was all, or nearly all,
found in the archive rooms of the executive office, princi-
pally in the minute books of that department, because
Governor Brown, when the Federal army approached the
old capital in Milledgeville in 1865, with his accustomed
forethought and prudence, sent the official records of his
office to south Georgia out of what it was supposed would
be the path of the enemy. After the United States army
had passed through the State these records were carried
back to the capital in as good condition as when they were
carried away, and were thus preserved to posterity.
While the Governor in this way saved all of the minutes
of the executive department, in the hurry and confusion
which prevailed in consequence of the near approach of
the enemy, his letter books were inadvertently left and
fell into the hands of the enemy and were sent to Washing-
ton (ity. Subsequently the United States Government
l)ublished a very comprehensive work in many volumes
entitled "War of the Rebellion, Officisri iRecords -of ,tli^
Union and Confederate Armies." Because; there; wa;?' no
Prefatory Note.
other souire from wliicli wo coiikl secure the oflicial coi--
respondence of Governor Brown recourse was liad to tliis
publication, and witli much care and hd)or it was culled
out of many volumes.
We have compiled and edited them with much care,
and they are now presented to the people of Georgia for
the first time. The two volumes, the State Papers and
the Oflicial Correspondence, taken together constitute a
most interesting and reliable history of the war and its
conduct in Georgia and of conditions which prevailed in
the State during the war period. They will be found to
contain many things which will be absolutely new to the
generation which has grown up since the War between
the States, some of which have been forgotten even by
the men who took part in the occurrences of the four
stormj^ and eventful years of hostilities.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 17tli, 1860.
The following message from His Excellency the Gov-
ernor was this day transmitted to the House of Repre-
sentatives, with accompanying documents.
To the House of Representatives :
I herewith transmit copies of contracts * made under
my authority by Hon. M. A. Cooper, Commissioner, in
behalf of this State with Eli Whitney, the Ames Manu-
facturing Co., and A. Hitchcock, Agent, for arms and
accoutrements purchased under the authority of the
Act passed at your last session which appropriated $75,-
000 for the supply of arms and military accoutrements;
together with a statement of the sums paid to each so far
as the arms and accoutrements have been received un-
der said contracts ; with the sums paid to D. C. Hodgkins
& Son and other for arms, which will, I trust, afford
the House the information which is requested by the
Resolution furnished me on yesterday. The arms and
accoutrements mentioned in the accompanying state-
ments have been distributed as fast as received among
the Volunteer Corps of this State. For these the sum
of $ has been paid.
Eight hundred of the muskets mentioned in the con-
tract with Mr. Whitney, and nine hundred sets of accou-
*Not found.
4 Confederate Records
trements which were to be furnished by the Ames Manu-
facturing Co. have not yet been received. I am informed
that six hundred sets of accoutrements will be received
in a few days. I have ordered two hundred and fifty
rifles, seven hundred colts revolvers, and seven hundred
sabres to be furnished by D. C. Hodgkins & Son, which
I have not yet received. I have also ordered two thous-
and Sharps Eifles. Should these arms be received they
will much more than exhaust the appropriation of last
year. The noble response made by the General Assem-
bly to my last recommendation, by the appropriation of
$1,000,000 as a military fund for the present year, will,
however, place at my disposal ample means to pay for
the supply already ordered, and to purchase such addi-
tional supply as may be necessary to arm the Volunteer
forces and put the State in a defensive condition. I am
aware of no objections which have been made to the effi-
ciency of any of the arms or accoutrements purchased,
with the exception of the defective tubes which were
attached to the first few hundred muskets received from
Mr. Whitney. Without waiting to be informed of the
mistake, which was soon after discovered by himself, he
sent good tubes with which to supply the place of the
defective ones at his own expense. In connection with
this subject, I would respectfully call attention of the
House to the importance of such legislation as will pro-
vide for the appointment of an Adjutant General, who
shall keep his office at Milledgeville, and be charged
with the duty of superintending the inspection, receipt,
and distribution of arms, accoutrements and other muni-
tions of war, and with the duty of drilling and instruct-
ing our Volunteers, and with such other duties as are
usually attached to that office in other States. He should
State Papeks of Goveenok Jos. E. Brown 5
be a gentleman of ability, of thorough military educa-
tion and experience, and should be paid a competent
salary, which would enable him to devote his whole time
to the discharge of the duties of his office. The services
of such an officer might be of incalculable value to the
State.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 30th, 1860.
Ordered,
That Gen. Paul J. Semmes be, and he is hereby ap-
pointed Agent on the part of the State of Georgia to
purchase military arms, accoutrements, ammunition,
tents, & etc., for this State ; and to contract for the pay-
ment of the same, to be made at the Treasury of Georgia
in six per cent, bonds of this State, at jDar, on delivery
at this Department, of bill of articles bought and of bill
of lading of their shipment on board steamer to Savan-
nah, Ga., but that said Agent be authorized, in making
small purchases as above, to contract for their pay-
ment to be made in cash at the State Treasury on like
delivery of bill of goods and bill of lading.
Given under my hand and seal of the Executive De-
partment the day and year above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secretary Executive Department.
6 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 8tli, 1860.
The present aspect of our political affairs makes it
the duty of the legislative authority of the State to pro-
vide in every way possible for direct and speedy commu-
nication with Europe. In the event of a dissolution of
the Federal Union the mail facilities of Georgia and
other Southern States would be cut off for a time, and
our cotton and other productions must be carried upon
the ships of our enemies through Northern cities where
we must continue to pay wharfage, drayage, storage, com-
missions, and other expenses, to have them forwarded
to Europe, while all our exchanges and monetary trans-
actions with Europe must be conducted by and pass
through the hands of our enemies. This would be a
state of dependence, to say nothing of the immense
expense attending it, with which no Georgian should be
satisfied. I deem it the duty of the legislature, there-
fore, to make prompt provision for a line of ocean steam-
ers to run weekly between Savannah and. some impor-
tant commercial port in Europe. I am informed by Mr.
C. G. Baylor, who addressed the members of the Gen-
eral Assembly on last evening, that a wealthy company
in Europe now has in its possession five elegant Ocean
Steamers, which, together with the necessary outfit,
etc., are worth two millions of dollars. The company is
willing to put these steamers immediately to sea and run
a weekly line between Savannah and one of the most
important commercial cities in Europe, touching at one
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 7
or two other important European ports ; if it can receive
a guaranty that the capital invested will pay five per
cent, upon the amount of the investment, rating the steam-
ers at a fair valuation. I therefore recommend the pas-
sage of a joint resolution of the General Assembly au-
thorizing the Governor of this State, or some other
competent authority in behalf of the State, to send a
commissioner to Europe to examine the steamers, and
if found suitable to enter into such negotiations as will
secure the establishment of the line, with power to give
a guaranty on the part of this State that the steamers
shall pay to the company five per cent upon the amount
of capital invested. I can not suppose that there would
be any difficulty about the income of the line paying five
per cent, on the capital. Should there be a deficiency it
could not be large, and, in my opinion, the State should
not hestitate to guarantee the deficiency, if any, for five
years for the purpose of securing the establishment of
the line.
In addition to our cotton and other freights, and the
mail service of this and other Southern States, a large
portion of the immigrant travel of continental Europe
could, it is believed, be secured to this line. I trust the
General Assembly will not fail to see the importance of
improving the opportunity now offered for taking an
important step in securing the inauguration of a sys-
tem of direct trade and intercourse with Europe by
steam communication.
I recommend such appropriations and the enaction of
such laws as may be necessary to secure the advantages
8 Confederate Records
which it is believed are now offered to the people of this
and the other Southern States.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
mllledge\1lle, georgia,
December 12th, 1860.
To the Senate :
In accordance with the provisions of an act this day
passed, entitled an act to organize the office of Adjutant
and Inspector General of the State of Georgia.
I hereby nominate and propose, by and with the ad-
vice and consent of the Senate, to appoint Maj. Henry
C. Wayne, now of the United States Army, who is a
native Georgian, to fill the office of Adjutant General
of the State of Georgia.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 21st, 1860.
The Commander-in-Chief announces to the Volun-
teers and Militia of the State of Georgia that under the
recent act of the legislature creating the office, he has
appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, Major Henry C. Wayne, U. S. Army, of the city
State Papees of Governor Jos. E. Brown 9
of Savannah, Georgia to be Adjutant General and Inspec-
tor-General of the State. Hereafter, therefore, all Re-
turns, Eolls, Accounts, Communications and Correspon-
dence connected with the Military affairs of the State
will be addressed to that officer at this place, the seat of
government, where by law his office is established.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2nd, 1861.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
January 2nd, 1861.
Facts Connected with the Seizure of Fort Pulaski.
As the facts connected with the occupancy of Fort
Pulaski by State Troops, may become the subject of
future inquiry, I deem it proper to spread upon the Exe-
cutive Minutes a brief statement of the occurrences con-
nected with this transaction.
When it had been ascertained, that the State of South
Carolina would, on the meeting of her Convention, which
was to assemble in December, 1860, secede from the
Union, I am credibly informed a portion of the South
Carolina Delegation in Congress called on the President
of the United States, and held an interview with him,
10 Confederate Records
for the purpose of bringing about an understanding,
that no change should be made in the Military Status of
the Forts at Charleston, (Maj. Anderson with probably
70 to 100 men then being in Fort Moultrie), and in con-
sideration that the Status should not be changed, and
that no reinforcements of Federal Troops should be sent
to Charleston, they proposed on their part, that the
authorities of South Carolina would make no assault
upon Maj. Anderson and his force then in Fort Moultrie,
till the necessary steps could be taken to settle all pend-
ing questions, between the State and the Federal Gov-
ernment by negotiation. It was generally understood by
the country, that such an agreement as the one above
mentioned, had been entered into between the President
and the Carolina Authorities, and that Governor Floyd
of Virginia, then Secretary of War, had expressed his
determination to resign his position in the Cabinet in
case of refusal by the President to carry out the agree-
ment in good faith.
The resignation of Governor Floyd was therefore
naturally looked to, should it occur, as a signal given to
the South that re-inforcements were to be sent to Char-
leston, and that the coercive policy had been adoi)ted by
the Federal Government. Just at this period it began
to be suspected that the President was becoming unset-
tled in his determination to preserve the peace, and
that coercion might be attempted to compel South Caro-
lina to submit to the laws of the Union. The canvass
in Georgia, for members to the State Convention was
progressing with much interest on both sides, when to
the astonishment of all, it was announced that Maj.
Anderson had spiked the guns and burned the gun car-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 11
riages in Fort Moultrie, and had taken possession of
Fort Sumter, in the night without the knowledge of the
South Carolina authorities.
After South Carolina had seceded, she sent Commis-
sioners to Washington, to treat with the President for
the delivery of the Forts, and for the general adjustment
of pending difficulties. The correspondence between
them and the President as the publications show, had
been very unsatisfactory to South Carolina, resulting
in a refusal of the President to give up the Forts, or to
give any guarantees that they would not be re-inforced.
The Commissioners telegraphed the result of their mis-
sion to their Convention still in session at Charleston,
and the convention communicated it to me. At this junc-
ture in these complicated affairs, Governor Floyd re-
signed his position in the cabinet, for the reason, as it
was understood, that the President refused to carry out
in good faith the pledges made to the Carolina Congress-
men ; and that it was then the determination of the Gov-
ernment to re-inforce the Forts at Charleston, and in
other Southern States. Soon after his resignation the
Telegraph brought the information that Mr. Holt, Post-
Master General who was understood to have advocated
the coercive policy in the Cabinet, had been appointed
Acting Secretary of War. The day I learned these facts,
I received a telegram from Col. Lawton of Savannah,
earnestly requesting me to come to Savannah at once.
On the morning of January 1st 1861, I left Milledgeville
for Savannah accompanied by Adjutant General Wayne.
We arrived there at 9 o'clock P. M. and at once entered
into consultation with the leading Military men of the
place, and with Col. Hardee then of the United States
12 Confederate Records
Army, who was known to be the friend of Georgia, and
who, it was understood would resign as soon as she
seceded. I was informed that there was great popuhir
apprehension that Fort Pulaski would be garrisoned with
United States Troops, if not occupied by State Troops.
My own opinion, from the lights before me was, that
there might be great danger of such an occurence, and in
case Fort Pulaski should be strongly garrisoned by Fed-
eral Troops, and our State should secede, it might cost us
the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of our bravest
citizens, besides much treasure to dislodge them, while
if permitted to remain, they would command the
entrance to Savannah, and be a menace and reproach to
the State. I did not doubt that the State would secede,
and I therefore considered the question one of the great-
est importance. I heard respectfully, and at full length
all that the Military men had to say on the subject. They
differed in opinion. Those considered the best authority,
nearly all, opposed the immediate occupation of the Fort
by the State Troops. One of them said to me, "If you
take possession of the Fort, and there is one spark of
vitality left in the Federal Government, it will shell you
out in ten days." After mature reflection however, I
was satisfied that duty, and safety to the State required
for the present, its occupation by State Troops. I there-
fore said to the Officers present, I take the responsibility,
and I direct the immediate occupation of the Fort. I
then directed the Adjutant General to issue the following
orders, which he did, to-wit:
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 13
Headquarters Georgia Militia,
Savannah, January 2d, 1861.
To Col. A. R. Lawton,
Commanding 1st Vol. Regt. Ga. Volunteers,
Savannali.
Sir: The Governor and Commander-in-Chief directs
you to detail one hundred and twenty-five men, or more
if necessary, from your command, with the suitable num-
ber of officers, including one or more Medical Officers,
to occupy immediately until further orders. Fort Pulaski
at the mouth of Savannah River. Arrangements for the
comfort and subsistence of the command have been made,
and you will cause one of the Military Officers (Subal-
term) to be detailed to act as Quartermaster and Com-
missary, to take charge of the public stores and issue
and account for them under the regulations that will be
furnished to him.
It is desirable that a portion of your men should be
relieved in such numbers, and at such times as you may
determine, to be replaced by new drafts of equal strength,
care being taken that the relief be made at the Fort, and
does not exceed, at any time, one-half the command, that
the greatest number on duty may be of those somewhat
experienced in Military duty. Additional supplies of
any kind that may become absolutely necessary from
time to time, will be obtained by requisition made by the
Quartermaster and Commissary, countersigned by the
Commanding Officer, upon Mr. John Cunningham of
Savannah, who has been appointed Military Purveyor.
14 Confederate Records
Each man sliould carry witli liiin a knapsack or va-
lise, containing a change of clothing, 1 iron spoon, 1
knife, 1 fork, 1 tin cup, 1 clothes-brush, 1 shoe-brush, 1
box blacking, and 1 comb and brush.
In conclusion the Commander-in-Chief relies upon
5'our Military knowledge and skill for the discreet exer-
cise of the service involved in this order, for the mainte-
nance of discipline, and for the care and accountability
of the public property now in the Fort, and to be sent
there. The occupancy of the Fort will be made under
your personal direction, and you are desired to remain,
until proper order and system are established. This
done to your satisfaction, you will visit and inspect the
Fort and Command as often as practicable, at least twice
d week.
By order of the Commander-in-Chief —
Henry C. Wayne,
Adjutant and Inspector-General.
Headquarters Georgia Militia,
Savannah, Georgia, January 2d, 1861.
(Strictly Confidential)
Col. a. R. Lawton,
Commanding 1st Regiment Georgia Volunteers,
Savannah.
Sir: In view of the fact that the Government at
Washington has, as we are informed upon high author-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 15
ity, decided on the policy of coercing a seceding State
back into the Union, and it is believed now has a move-
ment on foot to occupy with Federal Troops, the South-
ern Forts including Fort Pulaski in this State, which
if done, would give the Federal Government in any con-
test, great advantage over the people in this State:
To the end therefore, that this stronghold which com-
mands also the entrance into Georgia, may not be occu-
pied by any hostile force until the Convention of the
People of Georgia, which is to meet on the 16tli instant,
has decided on the policy which Georgia will adopt in
this emergency; you are ordered to take possession of
Fort Pulaski, as by Public Order herewith, and to hold
it against all persons; to be abandoned only by orders
from me, or under compulsion by an overwhelming hos-
tile force.
Immediately upon occupying the Fort, you will take
measures to put it in a thorough state of defence as far
as its means, and ours will permit, and for this purpose,
you will advise with Captain Claghorn of the Chatham
Artillery, who has been charged with all matters relat-
ing to Ordinance and Ordinance Stores, and their sup-
ply-
You will further arrange with Captain Claghorn a
series of day and night signals for communicating at all
times with the City of Savannah, for the purpose of call-
ing for re-inforcements or other necessary purposes.
And you will arrange with Mr. John Cunningham, Mili-
tary Purveyor, for the employment of a Steamboat or
Steamboats, or other means of transportation by land or
water, that may be necessary for other supplies, (except
16 Confederate Records
for Ordinance, for which you will call upon Capt. Clag-
horn) that may be required.
Eelying upon your energy, patriotism and sound dis-
cretion, I commit this important trust to you until it
may become necessary to call out a larger force, and
liigher command.
Joseph E. Browx, Governor.
Col. Lawton immediately called out the troops and
made preparations for the occupancy of the Fort. Early
the next morning 3d, Januan^ he occupied it.
After I had issued the order on the second January,
I sent the following messages by telegraph to the Gov-
ernors of Alabama, Florida and Louisiana, to-wit:
January 2d, 1861.
In view of the threatening aspect of our Federal re-
lations, and the coercive policy understood to be adopted
by the Government, I have ordered Georgia troops to
occupy Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the River, till our
convention assembles. Hope you will co-operate .and
occupy the Forts in Alabama. Answer.
Joseph E. Brown.
To Governor Moore,
Montgomery, Ala.
January 2d, 1861.
In view of the threatening aspect of our Federal rela-
tions, and the coercive policy understood to be adopted
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 17
by the Government, I liave ordered Georgia troops to
occupy Fort Pulaski at the mouth of the River till our
Convention assembles. Hope your Convention will co-
operate and occupy Forts in Florida immediately, and
that you will secede at once.
Joseph E. Brown.
To Governor Perry,
Tallahassee, Florida.
Savannah, January 2d, 1861.
In view of the threatening aspect of our Federal rela-
tions and the coercive policy understood to be adopted
by the Government, I have ordered Georgia troops to
occupy Fort Pulaski at the mouth of Savannah River
till our Convention assembles, to prevent occupation by
Federal troops. Hope you will co-operate and occupy
the Forts in your State immediately. I send like request
to the Governors of Florida and Alabama. (Operator
will forward, if the Governor is not in New Orleans.)
Joseph E. Brown.
Governor Moore,
New Orleans.
Savannah, January 4th, 1861.
It being understood that the coercive policy is adopted
by the Federal Government, I, as a precautionary meas-
ure, have occupied with troops, the Fort at the mouth of
Savannah River till our Convention meets and decides
18 Confederate Records
the question. Have asked Governors of Alabama and
Florida to do same in their State. They reply they will.
Have asked same of Governor of Louisiana — can not hear
from him. If you know where he is, will you send him
substance of this dispatch? What say you to the move-
ment f
Joseph E. Brown.
To Governor Pettus,
Jackson, Mississippi.
The Florida Convention was in session, on the next
day when I received from Gov. Perr^-, of Florida, a
dispatch stating that he would take the Forts in that
State as soon as he could organize the necessary force.
Gov. Moore, of Alabama, also responded, that he would
co-operate immediately. Within a week after this time
I heard that Gov. Moore had occupied Fort Morgan near
Mobile, and that Gov. Perry had occupied Fort Clinch
and taken possession of the Chattahoochee Arsenal. He
did not, however, occupy Forts Pickens, Taylor or Jef-
ferson,
My telegram to Gov. Moore, of Louisiana, was sent to
New Orleans, and I got no response. I waited a day or
two and sent another dispatch for Gov. Moore, to Gov.
Pettus of Mississippi, with request that he forward it to
him, as I did not know at what point to direct to him.
Gov. Pettus rejDlied approving my course, and prom-
ised after this, before I heard of the seizure of the
Forts in Louisiana.
State Papers of Goveknor Jos. E. Brown 19
After I returned from Savannah to Milledgeville, I
sent a dispatch to Gov. Ellis, of North Carolina, request-
ing him to seize the Forts in that State. He replied,
giving reasons why he could not then do so.
After the State Convention met at Milledgeville, a
resolution was introduced by Mr. Toombs, and passed
unanimously, approving my course in the seizure of the
Fort.
I have thought it my duty, to myself and others, to
put this statement in some permanent form for preser-
vation. I have therefore ordered it to be placed upon
the Executive Minutes upon a blank left for it under date
of Second January, 1861.
Joseph E. Browx.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
Januarj^ 30th, 1861.
Sir : In view of the changed condition of the political
and commercial relations of the State of Georgia with
other States, by her separation from the "United States
of America," and becoming a Sovereign and Independent
State; and deeming it of the first importance that the
causes which have led to this change, and the effects
which must necessarily^ follow it, should be immediately
explained to the Governments of the principal European
Powers, and reposing especial trust and confidence in
your wisdom, prudence, fidelity and ability, I, JOSEPH
E. BROWN, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the
20 Confederate Kecords
Army and Navy of this State, and of the Militia thereof,
do hereby appoint and commission you, the said T. BUT-
LER KING, as commissioner to the Government of
Queen VICTORIA, to the Emperor NAPOLEON III,
and to the Government of tlie King of BELGIUM, with
all the powers, and charged with all the duties, mentioned
in the instructions accompanying this commission.*
Done at the Capitol, in Milledgeville, on the day and
year first above written. In testimony whereof I have
hereunto set my hand, and caused to be affixed the Great
Seal of the State.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
January 30th, 1861.
Sir: In the performance of the delicate and impor-
tant duties confided to you in your commission of thi&
date, you will be governed by the following:
INSTRUCTIONS.
The movement of Georgia in withdrawing from the-
Federal Union, and re-assuming her position, rights, and.
♦(Enclosure)
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 21
powers, as a Sovereign and Independent State, has neces-
sarily suspended her relations with foreign Governments,
which have hitherto been maintained through the Fed-
eral Government.
You will therefore make it the earliest object of your
mission, to explain to the Governments to which you are
accredited, the causes which have led Georgia to sever
her connection with the Government of the United States.
I deem it proper, also, to instruct you to ascertain
from those Governments whether it will accord with
their usual wise and true policy, to immediately acknow-
ledge the Government of Georgia as that of an independ-
ent State, prior to the formation of a Southern Confed-
eracy, for the purpose of securing suitable protection
to commerce between her ports and those countries.
The changes which are rapidly taking place in our
Federal Eelations — the almost simultaneous movement
of the Cotton growing States, to seperate themselves
from their connection with the Government of the United
States, and their known intention to form a Southern
Confederacy, make it expedient and necessary that ex-
planations be immediately made to the Governments,
Bankers, Merchants, and Manufacturers of Europe, re-
specting the change in our political and commercial con-
dition. You will not fail to present a clear view of the
effect which our Federal connection with the Northern
States has had in attracting, or forcing our commercial
exchanges with Europe, coast-wise through the port and
City of New York, and that our political separation
from those States, places them in the condition of foreign
States, and cuts off at a single blow, all the commercial
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 23
So large a drain of the precious metals, would en-
danger, if not overthrow, the currency system of Eng-
land and France, and cause such measures to be taken
for their protection as would reduce the price of cotton
here in proportion to the increased value of money there.
It is therefore not wise, nor would it be beneficial were it
practicable, to cause such an unusual drain of bullion
from Europe, to pay for our products. But if Europe
takes our produce at all, it must be paid for in money or
merchandise. A healthy and prosperous state of trade
only requires precisely so much of the former as will pay
the balance in our favor, after deducting a liberal and
comfortable supply of the latter. Hence, it becomes im-
portant that the most prompt and efficient arrangements
be made in Europe, to send forward to the States com-
posing the Southern Confederacy, ample supplies of mer-
chandise suited to their wants for consumption.
You will also explain that the manufacturing States
of the North, have hitherto supplied the Cotton States
with home manufactured articles amounting to some six-
ty or seventy millions of dollars in value, annually; which
been protected by our Tariff laws, but which must here-
after compete, if admitted, with European manufacturers.
Your mission has been authorized for the purpose of
giving timely explanations on all these points, to the
end that prompt measures may be taken to conduct trade
into its new channel, and avert, as far as practicable, the
losses which may accrue from events and the condition
of things on this side of the Atlantic.
Done at the Capitol in Milledgeville, on the day and
year above written. In testimony whereof I have here-
24 Confederate Records
unto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal
of the State.
Joseph E. Brown.
Governor of Georgia
b'
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 5th, 1861.
I have demanded of the Governor of New York the
prompt delivery to my Agent, for D. C. Hodgkins & Son,
citizens of this State, of their guns seized by the police of
New York, on board the Monticello, and deposited in the
arsenal of that State.
The demand has been delivered to him. He has had a
reasonable time, and has made no reply. I am deter-
mined to protect the persons and property of the citizens
of this State against all such lawless violence, at all
hazards. In doing so, I will, if necessary, meet force by
force. I feel it my duty in this case to order reprisal.
You will therefore, direct Col. Lawton to order out suf-
ficient Military force, and seize and hold, subject to my
order, every ship now in the harbor at Savannah, belong-
ing to citizens of the State of New York. When the
property of which our citizens have been robbed is re-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 25
turned to them, the ships will be delivered to the citizens
of New York, who own them.
Joseph E. Brown.
Col. H. R. Jackson^
Aide-de-Camp,
Savannah, Georgia.
The above order was sent to Col. H. R. Jackson at
Savannah by telegraph half-past 9 o'clock P. M., Tues-
day 5th, 1861.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 9th, 1861, 9 o'clock p. m.
I have just received a Telegram from G. B. Lamar,
my Agent in New York, stating that the Arms have been
put at the command of the owners.
The object for which the seizure was made having
been accomplished, and the rights of the citizens of this
State having been vindicated, you will order the vessels
seized, to be immediately released.
Joseph E. Brown.
Col. Henry R. Jackson,
Savannah, Georgia.
26 Confederate Records
Executive Department^
Mijlledgeville, Georgia,
February 21st, 1861.
Sir : — On the fifth day of this month I directed you to
call out sufficient military force and seize all ships then
in the harbor of Savannah belonging to citizens of the
State of New York. The reasons for the seizure were
briefly stated in the order. Citizens of this State had
been robbed of their property by the police of New York,
acting under the authority of that State. I had demanded
the restoration of the property to its owners. The
Governor of that State had given an evasive reply, ex-
cepting to the form of the demand sent by telegraph,
which clearly evinces his disposition not to comply: by
ordering the restoration of the j^roperty. If the protec
tion of this State, were not in such case afforded to its
citizens, it not only invited further aggressions upon
their rights, but forfeited all just claim to their allegi-
ance.
I therefore had no alternative left, but to order
reprisals. This is the mildest remedy provided, not only
by the law of Nations, but by the law of Nature, for the
redress of grievances between Sovereign States, in the
last resort.
Your prompt execution of the order, by the seizure
of five vessels owned by citizens of New York, met my
highest approval. The seizure was made on the morning
of the eighth of this month. On the evening of that day, I
mailed to the Governor of New York, at Albany, a com-
State Papeks of Governok Jos. E. Beown 27
munication, stating the fact of the seizure, with the rea-
sons for it, and that I should hold the ships till justice
should be done the injured citizens of this State, by the
restoration of the property of which they had been
robbed, by the police of the City of New York.
On the night of the ninth inst. I received a telegraphic
dispatch from Mr. G. B. Lamar, of New York, whom I had
appointed Agent to receive the guns seized by the police,
if delivered up by the authorities, stating that the guns
were then at the command of their owners, and asking me
to release the ships. At the same time I received a dis-
patch from Mr. John Boston, the Collector of the Port of
Savannah, stating that he had just been informed by Mr.
Lamar, that the guns had been delivered up.
Regretting the necessity which compelled me to resort
to a means of redress which, while natural and legal,
might interrupt the commerce between the two States,
and expose to temporary hardship, individual citizens
of New York, whose property, under the law of Nations,
is subject to seizure, for such outrages committed by the
authorities of their own State, though they may disajD-
prove and condemn them ; I was determined not to occupy
the position of an aggressor for a single hour. So soon
therefore as I was informed that the authorities of New
York, had made reparation for the robbery, I immediate-
ly ordered the release of the vessels. Since that time I
directed Mr. Lamar to have the guns shipped to Savan-
nah, that they might be delivered to their owners.
He now informs me, that he demanded their shipment,
and was informed by the Superintendent of the police of
New York, that he had changed his mind, and that he
28 Confederate Records
would not now permit the guns to be shipped, but that he
would order further seizures, of what he is pleased to call
** Contraband Articles."
Twelve days have passed since I mailed to the Gover-
nor of New York the communication above referred to,
and I have received no response from him. He has not
only refused therefore, to order the restoration of the
property of which his police had plundered our citizens
within the limits of his own State, on demand sent by tele-
graph, but he has neglected and refused to answer a
written communication upon the subject sent to him,
through the regular medium of the mail.
"While I held possession of the vessels seized, my agent
was informed that the guns were at the command of
their owners. Acting ujDon this assurance, I ordered the
release of the vessels, and my agent is now informed that
the officer in possession of the guns, has changed his mind,
and that he will not permit them to be returned to their
owners.
These facts show very clearly, that it is the settled
policy of the authorities of New York to subject our
commerce to a surveillance, which we can not with honor
submit to, and to seize upon our property and plunder
our citizens at their pleasure. Under these circumstan-
ces, I feel that I, as the Executive of Georgia, would
prove recreant to the high trust reposed in me by my
fellow citizens, were I to refuse to protect their rights
against such unprovoked aggression, by all the means
which the law of Nations, or the constitution and laws of
this State have placed at my command.
State Papees of Goveknor Jos. E. Brown 29
It therefore beconies my duty, again to direct you
to call out such military force as may be necessary for
that purpose, and to renew the reprisals, by the seizure,
as soon as practicable, of vessels in the harbor of Savan-
nah, or other property in the city, or elsewhere, within
your reach, belonging to the State, or to citizens of New
York, at least equal in value to double the amount of the
original seizures made by you. You will hold the proper-
ty so seized, subject to my order, and it will be released
when the guns in question, together with any other prop-
erty of our citizens which has been, or may in the mean
time, be unlawfully seized by the authorities of New
York, are actually shipped from the harbor, and are be-
yond the reach or control of the police of the city of New
York, or the authorities of that State.
Eespectfully, Etc.,
Joseph E. BROwisr.
CoL. Henry R. Jackson^
Aide-de-Camp,
Savannah, Georgia.
Executive Department,
Milledgevtlle, Georgia,
February 22nd, 1861.
I have this day issued and delivered to J. C. Palmer,
Esqr., President of the Sharp's Rifle Manufacturing Co.
of Hartford, Conn., fifty State Bonds of the State of
30 Confederate Records
Georgia, each for five hundred dollars, making in all
twenty five thousand dollars : bearing date 1st February,
1861, and being numbers 401 to 450, inclusive, payable
twenty years from date, interest payable semi-annually
on the 1st of February and August, at six per cent, per
annum.
These Bonds were issued and delivered, as above, in
part payment for sixteen hundred Sharp's Patent Rifles
Carbines, bought by the State from said Co., and which
have been delivered at Milledgeville. Said Bonds being
Military Bonds, issued under Act of 16tli November,
1860.
Joseph E. Beowist.
SATURDAY, MARCH 2nd, 1861.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 2nd, 1861.
Sir: — Unless the property of which citizens of Geor-
gia have been robbed, by the police of the city of New
York, who act under the authority of the Governor of that
State, is in the mean time delivered to the owners: By
virtue of the power vested in me as Governor and Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of this State, I
direct that you advertise immediately, and expose to
sale, on Monday the 25th day of this month, between the
usual hours of sale, at the place of sheriff's sales, in the
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 31
city of Savannah, the following New York vessels, with
their tackle, furniture and apparel, now held under Mili-
tary Seizure by my order as reprisals, to-wit: Ship
Martha J. Ward and Schooner Julia A. Hallock. These
vessels are to be sold for cash, for the purpose of indem-
nifying citizens of Georgia for the losses which they have
sustained on account of the robberies perpetrated by the
New York authorities, and of paying all expenses in-
curred in the premises.
Joseph E. Brown.
FRIDAY, MARCH 22nd, 1861.
Executive Department,
Savannah, Georgia,
March 22nd, 1861.
Col. H. R. Jackson,
Aide-de-Camp.
Sir: — Referring to my order directing the seizure for
reprisal of vessels owned by citizens of New York, and
to my subsequent order for the advertisen'ent and sale,
on the 25th of this month, of the Ship Martha J. Ward,
and the Schooner Julia A. Hallock, unless in the mean-
time, the arms belonging to a citizen of Georgia and ille-
gally detained by the police of New York should be de-
livered to their owners, I have now to direct you to re-
lease those vessels, the object of their seizure having
been accomplished in the restoration of the arms to their
32 CONFEDEBATE ReCORDS
owners. It is to be hoped that the annoyance and losses
to private interests occasioned by the lawless, nnprece-
dent and wholly unjustifiable conduct of the New York
authorities, and the ultimate vindication of the right by
the steps I have been constrained to take, will prevent
the recurrence of any like complication in the future.
You will direct Col. Lawton to discharge the above
named vessels from future arrest.
Your Obedient Servant,
Joseph E. Brown.
MONDAY, APRIL 22nd, 1861.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 22nd, 1861.
Whereas, the Hon. L. P. Walker, Secretary of War
of the Confederate States of America on Friday last,
the 19th inst., requested me, by telegraph, to dispatch
certain Volunteer Military Companies to Norfolk, Virgi-
nia, to enter into the service of the Confederate States,
provided such companies could start within twenty-four
hours from date of the order, I immediately ordered the
following named Companies to go upon said service, and
they started accordingly on Saturday last, viz:
''City Light Guards," Capt. P. H. Colquitt Command-
ing, from Columbus.
State Papebs of Goveenob Jos. E. Bbown 33
''Floyd Rifles," Capt. T. Hardeman, Jr., Command-
ing, from Macon.
''Macon Volunteers," Capt. Robt. A. Smith, Com-
manding, from Macon.
"Spalding Grays," Capt. L. T. Doyal, Commanding,
from Griffin.
Joseph E. Bbown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Watees,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
A PROCLAMATION.
By Joseph E. Bbown,
Governor of Georgia.
Whereas, by the oppressive and wicked conduct of the
Government and people of that part of the late United
States of America known as the anti-slavery States, war
actually exists between them and the people of the
Southern States, and whereas the President of the
United States has issued his proclamation declaring his
determination to blockade the ports of the Southern
States, and is now collecting federal troops upon sou-
thern soil for the purpose of subjugating and enslaving
us;
And Whereas, property belonging to the citizens of
the State of Georgia, whenever found within the anti-
34 Confederate Records
slavery States, is seized and forcibly taken from its own-
ers;
And Whereas, all contracts made with the enemy dur-
ing the existence of hostilities are, by the law of nations,
illegal and void, and all remedies for the enforcement of
contracts in our courts between citizens of this State
and citizens of the States now making war upon us,
which were made prior to the commencement of hostili-
ties are suspended till the termination of the war;
And Whereas, in the language of the law of nations
*'the purchase of bills on the enemy's country of the
remission and deposit of funds there is a dangerous and
illegal act, because it may be cherishing the resources
and relieving the wants of the enemy, and the remission
of funds in money or bills to subjects of the enemy is
unlawful," and whereas, sound policy, as well as inter-
national law, absolutely forbids that any citizen of this
State shall, under any pretext whatever, assist the ene-
my by remitting, paying or furnishing any money or
other thing of value during the continuance of hostili-
ties to the government or people of the States which
have waged and are maintaining a most unnatural and
wicked war against us;
A7id Whereas, justice requires that all sums due from
citizens of this State to individuals in such hostile States
who do not uphold and sustain the savage and cruel war-
fare inaugurated by their government should be prompt-
ly paid so soon as hostilities have ceased, and the inde-
pendence of the Confederate States is recognized by the
government of the United States.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 35
Therefore, in view of these considerations, I, Joseph
E. Brown, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the
Army and Navy of the State of Georgia, do issue this,
my proclamation, commanding and enjoining upon each
citizen or inhabitant of this State, that he abstain abso-
lutely from all violations of the law above recited,
that he do not, under any pretext whatever, remit, trans-
fer, or pay to the government of the United States, or
any one of the States composing said government, which
is known as a free soil State, including among others
the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, or to
any citizen or inhabitant of any such State, any money,
bills, draft, or other things of value, either in payment
of any debt due or hereafter to become due, or for, or on
account of, any other cause whatever, until the termina-
tion of hostilities. And I hereby invite each citizen or in-
habitant of this State who is indebted to said govern-
ment, or either of said States, or any citizen or inhabi-
tant thereof, to pay the amount of such indebtedness,
whenever due, into the Treasury of Georgia in any funds
bankable in Augusta or Savannah, or to deposit the
same subject to the order of the Treasurer of this State,
in any one of the solvent banks of either of said cities,
or in any legally authorized agency of either of said
banks; and upon the making of any such deposit at the
Treasury, or upon presentation of any such certificate
of deposit, the Treasurer of this State is hereby directed
and required to deliver to such person a certificate speci-
fying the sum so deposited, which I hereby declare the
faith and credit of this State will be pledged to repay to
such depositor in funds bankable in Augusta and Savan-
nah, with seven per cent, interest from the date of the
36 CONFEDEEATE ReCOBDS
deposit, so soon as hostilities shall have ceased, and it
shall again be lawful for debtors to pay the same to
creditors in the hostile States above mentioned. This
will not only afford to such of our citizens as owe money
to northern creditors, which international law and public
policy forbid them at present to pay, a safe investment
and the highest security for its return to them at the end
of the war, but it will enable them, in the meantime, to
perform a patriotic duty and to assist the State, and
through her the Confederate States, in raising the funds
necessary to the successful defence of our homes, our
firesides and our altars.
And I do further command and strictly enjoin upon
all and every chartered bank in this State which may
be in possession of any note, bill, draft, or other paper
binding any citizen of this State, to pay money to any
one of said hostile States, or any inhabitant or corpora-
tion thereof, or belonging to any such State or person, to
abstain from protesting any such draft, bill, or note, or
other paper; provided, the person liable on such draft,
note, bill, or other paper, will exhibit to such bank, or
any of its agencies, having such paper in possession, a
certificate showing that he has deposited the amount
due on such paper in the Treasury of this State, or in
any one of the banks above mentioned, to the credit of the
Treasurer, or will at the time such paper becomes due,
make such deposit. And I further command and require
all Notarys Public in this State to abstain absolutely
from the performance of any official act for the protest
of any paper of the character above mentioned under
such circumstances as are hereinbefore specified.
Given under my hand and the Great Seal of this
State Papers of Govebnor Jos. E. Brown 37
State, at the Capitol in Milledgeville, this twenty-sixth
day of April in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred
and sixty-one, and of the independence of the Confed-
erate States of America the first.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
E. P. Watkins,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
SATURDAY, MAY 11th, 1861.
Executfte Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 11th, 1861.
I have this day appointed, and do hereby appoint
and constitute, Genl. Ira E. Foster Special Agent of the
State, to proceed to Savannah and examine into the con-
dition, quantity, quality, number, etc., of the Arms
and Munitions of War in the State Arsenal there, and to
report to me concerning the same. To cause to be
transferred to the Arsenal in this city, such of the State
Arms and munitions of war now in said Arsenal at Sav-
annah, or in said city of Savannah, as he may deem ex-
pedient as per instructions given him.
38 Confederate Records
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive De-
partment the day and year above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
SATURDAY, MAY 25th, 1861.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 25th, 1861.
PROCLAMATION BY JOSEPH E. BROWN,
GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA.
Whereas, it is provided in Section Seventh of Article
Fifth of the Constitution of this State, as adopted by the
late Convention of the people thereof, on the 23rd day of
March last, that "there shall be an election held at all
the places of public election in this State, on the first
Tuesday in July, 1861, when all the citizens of this State
entitled to vote for Governor, shall cast their ballots
either for "Ratification" or "No Ratification." The
election "shall be conducted in the same manner as gen-
eral elections ; and the returns shall be made to the Gov-
ernor. ' '
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 39
And, Whereas, by a resolution adopted by said Con-
vention, the Governor is required to issue his Proclama-
tion, calling on the proper officers to hold said election:
I, therefore, issue this my Proclamation, calling upon
and requiring a sufficient number of the proper officers
and persons authorized by the laws of this State to super-
intend general elections therein, to convene at the
various election precincts throughout the State, on the
first Tuesday in, being the 2nd day of July next, then,
and at such precincts to superintend and hold the said
election, as provided for in said Seventh Section of the
Fifth Article in the Constitution, as aforesaid.
Given under my hand and the Seal of the Executive
Department, at the Capitol, in Milledgeville, the 25th
day of May, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty one.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
ExEcuTrvE Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
June 4th, 1861.
Whereas, in order to raise a sufficient amount ot
money to provide for the public defence, by the sale, at
par, of Georgia six per cent, bonds, which were author-
40 Confederate Becords
ized to be issued and sold by Act of 16th November,
1860; I have found it necessary to assure parties propos-
ing to take the bonds that I will, in my message to the
next General Assembly, earnestly recommend the sub-
stitution of Seven per cent, bonds for the Six per cent,
bonds which may hereafter be issued and sold, as well
as those which have heretofore been issued and sold,
by virtue of said Act of 16th November, 1860. The giv-
ing of this assurance was found indispensable to effect
a sale of the necessary amount of the bonds to meet the
heavy and increasing military expenditures of the State,
for the reason that since the passage of said Act the
financial affairs of the country has undergone so great
a change that our State six per cents could not be sold at
par, especially as the Confederate government had, in the
meantime, issued and thrown upon the market her bonds,
bearing eight per cent, per annum. With this assurance,
all the banks in Augusta and Savannah, the Bank of
Athens and Bank of Columbus, promptly offered each to
take, at par, of the State, an amount of said Six per cent,
bonds equal to ten per cent, of its capital stock; those
banks which had before taken certain amounts of the
bonds without such assurance, now taking under this
arrangement such amounts only as would, together with
what each had taken before, amount to ten per cent, of
the capital of each; and,
Whereas, the blank bonds which have been prepared
under said Act having been devised and struck off before
Georgia seceded from the old Union are now found to be
inappropriate, both in terms and devices, to our present
political condition and to save the expense and trouble
of filling out and signing up said inappropriate bonds
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 41
and the interest coupons attached to the same, and of
recording them in the Treasury office, and then of sub-
stituting for them Seven per cent, bonds when author-
ized to be done by the legislature, to carry out the arrange-
ment aforesaid, it has been agreed between the Board
of Directors of the several banks hereinafter named and
myself, as Governor, that, instead of issuing and deliver-
ing said Six per cent, bonds as aforesaid to be replaced
hereafter with Seven per cents., I enter upon the min-
utes of this Department a statement of the amount each
bank has proposed to take of said Six per cent, bonds
in pursuance of the agreement aforesaid ; and that upon
the receipt of a certified copy of such statement by each
of said banks, each will pay into the Treasury of the
State, or enter upon its books to the credit of the State,
the amount it has so proposed to take in said Six per
cent, bonds, under the assurance aforesaid.
Now, therefore, I, Joseph E. Brown, Governor of said
State, in consideration that the following named banks
will advance as a loan to the State the amounts severally
as follows, to-wit:
The Bank of Augusta, $60,000.
Mechanics Bank at Augusta, $50,000.
Augusta Insurance & Banking Company, $37,500.
Branch of the Bank of the State of Georgia, at Augus-
ta, $40,000.
1 The Bank of Commerce, $50,000.
The Merchants and Planters Bank, $50,000.
Georgia Railroad and Banking Company, $50,000.
42 Confederate Records
City Bank at Augusta, $40,000.
Union Bank at Augusta, $30,000.
The Bank of the State of Georgia, at Savannah, $30,-
000.
The Marine Bank, $100,000.
Which respective sums, together with amounts al-
ready advanced, are equal to ten per cent, of the capital
stock of each, assure said banks that I will, in my mes-
sage to the next legislature, earnestly recommend the
passage of an Act authorizing the issuing of State bonds
having twenty years to run, with interest coupons at-
tached, bearing Seven per cent, per annum, payable semi-
annually, to be delivered to said banks in payment of the
amount so loaned to the State by each, as above set forth;
which bonds shall be subject to be redeemed by the State,
at her option, at any time after five years from their
date, on payment of the principal and interest due. It
is also distinctly agreed that interest shall be paid by
the State, at the rate of Seven per cent, per annum upon
the respective amounts loaned or advanced as aforesaid
from the time each is advanced to the State till the time
interest begins to run on the bonds which shall be issued
in payment thereof.
It is further understood that, in consideration that
some of the banks of the State, actuated more by motives
of patriotism than of self interest, generously took, at
par, large amounts of the bonds first issued under said
Act, all such bonds in the hands of the banks which pur-
chased them are to be taken up and replaced with Seven
per cent, bonds, in like manner as above provided, in
payment of said loans.
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 43
Given under my hand and the Seal of the Executive
Department, this the 4th. day of June, A. D. 1861.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy Ex. Dept.
THURSDAY, JUNE 13th, 1861.
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
June 13th, 1861.
General : —
I have been informed that part of the members of the
Volunteer Company in the County of Newton, command-
ed by J. T. Lamar, have said that it is the purpose of said
Company to leave the State and carry with them the
guns which they received from the State Arsenal under
my orders, to-wit: 80 Muskets of the model of 1842, in
violation of General Order No. Eight, which has been
sent to the company. For the suppression of insubordi-
nation of this character, and to prevent anarchy, you
are hereby ordered to proceed immediately to Covington
and demand of the Officers of Capt. Lamar's Company the
immediately delivery of the eighty muskets above named
to you, unless said officers will sign and deliver to you a
written pledge of honor that said guns shall not be car-
44 Confederate Records
ried beyond the limits of this State without the consent
of the Commander-in-Chief; and that they will hold them
at all times subject to the order of the Governor of this
State. In the event said ofl&cers, after you have read
this order to them, fail or refuse to deliver said
guns to you, or to give said written pledge of honor, you
are hereby authorized to arrest said officers who are in
commission in said Company, and to bring them before
me that such military proceedings may be had as are
usual in such case of disobedience to orders; and as the
exigency of the occasion may require. You are hereby
fully authorized to call out such military force as may be
necessary to the prompt and faithful execution of this
order.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
Maj. Gen. Josiah A. Clark,
Comdg. 11th Division G. M.
ExECUTrvE Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeOEGIA,
June 18th, 1861.
It being represented to me that the Mountain Ran-
gers, a Volunteer Company of Meriwether County, have
refused to enter the service for the war, and that the
company have virtually disbanded: I order and direct
that they deliver to Capt. Wm. T. Harris of the Jackson
Blues all the guns, 60 in number, received by them from
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 45
the State, as the last named Company have tendered for
the war. So soon as the guns are delivered and the fact
reported to me, the bonds of the officers of the Mountain
Eangers will be cancelled.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
June 18th, 1861.
The Captain of the Confederate Volunteers of Mon-
roe, Capt. Etheridge, is authorized to receive and hold
till further orders from me, the guns left by the Quitman
Guards now in service. The Clerk of the Superior Court
or other person in possession of the guns or any of them,
will deliver them to Capt. Etheridge or his order.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
July 18, 1861.
PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, it is believed that there are many old mili-
tary guns of one kind and another scattered over the
State, and not in the possession of organized volunteer
companies, which, by being collected and altered from
flint and steel to percussion, or otherwise repaired if
46 Confederate Eecoeds
necessary, could be made serviceable in the present crisis.
I, therefore, issue this my proclamation calling upon all
good and loyal citizens of the State to make diligent en-
quiry and search for such guns, being the property of the
State, and to collect them up wherever found and deliver
them to the Clerk of the Superior Court of each county;
and as a compensation therefor, I will cause to be paid
to said Clerks the sum of two dollars for each gun
(which can be repaired and made fit for use) so delivered
to him and forwarded to the Military Storekeeper, at
Milledgeville. This is not intended to apply to guns
already collected and subject to the order of the Com-
mander-in-Chief, nor to those in the hands of regularly
organized and existing volunteer companies, but to such
guns only as are scattered over the country and would
not otherwise be returned to the State Arsenal and made
available in the present emergency. The two dollars
thus offered by the State for the return of each of such
guns will be paid to the Clerks respectively on the re-
ceipt of the guns at Milledgeville ; and the Clerk will
pay over the money to the persons who gathered them
up and delivered them to him. The Clerks thus receiving
the guns will please to put them up in boxes or otherwise,
and ship to Milledgeville, consigned to Capt. T. M. Brad-
ford, Military Storekeeper, accompanied by a letter stat-
ing particularly the number and kind sent and where
sent from, and that they have been collected and for-
warded in pursuance of this proclamation.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy Ex. Dept.
State Papeks of Governor Jos. E. Brown 47
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
July 22nd, 1861.
Ordered: —
That William H. Hunt of Cobb County be, and he is
hereby appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Commander-in-
Chief, and that a commission issue to him accordingly.
By Order of the Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
July 26th, 1861.
A PROCLAMATION.
By Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia-. —
All the arms which were in the Augusta Arsenal, at
the date of the Ordinance for its transfer to the govern-
ment of the Confederate States, having been turned over
to the Secretary of War and ordered by him out of the
State, to arm troops mostly from other States upon the
borders of the Confederacy, and all the arms taken from
48 Confederate Records
said Arsenal by me prior to said transfer, having been
placed in tlie hands of troops from this State now in
service; and over seventeen thousand troops, including
three new regiments now under orders — for whom full
supplies are now being actively prepared — having
been fully armed, accoutered and equipped by the
State, including full supplies of tents, knapsacks,
blankets, cartridge boxes, cap pouches, camp kettles,
canteens, etc., at a cost of nearly $300,000, in equipments
and accoutrements, over and above the cost of guns, and
the expense of feeding and rendezvousing twenty regi-
ments; and probably over five thousand independent or
Confederate troops having gone from Georgia to the field,
some of whom have taken with them the State's arms,
of which I have no account, it becomes my duty to an-
nounce to the people of this State so soon as the new regi-
ments above mentioned and two or three other regiments,
for which it is hoped a sufficient quantity of scattered
arms may be gathered up and put in order, are supplied,
the public arms at my disposal will have been entirely
exhausted.
In view of these considerations and of the fact that
our lives, our property and our all are at stake in the
great conflict in which we are engaged, I appeal to the
citizens of this State to loan to the State, and through
her to the Confederacy, the use of their private arms.
From the best data at my command, I conclude that
there are, at least, 40,000 good country rifles, and 25,00^3
good double-barreled shot guns in the hands of our peo-
ple. I hope, in a short time, to be able to announce that
ample preparation has been made to alter the country
rifle into a good military weapon, by changing the bore
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 49
to a uniform size and preparing the gun to carry the
Minnie ball, thereby giving it as long range as the Har-
per's Ferry rifle.
I therefore appeal to the people in each county of
this State having one Representative in the Legislature
to form one volunteer company of eight rank and file,
and to each having two Representatives to form two com-
panies, and to arm said companies with country rifles of
good substance and heavy barrel, and to notify me in each
case, as soon as the guns are collected, that I may have
them repaired at the expense of the State, for the use of
the company from the county where the guns are col-
lected. This would give the State an additional armed
force of over thirteen thousand troops.
Judging from the prompt and noble response of the
people of this State to every call which has been made
upon them for aid to our cause, I can not doubt that each
and every county will promptly respond to this appeal,
and that many counties will do much more than I have
asked. At the end of the struggle the guns will be re-
turned to their owners or a reasonable price will be paid
for those which are lost.
I trust that the Justices of the Inferior Court, and
other active citizens of each county, will call public meet-
ings and discuss this question. Many thousands of men,
more than the State can arm, are tendering her their ser-
vices, and their lives if need be. How many will now
volunteer to loan the State the use of their guns! Con-
stantly returning thanks to our Heavenly Father for the
splendid victories with which He has crowned our arms,
50 Confederate Eecords
and humbly and fervently invoking a continuance of His
favor, our watchword should be death or victory over the
invaders.
Given under my hand and the Seal of the Executive
Department, this 26th day of July, eighteen hundred and
sixty-one.
Joseph E. Brown.
A PROCLAMATION.
State of Georgia. — ,
Whereas, A Convention of the people of the State of
Georgia legitimately convened, did assemble at the Capi-
tol on the nineteenth day of January last, and after be-
ing in session several days, did adjourn and subsequent-
ly convene in the city of Savannah: And Whereas, the
said Convention while in session at Savannah, did pro-
ceed to revise, alter and amend the Constitution of this
State, with the distinct proviso however, that the pro-
posed new Constitution should not take effect until the
same should be ratified by the people ;
And Whereas, on the first Tuesday in July last, an
election was held in conformity with a law prescribed by
the Convention, (having issued my Proclamation giving
notice thereof and requiring the same to be held,) and the
vote cast by the citizens of the State was for Ratification
Eleven Thousand Four Hundred and Ninety-Nine, and
for No Ratification Ten Thousand Seven Hundred and
Four, being a majority of Seven Hundred and Ninety-
Five votes for the Ratification of the Constitution as
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 51
iidopted by the Convention, no election having been held,
(as I am advised) in the counties of Camden, Chattahoo-
chee, Miller, Telfair and Wayne, and no returns having
been received from the counties of Coffee, Decatur and
Polk.
Now, therefore, I, Joseph E. Brown, Governor and
Commander-in-Chief of the State of Georgia, do issue
this, my Proclamation, declaring that the Constitution
adopted by the Convention as Savannah, on the twen-
ty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord one thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-one, is adopted and ratified
by the people of the State of Georgia, and is now the
Constitution of said State.
Given under my hand and the great Seal of the State
at the Capitol in Milledgeville, this twentieth day of
August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty one.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
E. P. Watkins,
Secretary of State.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
September 6th, 1861.
Ordered,
That the sum of Five Thousand Dollars be forwarded
to Doctors Henry F. Campbell and Joseph P. Logan, for
52 Confederate Eecoeds
the benefit of the Georgia Hospital for the sick and
wounded in Virginia.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. J. G. Williams,
Secy Ex. Dept.
A PROCLAMATION.
By Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
The Constitution of the Confederate States contains
the following language in reference to the right of a
State to conduct warlike operations:
**Nor shall any state keep troops or ships of war in
time of peace, enter into an agreement or compact with
another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as,
will admit of no delay. ' '
Soon after the adoption of this Constitution, I was
informed by the Secretary of War that the President
assumed control of all military operations in this State,
which were to be conducted against any foreign powers.
The President then appointed Gen. Lawton, and extended
his command from Savannah to the Florida line, and
assigned to Commodore Tatnall the command of the small
naval force upon our coast.
Our own Convention while in session at this place,
passed an ordinance turning over the forts and arsenals
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 53
of this State to the Confederacy. Fort Pulaski was not
at that time sufficiently equipped, and I have since ex-
pended about eighty thousand dollars from the State
treasury for heavy guns and other necessary equipments
for the fort.
Gen. Lawton and Commodore Tatnall have been ac-
tively engaged in putting the coast in a defensive condi-
tion, and I have cooperated with them to the extent of my
ability in every case when they have called upon me for
assistance. I have not felt, however, that I possessed the
constitutional power to call into active service troops
other than those required by the Secretary of War, and
to conduct military operations upon the coast. Until the
State is "actually invaded," or in such imminent dan-
ger of invasion "as will not admit of delay," the Con-
stitution assigns that duty to other persons, whose right-
ful authority I have not wished to usurp. On account of
the protection which our climate naturally affords to our
coast against hostile attacks during the summer months,
I have up to this period been unable to say that the
danger of invasion was so ^'imminent" as to "admit of
no delay." The season is now far advanced, and if we
may judge of the purposes of the Lincoln government
from the tone of the Northern press, and from its action
in the late affair at Hatteras, in North Carolina, we may
reasonably conclude that the invasion of our coast is in-
tended at no very distant day.
While I desire to act in perfect harmony with the Con-
federate authorities, I feel that the period will very soon
have arrived when action on my part, as the Executive
of the State, by the use of the military force of the State,
54 Confederate Records
acting as State Troops, for the defence of the coast, will
be justified both by the language and spirit of the Consti-
tution.
It will then be my duty to act, and to act with prompt-
ness and vigor.
Preparatory to such action, I direct that the late order
issued by the Adjutant-General of this State, for the
more thorough organization and training of the militia,
be promptly obeyed and the law strictly enforced against
all defaulters, except telegraph operators, persons em-
ployed in the actual service of express companies and
persons employed in the machine shops and other depart-
ments connected with railroads, who are hereby exempt
from the operation of said order, on the production of a
certificate from the chief officer in charge of the affairs of
such telegraph line, express company or railroad com-
pany, (including the State road), that the services of such
persons are necessary to its successful operations. All
clerks employed in any of the civil or military depart-
ments of the State or Confederate government are like-
wise exempt from military service, so long as their ser-
vices are necessary in their respective positions.
And I further require the Captains of all volunteer
companies in this State, not now in actual service, to in-
form me, immediately, of the number of each company
ready for actual service; or, if not ready, within what
time they can be ready ; and of the number of good coun-
try rifles or shot guns in possession of the company, which
they will be expected to use ,in case of emergency, till bet-
ter arms can be placed in their hands, which I trust I
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 55
shall be able to do before much active service will be re-
quired.
Those who first report themselves armed with good
rifles or double-barrel shot guns, will be first received
into service.
All volunteer companies hereafter formed for coast
defence will also report their condition, as soon as formed,
with the number and quality of guns collected by each.
It is expected that volunteer companies entering the
service as State Troops, for the defence of the coast, will
be mustered into service so soon as needed, after they
can be armed and formed into regiments, to serve for
six or twelve months, as the exigencies may require.
The regiments will also be formed into one or more bri-
gades, under the provisions of the Act of the last Legis-
lature.
Given under my hand and seal, at Savannah, this 9th
day of September, 1861.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department.
Milledgeville, Georgia.
September 16th, 1861.
I hereby accept the tender of the Oconee Grays, with
not less than fifty, nor more than eighty men, rank and
file, armed with guns which they have collected in the
county; and order them to report to Brigadier General
56 Confederate Recoeds
Geo P. Harrison, at Savannah, who will receive and
muster them into the service of the State, and place them
in Camp of Instruction at some point near the Central
Railroad; (probably in Effingham County,) so soon as he
can make the necessary arrangements of tents provisions,
& etc., to make them comfortable.
•J
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
A PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
September 20th, 1861.
Whereas, every encouragement should be given to
those engaged in the manufacture of arms and military
stores within the State, and to the end that all persons
so engaged may not be interrupted in their business, I
issue this my Proclamation, declaring that, in addition to
other classes of persons exempted by virtue of my proc-
lamation of the 9th inst., all persons engaged as opera-
tives in the manufacture, by machinery, of woolen or cot-
ton goods and other articles used for military purposes,
and all persons employed at furnaces in making of iron,
or in rolling mills, are hereby exempted from the perfor-
mance of militia duty, until further ordered. And all
such persons are requested not to attach themselves to
volunteer companies, as their labor in their respective
State Papers of Goveenor Jos. E. Brown 57
callings is more valuable to our common cause than their
military services.
Joseph E. Brown, Governor.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy Ex. Dept.
Headquarters,
Atlanta, Georgia,
September 27th, 1861.
Ordered, That the German Artillery, a Volunteer Corps
in Macon, Ga., Capt. Frederick H. Burghard, prepare
and hold themselves in readiness to march on the twenty
fourth day of October next, to the Sea Coast, or to such
other place in Georgia as the exigencies of the service
may require; and I hereby authorize Capt. Burghard to
contract for the manufacture or purchase of twenty sets
of harness for his battery, to be paid for in Confederate
State Bonds when delivered, on behalf of the State.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
58 Confederate Recoeds
Executive Department,
ATLAiJfTA, Georgia,
October 3rd, 1861.
Mr. John C. Ferrill,
Cashier Bank of Commerce,
Savannah, Georgia.
Sir: — Drafts drawn on the Bank of Commerce of
Savannah to quarter and subsist State Troops till regular
means be perfected to place funds for such purposes in
Savannah, will be responded to by the State.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Headquarters,
Atlanta, Georgia,
October 5th, 1861.
Ordered,
That Capt. T. M. Bradford, Military Store Keeper at
Milledgeville, ship to Savannah, Ga., directed to Capt.
Levi S. Hart, Military Store Keeper there, all the arms
embraced in the within schedule. Also, a quantity of car-
tridges sufficient for and suitable to all the arms, sending
say 1,600 blank Maynard cartridges cases, and say 10,-
000 Sharps primes. — Also some 50,000 percussion Caps
for muskets. All these arms and ammunition will be
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 59
shipped subject to the supervision of Capt. G. L. Guerard,
who has been appointed by his Excellency for that pur-
pose.
By order of the Commander-in-Chief.
H. H. Waters,
Aide-de-Camp.
20,000 Sharps Cartridges.
15,000 Buck & Ball & 15,000 Ball Cartridges, for Mus-
kets.
5,000 or 10,000 Cartridges for Minnie Muskets, if on
hand.
The following Order was this day sent by Telegraph,
to-wit : —
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
October 7th, 1861.
Eeport to General Harrison, and, as my Aide-de-
Camp, assist in the drill of the new regiments, sub-
ject to the orders of General Harrison, while in camp.
Joseph E. Brown.
Col. Henry Cleveland,
Savannah, Georgia.
60 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
October 7th, 1861.
Whereas, the following Preamble and Resolutions
were unanimously passed and adopted by the Southern
shareholders of the Brunswick and Florida Railroad
Company at a meeting held at the office of the Company
in the city of Brunswick, on Wednesday the 25th of Sep-
tember, 1861, which Preamble and Resolutions are in the
following words, to-wit:
*'A meeting of the shareholders of the B. & F. R. R.
Co. was held at the office of the company in the city of
Brunswick, on Wednesday the 25th of September, 1861,
in accordance with a previous notice.
On motion of Dr. R. McDonald, Col. Charles L. Schlat-
ter was called to the chair, and James F. King acted as
Secretary.
The chairman then stated the object of the meeting.
The following Preamble and Resolutions were offered
by Dr. McDonald, and, after some discussion, unanimous-
ly adopted:
Whereas, all communication having been cut off be-
tween the Southern stockholders of the Brunswick and
Florida Railroad Company, and the President and
Board of Directors, by the war now waged by the North
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 61
against the South, whereby this Company is completely
disorganized, and all the money, bonds and assets of the
Company are now in the North, without the hope of the
shareholders being able to reclaim them : And Whereas,
the Southern stockholders are not now, nor are they likely
soon to be in a condition to raise funds to keep up and
and work the road, therefore.
Resolved, that the shareholders of the Brunswick and
Florida Kailroad Company, citizens of the State of
Georgia and the Confederate States of America, having
met together, by a call of the Chief Engineer of said Com-
pany to take into consideration the present condition, and
future welfare of the corporation, in order to protect the
interests of all concerned, do hereby direct that a ballot
be taken for a Provisional Board of Directors, who shall
act according to the terms of the charter of the Company
during the time of office, and that application be made to
the Legislature to legalize the Acts of the shareholders
and of the Board.
Resolved, That the President and Board of Directors
are authorized to place the Railroad in charge of Gov.
Brown, on behalf of the State of Georgia, to run, repair,
and manage the same, until such time as the shareholders
are in a condition to resume its management.
In accordance with the foregoing Resolutions, the fol-
lowing gentlemen were elected a Provisional Board of
Directors, to act until the next regular annual meeting
of the Board, or until such time as the Legislature may
62 Confederate Records
direct; Charles L. Schlatter, Jas. T. Blain, Jas. F. King,
R. McDonald, Nelson Tift, U. Dart, Senr., Charles Day.
On motion the meeting adjourned sine die.
Jas. F. King, Secretary. Charles L. Schlatter, Prest.
And Whereas, at a meeting of the Board of Directors
of the said railroad company, held at the office of the
Companj^ on Thursday the 26th day of September, 1861,
the following Preamble and Resolutions were unanimous-'
ly adopted, to-wit :
*' At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bruns-
wick and Florida Railroad Company, held at the office
of the Company on Thursday the 26th day of September,
1861, Charles L. Schlatter Esqr. was unanimously elected
President and Treasurer, and Mr. Wm. Barkeeloo Secre-
tary.
The following Preamble and Resolutions were pre-
sented by Dr. R. McDonald and unanimously adopted :
Whereas, the stockholders of the Brunswick and Flo-
rida Railroad Company, residents of the State of Georgia,
at a meeting held on the 25th day of September, 1861,
having authorized the President and Board of Directors
of said Company to place the Railroad in the hands of
Gov. Jos. E. Brown, therefore be it,
.Resolved, That said President and Board of Directors,
do hereby request Gov. Jos. E. Brown to take charge of
said railroad, and repair, run, manage and place upon it,
State Papers of Governob Jos. E. Brown 63
such motive power, rolling stock and machinery, as the
business of the road may, from time to time, require.
Resolved, That the Governor be requested to hold
and manage the said railroad, until such time as the
said railroad company are in a condition to resume the
management of said railroad.
Resolved, That the Board of Directors accept the
proposition of Gov. Brown, as reported to them by their
President, viz. That all money paid by Gov. Brown for
repairs, management, rolling stock and machinery nec-
essary to keep the Eoad in good running order, be charged
to said company, and that all monies received from
freight, passengers, soldiers, and munitions of war be
credited to said Company.
Resolved, That the President of the said railroad
company is authorized to complete all the arrangements
necessary, with Gov. Brown, to carry out the foregoing
resolutions.
The following Preamble and Resolutions were offered
by Mr. U. Dart, Sen., and unanimously adopted :
Whereas, the Congress of the Confederate States has
passed an Act sequestrating all the property of alien
enemies lying within the Confederate States, And
Whereas, the people of the State of Georgia in convention
held in January last, did, by solemn Ordinance guarantee
to all persons the enjoyment of all stock or money vested
in permanent works of internal improvement, within the
limits of said State, or words to that effect, and as the
charter of the Brunswick and Florida Railroad Com-
64 Confederate Records
pany declares that all the shares of stock of the said
Brunswick and Florida Railroad Company shall be taken,
considered and held in law as real estate of which the
State has the right as this Board believes to claim the
right of eminent domain, and can only be confiscated or
sequestered by an Act of her own Legislature, be it there-
fore
Resolved, That the President of this road be re-
quested to respectfully call the attention of the Gover-
nor of the State to these facts, and elicit from him, if
possible, an opinion on the subject contained in the
above preamble.
A true extract from the minutes,
Wm. Baekeeloo,
Secy. B. & F. R. R. Co."
Brunswick, Georgia, Sept. 26th, 1861.
Therefore in pursuance of the foregoing Resolutions,
and considering that it is a military necessity that the
said railroad should be taken possession of and con-
trolled by State authority as a means of public defense,
I have, as Governor of Georgia and Commander-in-Chief
of the army and navy of this State, and of the Militia
thereof, taken charge of said railroad, to hold and manage
the same, and to repair, run and place upon it in addition
to what the company already has, such motive power,
rolling stock and machinery, as the business of the road
may from time to time require, and the exigencies of the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 65
public service may, in my opinion, demand, until such
time as I may think proper to again leave the manage-
ment of said road to said company, and to hold and
conduct the same in such way as I deem compatible
with the public service.
I do hereby appoint Charles L. Schlatter, Esq., Sup-
erintendent of said railroad, with a salary of Fifteen
Hundred Dollars per annum, who is hereby author-
ized to take such control and supervision thereof as is
usual for Superintendents of Railroads to exercise.
The Superintendent is hereby ordered to proceed at
once to put the road bed track and rolling stock of the
Road in a condition to insure the safe and speedy trans-
portation over the road of whatever troops, army stores
and munitions of war the military service may require,
and such freight and passengers as the public may de-
mand, always giving the preference as to time when de-
manded, to the transportation of troops and munitions
of war, the appointment to continue in force during
my discretion.
The object had in view by me in accepting the man-
agement and control of the road, being to make it avail-
able to the State for military purposes, only such re-
pairs upon it, as are or shall be absolutely necessary to
insure safe and speedy transportation over it of troops
and munitions of war, will be made under my manage-
ment, without regard to permanent improvements; and
to this end, I direct that the Superintendent shall limit
his expenditures in repairing the road bed and track
66 Confederate Records
to five thousand dollars until further orders, believing
that this sum, economically expended, will put the road
in the required condition.
I also appoint R. liaglehurst, Esq., Treasurer and
Auditor of said Road, with a salary of one thousand dol-
lars per annum, whose duty it shall be to audit all ac-
counts and demands against it, accruing after he shall
have entered upon the discharge of the duties of his ap-
pointment as such treasurer and auditor, and to pay
all such accounts and demands which he may approve,
after the same have been ordered by the Superintendent
to be paid.
The treasurer and auditor shall keep a book, in
which he shall credit the company with all monies re-
ceived for freight and passage, and shall charge the
company with all monies paid out for repairing and
working the road, including the superintendent's and
treasurer and auditor's salaries. And these officers
shall make out and transmit to the Governor, quarterly,
complete and detailed reports of the condition and man-
agement of the said road. The treasurer and auditor
shall, before entering upon tlie duties of his j!]»|)()int-
ment, execute his bond, payable to the Governor of tlie
State, for the time being, and his successors in office,
with good security in the sum of ten thousand dollars for
the faithful discharge of his duties as such treasurer
and auditor.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 67
Given under my hand and the Seal of the Exetaitive
Department, this the seventh day of October, 18G1.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy Ex. Dept.
Executive Department.
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA.
October 18th, 1861.
Ordered,
That Joseph T. Lumpkin, of the county of Clarke,
be, and he is, hereby appointed Aide-de-Camp to the
Commander-in-Chief, of the Second Brigade and Third
Division G. M.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department.
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA.
October 19th, 1861.
I am asked to state whether in my opinion, persons
who have joined Volunteer Companies and voted in the
68 Confederate Records
elections for company officers prior to the issuance, of
orders to the Company to rendezvous for service, un-
der a tender of the Company previously made by the
Captain ; but who never si^ed the tender, and when the
orders to march came did not respond, and have never
run the State to any expense, or received rations, or
voted in the elections for field officers of the Regiment
after the rendezvous of the companies, are subject to
arrest, and to be compelled to enter the service. I re-
ply that such persons are not, in my opinion, obliged
to march, and can not be treated as deserters for a refusal
to do so; till the Company has received and responded
to marching orders, they are only held together by obli-
gations of honor, and not of law, and can not be punished
for a violation of pledges, which they may have made to
each other, or for bad faith to each other.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department.
Milledgeville, Georgia,
October 19th, 1861.
Ordered,
That Col. James A. Green, Principal Keeper Ga.
Penitentiary, do issue to Mr. James K. Walker, for Col.
Cowart and Watkins Regiment, ninety common tents in
addition to the one hundred and twenty already shipped;
and sixteen wall tents for officers.
These tents all to be accounted for to the Quarter-
master-General, by the Quartermaster of the Regiment.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 69
A PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department.
MrLLEDGEVTLLE, GeORGIA.
October 19th, 1861.
Whereas, In obedience to my Proclamation issued
the 9th of September last to the people of Georgia, call-
ing for volunteers for the coast defense, a number
much larger than the exigencies of the service require
have patriotically and promptly tendered their services.
I therefore issue this my Proclamation, giving notice
that no more tenders of service will be accepted; and
that only those will be ordered into service who have
heretofore tendered and been accepted, in accordance with
said Proclamation.
In all cases where companies have been accepted up-
on an agreement to march by a given day, such compa-
nies will be required to comply strictly with the agree-
ment as to time, or they will not be mustered into ser-
vice ; and in all cases where companies have been accept-
ed without a definite day having been fixed by which the
company should be ready to march, it will be required
that such company march by or before the first day of
November next, (first giving notice to this Department
of its readiness to march,) or it will not be received into
service.
No volunteer will be mustered into service who does
not carry with him to the place of rendezvous a good
country rifle or double-barreled shot gun, or a good mili-
70 Confederate Records
tary gun in condition for immediate use; and no company
will be mustered in unless it has between fifty and eighty
men, rank and file, armed as above required. All com-
panies or individual volunteers going to the rendezvous
without a strict compliance with the above terms, in
future, will be rejected and sent home at their own ex-
pense.
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive De-
partment, at the Capitol, in Milledgeville, this the 19th
day of October, 1861.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department.
Milledgeville, Georgia.
October 21st, 1861.
Ordered,
That the following appointments be, and the same are
hereby made, viz;
Dr. William Ashley, of Lowndes County, as Surgeon,
and Dr. T. M. Howard, of Campbell county, as Assist-
ant Surgeon to the First Regiment; Dr. T. J. Young, of
Catoosa County, as Surgeon, and Dr. James W. Curry,
of Cass county, as Assistant Surgeon to the Second
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 71
Kegiment; and Dr. J. C. C. Blackburn, of Pike County,
as Surgeon, and Dr. W. J. Nichols, of County,
as Assistant Surgeon to the Third Regiment in Gen.
George P. Harrison's Brigade; and that each report for
duty to the Col. commanding his Regiment, at Camp
Harrison.
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive De-
partment the day and year above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters^
Secy. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department.
Milledgeville, Georgia.
October 22d, 1861.
Col. Ira R. Foster,
Quartermaster-General.
You will furnish to Capt. Thomas A. Burke, Quarter-
Master of the First Regiment Georgia State Troops,
such supplies pertaining to the Quartermaster's Depart-
ment as he may require for any Companies of State
Troops at Camp Harrison which are not supplied, and
which do not belong to an organized Regiment, having
an acting Quartermaster at the post with the Regiment.
The certificate of Capt. Burke, that the supplies fall
72 Confederate Records
within the above rule will be sufficient protection to
you. A copy of this order is forwarded to Capt Burke.
Joseph E. Brown, Governor.
Executive Department.
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA.
October 22d, 1861.
Wm. W. Clayton, Esq.,
Agt. Ga. R. R. & Bnk. Co.,
Atlanta, Georgia.
Sir: Any reasonable extension which may be given
by your bank for the payment of the twenty thousand
dollars, (or any part of it which is unpaid,) the Bank
advanced to the Confederate States on my guarantee as
Governor of Georgia for subsistence of troops at Camps
McDonald and Stephens, will meet my approval ; and the
States guarantee shall still exist.
Very respectfully, etc.,
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
State Papers of Govebnor Jos. E. Brown 73
Executive Department.
Milledgeville, Georgia.
November 4th, 1861.
To the Officers Commanding the Militia of Baldwin
County.
You are hereby instructed to excuse from the per-
formance of militia duty, till further order, all students
engaged in a course of study in Oglethorpe University,
upon the certificate of Rev. Dr. Talmadge, the President
of the University, that they are students under his care,
and the instruction of the faculty of the University.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in Chief.
Executive Department.
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA.
November 4th, 1861.
The following receipts are recorded upon the Execu-
tive Minutes by order of the Governor, and the originals
filed in the Executive Office.
Atlanta, October 8th, 1861.
I have this day received of Joseph E. Brown, Gov-
ernor of Georgia, twenty-two thousand, one hundred and
74 CONFKDKUATK Hki'ORDS
thirty two (It)llars ami seventy cents ($22,1.')2.7U) whicli
snitl Hruwn reeciveil from the (lovernment of the Con-
fe<iernto States, as prnfits on >ah' of saltjjetre and sul-
phur, purehased hy said Urowii with money belonging to
the State, and sold to the Confederacy for the above sum
(»ver and above the cost of the material to the State; said
Hrown liaving made said jirofit in said transaction by the
use of the State's money. i>ays said sum over to me as
(^unrtennnster-General t»f (leorgia, to be expended by
nie for the supply of necessaries to the troops of the
State, and for such military j)urposes as the nature of the
service may re(|uire: I am to account for the above sum
in my report as if I had received it direct from the Treas-
ury of the State by \ irtue of my office, as I received it in
my oflicial capacity from the Governor.
(Signed) Ira R. Foster,
• ^ M. (Jen. Georgia Army.
Received, October isth, I8(;i, of Joseph E. Brown,
five l)onds of the Conr.d.iate States of America, of one
thousand dollars each— making $5,000, which said Brown
says he holds as Governor of Georgia, on account of
sale of the Steamer Savannah, which he has delivered
to me as Quartennaster-CJeneral of this State, for which
I am to account in my official report, which are the first
and only bonds received by me to this date.
(Signed) Ira K. Poster,
Q. M. Gen. Georgia Army.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 75
October 31st, 1861. Received of Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia, one bond of one thousand dollars
on above account, to be accounted for by me as Quarter-
master-General, as in the case of the $5,000 in the above
receipt. I having only received $6,000 in bonds to this
date.
(Signed) Ira R. Fosteb,
Q. M. Gen. Georgia Army.
Received of Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia,
a check on the Georgia Railroad Bank at i^ugusta,
signed by John Jones, Treasurer, payable to Edgar G.
Dawson, Capt. Terrell Artillery, for five thousand dol-
lars, which was received by said Dawson as part of the
million appropriation of 1861, to be used in the purchase
of a battery of cannon, but as his company was received
into the Confederate service, and that government as-
sumed the expense of supplying the battery, the check
was returned to the Governor, indorsed to his order, and
is now turned over to me as Quartermaster-General to be
used in equipping and supplying State Troops, for which
said sum of five thousand dollars I am to account in my
report as Quartermaster-General.
This January 3d, 1862.
(Signed) Ira R. Foster,
Q. M. Gen. Georgia Army.
76 OoNrKnKR.<rK Ixkcokivs
Mu.l.KlXU'.Vn.l.K. (.UoHiUA.
Novoinbor Tith. 1S(>1.
Col. Pavivi r. Harrow is horobv anthori/.iHi to ori^-'in-
izo. as soon as possible, tivo Military roiupauios to bo
adiiod to Maj. Taylor's battalion, to oonvort tho Battal-
ion into a KoirinuMit, Tho oonipanios nnist not consist
of less than Fifty, nor more than eighty men eaeh. rank
and tile, and eaoh man nnist be nrmed with a irood Conn
try ritle or donble-barrel shot inin. in eonviition for
innnediate nse. as no man ean be reoeived nnless he is so
armed, nor ean any Company be rtveived nnless there
are a loirj^l nnmber for a oompany so armed. Eai-h man
nmst also brine his bnllet monld with his ritle. i, where he
has anyO and his shot ponoh and powder horn.
»los. \\. Bkown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 77
Wednesday, November Gth, 1861,
Three o'clock, P. M.
'J'he following naessage was received from his Excel-
Jency the Governor, by Mr. Campbell, his Secretary, to-
wit: —
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 6th, 1861.
Fellow citizens of the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives : —
Prior to the Revolution of 1776, our State and the
other Atlantic States of this Continent were colonies of
the British Government, created by it and subject to its
control. — The people then had only such civil rights as
Avere recognized by the Parliament of Great Britain,
wliile the Colonies neither possessed nor claimed inher-
ent sovereignty.
The inhabitants, mostly of British origin, were at-
taclu^d to the Crown, and were in the enjoyment of pros-
])erity and happiness till the government conceived the
plan of enricliing and aggrandizing itself by imposing
onerous and o[)pressive burdens upon the Colonies. The
people remonstrated against these aggressions in the
most resi;)ectfnl manner, giving assurances of their loy-
alty and petitioning for a redress of grievances. Their
petitions were disregarded and their natural rights tram-
j)l('d u])on by an unwise and ambitious ministry.
78 Confederate Records
Finally, when it was ascertained that their own gov-
ernment liacl ceased to be their protector, and had be-
come their oppressor, and that the only alternative left
was submission or resistance to tyranny, they threw olt"
the yoke and boldly defied the powers of the British
Crown. The re]n*esentative of the people met in Con-
vention, and ai)pealing to the God of the Universe for
tlie rectitude of their intentions and humbly and fer-
vently invoking His assistance in the mighty conflict in
which they were about to engage, declared that the Colo-
nies were, and of right ought to be free, sovereign and in-
dependent States. An attempt was then made by force
of arms to coerce the Colonies back into a union with the
British Government. In this conflict the disparity of
physical strength was fearful. The government of Great
Britain was a power of the first magnitude, possessing
large fleets and armies, thoroughly equipped and armed
w^ith the best military weapons of the age. The Colonies
were without fleets or armies, numbering ])ut three mil-
lions of people, badly trained, almost destitute of mili-
tary equipments, relying alone, under the blessing of
Heaven, upon their stout hearts and strong arms and
the inherent justice of their cause. The war was long
and bloody. The world knows the result.
State Rights.
Soon after the achievement of our independence, the
great and good men who conducted the revolution, met
in convention and entered upon the work of forming a
Constitution, and establishing the government upon a
permanent basis. In that Convention it was discovered
that great diversity of opinion existed as to the proper
form of the permanent government. Some very able
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 79
and influential persons favored the plan of a limited
monarchy, similar to that of Great Britain, or some other
strong government which would consolidate the sover-
eignty of the States in the empire, and place the supreme
power in the hands of the few. Many, who did not
aspire to the throne in case of the establishment of
monarchy, no doubt, looked for positions at court or for
dukedoms and other grades of noble hereditary distinc-
tion that would elevate them and their posterity to per-
manent ruling positions above the great mass of their
fellow citizens. This class of persons opposed the great
doctrine of State Rights and sought to divest the States
of their sovereignty, and virtually to convert them into
more provinces of a consolidated central power. The
doctrines of this class of statesmen were, however, suc-
cessfully combatted in the Convention by the great cham-
pions of the doctrine of State Sovereignty, who succeeded
in procuring the sanction of the convention to a Constitu-
tion, which, while it delegated to the general government
such attributes of sovereignty as were necessary to con-
duet the foreign affairs of a confederation of States, and
to regulate such internal affairs between the States nec-
essary to the good of the whole as were beyond the con-
trol of a single State confederated with sister States,
reserved to each State its inherent sovereignty, with
power to exercise all its attributes except such as were
expressly granted to the general government, or such
as were necessary to carry into effect the delegated
powers.
After the adoption of the Constitution, a conflict again
arose between the two classes of statesmen above men-
tioned. The one class, headed by the great statesmen of
80 Confederate Records
Virginia, contondiMl tliat tlio federal j^overnment should,
in practioe, be coiitiiied to the exercises of the powers dele-
gated to it by the Constitution, leaving to the States the
exercise of all their reserved powers. The other class,
headed cliieHy by Northern statesmen, attenii)ted, by a
latitudinarian construction of the Constitution, to accom-
plish indirectly what they had failed to secure directly,
and to consolidate the government by the assumption, in
practice, of powers not delegated by the States. The con-
flit't has lasted through a long series of years, and the
fortunes of the two classes of statesmen, at different
times and under different names, have been as various
as the ebbs and flows of popular sentiment, under differ-
ent influences and controlled by different interests, have,
been unstable. The statesman of the original Federal
schools have, however, with the assistance of the tariff
laws, navigation acts, fishery laws, and other legislation
intended to build up and foster Northern interests at the
exjiense of Southern industry, succeeded in directing the
Northern mind into the consolidation channel. By the
instrumentality of these laws, the government of the
United States has poured the wealth of the productive
South into the lap of the bleak and sterile North, and
the people of the ice clad hills of New England have
grown rich and haughty upon the tribute which they have
levied on the production of the sunny South. The result
has very naturally been that they have learned to look up
to the government which taxed our industry for their
advantage and enriched them at our expense as the great
dispenser of all benefits ; and they have sought to strength-
en its hands and enlarge its powers by weakening the
hands and diminishing the powers of the States. They
were willing to consolidate the government, if the govern-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 81
ment would, in turn, onrieli them. They have used the
slavery question to excite the masses and to place in
power sucli men as would administer the government for
their benefit.
The people of the Southern States, who have been the
sufferers under the operation of the federal government,
which has drawn from them the incomes of their labor
to enrich their Northern neighbors, have very naturally
opposed the consolidation of all power at Washington,
and have maintained the doctrine of State Rights as
their only security against the encroachments of haughty
and unrestrained imperial power. They endured wrongs
and submitted to injustice till their wrongs were no long-
er sufferable. They again and again warned the people
of the Northern States of the consequences of further
aggression. Their warnings were unheeded and their re-
monstrances were met with renewed acts of injustice.
Seeing that there was no further safety for them in the
confederacy, each one of eleven States, in its separate
apacity as an independent sovereign power, asserted
ts original rights by resuming all the attributes of its
riginal sovereignty. The government of the United
states is now, in fact, a consolidated militaiy despotism
and its Executive, who claims and exercises the right to
suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus and to imprison in
chains or take the lives of citizens of the State of that
government at his pleasure, denies the sovereignty of
the States, condemns the doctrine of State Eights, claims
that the States are as subject to the control of the Fed-
eral government, (which is in fact their mere agent) as
were the Colonies to the British Crown ; and imitating the
unwise and unjust policy of the British government in
S'2 Confederate Records
1770, now attempts to coerce the eleven seceded States
back into tlie Union, and by force of arms to subject them
to the government and control of that despotism. To
accomplish this wicked purpose and to secure our sul),ju-
gation and degradation, lie has made war upon us, block-
aded our ports and invaded our territory with large
armies. In violation of every rule of modern warfare,
he has permitted his soldiers to disregard the rights of
private property and to inflict the most grievous wrongs
upon unoffending women and children. By the assist-
ance of the God of battles, we have met his hosts in the
fields and, against vast superiority of numbers and of
preparation, we have repeatedly dispersed and driven
them back with wild consternation and great slaughter.
Still he persists in his wicked purpose of forcing upon
us the choice between submission to tyranny and the vig-
orous prosecution of a protracted war. Our lives, our
liberties, our wives, our children, our property, our all,
are at stake in this contest. A gracious Providence has
given us the resources in men, money and means to live
within ourselves and to maintain the war against the
invader for a whole generation. But one alternative
is left us, and but one response can be given to the in-
quiry as to our future policy. That response is on the
tongue of every freeman, it is felt from breast to breast,
and heard from li]) to lip, reverberating from the hill-
tops to the mountains and from the mountains to the
valleys: Victory over the invader, or death to the last
man sooner than acknowledge that ice are vanquished.
The hearts of the whole people of the seceded States are
as the heart of one man, and that great heart beats re-
sponsive to the patriotic sentiment that the enemy may
State Papers of Go\'1Ernor Jos. E. Brown 83
exterminate us if he has the power, but conquer us, he
never shall.
Unconstitutioxal Legislation Dangerous to State
Rights.
The Constitution formed by the Convention and since
adopted by each of the eleven Confederate States, is the
old Constitution of the United States, amended and im-
])roved in such particulars as the experience of three
((uarters of a century had shown to be necessary. Under
this Constitution, the new government of the Confeder-
ate States is now in successful operation and is maintain-
ing itself with great ability both in the Cabinet and in
the field. The action of our Congress has been generally
characterized by prudence, wisdom and foresight.
While I take much pleasure in making this statement and
in yielding to the new government my hearty and cordial
support, the candor, which I would exercise towards a
friend, compels me to say that in my judgment two im-
portant acts passed by our Congress are hard to recon-
cile with the plain letter and spirit of the Constitution.
The 16th item of the 18th Section of the 1st Article of
the Constitution of the Confederate States is in these
words: ''Congress shall have power" ''To provide for
organizing, arming and discipling the militia, and for
governing such part of them as may be employed in the
service of the Confederate States, reserving to the States
respectively the appointment of the officers and the au-
thority of training the militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress." The first section of the act of
Congress of the Confederate States, approved 8th May
84 Confederate Records
ISfil, nutliorizes the Prosidont to accept the sennces of
volunteers who may offer their services without regard
to the place of enlistment. The second Section of the
Act is in these words:
"Tliat the volunteers so offering their services may
be acce])ted l)y the President in companies, to be organ-
ized ihy him into squadrons, battalions or regiments.
The President shall appoint all field and staff officers, but
the company officers shall be elected by the men compos-
ing the company ; and if accepted, the officers so elected
shall he commissioned hy the President.''
The first section of the act approved 11th May 1861,
is in these words:
''That the President be authorized to receive into
sei'\"ice such companies, battalions or regiments, either
mounted or on foot, as may tender themselves and he may
require, without the delay of a formal call upon the re-
spective States, to serve for such terms as he may pre-
scribe."
xVnd part of the third section of said act is in these
words :
''The President shall be authorized to commission all
officers entitled to commissions of such volunteer forces
as may be received under the provisions of this act."
The language of our Constitution is the same that is
used in the Constitution of tlie United States, and it is
believed that the term Militia as there used, when applied
to troops, was always understood to be in contradistinc-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 85
tion to the term Regular. The Constitution gives to Con-
gress the power to ''raise and support armies." Under
this authority, our regular army is enlisted and its officers
are appointed by the government under whose authority
it is raised. In this case there is no restraint upon the
power of Congress, and it may therefore confer upon the
President the power to appoint all the officers. In the
case of the Militia, which term includes volunteers and
other military forces not embraced in the regular army,
the same unrestrained power is not granted. While the
States have delegated to Congress the power of organiz-
ing, arming and discipling the militia, and of governing
such part of them as may be employed in the service of
the Confederacy, they have expressly reserved to them-
selves the appointment of the officers, and have there-
fore expressly denied to Congress the right to confer
that power on the President or any other person. Not-
withstanding the express reservation by the States of
this power, the acts above referred to authorize the Presi-
dent to accept the volunteer militia of the States inde-
pendently of State authority and to commission everj^
officer of a regiment, from a third Lieutenant to a Colo-
nel. This act, by vesting in the President the power of
appointing the officers of the militia, which power the
States have carefully and expressly reserved to them-
selves, enables him to control, independent of State au-
thority, the whole consolidated military force of the Con-
federacy, including the Militia as well as the Regulars.
If this practice is acquiesced in, the Confederate govern-
ment, which has the control of the purse, with the power
to tax the people of the States to any extent at its pleas-
ure, also acquires the supreme control of the military
force of the States, and with both the sword and the purse
86 Confederate Records
ill its own liaiuls may IxM'oiiio the uncontrollable master
instead of the useful servant of the States.
I am not aware of any case in which the goveninient
of the United States prior to its disruption ever claimed
or exercised the i)ower to accept volunteer troops, com-
mission their officers and order them into service, with-
out consulting the Executive authority of the State from
which they were received. The idea does not seem ever
to have occurred to President Lincoln, so long as he held
himself bound by any constitutional restraints, that he
had any i)ower to accept troops from the border States
to assist in coercing us into obedience, without the prior
consent of the Executives of those States. Hence, he
made liis call upon them for troops and met a repulse
that turned the tide of popular sentiment in our favor in
most of those States and redounded greatly to the salva-
tion of the South. During the war of 1812, when Massa-
chusetts refused to send her troops out of the State, the
plea of necessity might have been set up by Mr. Madison
as a justification, to some extent, for such an encroach-
ment, but neither he, who had participated so largely in
the formation of the Constitution, nor the Congress in
that day seem to have felt justified, even by necessity, in
adopting any such measure. In the present instance,
the plea of necessity could not be set up, as it will not be
pretended that the Executive of any State in the Confed-
eracy had refused to respond promptly to each and every
call made upon him for troops. Even now, I believe it
may be truly said that the number required in each and
every case of each and every Executive has been prompt-
ly furnished.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 87
These acts have also been very inconvenient in prac-
tice. The Secretary of War has frequently made requisi-
tion on me, as the G-overnor of this State, for troops;
these I have promptly furnished. Thirty regiments and
three battalions of State Troops have gone into the ser-
vice of the Confederacy. Of this number, twenty-one
regiments and three battalions have been armed, accou-
tred and equipped by the State. We now have accepted
and nearly all in the field of State Troops, not in Confed-
erate service, seven regiments and three battalions, which,
with the help of the country arms in use, are being fully
armed, equipped and accoutred by the State. We have
also in service from Georgia ten regiments, which have
been accepted by the President independent of State au-
thority, making thirty-seven regiments and six battalions
of State troops, and ten regiments of independent or Con-
federate troops. Counting two battalions as a regiment,
Georgia has therefore in service fifty regiments, forty
of State troops and ten independent. Including a few
country arms, she has armed, accoutred and equipped
thirty of these regiments. On several occasions, after I
have put companies under orders for the purpose of fill-
ing requisitions made upon me, I have learned itha.t
these companies had previously left the State without
my knowledge, which caused delay, growing out of the
necessity of ordering in other companies to fill their
places. So long as there are two recognized military
heads in the State, each having the power to order out
the militia without informing the other of the companies
ordered by him, conflict and confusion must be the inevi-
table result. Again, as these independent regiments re-
ceive their commissions from the President and leave the
State without official notice to the Executive, there is no
88 Confederate Records
record in Georgia wliich gives the names of the officers
or privates or shows that that they are in service from
the State. The only knowledge which the Executive has
of their being in service is such as he derives from the
newspapers or other channels of information common to
any private citizen of the State.
But I fear that these acts may, in the end, entail
upon us or our posterity a greater misfortune than the
mere practical confusion and inconvenience growing out
of them. As I have before remarked, they give to the
President the control of the Militia of the States and the
appointment of the officers to command them, without
the consent of the States. This is an imperial power,
which in the hands of an able, fearless, popular leader, if
backed by a subservient Congress in the exercise of its
taxing power, would enable him to trample imder foot all
restraints and make his will the supreme law of the land.
It may be said in reply to this, that the Acts only give
the President the power to accept the services of such of
the militia of the States as volunteer to serve him. This
is true. But we can not shut our eyes to the fact that in
times of high political excitement, when the people are
di\'ided into parties, a fearless favorite leader having
this power and in possession of all the public arms, muni-
tions of war, forts, arsenals, dockyards, and etc., belong-
ing to the government, might be able to rally around him
such force as would give him a fearful advantage over
those who might attempt to prevent the accomplishment
of his designs. Such is my confidence in the present able
Executive of the Confederate States, and so thoroughly
am I convinced of his lofty patriotism and his purity of
purpose, that I entertain but little fear that he would
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 89
abuse even absolute power or subvert the liberties of his
country for his own personal aggrandizement. This is no
reason, however, why I should consent to see absolute
power placed in his hands. While I might not fear him as
a dictator, I would never consent that he be made dicta-
tor. His term of office is limited by the Constitution and
must expire with his new term at the end of six years.
His immediate successor, or some future Napoleon occu-
pying the same position, may be less pure and patriotic,
and with the precedent established and approved by the
people, placing this vast military power in his hands, he
may make the Presidency a stepping stone for the grati-
fication of his unholy ambition, and by the use of the mili-
tary at his command may assume the imperial robes and
seat himself upon a throne.
To guard effectually against usurpation, sustain re-
publican liberty and prevent the consolidation of the
power and sovereignty of the States in the hands of the
few, our people should watch, with a jealous eye, every
act of their representatives tending to such a result, and
condemn in the most unqualified manner every encroach-
ment made by the general government upon either the
rights or the sovereignty of the States.
Defense of the State.
The act of the last Legislature authorized the Gover-
nor to call out ten thousand volunteers, if necessary, for
the defence of the State.
Early in the spring, I divided the State into four
sections or brigades, intending, if necessary, to raise one
UO Confederate Records
brigade of volunteers in eacli section and appointed one
Major-General and two Brigadier-Generals, with a view
to the prompt organization of one division in case of
emergency. The position of Major-General was tendered
to Gen. Henry R. Jackson, who had lately gained a very
important victory over a greatly superior force of the
enemy in Northwestern Virginia, who declined it in
favor of Col. Wm. H. T. Walker, late of the United States
army, and a most gallant son of Georgia. T then, in ac-
cordance with the recommendation of Gen. Jackson, and
tlie dictates of my own judgment, tendered the appoint-
ment to Col. Walker, by whom it was acce])ted. The
office of Brigadier-General was tendered to and accepted
by Col. Paul J. Semmes, for the second brigade, and to
Col. William Phillips for the fourth brigade. With a
view to more speedy and active service under the Confed-
erate government. General Walker and General Semmes,
resigned before they had organized their respective com-
mands. About this time, our relations with the govern-
ment of the United States assumed so threatening an
aspect that I ordered General Phillips to organize his
brigade as rapidly as possible, and to throw the oHicers
into a camp of instruction for training, that they might
be the better prepared to render effective those under
their command. This camp of instruction was continued
for about two weeks, and the officers sent home to hold
their respective commands in readiness. This was the
condition of our volunteer organization early in June,
when the United States troops crossed the Potomac and
invaded the soil of Virginia. Not knowing how soon a
similar invasion of our own soil might be made by a land-
ing of troops upon our coast, I ordered General Phillips
to call his whole brigade into camp of instruction and to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 91
hold them in readiness for immediate action, should emer-
gencies require it. This order was promptly obeyed by
the energetic and efficient officer to whom it was given.
General Phillips, assisted by Adjutant-General Wayne
and Major Capers, the Superintendent of the Georgia
Military Institute, pressed forward the instruction and
preparation of the troops with great activity and energy.
The troops remained in camp from the 11th of June till
the 2d of August. They were a noble, patriotic chival-
rous band of Georgians, and I hazard nothing in saying,
military men being the judges, that no brigadier in the
Confederate service was composed of better material or
was better trained at that time for active service in the
field. The season having so far advanced that it was not
possible that our coast would be invaded before cold
weather, I tendered the brigade to President Davis for
Confederate service in Virginia. The President refused
to accept the tender of the brigade, but asked for the
troops by regiments. Believing that a due respect for
the rights of the State should have prompted the Presi-
dent to accept these troops under their State organiza-
tion, and, if any legal obstacle in the way of accepting a
brigade existed, that it should have been removed by the
ap])ointment of the General who had trained the men and
who was their unanimous choice to continue to command
them in active service, I, at first, refused to disband a
State organization, made in conformity to the statute,
and tender the troops by regiments; more especially as
the President only demanded the two regiments, which
would have left the three battalions to be disbanded or
maintained as battalions through the balance of the
season by the State. Finally, the President agreed to
accept the battalions and regiments, and in view of the
02 Confederate Records
])ressing necessity for troops in Virginia, I yielded the
point, accepted General Phillip's resignation, and per-
mitted the troops to be mustered into the Confederate
service by regiments and battalions.
About the time these troops left, the Secretary of
War also ordered out of the State the regiment of regu-
lars under Col. Williams, and the 2d regiment of volun-
teers, commanded by Col. Semmes, both excellent regi-
ments, well drilled and armed. This left the coast al-
most entirely defenceless. By that time 1 had permitted
nearly all the arms of the State to go into the Confeder-
ate service, and it has been a very difficult matter to get
arms enough to supply the troops since ordered to the
coast.
At the time Fort Pulaski was, by an ordinance of our
State Convention, turned over to the Confederate govern-
ment, the number and size of the guns in the fort were
very inadequate to its successful defence against a fleet
with heavy guns, and as the Secretary of War made no
provision for the proper supply of guns or ammunition,
I deemed it my duty to purchase with funds from the
State treasury the necessary supply, which was done at
a cost of $101,521.43. In this estimate is included the
freights paid on the supply, and a number of heavy guns
sent to other parts of the coast, together with work done
on gun carriages, etc. During the months of August and
September, our climate was considered a sufficient pro-
tection of our coast against invasion. But an attack was
reasonably looked for so soon as the advanced stage of
the season would render the health of an army on the
coast secure. I had petitioned the Secretarj^ of War to
send a larger force to our coast, prior to the order by
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 93
which I called out Gen. Phillips' brigade, and had offered
to supply, promptly, any number of troops needed in
obedience to a requisition from the War Department, and
had mentioned five thousand as the number which I con-
sidered necessary. He replied, declining to order so
many, and I felt it to be my duty to hold State troops
in readiness to meet any contingency until the period
when the climate would be a sufficient protection.
Early in September, I visited the coast and inspected
the fortifications and batteries which had been thrown
up by Confederate authority. I was fully satisfied that
the number of troops upon the coast in the Confederate
service was entirely inadequate to its defence, and as no
requisition was made upon me for any increase of the
force, I felt it to be my duty to call our State troops and
increase the force as soon as possible. It is true the
State was not invaded, but the danger was considered so
imminent as to admit of no further delay, and I was of
opinion that my action was justified by both the letter
and spirit of the Constitution of the Confederate States.
In the early part of September last, I appointed Gen.
George P. Harrison, of Chatham county, a Brigadier-
General, under the Act of the last session of the Legisla-
ture, and ordered him to organize a brigade of volun-
teers, armed, as far as we had the means, with military
weapons and the balance with good country rifles and
shot guns, and to throw them into camp of instruction
near the coast, where they could readily be used when
needed. Gen. Harrison has pressed forward the organ-
ization with his characteristic promptness and energy and
now has a fine brigade under his cormnand. I have also.
04 Confederate Records
vvitliin the last few days, ai)]winte(l Maj. F. W. Capers a
Brigatlier-General and ordered liim to take command of
the second Bri<::ade, now about organized.
When T permitted nearly all the State's gnns to go
out of the State in the summer, 1 entertained the hope
that such numher of the troops with the guns as might
be needed would l)e permitted to return to our coast in
case of necessity during the winter. Considering the
danger imminent, T lately recpiested the Secretary of
AVar to order back to our coast five regiments of armed
Georgia troops. This request was, at the time, declined
by the Secretary, who agreed, however, to sup})ly the
Confederate General in command at Savannah with one
thousand of the Enfield rifles, lately imported.
As very little expenditure has been made by the Con-
federate government to place Georgia in a defensive con-
dition, and as the number of Confederate troops u]ion
the coast is not sufficient to meet the necessities of the
service, and as the enemy's fleet is now off our coast, I
am of opinion that the State will be compelled, in a very
great degree, to take her own defences into her own
hands, and I therefore recommend such additional legis-
lation as the General Assembly may think necessary for
that purpose, together with such appropriations of money
as may be required for a bold and vigorous defence of
our beloved State against the aggressions of a wicked
and powerful foe. Should we have to continue our
troops in the field, which I think quite probable, during
the winter, an appropriation of less than $3,500,000 will
be insufficient to meet the exigencies of the service for
the ensuing year.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 95
It is true the sum asked for is large, but the emergency
in which we are placed and the results which must follow
our action are such that we can not for a moment stop to
count the cost. The only question proper for discussion
now is, how many men and how much money are neces-
sary to protect the State and repel the invasion. Other
States have voted larger sums than I have asked. I see
by the message of Governor Harris, that the gallant
State of Tennessee has appropriated and expended
$5,000,000 as a military fund within the last six months.
How the amount of money above demanded is to be
raised, is a question for the serious consideration of the
General Assembly. The war tax imposed by the Con-
federate government, together with the expenses assumed
by different counties for supplies needed by their com-
panies in the service, will greatly increase the burdens
of taxation. — If we add this additional sum to that to be
collected within the present year, the burden will be too
onerous. On the other hand, we should not forget that
the debt which we now incur, with the interest, has to be
paid by us and our posterity. While we can not avoid
some increase of the public debt of the State, I think it
wise that we increase it as little as possible and that we
meet a large part of our necessary expenditures by taxa-
tion.
I therefore recommend the enactment of a law author-
izing the collection, during the present fiscal year, of
one million of dollars by taxation, for State purposes,
and the sale of State bonds bearing such rate of interest
as will command par in the market, to an amount neces-
sary to raise the balance. If the interest is fixed at a
96 CONFEDEBATE RecORDS
hi^h rate, the State should reserve the riglit to redeem
tlie bonds at uo very distant i)eriod. In the nianao^eniont
of j3rivate atTairs, 1 liave ^onerally noticed that lie wlio
is hirgely indebted and keeps liis i)roj)erty and pays
heavy interest rather than sell ])roperty enough to pay
the debt and stoj) the interest, is seldom prosperous; so
it is with a State. The revolution has happened in our
day; its burdens belong to the present generation and
we have no right, by a. very large increase of our ])nblic
debt, to transmit the greater portion of them to genera-
tions yet unborn.
Military Fund of 18(31.
By reference to the Report of the Treasurer, you
will find a statement of the accounts upon which the $1,-
000,000 appropriated as a military fund for the past
year has been expended. The report of John Jones, as
Quartermaster-General to the 18th of May, and of Ira R.
Foster, as Quartermaster-General since that date, will
afford a detailed statement of the expenditure of the
several sums charged in the Treasurer's Report to ac-
count of that department of the public service. The three
reports, together with the reports of the Quartermaster
and Paymaster of the regular army while in the service
of the State, afford, it is believed, all tlie information nec-
essary to a complete understanding of the entire disburse-
ment of the whole sum.
Sale of State Bonds.
The Act of the last General Assembly of the State
which appropriated one million of dollars as a military
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 97
fund for the year 1861, made provision for raising the
money by the sale of six per cent. State bonds. At the
time of the passage of the Act, our six per cent, bonds
were above par in the market and were eagerly sought
after by capitalists. Soon after the dissolution of the
United States government, bonds and stocks of all kinds
were greatly depreciated in the market and it became
impossible to raise money at par on any securities bear-
ing only six per cent, interest. The government of the
Confederate States jBxed the rate of interest on its bonds
at eight per cent, and persons having money to invest
preferred these bonds to the six per cent, bonds of any
State. I was consequently unable to raise money on the
bonds bearing the rate of interest fixed by the Statute,
without putting them upon the market at a. considerable
discount. After some negotiation, most of the banks
of this State agreed, each in proportion to the amount of
its capital stock, to advance to the Treasury at seven per
cent, such sum as might be necessary to conduct our mili-
tarj operations. This advance was made upon a state-
ment placed upon the Executive Minutes and a copy for-
warded to each, by which I agreed to recommend the Leg-
islature when assembled to authorize the issue of seven
per cent, bonds to each for the sum advanced, payable at
the end of twenty years, the interest to be paid semi-an-
nually and the State to reserve to herself the right at her
option to redeem the bonds, by paying to the holders the
principal and interest due at the end of five years. Upon
this agreement, a copy of which is herewith transmitted,
together with a statement of the sum advanced by each
bank, the wants of the Treasury were relieved and such
sums have been advanced from time to time as the necessi-
ties of the State required. It is proper that I mention in
98 Confederate Records
this connection, tlint tlie Central Railroad and Banking
Company, through its al)le and jtatiiotic President, the
ITon. R. R. Cuyler, tendered to the State one hundred
thousand dollars and took six per cent, bonds in ])aynient
before any other bank had acted, and at a time when mon-
ey could not be conimanded in the market at tliat rate.
This conduct was alike liberal and ]iatiiotie and was fol-
lowed by agreement on the part of several other banks,
each to take ten per cent, upon its capital stock, to which
the six per cent, bonds were issued accordingly. I do not
think it right that these last named banks should be per-
mitted to sustain loss on account of their liberality; and
I therefore recommend that the six per cent, bonds issued
to each bank in this State on account of these sums ad-
vanced, be taken up and that seven per cent, bonds be sub-
stituted in their place, and also that seven per cent,
bonds be issued to all the other banks for the sums ad-
vanced by them in accordance with the agrecfuent u]ion
which they made their respective advances. This would
place all the banks upon an equality and do justice to
each of them. — The part of the loan which has been
taken amounts to $867,500. Of this sum, i1^L':),000 of the
six per cent, bonds were issued to Sharp's Manufactur-
ing Company, of Connecticut, in part pay for carbines
purchased from the Company, leaving the sum of $842,
500 taken by the banks of the State, upon which only
$305,000 of bonds have issued, the balance having been
advanced without the issue of bonds upon the contrai-t
above mentioned. While nearly the whole anjount of the
military appropriation had been expended prior to the
end of the present fiscal year, the receipts from the State
Road and from other sources have been such as to meet
the ordinar}^ expenses of the government, as well the
State Papebs of Governor Jos. E. Brown 99
extraordinary appropriations of the last Legislature;
also to pay part of the drafts upon the military fund, and
to leave in the Treasury at the end of the fiscal year a
net balance of $324,099.86. As this sum in the Treasury
was not appropriated for military purposes, but is most-
1}^ appropriated for other puri)oses and undrawn, T had
no right under the Constitution to draw upon it, and as
the military fund was lately exhausted and the j)eviious
condition of the State required large expenditures and
prompt action for the defence of the coast, it hecamo
necessary for me to negotiate a further loan with the
banks of Savannah to meet the emergency till an appro-
priation could be made. This I thought better than to
convene the Legislature in extra session a very short
time previous to the regular session. Under this ar-
rangement, I have received from the banks of Savannah,
through B. G. Lamar, Esq., whose services have been
of great value to the State, both in New York ]Trior to
the secession of Georgia from the old Union and in Savan-
nah since that time, such sums as the service required,
for the repayment of which it will be necessary to pro-
vide out of the military fund to be appropriated ai the
present session. The amount advanced is not yer large,
but it will become necessary to increase it daily till an
appropriation is made to meet the heavy expenditures
now being incurred to sustain our troops in the field. I
earnestly solicit for this subject the early attention of the
General Assembly.
Treasury Notes.
It is possible the State might find it difficult to raise
by the sale of bonds the portion of the money above
100 Confederate Records
recommended to be raised in that way for the ensuing
year. Should it be found that such is the case, I recom-
mend that the Treasurer of this State be authorized to
issue, under the order of the Governor, treasury notes,
similar to those issued by the Treasury Department of
the Confederate States; and that said notes be made
receivable in the payment of taxes or any other debt
due the State or the State Road.
And for the purpose of giving these notes credit as
currency, let provision be made by law that any per-
son presenting at the Treasury five hundred or one
thousand dollars of them shall be entitled to have and
receive for said notes a bond of the State of Georgia for
the same amount, bearing eight per cent, interest, paya-
ble semi-annually, the principal to be paid at the end of
ten years; with the like privilege for each additional
amount of five hundred or one thousand dollars pre-
sented.
This would place the notes upon a basis of security
that the most cautious could not suspect and would
doubtless enable the State to raise such sums as her
necessities may require. With this security it is believed
that our banks could not fail to receive the notes on
deposit and that they would be received in payment of
debts and answer all the purposes of currency. As the
faith of the State would be pledged for their redemption,
no higher security would be asked by her citizens.
Relief to the People.
On account of the blockade of our ports, our planters
are unable to sell their cotton, which is the great staple
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 101
production of the State, and brings into the State the
money which stimulates and sustains every other branch
of industry. The taxes of the people, including the
Confederate war tax, must necessarily be far more bur-
densome this year than they have been any previous
year in the present generation. Unless something can
be realized by the sale of or by an advance upon cotton,
it will be next to impossible for our people to raise the
money with which to meet this heavy burden. Such is
the patriotism of our people and such their zeal in the
glorious cause of our independence, that all seem per-
fectly willing to submit to any amount of taxation nec-
essary to sustain the government, if they can raise the
money by the sale of the products of their labor; but
they are not willing to have large amounts of valuable
property sacrificed under the Sheriff's hammer, to raise
small sums of money to meet their taxes. In this State
of things, it is the duty of the government to do all that
can be done to afford relief.
As the best mode of relief which occurs to my mind,
I recommend the appointment of an officer of ability
and experience, with a competent salary, which will en-
able him to devote his whole time to the work, who shall
be authorized, on receiving satisfactory evidence that any
planter has deposited his cotton in any warehouse in any
interior town of this State and has insured the same
against loss by fire for twelve months with any sol-
vent insurance company in the State, to advance to such
planter two-thirds of the market value of his crop, to be
paid in Treasury notes of this State, secured as above
proposed, wliich are to be received in payment of all
public dues, and funded with eight per cent, bonds when
102 Confederate Records
presented for tliat jmrpose, redeemable at the option
of the State after a short period.
The hiw should give the State tlie control of the cot-
ton till sold and make ample provision for the repay-
ment to the Treasury of the principal advanced, with
eight ]>er cent, interest, the rate paid by the State, when
the blockade is removed and the cotton sold. This would
enable our i>lanters to realize upon their crops a sulTi-
cient sum to meet their current expenses and to i^ay all
taxes required of them for the necessary expense of the
war and the support of the government. I think our
people have a right to expect some such relief as I have
proposed at our hands; and I most respectfully l)nt
earnestly invoke for this subject the attentive considera-
tion of the General Assembly.
Stay Law.
In connection with the foregoing subject, I may
remark that my views on the subject of bank suspensions
and stay laws, having been frequently promulgated, are
well known to the people of this State.
In ordinary times and under ordinary circumstances,
I believe all such laws are wrong in principle, cor-
rupting in practice and in violation of that good faith
which should characterize all commercial transactions
between man and his fellow man. Hence I have, on all
previous occasions, withheld my assent from all such
enactments, believing that they generally have their ori-
gin in unjust speculations, and that they are used by
the designing to wrest from the hardy sons of toil the
just incomes of their daily labor.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 103
But these are no ordinary times. We are in the midst
of revolution and your predecessors have authorized
the suspension of the banks and have stayed the collec-
tion of debts till 1st December next. Our ports are
l)lockaded so that our planters cannot send their cotton
and other produce to market and it is impossible for
our banks to import specie at any price with which to
redeem their bills. In this state of things, to require
them to resume is to require an impossibility. It occurs
to me, therefore, that the most that can be done is to
guard, by proper legislation, as far as possible, against
over issues and abuse of their privileges by our banks
during the suspension, so as to cause them to do justice
to the people and prevent their insolvency when they
shall, at a future day, be called upon to resume specie
payment.
It is also absolutely necessary to extend the stay
law between other debtors and creditors. Should credi-
tors be permitted, in the midst of the present crisis, by
legal process, to bring the property of debtors to sale
by the Sheriff, who is required by law to sell for cash,
the results would be deplorable. Money is so scarce that
property forced to sale for cash would not probably
bring more than one third to half as much as it would
have brought twelve or eighteen months since, when the
debt was contracted. This would enable a few heartless
speculators, who happen to have funds at their com-
mand, to buy up the property of poor debtors, at almost
nominal prices; and it would cause an immense amount
of suffering among helpless women and children, whose
husbands and fathers, never anticipating the present
state of things, contracted debts when money was plen-
104 Confederate Records
til'iil and tlic coiiiiliv prosperous, wliicli, liad that state
ot" tliiiiu's ri'inaiiiLHl, tiiey could easily have i)aid; but
which their whole ]>ro|)erty, if forced to sale by the Sher-
iff, would now be insufficient to satisfy. Many of these
debtors, leaWng a very small amount of ])roi)erty for
the support of their families at home, are now in the
military service of their country, risking themselves and
sacrificing all the pleasures of home in defence of our
lives, liberties and families. I can imagine no greater
cruelty than to peiMiiit the creditor, in the absence of the
soldier, to take from his family the small ])ittance left
for their support. It is true, few creditors might be so
cruel as to attempt this, but the law should make ample
provision for the ])rotection of the weak and helpless
against those who might be prompted by avarice to dis-
regard the dictates of humanity. I therefore, in view of
our necessities, waive for the present all my objections
to this character of legislation and recommend the enact-
ment of such laws as will continue the suspension and
protect the poor and unfortunate from the grasp of the
avaricious and the powerful till the establishment of our
inde]iendence shall have relieved us from the embarrass-
ments which have grown out of the revolution.
Unpatriotic Speculation.
It is a matter of the most profound regret in the
present eventful crisis, when the whole energies of our
people are being exerted to the utmost capacity in the
cause of our independence, and when thousands of our
fellow citizens, who have but little except their services to
give, have nobly responded to their country's call and
rallied to her standard in the tield, leaving helpless fami-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 105
lies behind with but little means of support except their
daily labor, that combinations have been formed by hard-
hearted and unpatriotic speculators to buy up and en-
gross almost the entire supplies of the necessaries of
life, without which neither the families of soldiers nor
others can subsist. So soon as these unprincipled public
plunderers have obtained the control of any necessary
commodity, they have not only robbed the government
by demanding and compelling it to pay the most enor-
mous profits, but they have wronged our soldiers in the
service, by compelling them to pay two or three prices
for articles wliich were absolutely indispensable to their
health and comfort, and have raised the prices of many
necessary articles of jjrovision at home, till the families
of absent soldiers and others who labor for a livelihood
are obliged to live upon the most stinted allowance, if
not to endure actual suffering, on account of their inabil-
ity by their labor to purchase the necessaries of life. If
I have not misconceived the true objects of governmeni,
the soldiers in the field from this State, the helpless
families of many of them at home, and all others who
have suffered by the wicked avarice of these Shylocks.
have a right to demand at the hands of the General -\s-
semblj" the enactment of such laws as will afford all the
relief possible against such cruel imposition in future.
Large amounts of provisions and other military sup-
plies must be furnished to our army during the ensuing
year. If the State submits to these impositions, the
prices which she pays will become the ruling prices in
the market; and others, however needy or unable, must
pay as much as the State pays or they cannot procure
the articles of prime necessity.
106 Confederate Records
I therefore recommend the enactment of a law author-
izing the Governor of tliis State, or any military ollicer
under his command, by his direction, (or such other offi-
cer as the Legislature may designate,) to seize and ap-
propriate any provisions or other supplies of any char-
acter necessary for the subsistence or comfort of our
troops or for tlicii- efficiency in the service, wherever to
be found, in the hands of manufacturers, speculators or
traders and to pay or tender to such manufacturers, spec-
ulators or traders, reasonable and just compensation
therefor, to be fixed by competent valuing agents. The
price fixed as the market value of the articles needed by
the State, which are also the principal articles needed by
the community, would very soon become the general mar-
ket prices in the State, as the authorities could, on infor-
mation, seize supplies for the State in the hands of such
persons as refused to sell at reasonable prices, and thus
bring down those above to medium rates.
This legislation would not only be compatible with
the dictates of humanity and the plainest principles of
natural justice, but it would violate no constitutional
right of the speculator. The Constitution expressly au-
thorizes the government to "take private property" for
"public uses" by paying "just compensation;" and
does not require the government in such cases to pay ex-
orbitant and unreasonable prices.
I commend this subject to your serious considera-
tion, not doubting that you will do all in your power to
protect both the State and her citizens against the wicked
and cruel designs of those whom avarice leads to turn
a deaf ear alike to the dictates of patriotism and humani-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 107
ty and who are ready to sacrifice all that is dear to a
people to satisfy their own inordinate desire for gain.
Our Troops in the Field.
It is impossible to bestow too much praise upon our
gallant troops now in service. Those of them who have
had an opportunity to meet the enemy have not only
sustained the high character of Georgia but have covered
themselves with unfading glory; and many of them, seal-
ing their offering upon their country's altar with their
life's blood, have transmitted their names to posterity
upon history's brightest page. I have not the slightest
fear that we have a single regiment or company in the
field from this State that will ever falter in the face of
the enemy or fail to perform the highest deeds of heroism
when occasion is offered for such display. It is a matter
of profound regret that a body of such troops as we have
sent to the field should ever lack for anything necessary
to their comfort while in service. I have rendered all
the aid possible with the limited means at my command
in clothing and making them comfortable; but it has not
been in my power to do half as much as I wished to do.
He who will consider that our military appropriation
for the year just closed was but $1,000,000, and that in
addition to the purchase of ordnance, ammunition and
other military stores and the large sums expended in the
organization of the Georgia regular army, the State has
more than 40,000 troops in the field, over half of whom
she has fully armed, accoutred and equipped, besides
furnishing valuable supplies to regiments not armed by
her and paying the expenses of some twenty-five hundred
of these troops for nearly two months in camp of in-
108 Confederate Records
struction, will readily see why it has not been in my
power to do more.
Hospital for the Sick.
I cannot close this reference to the condition and
wants of our troops without calling your attention to
the necessities of our sick and wounded soldiers in Vir-
ginia. AVe are informed that their suffering has been
very great for want of proper nursing and hospital
accomodations. A most patriotic association of Geor-
gians has been formed for the purpose of alleviating
the sufferings and supplying the wants of the sick and
wounded. This association has established hospitals in
Virginia and collected large sums of money from our
citizens by donations to sustain these institutions; but
the sums which will be required for the ensuing year
will be greater than the association can reasonably ex-
pect to raise by voluntary contribution. I contributed
out of the military fund $5,000, to assist in the establish-
ment of the hospital at Riclnnond; and I recommend
such liberal appropriation for the purpose of sustaining
these institutions in future as will secure to the troops
wherever they may be, when confined by affliction, all the
attention and comfort which can possibly be afforded to
persons in their condition.
Manufacturing of Arms.
So great are our necessities for arms and such the
diflBculty attending their importation, that I again call
the attention of the General Assembly to this important
subject, and suggest the propriety of either establishing
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 109
a State Foundry for their manufacture or of guarantee-
ing to sucli company as will engage to manufacture them
such an amount of patronage as will secure success. I
am informed that Col. Isaac I. Moses, a citizen of Colum-
bus, of sufficient capital and great energy of character,
acting in conjunction with Mr. John D. Gray, of Catoosa
county, whose reputation for energy and enterprise is
well known to our people, is perfecting preparations to
manufacture at Columbus excellent rifles in large num-
bers, within the next two or three months. It is said
they have already made considerable progress in their
enterprise, and that Mr. Gray can furnish stocks quite
rapidly and that with his aid Col. Moses will soon be able
to turn out the guns complete. Should it be found, on a
thorough investigation of this subject by the military
committee that the enterprise of Col. Moses and Mr.
Gray will be successful, I recommend that a contract be
entered into with these gentlemen, or with any others
who may be prepared to furnish the arms, for such sup-
ply as the future necessities of the State may require.
In accordance with the recommendations of a convention
of gunsmiths held in Atlanta, I have appropriated a part
of the forges in the machine shop of the State Road to
the purpose of forging gun barrels, and a number of
hands are now engaged in that business. I have also
ordered to be procured boring and rifling machines and
turning lathes, and will be prepared in a few weeks to
make rifle barrels complete. These barrels are to be giv-
en out to the gunsmiths, who, under contracts for that
purpose, are to finish the guns after the pattern of the
Harper's Ferry rifle.
llo Confederate Records
Powder Material.
Soon after the State seceded from the Union, in view
of our i>erilous condition and the great scarcity of salt-
petre and sulplinr in the State, and indeed in the South,
1 felt it my (hity to use every exertion in my ])()wer to
procure the material without which it would be impossi-
ble to make the supply of powder absolutely necessary
to our safety and the success of our common cause. Af-
ter much exertion and great risk, I succeeded in procur-
ing a supply sufficient to make several hundred tons of
powder, which was landed in the State a very short
time prior to the commencement of the blockade of our
ports. A short time after its importation, I offered
the powder material and the steamer Huntless to the
Secretary of War for the common cause, at their original
cost to the State, without even charging interest on the
money during the time intervening between the i)urchase
by the State and the proposed sale. This proposition
was declined by the Secretary. At a later period in the
season, I renewed the proposition, with the alternative
that if the Secretary refused to take the steamer, which
had been purchased by order of the State Convention,
and which was no longer needed by the State, the Con-
federacy having assumed control of our naval affairs,
he could have the powder material, without the steamer,
at its market value. This latter proposition was accepted
and the market value of the powder material fixed by the
Secretar>^ himself at fifty per cent, upon original cost.
It was at the time worth in the market over three hundred
per cent, upon the original cost, but as it was no part
of ray purpose to speculate for the State on that which
was essential to the success of our common cause, I
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 111
permitted the Secretary of War to take it at his own
price. The State Treasurer had advanced the money to
purchase the material at my request, without warranty
and after the sale, as no warrant had passed, I refunded
to the Treasury the amount of money advanced by the
Treasurer. By this transaction, I not only obtained and
turned over to the Confederacy, at a price several hun-
dred fold less than it could have been elsewhere ob-
tained, a supply of material of very great value, but
also made a clear profit of $22,133.70 for the State. As
the drafts upon the military fund were much heavier
than was anticipated when the appropriation was made,
I have found it necessary to use this net profit, which I
had made for the State, in the purchase of provisions and
other necessary supplies for our troops. I, therefore,
paid it over to the Quartermaster-General of the State
and took his receipt for the amount, which he has ex-
pended for the use of our troops and for which he will
account in his report. I have ordered this receipt to be
recorded on the Executive Minutes and the original to be
filed, subject to the inspection of any committee or other
person interested.
The New Constitution.
The new Constitution proposed by the State Conven-
tion on the 23rd day of March last, while in session at
Savannah, was, by my proclamation, submitted to a vote
of the State for ratification or rejection, on the first
Tuesday in July last. The vote cast was c^uite a small
one, owing doubtless to the fact that the thoughts of our
people were so much engrossed with the war that little
attention was given to any other subject; and as the
112 Confederate Records
Constitution had received the sanction of tlie Conven-
tion, composed as it was of so many of the brightest in-
tellects and best men of the State, the people were, it
would seem, .n'enerally willing to ratify their action with-
out serious opposition. The election returns received at
the Executive Department show the following result:
For Ratification 11,499 votes.
No Ratification 10,704 votes.
Majority for Ratification 795 votes
After the result was known, on the 20th day of Aug-
ust last, I issued my proclamation, as required by the
resolution of the Convention, declaring the proposed
Constitution to be the Constitution of this State.
Our Militia System.
I invite the attention of the General Assembly to the
suggestions contained in the report of the Adjutant and
Inspector-General, recommending a revision of our mili-
tary code. I would also suggest a change in the law relat-
ing to volunteer companies. During the past year these
companies have frequently been formed and after their
officers were commissioned and they anned by the State,
having in a short time disbanded and scattered their
aiTQs, causing very considerable expense and trouble
to the State to collect them again and, in some instances,
involving the entire loss of part of the guns to the
State. Again, it has frequently happened after compa-
nies have been fonned and their officers have expended
large sums in uniforming and equipping them, that a
portion of the members becoming dissatisfied with the
organization or seeing, as they believed, an opportunity
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 113
to get into service sooner with some other company,
have withdrawn and reduced the company to so small a
number as to compel the officers to disband it. This has
caused much confusion and has been very discouraging
to those who have incurred heavy expense in organizing
and equipping companies for service. To prevent this
state of things in future, I recommend such legislation
as will compel those who may hereafter enroll their
names as members of a volunteer company to adhere to
the organization for at least twelve months and to re-
spond to any call which may, within that time, be made
upon them for active service in the field, and for such
term of service as may be required by the statutes under
which they may be call-ed out for the defence of the State
or the Confederacy
The Confederate War Tax.
The twenty-fourth section of the x\ct passed by the
Congress of the Confederate States for the collection of
a War Tax, is in these words :
^*If any State shall, on or before the first day of
April next, pay, in the Treasury, notes of the Confederate
States, or in specie, the taxes assessed against citizens
of such State, less than ten per centum thereon, it shall
be the duty of the Secretar>^ of the Treasury to notify
the same to the several tax-collectors in such State, and
thereupon their authority and duty under this Act shall
cease."
In a previous part of the Act, provision is made for
the appointment of the assessors by the Confederate
114 Confederate Kecords
Government, and the valuation of taxaljle pioiicrty in
each State. It would seem, therefore, that there is no
way of ascertaining the amount which each State is re-
quired to pay till this assessment is made. After this
is done, and the sum for which the State is liable is
known, each State may i)ay this sum into the Treasury,
in gold and silver, or Confederate treasury notes, less
ten per centum, and thereby prevent the collection of the
same by Confederate ollicers. While 1 would have
greatly preferred that Congress should have apportioned
the sum to be raised among the State without the inter-
vention of Confederate assessors, it is much better, in my
opinion, that we at least prevent the Confederate tax-
gatherers from making their appearance among us, when
we can save ten per centum on the whole sum by collect-
ing it under State authority and paying it into the Con-
federate treasury; and I think it would be more satis-
factory to our people that they be visited by the tax-col-
lectors of but one government. I therefore recommend
such legislation as may be necessary to secure the collec-
tion of Georgia's quota by her own State collector's either
those who collect the State tax or others to be appointed
by State authority for that purpose, and its payment,
when collected, into the Confederate treasury-. The State
collectors could afford to do the labor for a very small per
centum on so large a sum. AVhile the State, by the adop-^
tion of this policy, would act upon a principle alike com-
patible with her dignity and sovereignty, she would save
to her Treasury a very considerable sum in the difference
between the actual cost of collection and the sum allowed
her on that account. Should it become the policy of the
Confederate government in the future to abolish our
tariff system, with all the expense and corruption that.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 115
attended the system in the old government, such a course
might greatly lessen the expenses of the government,
and cause the people to hold their public servants to a
much more strict accountability for wasteful expendi-
tures; and in that event, I am of opinion that the amount
necessary to support the government should be justly
apportioned among the States, and each State should
be permitted, by her own collectors, if her people prefer
it, to raise her own quota and pay it into the Treasury,
without the intervention of Confederate collectors.
Commercial Independence.
The contest in which we are engaged must, it is ad-
mitted by all, result in our political independence. But
our deliverance from political bondage will be of little
advantage if we remain in a state of commercial depen-
dence. If our exchanges, at the end of the ward, are still
to be made through New York and other Northern ports ;
our cotton shipped upon Northern ships by way of New
York to Europe ; taxed with increased freights, insurance,
commissions, wharfage and other incidental expenses in-
curred upon that route ; and our goods imported over the
same line burdened with the usual expense to us, and
profits to the Northern merchant, which must result from
indirect importations; we shall remain in fact subject to
Northern rule and our political destines will soon be con-
trolled by those who have our commercial interests under
their power. This evil can only be prevented by the in-
auguration of a system which will secure direct trade and
direct exchanges with Europe. It is a question well wor-
thy the consideration of Congress, whether this object
cannot be better accomplished by the establishment of
116 Confederate Records
free trade witli all the world. Vour predecessors, at the
last session, duly ai>])reeiatiii,LC the iini)ortauee of this
questK)!!, passed an Act iiicorjioratinij: the 'M>el_i^ian
Ameriean Company," and authorized the Governor to
pledixe tlie State to secure to tlie Comj^any what was con-
sidered reasonahle ])r()fits on the amount invested in a line
of steamers to run direct between Savannah and some
commercial })oint in Europe, provided the guarantee of
the State should not exceed one hundred thousand dol-
lars, per annum, for five years. The Act also made it
the duty of the Governor to appoint a Commissioner tu
Europe to negotiate an arrangement for the line. In
obedience to the requirement of the statute, I appointed
the Hon. T. Butler King, Commissioner, and sent him to
Europe in the early Spring. 1 have received but a single
dispatch from Mr. King since his departure. In this, he
informs me that he has forwarded several others which
I have not received.
As it is impossible to foretell what may be the result
of Mr. King's mission, I beg leave to call the attention
of the General Assembly to the fact that an association of
Georgians, of high character and well known financial
and commercial ability, is now being formed for the })ur-
pose of establishing, at as early a day as possible a line
of steamers between Savannah and such commercial
port in Europe as offers the greatest inducements and
facilities for direct trade and intercourse.
If the legislature will incorporate the Company and
subscribe, for the State, $200,000 to its capital stock and
grant to it a subsidy of fifty thousand dollars per annum,
for five years, I am informed that the whole capital
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 117
stock will he taken at once and the ships purchased, ready
to be placed upon the line immediately after the removal
of the blockade. This would cost the State less than
she has proposed to guarantee to a foreign company;
and as the line in this case would be owned jointly by the
State and an association of her most enterprising citi-
zens, there would seem to be weighty reasons why our
people should prefer it to any line controlled by foreign
capitalists, who would have no preference for a Georgia
port as the American terminals of the line, if superior
inducements should at any future time be offered by any
other Southern city.
So soon as the blockade is raised, it will become a mat-
ter of the first importance that the line be immediately
put in operation and that permanent and safe arrange-
ments be made with European capitalists for advances
upon cotton and for the regulation of our exchanges
upon a just and equitable basis.
No country on the globe possesses more natural ad-
vantages and no country has suffered greater wrong than
has been inflicted upon the South for the last quarter of
a century, under the unjust and iniquitous system of legis-
lation adopted by the government of the United States.
The Union has at last been severed beyond the possibility
of reconstruction ; and the Southern States are no longer
commercially, nor politically, the appendages or provinces
of the Northern government, but they are free, sovereign
and independent, while that government has become a
military despotism. If the j)eople of the South are true
to their own interests, they will never in future have any
political connection with the people of the North, nor
118 C^ONFEDERATE ReCORDS
permit tlieir coniiiieivial relations to be controlled by
Northern legislation or Northern (•ai)ital. The South was
not only the great productive section of the Old Union,
furnishing most of its exports, but it was the balance
wheel whicli kept the machinery of republican govern-
ment in regular motion, and its trade was the great art-
ery of life to the Northern section. Witli every advantage
of soil and climate and all the material elements of
greatness, no longer compelled to submit to an unjust
draft upon her industrial pursuits to build up and pamper
the power of a haughty rival section, the South seems to
hold in her own hands, under the smiles of a kind Provi-
dence, the high destiny of her own future.
Our Competency for Self-Government.
He who has read history attentively and studied
carefully the theory of government can have but little
difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that a republican
government can only be maintained upon the basis of
domestic slavery. The assertion, •so often repeated, that
our people are competent for self-govei-nment, is no doubt
true when properly qualified; but if it is intended by the
term people to include the whole people and to permit
every class, white and black indiscriminately, to exercise
political rights, it is then doubtless untrue. The capacity
of the people for self-government depends upon their vir-
tue and intelligence, and the experiments made in France
and other enlightened countries, where domestic slavery
is not tolerated, have shown that sufficient virtue and in-
telligence never existed to enable the people to perform
the task, when the whole mass of the people, of every
class, are permitted to participate actively in the affairs
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 119
of the State. Hence, the general rule, that a country
which does not tolerate domestic slavery is governed by
monarchy. It is admitted that the opposite of the rule is
not always true, as some countries, like Brazil and Spain,
tolerate domestic slavery and are governed by monarchy.
Nor is the rule itself probably without a single exception,
as in the case of Switzerland, which, on account of its
peculiar locality and condition is tolerated as a republic
by the other governments of Europe.
Take, as an illustration, the people of the Confederate
States and of the United States. We say the people of
the Confederate States are competent to govern them-
selves. This is true in the sense in which the expression
is used; but if we use the term people in its broadest
sense and embrace the four millions of negroes as a part
of the people, entitled to exercise political rights, then it
is not true. The people of the United States are intelli-
gent and enlightened, but the whole people, including
menial servants, imported paupers and free negroes, all
under their theory possessing and exercising equal rights
and equal power at the ballot box, are certainly incompe-
tent to govern themselves. Hence that government must
soon terminate in monarchy.
Intimately connected with the above cause is another
that must tend to hasten the result. I allude to the irre-
concilable conflict which, under their domestic system, ex-
ists and must continue to increase between Capital and
Labor. There, the capitalist who desires to employ labor
has no interest in the person of the laborer, but only an
interest in his day's work. He is under no obligation
other than the common dictates of humanity to provide
for the wants of the laborer or his family in case of sick-
1 20 Confederate Records
uess or otlier inist'ortuiie. It folluwis that it is to the inter-
est of the combined capitalists of the North to depress the
price of labor and ])rociire work as low as possible. On
the other hand, the laboring class is interested in keeping
up the price of labor. In this conflict, if the laboring
class strike for higher wages, when i)rices are no longer
remunerative, the competition for employment which will
be i)roduced by the annual importation of very large
numbers of foreign paupers, will give the capitalists
greatly the advantage in their efforts to maintain low
prices. This, together with the consequent necessities of
the laboring class, will naturally foster the agrarian feel-
ing already engendered and the conflict will become con-
stant and bitter. The laboring class, including the lowest
menial servants and naturalized foreign paupers, being
voters, will naturally have the advantage at the ballot
box, on account of their superiority of numbers. This
will induce the capitalists, on the other hand, to use their
money freely to influence the elections, which will be pro-
ductive of increased rottenness and corruption in the
body politic. Riots and mobs will grow out of the con-
test, till thinking men, discovering the tottering basis up-
on which society rests and the insecurity of property,
will naturally be induced to seek protection in a stronger
form of government.
Amid this chaos and confusion, in the throes of revolu-
tion, some master spirit, with great ability and ambition,
will attract attention and win popular applause. This
will place him in postition to command, when appealing to
the necessities of the capitalists he will engage to make
his sword their protector and to distribute the honors of
the empire among them, if they will make their gold the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 121
pillar of this throne. The result will be, that the country-
will seek repose in the downfall of republicanism and the
establishment of monarchy.
The very opposite of all this is true in the Confederate
States. Here domestic slavery is a fundamental part of
our social system. We have over four millions of negroes
who are the menial class of our society. They have no
political rights and seek none; they take no part in the
government but are a dependent class, generally con-
tented and happy, having all their natural wants sup-
plied by those who are responsible under our laws for
their humane and kind treatment. In case of sickness or
permanent bodily infirmity, they are not left, as are the
paupers of the North, to the cold charities of the world
for the necessaries of life; but public opinion and the
laws of the land compel their owners to make provision
for their wants and to treat them with humanity and kind-
ness. Here the white class is the ruling class. When we
say our people are competent to the task of self-govern-
ment, we mean ivMte people. But it may be said, the
paupers of the North, who participate in the government,
are generally white people. This is admitted, but many
of them are white people of the lowest menial class, so
low that there is no class below them, and they lack not
only intelligence, but pride of character. Hence their
votes are bought and sold in the market. With us, every
white man, whether of native or of foreign birth, feels
and knows that he belongs to the ruling class and that
there is a menial class of millions of persons entirely
below him. This inspires him with pride of character
which fits him to participate in the political affairs of
the State. If there are individual exceptions to this
1 22 Confederate Records
rule, tliey are not sufficiently numerous to be severely felt
or to affect materially the results in the choice of rulers.
Aii^ain, instead of ))er])etual conflict under our social sys-
tem between capital and labor, we have the most perfect
harmony. We have few capitalists who are not slave-
holders. Each slaveholder has an interest not only in
the day's labor, or the week's labor, but in the person of
the laborer; in his flesh and his blood, his muscle and his
bone; in a word, the man is his. If, therefore, the labor
of the man is worth one dollar per day, the man, himself,
is worth one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars, and he
who owns one hundred of these laborers is a rich man,
and enjoys all the importance and position which wealth
gives in societ5\ Reduce the price of labor to fifty cents
per day, and you greatly reduce the value of the lalx)rer
in the market, and, in like proportion, you reduce the
value of the estate of the owner. If you reduce the price
of labor to twenty-five cents per day, the laborer can not,
by his labor, comfortably support himself and family.
In this case, as his labor is worth nothing to his owner,
he is valueless, and the person who owns one hundred
such laborers, with the responsibilities attaching to the
ownership, is not only poor, but has a heavy burden
annexed to his poverty.
As most of our slaves are owned by men of capital,
and as capitalists, like other men, look to their interests,
and as the value of the estate of each slaveholder depends
upon the value of labor, it becomes the interest of the
combined capital of the country to keep up the price of
labor to sustain the value of property. The poor white
laborer is also interested in keeping up the price of labor,
as he has to work to support himself and family, and if
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 123
he is intelligent and examines this question, he can not
fail to see that the surest way to keep up the price of his
own labor is to sustain the institution of slavery. If the
labor of the negro is worth in the market one dollar per
day, the labor of the white man is worth more, or cer-
tainly as much, and while the institution of slavery is
maintained, every capitalist in the country who owns
slaves is interested in and will use his influence to keep
up the value of labor, and the poor white man gets the
influence of his more wealthy and powerful neighbor in
sustaining the price of his labor. On the other hand,
if slavery is abolished, it becomes in the South, as it is
now in the North, the interest of the combined capital
of the country to depress labor and get it as low as pos-
sible, as the capitalist would then be no longer interested
in the person of the laborer and the value of his estate
would no longer be dependent upon the price of labor.
The interest of the capitalist in the last case would be to
get labor low, and as the negro would, when free, be
placed nearer a state of equality with the white laborer
and would have a right to make his own contracts, he
would come into direct competition with the poor white
laborer and would soon underbid him and reduce the
price of labor to as low a rate as would sustain life. This
would bring ruin upon the \yooY white man and degrade
his family far below their present condition. It is very
clear, therefore, while the institution of slavery exists
that it is to the interest of the rich man to sustain the price
of the labor of the poor white laborer; and that it is, for
the same reason, the interest of the poor white laborer to
sustain and perpetuate the institution of negro slavery.
In other words, the rich and j)oor are alike interested in
sustaining slavery and in sustaining the price of labor.
124 Confederate Records
The slaves tliemselves are also interested, as they are
more civilized, more Christianized and in a better condi-
tion than the like number of their race ever were in any
other country or climate. If the price of labor is high
and the slave is worth a high price in the market, the
owner has a heavy pecuniary interest in addition to the
common sympathy of our nature to prompt him to treat
the slave well, as his value to his owner depends upon the
preservation of his life and health and these depend much
upon the manner in which he is clothed and fed and at-
tended to in sickness.
From the foregoing reflections, it naturally follows
that our whole social system is one of perfect homoge-
neity of interest, where every class of society is interested
in sustaining the interest of every other class. We have
all the harmonious elements necessary to the perpetuity
of that republican and religious liberty bequeathed to us
by our fathers, with none of the distracting and conflict-
ing elements which must destroy both in the Northern
States, and which have already precipitated the country
into a bloody revolution and attempted to hurl to the
ground the fairest structure ever dedicated to liberty
on the face of the globe. To sustain this priceless heri-
tage is the highest earthly duty of the Christian and the
patriot. Ruthless and bloody hands have been laid hold
upon it. To wrest it from them may cost hundreds of mil-
lions of treasure and many thousands of the most invalua-
ble lives of the South. But he who would stop to count the
cost, would do well to ask himself : What is my property
worth when I am a slave? or, What is my life worth, if,
by saving it, I must transmit a heritage of bondage to my
children? If we are conquered, our property is confis-
cated and we and our children are slaves to Northern ava-
State Papers op Goveenor Jos. E. Brown 125
rice and Northern insolence. Sooner than submit to this, I
would cheerfully expend in the cause the last dollar I could
raise and would fervently pray, like Sampson of old, that
God would give me strength to lay hold upon the pillars
of the edifice and would enable me, while bending with its
weight, to die a glorious death beneath the crumbling
ruins of that temple of Southern freedom, which has so
long attracted the world by the splendor of its magnifi-
cence.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 8th, 1861.
His Excellency, Joseph E. Brown, of the county of
Cherokee, elected by the people for the third term, on the
first Wednesday in October last, Governor and Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of this State, and
the Militia thereof, for two years next ensuing, was this
day at 12 o'clock M. inaugurated in the Representative
Chamber at the Capitol; and being conducted by a com-
mittee to the Executive Office, entered upon the discharge
of his duties.
FEIDAY, NOVEMBER 8th, 1861.
Governor Brown's Inaugural Address.
Senators and Representatives :
In response to the call made upon me at the ballot-box,
by the people of our noble State, I appear before you for
126 Confederate Records
the purpose of taking the oath prescribed by the Consti-
tution and entering upon my duties as the Executive of
Georgia, for a third term.
Mindful of the fact that tliis is a compliment which
has not l)eeii j)ai(l by the people to any other citizen of
the State within the last half century, I can assure you,
in the utmost candor, that I feel most sincerely and ])ro-
foundly impressed with the weight of the responsibility
and the obligation which it imposes.
IIow changed are all things around us since I first
stood upon this platform and addressed your predeces-
sors, prior to assuming the obligation which invested me
with the power and imposed upon me the onerous duties
of the Executive office.
Then, the bright sun of peace, from a common center,
scattered its divergent rays into the remotest parts of the
vast territory which was embraced within the limits of
the United States. Now, the dark clouds of war hang
around us, martial music is heard in our midst, and the
din of battle and the clangor of arms resound in the
distance. Then, the flag of the Union which waved over
us was not only'considered emblematic of power, but of
Justice, Truth and Equality among the States. Now,
that flag, no longer the ensign of republican liberty, is
only the emblem of despotism, and waves over dungeons,
and chains, and death, where those born to freedom
languish, with no redress against the wrongs inflicted at
the tyrant's will. Such are the mutations of time and
such the instability of human affairs.
From a small beginning, the Government of the United
States, resting upon the broad and deep foundations laid
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 127
for it by the immortal heroes and patriots of 1776, had
grown to be a power of the first magnitude, challenging
the admiration and commanding the respect of all the
nations of the earth. The South, ever loyal to the Con-
stitution and ever mindful of the obligations which it im-
posed, was ready to sacrifice all, except her equality and
her honor, to maintain the integrity of the splendid Gov-
ernmental structure of which she formed a most magnifi-
cent part.
But unfortunately for the peace of the world, the rest-
less fanaticism, canting hypocrisy and insatiable avarice
of a majority of the people of the Northern States, had
caused them to determine on the subjugation of the South,
and that her equality should cease to exist, though the
accomplishment of the design might involve the destruc-
tion of the fondest hopes of all true patriots and friends
of republican freedom.
'»
Prompted onward in their mad career by lust for
power and love of plunder, the people of that part of the
Union found, in the triumph of a great sectional party,
the means of carrying into execution their long cherished
design of taking the Government into tlieir own hands,
selecting our rulers for us, over our united opposition,
and dictating to us the laws by which in future we should
be governed. Thus the alternative was distinctly ten-
dered to us and we were left to choose between the posi-
tion of subjugated provinces, yielding obedience to unre-
strained power, or of sovereign States, disdaining sub-
mission to encroachments of tyranny or the mandates of
any superior. Satisfied of the justice of our own cause,
we chose the latter alternative and, appealing to the God
of battles for the rectitude of our intentions and, I trust.
128 Confederate Records
humbly and rerveiitly invokiug His aid aud protcctiou in
the mighty contest we have risked our lives, our fortunes
and our sacred lionor u])on the stout hearts, strong arms
and indomitable courage of our gallant and glorious
troops in the field.
Since the commencement of the revolution we have
labored under great disadvantages, against superior num-
bers and vastly superior military resources and prepara-
tions. Our enemy has at his command not only the regu-
lar army of the United States, but her navy and much
the larger portion of her militarj^ stores. Our ports
have been blockaded by ships built with our own money.
The rights of private property have been disregarded
and the most wanton cruelty inflicted upon helpless and
unoffending women and children. Under all these hard-
ships and disadvantages. Heaven has continued to smile
propitiously upon us and has crowned our efforts on the
most important fields of conflict with the most triumph-
ant and victorious results; for which we have abundant
reason to exclaim, in the language of the insi)ired man,
"Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victotry. "
How long this unnatural war may last or what may
be our privations and sufferings before its termination,
is only known to Him who rules the hosts of Heaven as
well as the armies of the earth. I fear that the people
of the United States, North and South, had become too
forgetful of the Great Source whence we derived all our
prosperity as a nation and all our blessings as individ-
uals. The Ruler of the Universe has determined that
the pride of both sections of the old Union shall be hum-
bled and that they shall be punished during this strife
for national wickedness in high places, as well as for in-
State Papers of Goveenor Jos. E. Brown 129
dividual transgressions. He may have determined that
the new republic shall be baptized in blood before it rises
to its majestic proportions as one of the great powers of
the earth.
However this may be, enough is revealed, that none
can doubt, that the separation between the two sections
is final and perpetual, and that the independence of the
Confederate States must soon be acknowledged by all
the civilized nations of the earth.
It will be my chief pride as an individual and my
highest ambition as an Executive officer to aid, with all
the power I possess, all the resources at my command and
all the mental and physical energies of my life, in the
accomplishment of this grand and glorious result. That
the establishment of our independence is the object near-
est the heart of each and every one of you, and in this
utterance that I only echo back the unanimous sentiment
of the noble constituency who sent you here, I can not for
a moment doubt.
Let us then lay aside all past differences upon minor
questions — as brethren confer freely together and, as
a band of patriots, bury in one common grave every per-
sonal aspiration and every feeling of ambition, pride or
jealousy which may tend to hinder united and harmonious
action, for the defence of our beloved old State, the tri-
umph of our glorious arms, and the independence of that
grand constellation of Southern Confederate States, in
which Georgia shines as one of the most brilliant stars.
But the soil of our own beloved Georgia is now threat-
ened by the invader, whose powerful fleet hovers near
130 Confederate Records
her shores aud menaces her commercial metropolis. This
state of things calls not only for prompt action but for
the highest degree of liberality, prudence, wisdom and
lirmness on the part of her statesmen and the most splen-
did exhibitions of intrepid valor and heroism on the part
of her people. Let us meet the invasion like men and,
with a firm reliance upon Almighty aid, we can not doubt
that our efforts will be crowned with ultimate success.
Were we disposed to yield, it is now too late to cal-
culate the cost of submission. He would but feebly
enumerate the results of our subjugation who would re-
mind us that it would fasten upon us the entire expenses
of the war — load our industries and that of our posterity
for generations to come with burdens and taxation too
grievous to be borne — subject us to military despotism
and compel us to maintain standing armies quartered
among us, to insult us with their insolence, while they
riveted more securely the chains of our bondage, deprive
us of our self-respect and break our spirits with the
crushing weight of our degradation.
Sooner than submit to this, let the last man in the Con-
federacy die nobly at the point of the bayonet, and let our
wives and our children and all the property we possess,
perish together on one common funeral pile; and let the
winds that pass over our graves and chant our funeral
dirge tell to other generations, in other climes, that we
lived freemen and died freemen.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 131
A PROCLAMATION.
By Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE GeORGIA,
November 9th, 1861.
To the Volunteer Military Companies of the State :
The invaders having landed a force upon the soil of
our sister State of South Carolina near the borders of
Georgia, where they now hold position and menace the
city of Savannah; and it being thought advisable to in-
crease our force for the defence of the coast, I issue this
my Proclamation, giving notice that I will accept, in ad-
dition to the number of volunteers already accepted, the
services of the thirty companies which will first ten-
der their services and report to me their readiness to
march. These companies will be received for six months,
unless sooner discharged. Each company, to be accepted,
must consist of not less than fifty nor more than eighty
members, rank and file, unless the statute shall, in the
meantime, be changed so as to permit a greater number
to compose a company. Each man in each company
must be armed with a good country rifle or double-barrel
shot gun, or with a good military gun, fit for immediate
use. As unarmed troops could be of no service in the
defence of the State, while they would be a heavy expense,
132 Confederate Records
I here state, to i)reveiit all iiiisai)[)rehensioii, tliat any vol-
unteer going to tlie coast without such arms as I have
mentioned above, will not be received, but will be sent
home at his own expense. It will also be necessary for
each volunteer armed with a country rifle to carry with
him his bullet moulds, pouch and powder horn or flask;
and those anncd with double-barrel shot gnus must
each take with him a powder horn or flask.
As our homes are in danger, it is hoped that no citizen
of the State having a good gun will hestitate a moment to
carry or send it into the service.
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive De-
partment, the 9th day of November, A. D. 1861.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Mtlledgeville Georgia,
November 9th, 1861.
I hereby place at the disposal of Gen. Robert Y. Har-
ris and Col. Robert H. May, of Augusta, the guns now in
possession of said May and the Fire Companies of Augus-
ta, also the guns in the hands of Rogers and Bowen; also
those in posession of the Volunteer Company at the Sand-
Hills, and of the Oglethorpe Company B., subject to my
order at any future time.
State Papeks of Governor Jos. E. Brown 133
Said persons are authorized to place said guns in the
hands of ten Volunteer Companies of not less than fifty
each, rank and file, to form a Regiment, if the Companies
can be reported within a very few days. So soon as each
of the Companies is ready, it will proceed to Savannah,
and report to Brig.-Gen. F. W. Capers, for orders, and
an election will be held for field officers, so soon as all the
Companies arrive. The Regiment will be accepted for
six months, unless sooner discharged. If the proposed
Regiment fails, the guns are to be subject to any other
order that I may pass for their disposition.
Joseph E. Brown.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11th, 1861.
The following message was this day transmitted to the
Senate, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE GeORGIA,
November 11th, 1861.
To the Senate,
I have appointed George P. Harrison a Brigadier-Gen-
eral under the Act of the Legislature, assented to on the
18th day of December, 1860, to command the first Brigade
of Georgia Volunteers for the defence of the State ; and I
have appointed Francis W. Capers a Brigadier-General
134 Confederate Records
to command the Second Bri<T:ade. I respectfully ask the
advice and consent of the Senate in confirmation of these
appointments.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville Georgia,
November nth, 18G1.
The following Resolution, of the House of Representa-
tives, was this day presented to the Governor : to-wit :
Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, be re-
quested to furnisli lliis House with all correspondence
between His Excellency and the President of the Confed-
erate States, and the Secretary of War of the Confederate
State, and all other information in his possession touching
the defences of the State of Georgia.
In reply to which, the following message was trans-
mitted to the House of Representatives:
Executive Department,
Milledgeville Georgia,
November 11th, 1861.
To the House of Representatives,
In response to the resolution requesting me to furnish
the House with "all correspondence between me and the
President of the Confederate States and the Secretary of
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 135
war of the Confederate States," and ''all other informa-
tion in my possession touching the defences of the State
of Georgia," I have most respectfully to state, that I
have been and now am in correspondence with the Gov-
ernment of the Confederate States on the subject of our
defences ; but I deem it inexpedient in the present critical
condition of our affairs to make public either the corre-
spondence or the information in my possession touching
our plans and preparations for the defence of the State,
or the present condition of the defences.
Joseph E. Brown.
A PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE GeORGIA,
November 11th, 1861.
Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States
of America, having issued his Proclamation setting apart
Friday the 15th instant, as a day of fasting, humiliation
and prayer, which proclamation contains the following
Preamble :
''Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God the Sover-
eign Disposer of events, to protect and defend the Con-
federate States hitherto in their conflict with their ene-
mies, and be unto them a shield :
And Whereas, with grateful thanks we recognize His
hand and acknowledge that not unto us, but unto Him
136 Confederate Records
belongeth the victory ; and in humble dependence upon
His Almighty strength, and trusting in the justness of our
cause, we appeal to Ilim, that He may set at naught tlie
efforts of our enemies, and put them to confusion and
shame.
Now therefore, I, Joseph E. Brown, Governor of the
State of Georgia, endorsing the sentiments expressed in
said preamble, and concurring in the propriety of the
observance of the day for the purposes in said Proclama-
tion metioned, rendered more important by the threatened
invasion by the enemy, of our own State, do issue this my
Proclamation, setting apart the 15th day of November
instant as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, and
I so hereby invite the Reverend Clergy, and the people
of the State of Georgia to repair on that day, to theii
usual places of public worship, and to implore the blessing
of Almighty God upon our arms, that He may give us
victory over our enemies, preserve our homes and altars
from pollution, and secure to us the restoration of peace
and prosperity.
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive De-
partment, this 9th day of November, A. D., 1861.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
J. B. Campbell,
Secy. Ex. Dept.
State Papebs of Governor Jos. E. Brown 137
Executive Department,
Melledgeville Georgia,
November 11th, 1861.
Whereas, I have placed in the hands of Col. La Mat, to
be puehased in Europe, an order for two thousand Enfield
Rifles, for five thousand pair of Blankets, French or Eng-
lish soldier's pattern ; and for five thousand pair of sewed
shoes, French or English soldier's pattern, nailed soles
and heels :
Now know all men by these presents, That I, Joseph E.
Brown, as Governor of the State of Georgia in the Confed-
erate States of America, will pay to the said Col. La Mat,
or to his order, on the dehvery of said articles at Milledge-
ville, the capital of said State, on or before the first day
of February next, besides paying all the duties that may
be imposed on them by the Confederate States and the
expenses of their transportation from the port of landing,
(which must be within the Confederate States,) to tlie said
city of Milledgeville, the following prices viz: For the
Enfield Rifles, Thirty five dollars each : For the Bhmkets,
at the rate of Four Dollars and fifty cents per pair ; For
the Shoes, at the rate of Two dollars and twenty five cents
per pair ; The sizes of the Shoes to be the same proportion
as those contracted for with the Confederate States on the
3d Sept., 1861. The whole bill to be approved and ac-
cepted by the Minister of the Confederate States in Eng-
land, or in France. The bill to be paid within fifteen
days after the delivery of the articles, in the current
funds of the said State of Georgia.
138 Confederate Records
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive De-
partment this the 11th day of November, 1861.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
L). C. Campbell,
Aide-de-Camp.
The following message was this day transmitted to
the Senate, to-wit :
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGE\aLLE GeORGIA,
November 16th, 1861.
To the Senate:
I hereby nominate and propose, with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to appoint Gen. Henry R. Jack-
son, a Major General to command the First Division of
Georgia Volunteers now being organized for the defence
of the State.
Joseph E. Brown.
ExECUTFVE Department,
MILLEDGE^^LLE GeORGIA,
November 19th, 1861.
To the Senate:
In response to the call made upon me by the Senate,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 139
I herewith transmit copies of such correspondence * be-
tween me and the Secretary of War, relating to the de-
fence of the coast of Georgia, as is in my judgment
proper to be made public at this time.
By reference to this correspondence, it w411 be seen
that I have, from time to time, since April last, urgently
urged upon the Secretary of War to place upon the coast
of this State such force as was necessary to the protec-
tion and security of our people.
While his responses to my various calls have been
kind and conciliatory, promising the protection which
might be needed, his sense of duty has caused him to
withhold as large a force as I have considered necessary,
or the embarrassments by which he is surrounded have
rendered it impossible to do what his sense of propriety
dictated.
The Convention of this State, in March last, passed
an ordinance transferring the forts and arsenals acquired
from the government of the United States to the Confea-
erate States. At that time there were not sufficient guns
and ammunition in either of the forts for its successful
defence against a heavy attack. No steps were taken, so
far as I know or believe, by the Confederate Government
to place additional guns, shot, shell or powder, in the
forts; and I was compelled to purchase the necessary
supplies with money from the Treasury of the State,
and to place them at the disposal of the Confederate
General in command, or to permit the forts to remain
in a condition that they might fall an easy prey to the
*For correspondence between Governor Brown and the Secretary of War
see Vol. Ill Confederate Records of Ga.
140 Confederate' Records
attacks of a liostile fleet. Tn this sn)»])ly T expended over
one liuiiclred tlioiisand dollars.
As the Confederacy was not prepared with troops
to take charcfo of the forts immediately after the ])assa^e
of the ordinance, they remained in the possession of
Georgia, occupied by her regular troops, till these troops
were transferred to the Confederacy, 1st May last, when
they passed into the possession of the Confederate
authorities, together with the heavy^ guns and ammuni-
tion placed in the forts by the State. No compensation
has yet been made to the State for these supplies. I also
transferred to the Confederacy the arsenal at Augusta,
with all the guns acquired from the United States, which
were in the arsenal at the date of the passage of the or-
dinance requiring the transfer. The guns previously
taken from the arsenal with which to arm our volunteers,
and which I was not required to transfer, have all gone
into the service of the Confederacy in the hands of Geor-
gia troops, together with all the small arms purchased
by the State, except those now in the possession of our
State troops. About twenty thousand arms belonging
to the State have in this manner gone into the Confeder-
ate service. The exact number cannot be given, as the
State's arms were frequently carried to Virginia in the
hands of volunteer companies belonging to independent
regiments, of which I have no account, as they were
frequently seized and carried out of the State without
my knowledge or consent. I considered all the guns
which have gone into the Confederate service in the
hands of Georgia volunteers, except those mentioned
in my letter to the Secretary of War, which were taken
from the arsenal after the passage of the ordinance for
State Papees of Governor Jos. E. Brown 141
its transfer, to be still the property of this State. No
compensation has been paid to the State for the guns,
about twelve thousand in number, which were transferred
with the Augusta arsenal, nor do I understand that it was
the intention of the Convention to require the Confeder-
acy to pay a pecuniary compensation for the guns which
had been acquired from the United States, and which
were required by the ordinance to be transferred, any
more than it was their intention that a pecuniary com-
pensation should ^be paid! by the Confederacy to the
State for the forts and arsenals. The Convention by
the ordinance transferred the title of the arms then in the
forts and arsenals to the Confederacy, but left it to the
discretion of the Executive whether he would transfer
to the Confederacy the other arms belonging to the
State. I did not think it best to transfer the title to all
our small arms to the Confederacy, but I permitted them
all to go into the service as State arms.
The steamer Savannah, which cost the State $40,000,
was transferred to the Confederacy for $20,000, in cash
and $20,000, in Confederate States Bonds. The money
and bonds received in payment have been, and are being,
expended by the Quartermaster-General of the State for
supplies for the troops and for other military purposes.
The Secretary of War refused to purchase the steamer
Huntress, which cost the State $15,000, in New York.
The steamer was in possession of Commodore Tatnall in
the State service, and after he entered the Confederate
States service, he retained, and still retains, the posses-
sion and management of her in the inland waters of this
State and South Carolina. I hope to be able to transfer
this steamer, also, to the Confederacy, at a future day.
142 CONFKDIiUATE KeCORDS
for the ammiiit she cost the State, to he jtaid for in Con-
federate Bonds or Notes. I transmit a copy of the corre-
spondence between myself and the Secretary of War,
rehitive to the transfer of the forts, arsenals and arms.
In response to that portion of the resolution which
relates to the present number of Confederate troop> now
on our coast, I have to state my information is that there
are about 5,500. In addition to this number, ten thousand
others will, in my opinion, be necessary to repel the inva-
sion and defend the coast. I may also state, that General
Lee expresses a desire that I hold a reserv^e of ten thous-
and men in camp, in readiness to reinforce the Confeder-
ate troops on the coast, at any time when needed.
The estimate made in my annual message of the
amount necessary to sustain our military operations for
the present fiscal year, was based upon a smaller number
of troops. If ten thousand troops are to be called into
the field, my opinion is an appreciation of at least five
millions of dollars will be necessary.
I believe the correspondence herewith submitted will
furnish a sufficient reply to the other points contained in
the resolutions.
During the summer months the State was not invaded,
and I could not say that the danger was so imminent as to
admit of no delay. I did not feel, therefore, that I was
at liberty to call out and maintain a heavy force on the
coast on State account, or that it was my proper province
to take charge of the erection of the necessary fortifica-
tions. This duty, under the Constitution, properly de-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 143
volved upon the Confederate Government; and I did not
feel at liberty to assume the exercise of power which
properly belonged to that government.
Early in September I visited the seaboard and found
only about three thousand Confederate troops stationed
there to defend the city of Savannah and about one hun-
dred and ten miles of coast. I consider this force en-
tirely inadequate to the task, as the correspondence will
show, I had repeatedly offered to supply a larger number
of troops if the Secretary of War would make requisi-
tion upon me for them, for our defence. He had not
thought proper to increase the number beyond that above
mentioned, and there was no requisition upon me for any
additional number. —
The season was so far advanced that I considered the
danger too imminent to admit of further delay, and I con-
sidered the force too weak to make even a respectable
show of resistance to an invading fleet as large as the
Government of the United States was likely to send upon
our coasts, as soon as they could venture in our climate.
Under these circumstances, I did not feel that I should
be justified should I longer delay active preparation for
our defence by organizing State troops and holding them
in readiness, in case of attack, to act in concert with the
small Confederate force upon our coast. I have, there-
fore, called out the State troops, as it was my duty to do
under the Act of the last Legislature, and I shall have
completed the organization of the first division within
the next few days.
As the General Assembly has already been informed,
the military appropriation is exhausted, and it will be im-
144 Confederate Records
possible for me to maintain the troops in the field much
lontjor, unless further ai^propriation be made. Since the
comnienccment of the session, some of the articles neces-
sary to sup})ly the army have risen over thirty-five per
cent, in the market; whether the further delay in procur-
ing the supplies which must result from withholding the
appropriation, is compatible with the public interest, is a
question which demands the serious consideration of the
General Assomhly.
1 am aware that it may be insisted that the Confeder-
ate Government shall take upon itself the entire expense
of our defence. It is admitted that this is correct in
principle, and the willingness of that government to do
its duty to the State, to the extent of its ability, is not
questioned. Thus far, however, the Confederate Govern-
ment has not placed upon our coast a sufficient number of
troops for our protection, and the question presented for
our present consideration is, whether we will assist the
Confederacy and defend ourselves, or wait until the Con-
federacy is prepared to defend us and risk the disasters
which may in the meantime befall us on account of our
delay. My own opinion is that it is not now the time to
stop to count the cost, but that we should call out as
many troops as may be necessary to repel the invader,
should he appear either upon the sea coast or upon the
borders of Tennessee, whether it may take ten thousand
or twenty thousand men, or whether it may cost five or
ten millions of dollars. I ask in the name of the people,
that their representatives place at my command the men
and money necessary to accomplish the object.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 145
Headquarters,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 20th, 1861.
Ordered,
That Capt. E. M. Field, Assistant Commissary Gen-
eral of the State, proceed to the cities of Macon, Colum-
bus and Atlanta, and at either or all of those cities, seize
for the use of the army of Georgia any salt which is being
removed, or is about being removed beyond the limits of
the State, or any found in large quantities for which more
than five dollars per sack with usual freight from Savan-
nah to such city is demanded; that which is held on specu-
lation and not offered for sale at all. And in all cases
where such seizures are made, you are required to pay,
or tender to pay, five dollars with freight from Savannah
added per sack to the owner or owners thereof. And all
military authorities in either of these cities are hereby
required to be subject to the command of Capt. Field in
executing this order.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Commander-in-Chief,
W. H. Hunt,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
14G Confederate Kecords
Tlie following message was this day transmitted to
the Senate, to-wit :
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
November 26th, 1861.
To the Senate,
I have appointed Gen. AVm. H. T. "Walker a Brigadier-
General to command the third Brigade of Georgia State
troops, to be organized under the Act of 1860, and ask the
advice and consent of the Senate in confirmation of this
appointment.
As the State is now invaded, prompt action is most
respectfully solicited.
Joseph E. Brown,
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit :
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 26th, 1861.
To the House of Representatives.
The committee appointed by the House to confer with
me in reference to the correspondence between me and
the Secretary of War touching the defences of Georgia,
did me the honor to meet me in conference yesterday
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 147
evening, and I had the pleasure to lay before them such
of the official correspondence between me and the Secre-
tary of War as bears directly upon the question of our
States defences; and I now lay before the House such *
of the correspondence as the committee and I have agreed
is proper for the consideration of the House in aid of
legislative action. Each member of the committee, how-
ever, concurs in the oi^inion that part of this correspon-
dence is not the proper subject of newspaper publication
or comment in the present state of affairs, as it contains
information which should be kept from the possession of
the enemy. I have therefore respectfully to ask that the
correspondence be considered in secret session. In this
connection I beg leave again call the attention of the
House to the fact that military appropriation is entirely
exhausted, and that I am borrowing money every day and
paying interest upon it, while there is money in the treas-
ury unappropriated sufficient to relieve our present neces-
sities. Until the appropriation is made I must continue
to labor under great embarrassment, and it is with much
difficulty that I can maintain our gallant troops in the
field.
We are obliged to have large supplies of provisions
for the support of our army during the winter ; prices are
rising daily, and the State is sustaining heavy loss by
delay in purchasing supplies before a further advance.
The simple article of wheat has advanced fifty per cent,
since the commencement of the session, and it is believed
the sum lost by the State by delay in procuring supplies,
caused by want of funds appropriated, has doubled, if
not quadrupled, the entire sum saved to the treasury for
*For correspondence between Governor Brown and the Secretary of War see Vol.
III. Confederate Records of Ga.
148 Confederate Records
the year, by all reduction of salaries of jmblic oflBcers^
which have been made by the General Assembly.
Tlie foot of the invader now desecrates the soil of
Georgia, and while the Confederacy may not have done
all which we could desire for our defence, it has probably
done all which, in the judgment of those in authority, it
could safely do consistently with what tliey considered
their obligations to other })oints which have heretofore
been exi)osed to more innuediate attack.
Whatever differences of opinion may exist upon this
point, I respectfully suggest that it is not now the time
to stop to balance accounts with the Confederacy, or to
count the cost of our defence.
Many of the local and private bills before the General
Assembly may be important to particular individuals,
and may promote particular interests. But I beg you to
remember that the State is now invaded by a hostile
force, and that the flag of the enemy waves over part of
her soil and insults her sovereignty, while it threatens
the existence of her institutions, the liberties of her sons,
and the safety and purity of her daughters. I therefore
implore the Representatives of her people to lay aside all
difference of opinion, and all other legislation of minor
importance, until they have placed at the command of
her constituted authorities as many men and as much
money as may be necessary to defend her soil, vindicate
her honor, and drive the invader beyond her limits.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 149
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE GeORGIA,
November 29th, 1861.
G. B. Lamar,
President of the Bank of Commerce at Savannah,
Please honor the drafts of Col. Jared I. Whitaker,
Commissary General of the State, to an additional amount
of Twenty-five thousand dollars, and charge the same to
account of the State, for which settlement will be made as
soon as the Military Appropriation is made by the Legis-
lature.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
The following special message was this day trans-
mitted to the General Assembly:
Executive Department,
«
MiLLEDGEVILLE, Ga.,
December 5th, 1861.
To the General Assembly :
The correspondence between the Secretary of War and
myself, which has been laid before you, shows that I did
all in my power to induce the Government of the Con-
federate States to increase the force upon our coast, and
to make the necessary preparation for our defence, prior
150 Confederate Records
to the organization hy mo ol" tlu' military forces now in
the service of the State. In making this statement, I do
not wish to be understood that I reflect upon that Govern-
ment for a wilful neglect of duty. I believe it is the wish
and intention of those in authority, to use the forces and
means at their command, in such manner, and at such
places, as will best ])romote the general good. But view-
ing the field from the standpoint which they occupy, they
have been of opinion, as their action has shown, that there
was greater necessity for the troops and the resources
at their command, at other points. Hence, they failed
to make the necessary preparation for our defence.
Appreciating the difficulties with which the Confeder-
ate Government had to contend, and hoping that they
might make the necessary preparation for the defence of
the State, I delayed action on State account as long as I
could possibly do so consistently with the public safety.
Almost every newspaper received from the North in the
months of August and September, contained statements
of the strength of the fleet which was being fitted out by
the 4nemy, and of the intention to send it with an invad-
ing force against our coast as soon as the season would
permit.
In the formation of the Constitution of the Confed-
erate States, each State reserved to itself the sovereign
right to engage in ivar when ''actually invaded" or "in
such imminent danger as will not admit of delay." The
statute of our own State authorized me to accept the serv-
ices of ten thousand volunteers, of different arms, in such
proportions as the exigencies of the ser^dce might require.
The people of the coast actually called on me for protec-
tion. The general voice of the people of the State was.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 151
that they were entitled to it, and that the safety of the
whole State depended, in a great degree, upon the suc-
cessful defence of the coast. The Constitution gave me
the right, and the statute made it my duty to act. I did
so ; but not until the latest day when I could have time to
organize and prepare the troops for service, before the
invasion.
The organization has been conducted in strict conform-
ity to the requirements of the statute, and the Generals
have been appointed to command the troops, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate now in session.
Suppose I had made a calculation, and determined that
it would cost too much for the State to assist in her own
defence, and had refused to call out the troops, and had
met the General Assembly and informed you that I had
made no preparation for the defense of the State, for the
reason that it must cost a large sum of money ; and that
I had again and again asked the Secretary of War to
defend us, and that I relied on the three or four thousand
Confederate troops then on our coast, to protect the city
of Savannah and the whole coast, against the powerful
force sent for our subjugation ; what would have been the
verdict passed upon my conduct by the General Assembly,
and every intelligent patriot in Georgia? Would it not
have been one of universal and just condemnation?
Kesults have shown that I was not mistaken when I
decided that the danger was imminent, and commenced
active preparation to meet it.
The invader's troops are now upon our soil, and his
flag now waves over our territory, and insults the dignity
and sovereignty of our State. Thus menaced with sub-
152 Confederate Records
jugatioii and degradation, is it ])ossible tliat we, as the
representatives of the people, and as co-ordinate branches
of the government, can spend our time in discussions
about the cost of our defence; or whether the State or
Confederate Govornment shall for the present assume
the burden and make the expenditure; or that our action
can be influenced by party considerations, or by personal
hatred or i)ersonal favoritism; or tliat we can stop to
consider whether our action will tend to sustain, or to
advance the political fortunes of one man, or to injure
those of another? Surely we have graver duties than
these to perform, and weightier responsibilities to meet.
We have now been over four weeks in session. Our
troops in the field have been in need of supplies, and we
have made an ap])ropriation of only one hundred thous-
and dollars. This is not more than half the necessary
expense of our military operations since the commence-
ment of the session; and it is but little over double the
sum necessary to pay the expense which the General
Assembly has cost the State for the same length of time.
I mention these things in no spirit of fault-finding,
but in the hope that dissensions and jealousies, if they
exist, may be banished from our midst, and that we may
unite as one man, and promptly provide the necessary
means to defend the State, and drive the invader from
our soil.
The organization of the State troops is becoming a
very efficient one, which will soon make them terrible to
the invader.
At this important period, in the face of the enemy,
when organization and harmony are of the utmost im-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 153
portance, a proposition is made that we pause and count
the cost of our defence, and that we transfer our army
to the Confederacy, by regiments, battalions or compa-
nies; and if they are not received, that we disband the
troops, and thus get rid of the expense.
Let us examine this question of defence for a moment.
Suppose we dismiss from our breasts every feeling of
patriotism and every generous impulse, with every desire
for liberty or independence, and consider the question
one of sordid gain, of mere dollars and cents. What rea-
sonable man, having an estate of several hundred mil-
lions of dollars, and finding it in litigation, and the title
in a precarious condition, would hesitate a moment to
give counsel five millions to defend and secure the title?
The property of the people of Georgia is worth seven
hundred millions of dollars — the State is now invaded,
and every dollar of it hangs upon the result. If we are
conquered, all is lost. Is it possible in this state of the
case, that we can refuse to give five millions for the sup-
port of our gallant troops who are now in the field, ready
to spill the last drop of their blood to defend and secure
our title? Strong as the case thus presented may be,
this is a narrow, contracted view of the subject. All the
property and all the money in the State is as nothing
compared with the principles involved, and the conse-
quences to us and our posterity.
But do we get rid of the expense by the proposed
transfer? I maintain that it does not, in any \dew of the
question, save to the State one dollar. If the troops are
transferred, the Confederacy will pay their expenses;
and Georgia, as a member of the Confederacy, will have
to meet her part of it. If she retains them, at the end of
154 Confederate Records
tlu> war the Confederacy will assume the ('xponso of tlie
Geori2:ia troops, as well as of the tnx.j.s of other States,
and Goorj^ia will only have to pay her part. If the Con-
fedoraey does not receive tlie troops and they are dis-
banded, tlie eity of Savaunab and the wliole sea coast
and the soiitliern part of the State, must fall into tlie
hands of the enemy; and the destruction of property will
cost us ten times as much as the highest appropriation
wbicli anyone would ask to support the troo])s. There
is not, therefore, one dollar of economy or of saving to
the State in the proposition.
Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Louis-
iana, and probably other States, are calling, and have
called, into the Held large numbers of State troops to
repel the invasion and to protect their property. At the
end of the war the expense incurred by each of these
States will be assumed by the Confederacy, and Georgia
will have to pay her part of it. If, while they defend
themselves, she permits her coast to fall into the hands
of the enemy and her citizens to be ])lundered, rather
than incur the expense necessary to the protection of her
people, the other States of the Confederacy may be saved
their part of the expense which was necessary to her
defence. But instead of sa\dng expense, is she not the
loser?
Tennessee expended five millions of dollars in less
than six months, and no complaint is heard from her leg-
islators or her people that they can not afford to incur
the expense of self-defence.
Two other grave questions, in this connection, de-
mand our careful consideration. Have we the power to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 155
transfer the troops to the Confederacy, without their
consent? And has the President the power to accept
them, even with their consent? Neither is true.
First, as to our power to transfer tliem: tlie troops
in response to the call of the Elxecutive of the State, have
volunteered to serve the State as State troops; and have
been mustered into the service of the State, and not into
the service of the Confederacy. It was no part of the
contract between the troops and the State that they should
be transferred to the service of the Confederacy; and the
State has no right to make the transfer without their
consent. They are not cattle, to be bought and sold in
the market. They are brave, generous, high-toned free-
men, who have left their homes at the call of their State,
and are now undergoing all the fatigues and hardships
of camp life for her defence. While they are brave
enough to defend their rights, they are intelligent enough
to understand them; and we are greatly mistaken if we
suppose they will submit to a change of their present
organization, or to an act of injustice to those who have
their confidence, and have been legally appointed to
command them. They are, as our statute which was
passed to meet this very emergency required, organized
into companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and a
division. If we disband the division and turn over the
brigades, we are, in my opinion, guilty of gross injustice
to the gallant and chivalrous son of Georgia, whom we
have just called from an honorable command in Virginia,
where he has rendered distinguished service, and have
invited to the command of the troops of his native State.
In response to the call made upon him by the Governor,
with the ad\'ice and consent of the Senate, he has resigned
166 Confederate Records
his command in the Confederate service, and is on bis
way to Georgia; and it is now ])roposed, wlien he reaches
the State, to inform liini tliat he has been deceived; that
we have changed our i)olicy, and that his services are not
needed.
If we disband tlie brigades, we do injustice to the
r)rigadier-(jenerals, who have been called from important
pursuits, and invited by the highest appointing power
in the State, to commands which they now hold. Among
this number is the gallant Walker, whose glorious deeds
have shed luster upon the character of the State, while
his blood has stained almost every battlefield where his
country's rights have been vindicated, for the last quarter
of a century.
If we disband the regiments, we do injustice to the
Colonels, who have been legally elected to command them;
and if we disband the battalions and tender the troops by
companies, we do like injustice to the Lieutenant Colonels
and Majors. In any, or either of these cases, we must
expect that the gallant men under their command will
make the cause of their officers common cause, and refuse
to submit to such injustice. We have not, therefore, the
power to transfer the troops without their consent; and
I feel quite sure they will never give their consent, unless
the whole organization is transferred in its fotaliti/, re-
taining every officer, from the Major General down to the
lowest grade, in his position, with liis rank and command.
Second, as to the power of the President to accept the
troops: The law passed by Congress authorizes the
President to accept them by companies, battalions or regi-
ments, but gives him no authority to accept a brigade oi"
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 157
a division. The law also defines the number of which a
company shall consist, and gives him no power to accept
a company with less than sixty-four nor more than one
hundred privates. It will be borne in mind that the stat
ute uses the term privates. Add to these the four com-
missioned and eight non-commissioned officers, and two
musicians, and the minimum number of a company which
the law authorizes the President to accept is seventy-
eight, while the maximum number is one hundred and
fourteen. The President has no more right, under the
statute, to accept a company with less than sixty-four pri-
vates, and a proper number of officers, than he has to
accept a brigade or division. If the one is illegal, the
other is equally so. The statute of our own State de-
clares that a company of infantry shall consist of not less
than fifty nor more than eighty rank and file. This term
includes non-commissioned officers and musicians, as well
as privates. Add the four commissioned officers, and
our minimum number is fifty-four, and our maximum
number eighty-four. A company must, therefore, ap-
proximate very near our largest number before it reaches
the smallest number with which it can be received into the
Confederate service. If I had had at ray command plenty
of arms with which to arm the State troops, I might have
refused to accept companies with less than the smallest
Confederate or largest State number. But I was com-
pelled to appeal to the companies to bring good country
arms with them, and as the number of these arras which
could be made efficient, within the reach of a company,
was generally limited, I was frequently obliged to accept
companies with little more than the smallest number
allowed by the statute, or to reject thera and perrait thera
to disband. Wliile, therefore, each and every company
158 Confederate Records
is organized in conformity to our own statute and has a
legal number, ])rol)ably each one of two-thirds of the com-
panies, has less than the smallest number authorized by
the Confederate statute, and could not be acce])ted by the
President or mustered into the serive of the Confederacy.
If we could be supposed to be capable of the injustice to
the Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant-Colonels and Majors
which would result from a disbandment of the State
organization, and should tender the troops by comi)anies,
it is very clear that over two-thirds of them could not l)e
accepted, and must, therefore, be disbanded and sent
home. No one who carefully investigates this question
can fail to see that an appropriation of money for the
support of the troops, which has a condition annexed to
it making the appropriation dependent upon the tender
of the troops to and their acceptance by the Confederacy,
is equivalent to a refusal to vote supplies for their sup-
port, and an order to disband them in the face of the
enemy. But it may be said that Congress could pass a
law authorizing the President, in this particular case, to
receive the companies with their present organization,
consisting of less than sixty-four privates. This is true;
and it is equally true that Congress could pass a law
authorizing the President to accept them as organized,
by divisions and brigades.
The troops might consent to the transfer on the latter
supposition, as this would do justice to their officers and
maintain their organization as it was formed by the
State; but it is very certain, in my opinion, that they
would not consent to the transfer upon any other terms.
If we disband these troops because we fail to stand by
our State organization and protect their rights, or be-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 159
cause we refuse to make the necessary appropriation to
maintain them in the field, we disband an organization
of as noble Georgians as ever assembled with arms in
their hands, ready and willing, if they can do so with
honor, to defend their State, and if need be, to sacrifice
their lives a willing offering upon her altar. Do this, and
what encouragement do we offer to others to step forward
and take their places?
I deny that such action would be just to our brave
Generals on the one hand, or to the companies in the con-
dition above described, on the other; or indeed to any
company which at the call of the State has organized
in conformity to her laws, and been accepted into her
service for her defence.
I deny that it is just to the city of Savannah, or the
sea coast, by this extraordinary legislation to drive from
the field nearly ten thousand of Georgia's most gallant
sons, and leave these exposed points at the mercy of the
enemy. And I deny that such legislation would reflect
the will of the noble constituency who sent us here, and
committed to our keeping their honor and their safety.
They will never consent to see Georgia's proud escutch-
eon tarnished, or her flag trailing in the dust before her
enemies, because it must cost her a few dollars to main-
tain her noble sons in the field for her defence. The
adoption of any policy looking to a transfer of the State
troops, which may result in their disorganization, at a
time when their services are so much needed by the State,
would be, in my opinion, not only unwise but suicidal,
and must result in the most disastrous consequences to
the State.
160 Confederate Records
If this fatal poliey should be determined upon by the
General Assembly, I will ho responsible for none of the
consequences growing out of it; and, in the name of the
])eople of Georfria, I now, in advance, enter my solemn
protest against it. If the State troops are disbanded, or
the appropriations to maintain them are made upon the
condition that they be transferred or disbanded, which is
equivalent to an order to disband them, it will become
my duty, as the Executive of the State, to proclaim to her
people, that, while the enemy is thundering at her gates,
her representatives have left me powerless for her de-
fence, by withholding the necessary means, and even
taking from me those already at my command.
If I have used strong language, I mean no disrespect.
Wlien all that is dear to a people is at stake, the occasion
requires the utmost frankness and candor.
Joseph E. Brown.
The committee to whom was referred the message
from his Excellency the Governor, in relation to the
tender of the troops in the service of the State to the
Confederate Government, have given the same due con-
sideration, and beg leave to submit the following
REPORT:
The House had under consideration a bill to provide
for the public defence, and to appropriate money for the
same; in the midst of the discussion a message was re-
ceived from his Excellency the Governor. When it was
taken up and read, it proved to be an elaborate argument
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 161
against the provisions of the bill under consideration,
and a solemn protest against its passage.
The first question which presented itself is : Had the
Governor the right to send a message to the House con-
taining an argument against the bill while under con-
sideration? The Constitution of the State says in ex-
plicit terms that ''the Legislative, Executive and Judicial
Departments shall be distinct : and each department shall
be confined to a separate body of magistracy. No person
or collection of persons being of one department shall
exercise any power properly attached to either of the
others except in cases herein expressly provided. ' ' Again,
"the Legislative power shall be vested in a General As-
sembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives," and "the General Assembly shall have
power to make all laws and ordinances consistent with
the Constitution of the Confederate States, which they
shall deem necessary and proper for the welfare of the
State." "The Executive power shall be vested in a
Governor, and the Governor shall have the revision of
all bills passed by both Houses, before the same shall be-
come laws." From the provisions of the Constitution it
is meant that the different departments of the Govern-
ment shall be separate and distinct, and that neither
shall interfere with another in the performance of its
duties. To the General Assembly is granted the power
to make laws, and incident to that is the right to deliber-
ate on measures which may be proposed — no one has the
right to participate in such deliberations unless he is a
member of one branch or the other of the General Assem-
bly. The message of his Excellency, which was intended
to be read to the House against the passage of the bill
162 Confederate Records
under consideration, was not only an unwarrantable inter-
ference in the business of the House, but was an open,
direct and palpable violation of the Constitution — it was
not sent in res})onse to a call on the Governor for informa-
tion, it was not a recommendation to the consideration
of the House of a measure which he deemed necessary
and expedient, but it was an argument thrust in unbidden
and unasked, against a bill which he wished to defeat.
Such an assumption of power by his Excellency is a
usurpation which cannot and ought not to be tolerated;
he has no more right to interfere with the House while
deliberating on a bill than any member of the House has
to address an argument to him when a bill is submitted
to him for his approval or rejection. No less objection-
able is the insinuation contained in the message that the
action of the House may be influenced by party considera-
tions or by personal hatred, or personal promotion, or
that it was intended to sustain or advance the political
fortunes of one man or to injure those of another. Has
it come to this, that the representatives of the people
cannot propose and discuss a question of momentous im-
portance and involving the highest interest of the State,
without subjecting themselves to the injurious imputation
of being governed by party considerations and personal
hatred if their views should come in conflict with those
of his Excellency; who constituted him the judge of the
motives which govern others in the performance of the
duties which devolve upon them? The representatives
of the people whom he has so unjustly aspersed can and
have come to the consideration of questions of public
policy from a sense of duty, and regardless of party con-
siderations or personal hatred, and uninfluenced by any
desire to advance the political fortunes of one man or to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 163
injure those of another, and indignantly repel the insinu-
ation in the message, to the country in a crisis like the
present, when all are ready to sacrifice their lives and
fortunes in defence of their country, such a calumny
coming from the Chief Magistrate of our State tends
only to stir up and excite feelings of hostility, when he
should inculcate harmony and concord.
The next matter in the message which deserves con-
sideration, is the implied threat that the troops in the
service of the State will not submit to the legislation
which proposes, not to remove them from the State, but
simply to place them under the authority of the Confed-
erate Government. And such a transfer is characterized
by his Excellency as an act of injustice; this part of the
message is calculated to excite insubordination and dis-
obedience among the troops, and on that ground deserves
severe reprehension. It is a fact, known to the House,
that pending the bill his Excellency transmitted to the
House some resolutions which had been adopted by the
officers of one of the regiments of State volunteers,
threatening to abandon the field and return home in the
event of their being transferred to the service of the
Confederate Government. It is a singular coincident that
the message and resolutions contained intimations of
what would be the action of the State troops in a certain
event, conveyed in language almost identical. Was there
a complicity between his Excellency and the troops in
urging their threats upon the House? One resolution
requested his Excellency to lay them before the General
Assembly, and he obeyed their behest. The Constitution
makes the Governor the Commander-in-Chief of the army
and navj^ of this State, and it is his duty as such to pre-
164 rONFEDERATE RecORDS
serve subordination in l)oth officers and privates. As
roniTnandor-in-Chief, orders nnist emanate from him, and
lie is not sn))ject to the order of anyone; but lie has
presented himself before the House as the medium
through which a threat of insubordination is communi-
cated, and- instead of rebuking the threat, reiterates it
himself in his message. Whose cheek docs not mantle
with shame at the thought that the Commander-in-Chief
of the army has so jirostituted his high office? and that
he holds over the heads of the representatives of the
people the threat of a disobedient soldiery to deter them
from the passage of a bill which he disapproves? It is
humiliating and mortifying to know that he has permitted
himself to be made subservient to their will, instead of
holding them in subjection to the authority of the laws,
that he is under their orders, and is the channel through
which they are transmitted?
Another view of the message which presents itself, is
the issue which his Excellency attempts to raise between
the Legislature and the people. The message represents
the advocates of the bill as making it a question of money
— whether money shall be appropriated for the defence
of the State — and leaves it open to the inference that if
the appropriation is refused they will leave the State de-
fenceless, because they are unwilling to incur a public
debt ; but this is a gross misrepresentation of the bill and
its advocates. It proposes to raise and appropriate five
millions of dollars as a military fund for the year 1862,
and provides that if the troops in the service of the State
shall be turned over to the Confederate Government, and
accepted for the same service and for the same time of
their present enlistment, then the money appropriated by
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 165
the bill shall not be raised; but if they shall not be ac-
cepted, then they are to remain in the service of the State,
and for the defence of the State, and the money pro-
posed to be raised by the bill shall be applied for State
defence, as directed.
It is simply a question whether Georgia shall maintain
an army at her own expense and fit a heav}^ public debt
upon her people, or whether she shall be defended by
the Confederate Government and at the expense of that
Government. And his Excellency raises a false issue
when he says "if the State troops are disbanded or the
appropriations to maintain them are made upon the con-
dition that they be transferred or disbanded, which is
equivalent to an order to disband them, it will become
his duty, as the Executive of the State, to proclaim to
her people that while the enemy are thundering at her
gates her representatives have left me powerless for her
defence by withdrawing the necessary means, and even
taking from him those already at his command." This
proclamation when made, if it ever shall be made, will
present a false issue to the country. It is not true that
the representatives of the people have proposed to leave
his Excellency powerless for the defence of the State
while the enemy are thundering at her gates, it is not
true that they have withheld from him the necessary
means of defence, on the contrary it is undeniably true
that they have proposed to place the troops now in the
service of the State under the control of the Confederate
Government to remain in the State to serve for the same
time, and upon the terms of their enlistment, and thus
relieve the State from the hea\'y expense of maintaining
them, and yet have their protection; and it is equally
166 Confederate Records
true that if the Confederate Government should not
receive them upon the terms proposed, an ample appro-
priation and larger by one million five hundred thous-
and than that asked by his Excellency, has been made
for their support and for continuing them in the field.
So that so far as money is concerned, ample provision
has been made in the bill for the support of the troops
if they remain in the service of the State; and if they
shall go into the service of the Confederate States, they
will remain in the State, and the State will have the
same defence which she would have if they were exclu-
sively under the control of her officers. The message of
his Excellency does gross injustice to the advocates of
the bill in representing them as withholding the proper
means of defence, when the reverse is the truth.
The committee, in conclusion, submit the following
resolutions and recommend their adoption:
Resolved, That the Constitution of the State which
confers upon his Excellency the Governor power to con-
vene the General Assembly, and to give them from time
to time information of the state of the Republic, and
recommend to their consideration such measures as he
may deem necessary and expedient, does not authorize
him to send an argument to either House for or against
any measure they may have under consideration, no
more than to come in person into the House and engage
in the discussion.
Resolved, That the message which was sent to the
House by his Excellency the Governor containing an ar-
gument and a protest against the passage of the bill
appropriating money for the defence of the State, which
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 167
the House liad under consideration, was an unwarran-
table interference with the deliberations of the House
and receives our unqualified condemnation.
Resolved, That the threat contained in the message
that the troops in the service of the State will not sub-
mit to the legislation of the General Assembly, in the
event of such legislation being contrary to their wishes,
was unbecoming the official position occupied by his Ex-
cellency— an infringement on the right of free discussion
and an invasion of the privileges of the House.
Resolved, That it is not true that the representatives
of the people have proposed to transfer the troops in
the service of the State to the Confederate Government
in such way as amounts to an order to disband them,
and the declaration in the message that ''it will become
the duty of the Executive of the State to proclaim to her
people that while the enemy is thundering at her gates
her representatives have left him powerless for her de-
fence, by withholding the necessary means, and were
taking from him those already at his command" is un-
true, and not warranted by any act of this House.
Resolved, That the insinuations in the message that
the action of the House may "be influenced by party
considerations or by personal hatred or personal favorit-
ism, or to advance the political fortunes of one man or to
injure those of another" is an aspersion which we in-
dignantly repel.
Resolved, That the message of his Excellency be en-
tered on the journal to be followed immediately by this
report.
168 Confederate Records
In accordance with the hist resolution, the message
of His Excellency Gov. Brown and the report of the com-
mittee on the same are recorded in the journal as above,
as directed by the House.
The following communication was this day trans-
mitted to the General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 6th, 1861.
To the General Assembly,
In compliance with the request contained in the ac-
companying Resolutions, I transmit them to the General
Assembly. —
Joseph E. Brown.
RESOLUTIONS.
Camp Harrison, S. A. & G. R. R.,
December 3d, 1861.
At a meeting of the officers of Col E. W. Chastain's
Regiment of State Volunteers, on motion of Capt. John
S. Fain the following Preamble and Resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
Whereas, We have learned with regret that a reso-
lution to transfer the Georgia State Volunteers to the ser-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 169
vice of the Confederate States has passed the Senate of the
State of Georgia, and seems to meet with general favor
in the House of Representatives :
Therefore, Resolved 1st, That we pledge our prop-
erty, our lives, and our sacred honor to the maintenance
of the rights, honor and cherished institutions of our be-
loved State and the Confederate States, notwithstanding,
we most solemly declare that should the General Assem-
bly of the State of Georgia force such an alternative
upon us, we will at once abandon the field and return
to our homes.
Resolved 2nd, That we are freemen, and that the
General Assembly, nor no other power on earth, has the
right to transfer us to the Confederate States service,
or any other service without our consent, and that no such
authority ought to be exercised over a free people.
Resolved Srd, That we are not the property of the
General Assembly of Georgia to be sold and transferred
from one owner to another like a promissory note, and
that we hereby enter our solemn protest against any
such sale.
Resolved 4:th, That a copy of this Preamble and Reso-
lutions be forwarded to His Excellencj^ Governor Brown,
with a request that he lay the same before the General
Assembly of the State of Georgia.
(Signed) John H. Craven,
President.
E. B. Moore,
Secretary.
170 Confederate Records
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14TH, 1861.
Tlie following messap:e was transmitted to tlie Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit :
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 14th, 1861.
To the General Assembly.
I have learned with painful regret that a large por-
tion of the city of Charleston, in our noble sister State,
is destroyed by fire. This is a calamity which is not
confined to South Carolina, but is common to us all. The
indi\'idual suffering resulting from it, must be very great.
Large numbers of the poor of that noble city are deprived
of all they possessed, and are left Avithout home or shel-
ter; while others of larger means, have been reduced to
poverty in a single day.
This misfortune has befallen them at a time when
they are threatened by sea and land by a powerful and
relentless enemy. No doubt the Legislature of their own
State will do all in their power for the relief of the suf-
ferers; but with the other hea\^" burdens now ])ressing
upon South Carolina, in common with her Southern sis-
ters, I think that each should consider the calamity as a
common one, and that each should do something for the
relief of the sutferers. Humanity combines with fraternal
relations in making this our duty. Had the calamity be-
fallen Savannah or any other city of Georgia, I doubt not
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 171
our sister State would have been the first to come to the
assistance of the sufferers.
I recommend that an appropriation of one hundred
thousand dolhirs, or such other sum or sums as you may
deem proper, be immediately made and placed at the
disposal of the Governor of South Carolina, for the re-
lief of the suffering poor of the city of Charleston, whose
sufferings have been produced by the conflagration.
Joseph E, Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
January 1st, 1862.
At the late session of the General Assembly, I sent
both Houses a special message on the subject of our coast
defences, having relation more particularly to our State
troops, who were under arms in the field for our defence,
and for whose support no adequate provision had been
made, though the Legislature had then been in session
thirty days.
In the House of Representatives the message was
referred to a special committee that committee made a
report which was ordered to be entered upon the journal
of the House immediately after the message. As this
report contains statements prompted by the passion of
the hour, and the strong partisan feelings of a majority
of the members of the House, which do me the grossest
injustice; and statements, which the record kept by the
172 Confederate Records
House itself shows, iii part, to be entirely irreconcilable
with the facts, I feel it due to myself that I protest against
this injustice; and due to my successors in office, that I
maintain the constitutional rights of the Executive,
against the unwarrantable assumptions of the House.
The journal does not show that the report of the com-
mittee was adopted by the House; but as it was ordered
to be entered upon the journal, it is reasonable to infer
that it met the approval of a majority of the House.
The action of the House in this particular, was not offi-
cially communicated to me; and I had no opportunity
to reply, till the journal was placed in my hands after
the General Assembly had adjourned.
The part which first claims attention in a review of
the report, and which seems to have been most wounding
to the pride of the committee, and to the assumed dignity
of a majority of the House, (as it is mentioned at least
six times in the report, in a spirit which clearly evinces
the agonizing pain of wounded pride and offended dig-
nity,) is the fact that the message which the Governor
sent to the House contained an argument upon one of the
most important questions of the session. The country
is familiar with the fact that the House contained an
unusual number of speaking members, each of a consid-
erable number of whom aspired to the leadersliip of the
majority party in the House; and therefore, each seemed
to feel that the House was incompetent to decide upon
the most trivial question until it had been entertained by
an elaborate discourse from its supposed leader; and as
the question of leadership was not settled, it was fre-
quently necessary for each speaker who felt that he had
claims to tliis distinction, to entertain the House with
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 173
his views. The consequence was, that much of the time
of the session was consumed in lengthy discussions, to
the great hindrance of business, at a cost of thousands
of dollars to the people, when the enemy was upon our
territory, and the necessary appropriations had not been
made for the support of our troops.
The Governor had other employment, and could not
hear the elaborate productions of the distinguished ora-
tors of the House. This, it is hoped, will be received by
the House in mitigation of his course in presenting his
message in the shape of an argument, as he was not aware
of any usage of the House forbidding the use of argument
in a communication to that body. It may be safely ad-
mitted that a majority of the House may have been too
much under the influence of excitement and passion, dur-
ing the discussion of this question, either to weigh argu-
ment or to be influenced by it. But as the House, on the
last evening of its session, receded from its position to
transfer the State troops ivitJwut their consent, and voted
the appropriation to support them in the event they
withheld their consent to the transfer, it is hoped that
the argument contained in it, had no injurious effect upon
the House.
The next point of grievance set forth in the report of
the committee is, that the message contains an insinua-
tion that the action of the House may be influenced by
party considerations. If this construction of the message
is correct when applied to the House, it is equally so when
applied to the Senate, as any candid reader who will pe-
ruse it will see. The latter body, however, does not seem
to have discovered the insinuation, for the reason, doubt-
J 74 Confederate Records
less, that its members felt conscious that their action was
inHiieuced by no such considerations. I am content to
leave every intelligent reader to judge whether any one
is likely to discover the insinuation in the message of
which committee of the House complains, who does not
feel in his own heart that his own action has been or may
be influenced by considerations of party prejudice or par-
ly bias. If the report of the committee was intended by
its movers or supporters to divert the attention of the
people from the partizan conduct of a majority of the
House (and it is believed by them that the object has been
accomplished,) the delusion is as fatal as that of the
famous bird which imagines that its body is concealed
from the public gaze when it has been successful only in
hiding its head.
The next matter in the message, which, in the opinion
of the committee, "deserves severe reprehension," is
what they are pleased to term the implied threat that the
troops in the service of the State would not submit to
legislation which proposed to place them under the au-
tliority of the Confederate Government; and the com-
mittee complains that the Governor characterized such
transfer "as an act of injustice." In reply to this I
have only to say, that the State troops entered the service
of the State, and not of the Confederacy. The implied
contract between them and the State was, that they should
serve her for the term of their enlistment, and faithfully
perform all their duties as soldiers; and that she should
maintain, pay and command them, for the same period.
Any attempt, therefore, to transfer them and place them
under the authority of another government, without their
consent, would have been as much a breach of the contract
and a \'iolation of good faith on the part of the State as
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 175
it would be a breach of the contract or a violation of good
faith on the part of any one of the troops to desert or
abandon his post without the consent of the State. The
obligations of the contract are reciprocal and mutual,
and neither party has a right, without the consent of the
other to disregard them.
The journal shows that, while a proposition to trans-
fer the State Volunteers was pending before the House,
an amendment was offered in the following words, to-wit:
**The consent of said Volunteers being first obtained
thereto; provided, further, that if the said Volunteer
State Troops shall decline to be transferred as provided
in this Act, then said troops shall be retained in the State
defence." This amendment the House refused to incor-
porate in the proposition for the transfer, and laid it on
the table, by a vote of a decided majority of the House,
taken by yeas and nays.
If, therefore, the will of the majority of the House
had been carried into effect, the State would have been
placed in the humiliating position of having grossly vio-
lated her contract with her brave troops, who had sacri-
ficed all the comforts of home and were risking their
life's blood for her defence, and of having refused to
permit them even to be consulted when she offered to
barter them off to another government. I can not do
less than repeat what the committee complains of in my
message, that the intended act would have been ''an act
of injustice" to which no one of the State troops would
have been under the slightest obligation of honor or of
law to submit.
The next complaint is, that "it is a fact well known to
the House that, pending the hill, I transmitted to the
176 Confederate Records
House some resolutions which had been adopted by- the
officers of one of the regiments of State Volunteers,
threatening to abandon the field and return home in the
event of their being transferred, etc. To this I have
only to reply, that the journal of the House shows that
the bill under consideration at the time my message
was sent in to the House, was passed on the fifth day of
December, and was reconsidered and amended and again
passed the next day; after which the House, under its
own rules, could not again reconsider it or change their
action upon it. The journal of the House also shows that
I transmitted said resolutions to the House on the sev-
enth day of December; and the journal of the Senate
shows that the House bill above mentioned was read the
first time in the Senate on the latter day. The bill was
not, therefore, pending before the House when I trans-
mitted the resolutions of the Regiment to that body. I
leave the committee, after a perusal of the journal of
their own House, to reconcile their statement, in this par-
ticular, with the truth.
But the report, into which is injected with great em-
phasis the exclamation "Whose cheek does not mantle
with shame I" complains bitterly that I, as the Comman-
der-in-Chief, should have ' ' so prostituted my high office ' '
as to have complied with the request, (and it was a re-
spectful one) of the officers of a regiment of State Vol-
unteers, and laid their resolutions before the House.
Though I may never expect the pardon of the House for
this act, which they characterize as "humiliating and mor-
tifying, ' ' I trust I may claim the forbearance of the State
troops and of all intelligent citizens of the State, for hav-
ing laid the remonstrance of a regiment of brave State
Volunteers against an act of gross injustice to them, be-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 177
fore a body whose action had shown that its will was to
perpetrate the act. As Commander-in-Chief, I shall, at
all times, feel it my duty to protect the troops under my
command against every act of injustice, whether at-
temi:)ted to be perpetrated by the House of Representa-
tives or any other i)ower.
It is stated in this extraordinary production, that
when my message "was taken up and read, it proved to
be an elaborate argument against the bill then under con-
sideration in the House, and a solemn protest against its
passage." A simple reference to the message itself, now
of record upon the journal of the House by its own order,
is all that is necessary to satisfy any one of the utter
recklessness of this statement. The message will be read
in vain by him who expects to find in it any mention of
any bill pending before either of the Houses, or any pro-
test against the passage of any particular bill by either
House. The message refers to a correspondence between
myself and the Secretary of War, and contains an expres-
sion in favor of harmony and concord between the co-or-
dinate branches of the government, and of the hope that
dissensions and jealousies, if they exist, may be banished
from our midst, and that we may [unite] as one man, and
promptly provide the necessary means to defend the State
and drive the invader from our soil." It contains an ar-
gument in favor of making the necessary appropriations
to maintain our troops in the field, to defend the State,
and to show that we have no right to transfer the State
troops ivithout their consent; and that the organization
made under our State laws is not such as the President is
authorized to receive under the laws of Congress. It then
points out the disastrous consequences which must follow
a refusal, (on the ground of saving expense,) to make the
178 Confederate Records
necessary appropriations to support the troops, which is
equivalent to an order to disband them, and contains
my protest in advance against the adoption of any such
policy. This is the substance of the message; and it is
very clear that it contains not even an allusion to any
bill pending in either House, unless the allusion may be
found in that paragraph which refers to ^'a proposition"
which is made to transfer the troops by regiments, bat-
talions, companies, etc., and if they are not received, to
disband them. If the proposition contained in the bill
before the House, were to withhold the appropriations
necessary to the support of the troops, to transfer them
without their consent, and to disband them in the face
of the enemy if the Confederacy refused to receive them,,
it may then be said, with truth, that the message con-
tained an argument against the bill under consideration,
and a solemn protest against the passage of a measure
so unpatriotic in its purposes, iniquitous in its character
and ruinous in its consequences.
The committee had become so anxious, at the time
the report was prepared, to relieve themselves of the
charge of attempting to defeat the necessary appropria-
tions for the support of the troops, that they found it
important to state that, at the time the message was re-
ceived, the House had under consideration **a bill to pro-
vide for the public defence, and to appropriate money
for the same." By reference to the Journal of the
House, it will be seen that the House had under con-
sideration "A bill to provide for the public defence, and
for other purposes," which had been reported by the
Committee on Finance. I happen to have in my posses-
sion a copy of this bill as printed under an order of the
House. It recites, among other things, that ' ' the people
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 179
of Georgia can not, and will not, believe tliat the Govern-
ment of the Confederate States" ''will impose upon her
people the expense of defending themselves."
The 1st Section of that bill proposed to appropriate
$5,000,000 as a military fund for the year 1862.
The 2nd Section provided for raising money by the
issue of Treasury Notes.
The 3rd Section provided that these Notes should be
receivable in payment of taxes, etc., and pointed out the
mode of funding them.
^&
The 4th Section made it the duty of the Governor,
before issuing any of said Treasury Notes, to make to
the President or Secretary of War an unconditional ten-
der of the troops in the service of Georgia; and in the
event the troops shall be so accepted, then the Governor
*' shall not issue any of said Treasury Notes."
The 5th Section provided, that if the Secretary of
"War shall propose or agree to accept the troops, etc.,
^'the Governor shall not issue any of said Treasury
Notes."
In the 6th Section I find the following language: "If
there be any Georgia troops called out and mustered into
service for a term which will not justify their acceptance
by the Confederate States according to the laws of Con-
gress, then such troops as can not be thus accepted, shall
be disbanded and discharged by the Governor, etc.
The above is a synopsis of the more important pro-
visions of the bill reported by the Finance Committee,
ISO Confederate Records
which was under consideration at the time my message
was transmitted to the House.
It will be borne in mind that the enemy was then upon
the soil of Georgia, and that the proposition in that bill
to disband such of the Georgia troops as were not mus-
tered into service for a term which would justify their
acceptance into the Confederate service, was equivalent
to a direct proposition to disband them in the face of the
enemy. The troops were in the field at the time; and the
appropriations which had been made were entirely inade-
quate to their support till the negotiations with the Sec-
retary of AVar could be conducted for their transfer. In
this state of things, with no adequate provision for the
support of the troops till it could be done, the bill re-
quired the Governor to make an unconditional tender of
the troops before issuing any of said Treasury Notes;
and if they were accepted, none of said Notes should be
issued. In other words, the effect of the bill was, that
the troops were to be left without support till negotia-
tions could be concluded with the Secretary of War for
their transfer, and if any of them had been mustered,
into the service for a term which would not justify their
acceptance into the service of the Confederate States,
which was well known to be the case with most of them,)
such were to be disbanded, in the face of the enemy.
The report of the Committee says: "It is not true
that the representatives of the people have proposed to
leave his Excellency powerless for the defence of the
State, while the enemy was thundering at her gates.'*
And again, that **The message of his Excellency does
gross injustice to the advocates of the bill, in represent-
ing them as withholding the proper means of defence.'*
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 181
I leave every candid reader to compare these statements
of the Committee, with the provisions of the bill against
which it is complained that the message contained an
argument, and to judge of their truthfulness.
It may be insisted that the House, after the message
was received, so modified and changed the bill as to
relieve it of some of its most objectionable features. If
so, it is only an evidence that the argument contained in
the message was productive of good effect.
Before closing this review of the report and resolu-
tions of censure which I find upon the Journal of the
House, I deem it proper to state that the message was
not addressed to the House of Representatives alone, but
to the ' ' General Assembly ; ' ' and that a copy was sent to
the House and another to the Senate. The Senate, which
was a very able and dignified body, and which was
accustomed to argument in its debates, did not seem to
feel that its Constitutional rights were infringed or its
dignity insulted by the receipt of a message from the
Governor upon one of the most important measures of
the session, though it was, (if I may adopt the very par-
liamentary language of the Committee of the House,)
''thrust in unbidden and unasked," and "was not sent, in
response to a call made on the Governor, for informa-
tion. ' ' That body seemed to have comprehended the fact
that it is the Governor's Constitutional right and duty,
''from time to time," to "give them information of the
state of the republic, and to recommend to their consid-
eration such measures as he may deem expedient," with-
out regard to the fact whether any resolution asking for
information may or may not have been passed. Hence,
not the slightest exception was taken to the message in
182 Confederate Records
the Senate; nor does it seem that the fact that it con-
tained an argument upon this important (luestion ren-
dered it either incomprehensible to Senators or wounding
to their dignity. I here take occasion to state, that the
foregoing remarks which are applicable to the House, are
intended to apply to that portion of its members only who
concurred in the misrepresentations and sanctioned the
injustice of the Committee.
As I had no opportunity to reply to the aspersions
contained in the report and resolutions of censure dur-
ing the session of the House, and as the House ordered
them to be recorded upon its journal, I hereby protest
against their injustice and misrepresentations, and order
that this protest be recorded upon the Minutes of the
Executive Department, and published as an Appendix to
the Journal of the House of Representatives, with a note
of reference thereto on the bottom of the page where the
report of the Committee is concluded upon the printed
Journal.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledge\t:lle, Georgia,
Headquarters, January 30th, 1862.
To the Sheriff of Fulton County :
1st.— On the 25th day of November last, Capt. E. M.
Field, Assistant Commissar^" General of this State, in
obedience to my orders as Commander-in-Chief of the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 183
Army and Navy of this State, seized in the city of Atlanta
one thousand sacks of salt, then in the possession of one
A. K. Seago, of said city, for the support of the army of
this State, and for other public use. Said Field tendered
and paid to said Seago what was at the time of the seiz-
ure just compensation, which said Seago received, and
for which he gave his receipt acknowledging the payment.
Said Field then stored said salt with said Seago, under a
contract to pay him storage for the time it remained in
his possession, "at usual rates"; and said Seago gave
his receipt for said salt, which he bound himself ' ' to hold
subject to the order of the Governor of this State, or of
said Field, to be delivered when called for."
2d. Said salt has since been placed in the possession
of William Watkins, one of the military store keepers
of the State, and that part of it which has not been issued
for the support of the troops now in the service of the
State, is now in the Military possession of the State, and
is retained, under the orders of the Commissary General,
by said Military Store Keeper for public use.
3d. — I am informed that said Seago, after receiving
the monej^ in payment for the salt, and after receiving
the same on storage and giving his receipt for it as stated
above, has commenced his action of trover, etc., in the
Superior Court of said County, against said William
Watkins, for said salt, and has filed his affidavit requir-
ing bail in the sum of $32,000, and has sworn, notwith-
standing said receipt voluntarily given by him, that he
"does verily and bona fide" claim said one thousand sacks
of salt, as "his own right and property."
4th. — I am informed further, that you have handed
said William Watkins, Military Store Keeper now in
184 Confederate Records
service, a copy of the declaration, process and affidavit in
said action, and that he is now virtually under arrest by
you.
5th. — While I hold the military authority of this
State subject to the civil, in times of peace, and have on
all occasions done all in my power to uphold and sustain
the dignity and authority of the judiciary, in times of
War, when the rights, lives, liberties and property of
judges and civilians, as well as of persons exercising
military" authority, or in military service, are threatened
and endangered by a powerful enemy now invading our
soil, I can not permit the military operations of this State
to be delayed or hindered by the arrest or detention of
persons in military service by any civil officer of this
State, under any civil process issuing from any Court in
this State; nor can I permit the military stores of this
State, in the hands of her military storekeeper, to be
seized or interferred with by any civil officer, under any
process of any Court or of any civil tribunal whatever.
6tli. — You are, therefore, hereby commanded forth-
with to release said William Watkins, military store-
keeper as aforesaid, whom you have arrested under said
civil process, out of your custody, and to abstain abso-
lutely from all further interference with the military
stores of this State, or the keepers thereof.
In case of refusal on your part to obey this order, I
shall direct the use of such military force as is necessary
to its execution.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 185
Headquarters,
MiLLEDGEViLLE, February 6th, 1862.
Brigadier-General W. P. Howard,
Commanding 1st Brigade, lltli Division G. M.
General: I herewith inclose you a *copy of orders
issued to the Sheriff of Fulton County commanding him
to release out of his custody William Watkins, a military
store keeper in Atlanta, now in the military service of
this State, who is about to be imprisoned under a Civil
process, issued from the Superior Court of said County,
at the suit of one A. K. Seago, against said Watkins, for
the recovery of a certain lot of salt placed in the hands
of said Watkins as military store keeper, by order of
the Commissary General of this State, in which said suit
said Seago has filed his affidavit requiring bail in the
sum of $32,000, after having received from the Commis-
sary's Department what was at that time just compensa-
tion, and given his receipt in full for the money received
by him in pa^Tnent for said salt, and received and re-
ceipted for it on storage, as the property of the State.
Since the transmission of said orders by mail to said
Sheriff, I am informed that certain evil disposed persons
are attempting to induce said Sheriff to disregard and
disobey said orders, and by himself, or his deputy, to take
said Watkins from his military employment, and to de-
tain and imprison him in the common jail of said county.
*See orders under date of Jan. 30, 1862.
186 Confederate Records
1st. — You will notify the Sheriff of said county of the
existence of these orders to you, and to inquire of him if
he has received the orders of which the inclosed are
copies. If he responds in the negative, you will exhibit
to him said copies,
2d. — You will, in the event of any attempt to imprison
said Watkins, call out, and use such part of the military
force under your command as may be necessary to pro-
tect said Watkins in the discharge of his duties in the
military service in which he is engaged, and against any
such imprisonment.
3d. — Should said Watkins be incarcerated in the com-
mon jail, or other building, by said sheriff, or his deputy,
under said civil process before you are advised of the
fact, you will, at once, demand his immediate release;
and if this is refused, you will demand the keys of the
prison, and if delivered, you will proceed to discharge
him; but should said keys be refused, on your demand,
you will immediately use all the force necessary to open
the prison and release the prisoner, accomplishing the
object with as little injury as possible to the building.
4th. — After you have notified said Sheriff of the exist-
ence of these orders, should he proceed to imprison said
Watkins under said bail process, you will, after you have
released said Watkins, place said Sheriff, or his acting
deputy, (if the act is done by deputy), under military
arrest, and you will report your action to these headquar-
ters, when such further orders will be issued in the prem-
ises as are according to military law and the rules and
articles of war.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 187
A PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
February 11th, 1862.
To the People of Georgia :
The outrageous usurpations of power and aggres-
sions upon our rights committed by the Federal Gov-
ernment, and the absolute degredation to which the
Southern people were exposed if they submitted to the
rule of Mr. Lincoln, who was elevated to power by the
abolitionists and protectionists of the North, compelled
the State of Georgia, in common with her other Southern
sisters, to withdraw from a Union in which the Constitu-
tional rights of her people were no longer respected, and
their lives and property no longer secure. After the
secession of the Southern States and the establishment
of the Confederate States government, the tyrannical
despotism which rules at Washington waged a wicked
and bloody war upon the people of these States, because
in the exercise of one of the most sacred rights of free-
men, we threw off the yoke of bondage, attempted to be
fastened upon us and our posterity, and refused to be
''hewers of wood and drawers of water" for a haughty
and insolent people, who claimed the right to compel us
to render obedience to their mandates.
In their attempt to subjugate us, the Northern troops
have been permitted to disregard all the rules of civil-
ized warfare. They have not only stolen our property
188 Confederate Records
and laid waste the country behind them, where they have
advanced within our territory, but with fiendish malig-
nity, they have, on several occasions, in cold blood, shot
down unarmed and unoffending women and children.
Not only have they disregarded all the dictates of human-
ity, but, with sacriligious infidelity, they have even dese-
crated the altars of God and have defiled and polluted
our churches and places of public worship.
While the troops in the field have been perpetrating
these enormous wrongs, the Lincoln cabinet, has, in viola-
tion of the plainest principles of the Constitution, sus-
pended the writ of habeas corpus, and has ordered the
seizure and imprisonment of Southern men, and South-
ern women, and of such as sympathize with us, for an in-
definite period, without the verdicts of juries, the judg-
ments of courts, or the sentence of courts martial.
Some of the noblest and truest sons and daughters of
Georgia are included in the number whose rights have
thus been wantonly outraged.
But these outrages are not confined to the troops and
to the cabinet. The Lincoln congress has passed laws
confiscating a very large portion of the property of the
Southern people, and a bill is now pending before that
body, if it has not already passed, to assess an exceed-
ingly burdensome tax against the lands of every man in
the South, to assist them to carry on the war for our
destruction ; and if the tax is not paid into their treasury
after a short period, the bill declares that all our lands
shall be confiscated and taken from us, and authorizes
the President, as fast as he gains possession of the coun-
try by force of arms, to seize the lands, eject their South-
State Papees of Governor Jos. E. Brown 189
em owners from them, and to colonize them with Yan-
kees and foreigners, who are to hold them under the au-
thority of the United States, and to take possession of
our negroes and compel them to cultivate the lands taken
from us for the benefit of the Northern government.
The object of this Act is the general confiscation of all
the lands of the South to the Lincoln government. If
conquered, we are to be driven from them, and leave them
to be occupied by our most deadly enemies. It is already
the public boast of one of the Northern generals, who is
also a United States Senator, that it is the settled policy
of the government to make the lands of the Sunny South
the home of a colony of negroes belonging to the North,
under masters and rulers appointed by the government.
To accomplish this, it is proposed to arm the negroes and
incite them to destroy our wives and children.
Not content with depriving us of all our lands, it is
the known policy of that government to take the balance
of our property to pay the debt which they have con-
tracted in preparation for our subjugation. This debt
already reaches nearly one thousand millions of dollars.
If, then, we are overcome, we not only lose all the lands
and all the other property we possess, but we must be
driven from the homes of our ancestors, and must leave
their graves and the altars which they have bequeathed
to us, to be trampled under foot by our insolent masters ;
and what is still infinitely worse, we lose our civil and
religious liberties, and must transmit an heritage of
(?) to our posterity. Will Georgians ever submit to
those outrages'? If we do, while there is a man in the
State able to bear arms, a lady able to work to clothe him,
and a dollar with which to support him in the field, we
190 Confederate Records
have degenerated and are unworthy our ancestors. Nay,
more, we are unworthy the sacrifices which have been
made for our protection by the noble sons of our State,
who on many a battle field have lately poured our their
life's blood, a willing offering in illustration of our char-
acter and vindication of our cause.
But, my countrymen, if we would avert the calamities
to which I have alluded, we must awake from the slumb-
ers of false security and thousands more from Georgia
must immediately fly to arms. The Lincoln government
now has over half a million of men in the field armed,
accoutred and equipped with all the outfits necessary for
the soldier. These troops are enlisted for the war. Most
of them are becoming well trained. That government
also has a large naval force, and has the control of the
seas around us and of part of our inland waters. Our
ports are blocked. The territory of almost every State
in the Confederacy, including the territory of our own
Georgia, is now invaded by a hea\^ threatened force.
Soon the blow is to be stricken with terrible fury on many
a bloody field.
To meet this vast force we have a smaller number.
Of this number a large proportion entered the service for
a term which expires during the ensuing spring. The
enemy looks to this fact with great interest and expects
to strike the decisive blow when we are weakened by the
discharge of more than half our entire army.
This we must not permit, but without delay, we must
much more than fill the places of all whose terms expire
and who can not re-enlist. Our troops now in the field
have shown a noble self-sacrificing disposition, and I can
State Papeks of Governor Jos. E. Brown 191
not doubt that every one of tliem who can possibly do so,
will respond cheerfully to their country's call in tliis
solemn hour of trial, and promptly re-enlist for the ivar.
After this has been done, many more will still be needed
and we must not deceive ourselves by supposing that
those now in the field can do all that is required.
With a view to meet the present emergency, the Pres-
ident of the Confederate States has made a requisition
upon the Governors of the different States for such addi-
tional force, to serve for three years or during the ivar,
as in his judgment is sufficient for the present crisis.
In carrying out this wise policy, he has called upon me
as your Governor, to furnish twelve additional Regiments
from Georgia for the length of time above specified, by
the 15th of March next, if possible.
I am requested to order the troops into camps of in-
struction, and am authorized by the Secretary of War to
say that he will furnish them, at the expense of the Con-
federate States, with ''clothing, equipments and arms,"
and that a bounty of fifty dollars will be paid to each
volunteer private, so soon as his company is mustered
into service, and that transportation will be furnished to
each from his home to the place of rendezvous. The law
also authorizes the volunteers to elect their own officers.
In compliance with the request of the Secretary of War,
I will establish three camps of instruction. One at Camp
McDonald seven miles above Marietta, on the W. & A.
Railroad; one at Camp Stephens, near Griffin; and one
at Camp Davis, thirty miles from Savannah, on the Cen-
tral Railroad. Under this requisition from the Presi-
dent, it becomes my duty to call upon the chivalrous sons
192 Confederate Records
of the Empire State who still remain at home, to emulate
the noble example of those who have gone before them to
the field, and to contribute their part to sustain the high
character won for Georgia by the valor of her troops in
every contest where they have met their country's foe.
In view of the past, I can not permit myself to entertain
a reasonable doubt, that the whole number required will
immediately respond as volunteers. Surely no true,
patriotic son of our State, when all the property he pos-
sesses, his life, and the liberties of his posterity' are at
stake, will wait to be forced into the field by draft. Were
Georgia's sons capable of this, I can not believe that the
noble women of the State, who have done so much for
the cause, would ever tolerate such delinquency.
Should I have the mortification to find that I am mis-
taken in this most reasonable expectation, I shall imme-
diately proceed to detach or draft such number from each
regiment or independent battalion in this State as may
be necessary, with the number who may volunteer, to
make up the quota required from such regiments or inde-
pendent battalion. The statute does not require that the
draft be made by lot, but leaves the mode of making the
detachment or draft to the discretion of the Commander-
in-Chief.
Let it be remembered that no bounty is paid to the
soldier w^ho has to be forced by a draft to defend his
home, and that the proper authority has the right to
assign to him the officers by whom he is to be commanded.
The bounty and the elective franchise belong under the
law only to the brave volunteer. That the question may
be decided without delay, and the required regiments be
raised immediately, either by the acceptance of volun-
Sta-TE Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 193
teers, or by detachment or draft; the Adjutant and In-
spector General, under my direction, will proceed to issue
orders to the commanding officer of each Regiment or
Independent Battalion in this State, and if the regiment
or battalion is not fully organized, then to the senior
officer entitled to the command, informing him of the
number of men required for his command, and directing
him to call out the Regiment or Independent Battalion,
at the Regimental or Battalion parade ground on Tues-
day the 4th day of March next, and each and every man
in Georgia liable to do military duty is hereby required
to take notice and attend at the parade ground of the
Regiment or Independent Battalion to which he belongs,
on that day. When the Regiment or Battalion is as-
sembled, the Commanding Officer will be required to call
for such number of volunteers as are required from his
command. If a sufficient number do not respond to the
call he will be directed to detach or draft the balance of
the number needed, taking down as drafted, first the
names of all who are subject to do military duty who
have been notified of the time and place of such parade
and are absent from it, except from Providential cause
made known at the time. The Commanding Officer will
also receive from the Adjutant and Inspector General,
instructions as to the class next to be detached, in case a
sufficient number has not been offered when this class is
exhausted.
Each Justice of the Peace in each county is also here-
by charged with the duty of attending the parade and re-
porting to the Commanding Officer the names of any per-
sons in his district subject to do military duty, who are
not present.
194 Confederate Records
The Commanding Officer will, on that day, be required
to make out a complete roll of all the names of persons
under his command liable to do military duty, and for-
ward a copy to the Adjutant and Inspector General's
office.
1 can not close without repeating my ardent hope that
a number of volunteers sufficient to fill the entire requisi-
tion will promptly respond. This is required to sustain
the honor of Georgia, her proud position as the Empire
State, and the immortality of glory already won for her
arms by the brilliant deeds and heroic daring of her
troops in the field.
Let none be discouraged on account of our late re-
verses. We can not expect always to be victorious. We
have had the most cheering evidences of the interposition
of Divine Providence in our favor; while our arms have
been crowned with a succession of victories which find
but few parallels in history. True, the enemy has the
advantage of us upon the waters, but before he can sub-
jugate us he must expose his troops where we can meet
them hand to hand, and drive them back hy the use of
cold steel in close quarters. Here his courage fails him,
and here it is that our troops have shown a most wonder-
ful superiority and a most remarkable heroism. Here
then let every Georgian go forth resolved to grapple with
him, and with that true courage that nerves the patriot's
arm, here let us force him to decide the contest. If we
do this, and are ever mindful of the strength of that
Almighty arm upon whose assistance we should humbly
and confidently rely, we can not fail to drive the invader
from our genial territory back to his frozen home. In
this hour of national peril, when our danger is imminent,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 195
trusting in God, who alon-e is able to give us victory, but
who will not assist us unless we humble ourselves in his
presence and exert all the strength with which he has
endowed us; I warn you of the danger which surrounds
you, my countrymen, and as your Commander-in-Chief I
exhort you to lay aside, when necessary, every other em-
ployment, and I now summon you immediately to arms.
Strike before it is too late, for your liberties, your fami-
lies, your homes, and your altars !
Joseph E. Brown.
ExECUTR^E Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 18th, 1862.
Conductors Central Railroad: You are authorized to
furnish transportation to seven recruits to Captain
Napier's Artillery, under the command of Lieutenant
Ells. They are excepted from the general order, for the
reason that they were ordered into service before the
date of the late Executive Proclamation, and for the addi-
tional reason that their services with their corps in Sa-
vannah are now important on account of the vast im-
portance of Artillery.
Joseph E. Brown.
196 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
February 18th, 1862.
To the Conductors Macon & Western and Central Rail-
roads :
You will furnish to E. W. Beck transportation for
twenty-two recruits for Capt. Stewart's Company from
GrilTin to Savannah. These recruits are permitted to
repair to their company, because ordered into service
before the date of the late Executive Proclamation. The
Captain is hereby authorized to receive said recruits on
their arrival in Savannah.
Joseph E. Brown.
Tuesday, February 18th, 1862.
A PROCLAMATION.
By Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 18th, 1862.
It is now about one year since the people of the Con-
federate States, no longer able to live in peace in a Union
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 197
with their Northern neighbors, separated themselves from
them. For this act, with vastly superior numbers and
military resources, they waged a bloody war against us,
with the avowed object of conquering us by their power,
and compelling us to live in subjection to their will. We
relied much upon the justice of our cause, but in a contest
so unequal, we felt our need of Divine assistance, and
Christians and good men of every denomination lifted
their voices to Heaven in earnest supplication, and placed
their trust, not in armies and horses and chariots, but in
the God of Israel. While our people were engaged unit-
edly in humiliation and prayer, our armies went forth
from victory to victory, with invincible courage and
strength, which filled our enemies with shame and con-
fusion. But it is feared our constant successes filled our
hearts with vanity, and caused us to appropriate to our-
selves a large portion of the glory which belonged to God
alone. We forget that it was only with His assistance
that ''one should chase a thousand and two put ten thou-
sand to flight."
The feeling seemed to be that ''our hand is high, and
the Lord hath not done all this;" and we were ready to
say, in the language of one of old, who felt confident in
his own strength, "is not this great Babylon that I have
builf?" The consequence has been that God has, for a
time, withdrawn His smiling face from us, and has turned
the tide of \'ictory against us, and permitted our enemies
to triumph over us, and our troops to be slaughtered and
made prisoners, till the land has been filled with mourning
in place of rejoicing.
In the midst of these troubles, we have been reminded
of the language of the psalmist, "Thou goest not forth
198 Confederate Records
with our armies, Thou makest us to turn back from the
enemy, and they which hate us spoil for themselves."
Impressed with the firm conviction, in this our time of
national peril, that if we return unto the Lord and put
our trust in Him, and in our united capacity as a people
humble ourselves in fasting and prayer, He will be to us
* * a strong tower from the enemy ' ' and when ' ' the enemy
shall come in like a flood the spirit of the Lord shall lift
up a standard against him," and that we shall have cause,
as one man, to exclaim: "Rejoice not over me, 0 mine
enemy, when 1 fall I shall arise; when I set in darkness,
the Lord shall be a light unto me."
Therefore I, Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia,
do issue this my proclamation, setting apart Friday, the
7th of March, next, as a day of fasting, humiliation and
prayer; and I earnestly invite the people of this State,
of every sect and denomination, to meet at their respective
places of public worship on that day, and to unite in
humble and fervent supplication and prayer to God for
His blessing upon our country, and to implore Him to
give us wisdom in council to those in authority and victory
to our armies in the field, until our enemy shall be driven
from our territory and peace shall again be restored
throughout all the land.
And I earnestly invite the Reverend Clergy to be pres-
ent and to lead in such religious services as may be appro-
priate to the occasion.
Given under my hand and the seal of the Executive
Department, at the Capitol, in Milledgeville, this 18th
day of February, in the year of our Lord, 1862.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papeks of Governor Jos. E. Brown 199
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 20th, 1862.
To the Mechanics of Georgia:
The late reverses which have attended our arms, show
the absolute necessity of renewed energy and determina-
tion on our part. We are left to choose between free-
dom at the end of a desperate and heroic struggle and
submission to tyranny, followed by the most abject and
degraded slavery to which a patriotic and generous peo-
ple were ever exposed. Surely we can not hesitate. In-
dependence or death should be the watchword and reply
of every freeborn son of the South. Our enemies have
vastly superior numbers and greatly the advantage in
the quantity and quality of their arms. Including those,
however, which have and will be imported, in spite of the
blockade, we have guns enough in the Confederacy to
arm a very large force, but not enough for all the troops
which have been and must be called to the field. What
shall be done in this emergency? I answer: Use the
''Georgia Pike" with six feet staff, and the side knife
eighteen inches blade, weighing about three pounds.
Let every army have a large reserve, armed with a
good pike, and a long hea^^y side knife, to be brought
upon the field, with a shout for victory, when the con-
tending forces are much exhausted, or when the time
comes for the charge of bayonets. Wlien the advancing
columns come within reach of the balls, let them move in
200 Confederate Records
double quick time and rush with terrible impetuosity into
the lines of tlie enemy. Hand to hand, the pike has
vastly the advantage of the bayonet, and those having
the bayonet, which is itself but a crooked pike, with
shorter staff, must retreat before it. Wlien the retreat
commences, let the pursuit be rapid, and if the enemy
throw down their guns and are likely to outrun us, if
need be, throw down the pike and keep close at their
heels with the knife, till each man has hewed down, at
least, one of his adversaries.
Had five thousand reserves thus armed and well
trained to the use of these terrible weapons been brought
to the charge at the proper time, who can say that the
victory would not have been ours at Fort Donaldson?
But it was probably important that I state here the
use to be made of that which I wish you to manufacture.
I have already a considerable number of these pikes and
knives, but I desire, within the next month, ten thousand
more of each. I must have them; and I appeal to you,
as one of the most patriotic classes of our fellow citi-
zens, to make them for me immediately. I trust every
mechanic, who has the means of turning them out rapidly,
and the owner of every machine shop in this State, will
at once lay aside, as far as possible, all other business
and appropriate a month or two to the relief of the
country in this emergency. Each workman who has the
means of turning them out in large numbers without de-
lay will be supplied with a proper pattern by applica-
tion at the Ordnance Office at Milledgeville.
Appealing to your patriotism as a class and to your
interest as citizens, whose all is at stake in the great con-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 201
test in which we are engaged, I ask an immediate re-
sponse.
In ancient times, that nation, it is said, usually ex-
tended its conquests furthest whose arms were shortest.
Long range guns sometimes fail to fire and waste an
hundred balls to one that takes effect; but the short
range pike and the terrible knife, when brought within
their proper range, (as they can be almost in a moment)
and wielded by a stalwart patriot's arm, never fail to
fire and never waste a single load.
I am, very respectfully, your fellow citizen,
Joseph E. Brown.
ExECUTrvE Department,
Milledgevtlle, Georgia,
February 24th, 1862.
To the Officers Commanding the Militia of Floyd County :
You are hereby instructed to omit the persons who
compose the firm of Noble Brothers & Co., and such
workmen as they will certify to be necessary to the rapid
and successful manufacture of cannon at their foundry;
and not require them to do militia duty, nor subject them
to the draft, (should one be necessary,) to raise the quota
of men required of Floyd County under the late requisi-
tion for twelve Regiments. Provided, That the whole
number subject to do military duty shall not exceed
202 Confederate Records
twenty, who shall be entitled to the benefit of this ex-
emption.
This order to remain in force till further orders from
this office.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
Headquarters,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
February 26th, 1862.
To Capt. V. A. Gaskill, Atlanta, Georgia,
Captain : You are hereby directed forthwith to seize,
for the public use of this State, all the block tin to be
found in Atlanta, and secure and hold the same subject
to my order, for which just compensation will be made to
owners, and make report of such seizures to me at Head-
quarters.
Joseph E. Brown.
A PROCLAMATION
By Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia.
Information has reached me, through various reliable
channels, that in the midst of our perils, the distillation
of corn into ardent spirits has grown to be an evil of the
most alarming magnitude.
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown 203
In the richest grain growing section of our State the
number of distilleries has increased to an almost incredi-
ble extent and the quantity of grain consumed by them
is enormous. In a single county, which is not prob-
ably worse, in proportion to its population, than
many others, I am credibly informed that about sev-
enty stills are now constantly boiling. These con-
sume more grain daily than is required as food for
every human being in the county. At this rate, our bread
must fail in the month of July, when we have no substi-
tute to sustain life. But this is not to be the full extent
of our calamity. If the evil can not be suppressed, that
which is absolutely necessary for our support is to be
converted into ''strong drink," which Divine inspiration
tells us is ''raging," which dethrones the reason of our
Generals in the hour when they lead our armies to battle,
degrades and demoralizes our troops and causes them to
be slaughtered, and our flag to train in the dust before
the enemy.
Without the corn which is thus being destroyed, it is
impossible to support our people at home and our armies
in the field. Destroy the supply, while our enemies press
hard upon us from every side, and our soldiers with
heavy hearts must fight our battles on short allowance,
while their wives and children at home cry for bread and
the poorer class of our people weep bitterly with hunger.
These heart-rending scenes must be produced that the
distiller, by the destruction of the munificent gifts of
Divine Providence, so richly bestowed upon us during the
past year, may gratify his unholy avarice and accumulate
ill gotten gain.
204 Confederate Records
Can this evil be suppressed by the process of our
Courts under existing laws? Clearly it can not. Can
public opinion frown it down? Not while the corn, which
the distiller purchased at one dollar per bushel, which he
withholds from the soldier's family and the suffering
poor, pays him after it is distilled nearly five dollars per
bushel. Nor will the seizure of the corn for public use
effect the object. If you seize what he has and pay him
for it, he will buy more and pay a higher price for it,
than the poor are able to pay for bread. If the tap-root
is not cut this noxious plant will continue to thrive and
feed upon the very vitals of society. It must be done, or
we shall be surrounded by scenes of hunger and misery
appalling to human nature, and an amount of suffering
will be entailed upon us which must curtain the heavens
and carpet the earth about us, in the darkest habiliments
of mourning.
Charged as I am with the exercise of Executi\ e power
at a time of great peril and responsibility, I can not turn
a deaf ear to the repeated remonstrances of good men
against this grievous wrong to society. The cries of
soldiers' families and destitute persons come up before
me on every side, imploring that the evil be suppressed
that the cup of destruction may thereby be dashed from
the mouths of their husbands and fathers, and bread be
placed in their own.
It is the duty of government to protect the rights and,
as far as possible, to promote the happiness of those who
are governed; and in the midst of revolution and great
public calamities, by its strong arm of power, to throw
its shield around the people and ward off every blow
which is struck at the foundations of society.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 205
Influenced by these considerations, I feel it my duty
to issue this, my proclamation, and to command each and
every distiller in this State, on and after the fifteenth
day of March next, to desist absolutely from the manu-
facture of another gallon of ardent spirits, until the next
meeting of the General Assembly of this State. I shall
use all the power I possess to enforce obedience to this
order, and in each case of refusal to obey it, I shall direct
the seizure of the still by military authority, and thus
abate the nuisance. This I have a perfect Constitutional
right to do, as the material of which this species of pri-
vate property is composed is now greatly needed for
public use.
We need more cannon with which to meet the enemy,
Gun metal, used in the manufacture of field pieces, is
composed of ninety parts of copper and ten of tin. The
copper stills in Georgia, which are now heavy Colum-
biads of destruction aimed against our own people,
would, if manufactured into cannon, make many a bat-
tery of six-pounders, to be turned against the enemy.
Upon this material, thus employed in our holy cause,
we could invoke God's blessing. Upon it, as now em-
ployed, we can only expect His Curse.
I charge all civil and military officers in this State
to be vigilant in detecting every violation of the order
herein contained, and if any distillery is found in opera-
tion, after the time herein specified, the miltary officer
who commands the district in which it is located is here-
by directed to seize the still immediately and report to
these headquarters, and orders will be issued for its'
conveyance to the foundry in the City of Rome, in this
State, to be converted into cannon.
206 Confederate Records
I further direct that on and after the date above
mentioned, the Superintendent of the Western and At-
lantic Railroad, which is the property of the State, do
absolutely prohibit the importation of Whiskey over said
road into this State ; and 1 request the President of each
company Road in this State to give a similar order,
applicable to the road which he controls.
I strictly enjoin upon each officer in command of any
portion of the troops now in the service of this State, to
use all his power and influence for the suppression of the
use of intoxicating liquors by the soldiers under his com-
mand, and that all quantities of intoxicating liquors
brought near the army for sale be immediately seized and
emptied upon the ground.
In assuming the responsibility in reference to distil-
leries, which I now take without hesitation, and in an-
nouncing my fixed determination to execute the above
order, I am aware that I come in conflict with the interest
of a large and influential class of persons who have dis-
regarded alike the dictates of humanity and the prompt-
ings of patriotism in their eager thirst for gain. I must,
therefore, expect their denunciations. But I feel con-
scious of the rectitude of my course, in the discharging
of an important duty which I owe to the people of this
State. I appeal with confidence to every christian, every
patriot, every good citizen, and especially to every
mother, wife and daughter in Georgia, to aid and assist
me in extinguishing the burning liquid stream of death
which is spreading desolation and ruin throughout the
whole length and breadth of the land.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 207
Given under my hand and the Seal of the Executive
Department, at the Capitol, in Milledgeville, on the 28th
day of February, in the year of our Lord 1862.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 3d, 1862.
To the Colonel Commanding Baldwin County:
You are hereby directed to pass over and not draft
any one of the officers or students of Oglethorpe Uni-
versity. I have extended the same order in favor of
each of the other principal colleges in the State, to re-
main in force till further order in each case.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 4th, 1862.
Ordered,
That Dr. John W. Lewis, of the county of Bartow, be,
and he is hereby, appointed Senator in the Congress of
208 Confederate Records
the Confederate States to fill the vacancy occasioned hj
the non-acceptance of the Hon, Robert Toombs.
Joseph E. Brown.
In compliance with the requisition made by the Secre-
tary of War upon the State of Geoi*gia, dated 2nd day
of Februar}'^, 1862, for twelve additional Regiments of
troops, the following is the quota apportioned to the
several counties, together with the number who responded
to the call from each, to-wit:
FIRST DIVISION.
First Brigade. Second Brigade.
App. App.
Chatham 205 Screven 60
Bryan 25 Bulloch 60
Mcintosh 25 Montgomery 25
Camden 15 Tatnall 40
Wayne 15 Burke 62
Liberty 30 Jefferson 85
Effingham 40 Emanuel 60
Glynn 15 Johnson 40
Charlton 15
SECOND DIVISION.
First Brigade. Second Brigade.
App. App.
Richmond 160 Washington 90
Columbia 65 Hancock 40
Warren 80 Taliaferro 35
Glascock 30
THIRD DIVISION.
First Brigade. Second Brigade.
App. App.
Morgan 50 Greene 80
Putnam. -- 52 Oglethorpe 80
Baldwin 65 Clarke 94
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 209
FOURTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Wilkes 58
Lincoln 30
Elbert 86
Hart 84
Second Brigade.
App.
Jackson 165
Franklin - _.. 340
Madison.. 80
Banks 60
First Brigade.
Jones -
Jasper.
FIFTH DIVISION.
Second Brigade.
App. App.
- 100 Henry 120
- 80 Fayette 86
Butts 57
Clayton 60
SIXTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Wilkinson 100
Pulaski 80
Twiggs 48
Laurens.- 78
Second Brigade.
App.
Telfair 35
Irwin 25
Appling 60
Ware 30
Lowndes 30
Clinch 41
Brooks 50
Coffee 20
Colquitt 30
Echols. 15
Berrien 50
Pierce 15
SEVENTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Habersham 90
Hall 160
Rabun 65
White 65
Second Brigade.
App.
Forsyth 175
Lumpkin HO
Union ._ 80
Towns. 60
Dawson 100
210
Confederate Records
EIGHTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Bibb 120
Crawford 60
Houston 80
Dooly. 45
Worth 50
Second Brigade.
App.
Monroe ..-102
Upeon 78
Pike 100
Spalding. 45
NINTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Meriwether 120
Troup 121
Heard 85
Second Brigade.
App.
Cowet a 1 20
Campbell 110
Carroll 166
TENTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Harris 106
Muscogee 118
Chattahoochee 65
Stewart 110
Taylor 80
Webster 46
Second Brigade.
App.
Talbot 90
Sumter 105
Macon 50
Marion 50
Schley 40
ELEVENTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
DeKalb 110
Cobb 192
Paulding 125
Polk 84
Fulton 161
Haralson 80
Second Brigade.
App.
Newton 160
Walton 135
Gwinnett 203
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 211
TWELFTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Bartow 200
Cherokee 164
Gilmer 160
Gordon 148
Fannin 80
Whitfield 160
Catoosa 80
Pickens 100
Milton 84
Second Brigade.
App.
Floyd 173
Murray 92
Walker 165
Chattooga 90
Dade 50
THIRTEENTH DIVISION.
First Brigade.
App.
Decatur 85
Early 25
Randolph 85
Clay 40
Terrell 50
Second Brigade.
App.
Baker 30
Thomas 80
Lee 40
Mitchell 35
Calhoun 30
Dougherty 35
Quitman 25
Miller 20
Wilcox 25
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 27tli, 1862.
•CoL. J. I. "VVhitaker,
Commissary General.
You are hereby directed to appoint such military
storekeepers as you may need to take charge of the Gov-
-ernment supplies, purchased for the use of the army;
and to require each to give bond in the sum of twenty
212 Confederate Records
thousand dollars for the faithful discharge of his du-
ties, and faithfully to account for all supplies placed
under his charge; and you will require said storekeeper
to recoi]>t the purchasing commissary for all supplies
received from him, and to receipt all persons from whom
they receive supplies, and to account to you, by report
monthly, for all supplies received by them, showing how
much has been received and how much sent out of the
store under legal requisition or order, and how much
remains on hand at the end of each month.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 27th, 1862.
The bearer. Judge James Jackson, is instructed by
me with important business of the State of Georgia at
New Orleans. The military authorities of the Confed-
erate States are requested to furnish him with any facil-
ity in going to and returning from New Orleans with
such material for the State as he may have with him on
his return. This certificate or letter of credit is giveft
him because the Confederate government now has charge
of the railroads and private persons are often detained
by reason of the necessity of military transportation;
but as the trip of Judge Jackson is connected with the
military defences of Georgia, and indeed essential to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 213
them, I trust the facilities herein asked for will be ac-
corded to him; especially as I am affording to the Con-
federate authorities, not only facilities over the railroads
belonging to Georgia, but giving up to their control the
entire road.
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive
Department the 27th day of March, 1862.
Joseph E. Brown,
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 3d, 1862.
Col. J. I. Whitaker.
Sir : You are authorized to take bond from each Mili-
tary store keeper for ten thousand instead of twenty
thousand dollars.
Joseph E. Brown,
A PROCLAMATION.
Executivb Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 12th, 1862.
To the Militia of Georgia:
The term for which part of the State troops entered
the service has expired and they have not all re-enlisted,
214 Confederate Records
but i)art of them have returned to their homes. This
lias weakened our force on the coast. I have informed
the Secretary of \Var of tlie condition of our army and
have invited liim to take the entire charge of our defen-
ces. He lias replied that he is not at present able to
send troops to take the place of those who are retiring,
and has appealed to the State to continue to provide as
far as possible for her own defence.
At this critical juncture, Fort Pulaski, which was
defended by Confederate troops, has fallen into the
hands of the enemy, and the city of Savannah is menaced
by a heavy force. The fall of Savannah would make
the defence of .the State much more difficult. In this
emergency, I again appeal to your patriotism and your
State to fill up, at once, the places made vacant by the re-
tirement of troops lately in service. I need not repeat
what I have heretofore said about the nature and magni-
tude of the contest and the momentous consequences which
hang upon our action for the next few months. You all
understand how much \^e have at stake. We need not dis-
guise it, every man must act liis part in the contest. Those
who fail to enter the service of the State as volunteers
may soon be i?alled into the Confederate service by con-
scription. I will arm, equip and accept into the service
of the State for three years, unless sooner disbanded, the
first thirty companies wliich tender their services to
the Adjutant General, at Milledgeville.
Each company, befoi:^ it is accepted, must consist of
at least seventy-eight men, including officers. The com-
panies will be organized into regiments, as directed by
law. when ten companies are thrown together.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 215
The time for which any member of the companies
may have served the State or the Confederacy will l)e
deducted from the three years; and a bounty of fifty
dollars will be paid to each private so soon as the com-
pany to which he belongs has been mustered into ser\dce.
When Georgia is invaded, her strongest fortress
taken, her commercial metropolis beleaguered by a hos-
tile force and her very existence as a State threatened,
who will remain longer at home!
Joseph E. Brown,
Executive Department,
Savannah, Georgia,
April 19th, 1862.
To the Militia of Georgia:
Since the date of my proclamation of the 12th instant,
calling for volunteers to fill up the ranks of the State
forces, which I then felt it my duty, under the corre-
spondence with the Confederate Government, to keep in
the field, I have been notified by the Secretary of War
that all persons in State service between the ages of 18
and 35 are to be enrolled as conscripts in the Confederate
armies, and it has been deemed expedient, in order to
avoid confusion and disorganization at a time when har-
mony is of vital importance, to turn over to the Confed-
erate General all the State troops, as well those who are,
as those who are not conscripts, till the end of their re-
spective terms of enlistment.
216 Confederate Records
This places the entire force under the command of
the Confederate General and enables him to control
every movement made in our defence. My proclamation
is consequently withdrawn.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 21st, 1862.
To all Confederate Military Officers and Persons and
Officers Controlling Railroads:
I am informed that a number of gentlemen of Atlanta,
owing to the great scarcity of salt in this State, have
associated themselves together for the purpose of bring-
ing into the State from the salt works in Virginia, a sup-
ply of that much needed article.
I would therefore bespeak for them every facility
compatible with the public service to enable them to have
their salt shipped over the various railroads from the
salt works to Atlanta. This I respectfully but earnest-
ly ask, as our people who are not actually destitute of
and suffering for want of salt are compelled, from un-
principled speculation and the extreme scarcity of salt
in the country, to pay enormous and exorbitant prices
for it.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 217
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
May 1st, 1862.
Maj. John S. Rowland, Supt. W. & A. R. R.,
The object of my order to you not to ship cotton over
the road was to prevent unscrupulous speculators from
purchasing cotton in Georgia and shipping it to points in
Tennessee, likely to be overrun by the enemy, with a
view of selling it to them.
I am now informed that this order, without modifica-
tion, is having an injurious effect upon the good people
of Tennessee who need cotton for their own use, and
that speculators who had carried cotton through, prior
to the order, are now requiring the people to pay very
exorbitant prices for the cotton in their hands, which,
from necessity, the people are compelled to do.
In this state of the case justice to the loyal citizens
of that noble State, who are our neighbors and our
brethern engaged in one common struggle for liberty
and independence, and who have kept their provision
markets open to us, require that such modification of
my order be made as will enable them to receive such
supplies of cotton as they need for their own use upon
the cheapest and best terms possible.
My order is therefore hereby changed so as to author-
ize you to carry over the State road all such quantities
of cotton as may be needed to supply the necessities of
218 Confederate Records
the people of that State. Tliis change is intended to
operate as well in favor of the manufacturers as the
other citizens of that State, and to be extended upon
like terms to the people of Virginia so as to authorize
the shipment of cotton destined for Lynchburg, or points
between Bristol and that point. To prevent speculators
from taking advantage of this order to accomplish the
object first' mentioned, it will be necessary that you re-
quire satisfactory evidence at the place of shipment that
the cotton is intended for the use of the people about
the point of destination, and not for speculation. You
will therefore require the shipper to file at the depot
where the cotton is shipped an affidavit in the form here-
to appended.
Joseph E. Brown,
FORM OF AFFIDAVIT.
STATE OF GEORGIA, )
COUNTY. ) I solemnly swear that the
cotton which I now desire shipped is intended for use by
the people of the country who receive their supplies
from the depot to which it is shipped, (or by a factory,)
and that I will not sell to speculators, but only to those
who desire it for actual consumption by themselves or
their neighbors.
Sworn to and subscribed before me, an officer author-
ized to administer an oath, this day of
1862.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 219
Executive Department,
Atlanta, Georgia,
May 2d, 1862.
Dr. Jolin W. Lewis is the Agent of the State of Geor-
gia to transact business in East Tennessee.
Any contract he may make with the railroad author-
ities, or the manufacturers there, or in Virginia, will
bind the State when reduced to writing and signed by
the parties.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
June 3d, 1862.
Ordered,
That Mr. Richard H. Howell, Engraver and Litho-
grapher, who is in the service of the State of Georgia,
remove with all his implements and Engraving & Litho-
graphing apparatus to the city of Augusta in this State,
and there remain till further and otherwise ordered by
me.
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive
220 CONFEDEBATE RECORDS
Department, at tlie Capitol in Milledgeville, the day and
year aforesaid.
Joseph E. Brown,
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
The following receipts were, by order of His Excel-
lency the Governor, ordered to be placed upon the Execu-
tive Minutes, to-wit:
Ordnance Office,
May 9th, 1862.
Received of Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia,
one thousand dollars in Confederate States eight per
cent, bonds, to be used in the payment of accounts due
from this office.
Lachlan H. McIntosh,
Chief of Ordnance,
State of Georgia.
Ordnance Office,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 10th, 1862.
Received of Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia,
two one thousand dollar bonds on the Confederate States
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 221
of America, bearing eight per cent, interest, which I am
to use in the payment of accounts due from the Ordnance
Office as money.
Lachlan H. McIntosh,
Chief of Ordnance,
State of Georgia.
Ordnance Office,
May 30th, 1862.
Received of Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia,
one bond of the Confederate States of one thousand dol-
lars, to be used in payment at par of sums due for arti-
cles manufactured for the Ordnance Department.
Lachlan H. McIntosh,
Chief of Ordnance,
State of Georgia.
Ordnance Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
June 3d, 1862.
Received of Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia,
eighteen bonds of the Confederate States, of one thous-
and dollars each, bearing eight per cent, interest, making
222 Confederate Records
$18,000, which I am to use at par in pajnneut of sums due
to contractors and others to whom this department is
indebted, and am to account for them as cash in my re-
port.
Lachlan H. McIntosh,
Chief of Ordnance,
State of Georgia.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
June 4th, 1862.
I hereby certify that the foregoing are correct cop-
ies of the orginal receipts of file in this Department.
H. J. G. Williams,
Recording Clk. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Canton, Georgia,
June 7th, 1862.
Col. Ira R. Foster,
Quartermaster-General.
As the business of your office at Milledgeville is so
heavy as to require further assistance till it is brought
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 223
up, you will order Capt. W. J. Williford, Assistant Q. M.,
to duty in your office till the reports of the Quartermas-
ters of the Regiments of State Troops are all examined
and passed, and until the press of business is over.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
Executive Department,
Canton, Georgia,
June 9th, 1862.
Col. Benjamin May, ♦
Treasurer W. & A. R. R.
Sir,
I have, through the agency of Hon. John W. Lewis,
secured a lease on such interest in the Virginia Salt
Works as will enable me to have made on State account,
a large quantity of salt during the summer, if our for-
ces hold the possession of East-Tennessee. Dr. Lewis
has consented to take the control and direction of the
works for the public benefit without compensation. The
absolute necessity for salt makes it important that all
be done which can be to secure a supply for the people
of the State. My intention is to have kept a strict ac-
count of every dollar of public money spent in the busi-
ness, and to order the salt sold to the people of the State
at such price as will only cover cost to the State. It will
be necessary to have funds to carry on this business, and
224 Confederate Records
as no appropriation was made for this purpose, I order
and direct that you pay, out of the funds belonging to
the W. & A. R. R., all drafts made on you by Dr. Lewis,
and you will receive credit at the treasury for the sums
thus paid before your annual report is made up, as the
money will be paid into the Treasury as soon as the salt
is sold.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
Canton, Georgia,
June 16th, 1862.
Capt. G. W. Hunnicut,
Having been informed that your name has been en-
rolled as a conscript by a Confederate officer, and it be-
ing possible that efforts will be made to compel you and
the commissioned officers in your district to go into ser-
vice as conscripts in defiance of my General orders Nos.
8 and 10, you are hereby directed, in case any enrolling
officer attempts to arrest you, or any other commissioned
officer under you, who is acting in obedience to said
General Orders, to call out immediately such military
force as you may need for the purpose, and place such
enrolling officer under arrest and detain him till you can
report the case to me for further orders.
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 225
All officers and privates under your command will
obey your orders promptly.
, Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
Executive Department,
State of Georgia,
July 31st, 1862.
Ordered,
That the Secretary of State issue a proclamation, in
compliance with the request of the Secretary of War, for
the arrest, etc., of deserters and officers and soldiers
absent from the service without leave.
Joseph E. Brown.
Headquarters,
Marietta, Georgia,
July 31st, 1862.
Col. Jared I. Whitaker,
Commissary General.
Colonel:
Finding that there was but little prospect, on account
of the impossibility of large importations, that private
enterprise would afford a supply of salt for our people
this year, and knowing how indispensable it was to health
226 Confederate Records
and comfort, I determined, as the Executive of the State,
to do all in my power for the relief of the people, though
I might, by assuming the responsibility, be exposed to
the censure of speculators and such captious fault-finders
as can never be pleased.
After considerable effort, I have succeeded in procur-
ing a lease upon a sufficient supply of salt-water at the
Virginia Salt Works to make 500 bushels per day, during
the war, and till three months after its termination, if
we should need it so long. I have also employed a reliable
man to go to work, who is to make all the necessary prep-
aration as soon as possible, and use sufficient labor to
make the quantity above mentioned. He is already at
work with what kettles and furnaces he has now in order,
and expects to be able in another month to turn out the
500 bushels per day.
Hon. John W. Lewis acted as my agent in the negotia-
tions necessary to secure these results. A large propor-
tion of the credit, if any attaches, is due to him, as I
should not have been able to secure the lease, and make
the other arrangements without the information received
from him and his personal influence and efforts in the
negotiations. He has rendered valuable service, and has
refused to receive any compensation for either his time
or his expenses while engaged in this business.
My purpose is to sell the salt to the inhabitants of the
State at such price per bushel as will cover only cost
and necessary expenses to the time of the sale. The
standard established at the Works is 50 pounds to the
bushel. I have to purchase by this standard, and must
sell by it, deducting from the 50 pounds whatever may be
State Papeks of Governoe Jos. E. Brown 227
found to be the wastage from dripping, leakage, & etc.,
after it leaves the works, till it is sold to the consumer.
Experience will soon show how much each bushel loses
in weight during its transportation and storage.
I shall order all the salt consigned to you as Commis-
sary General, and desire you to take charge of it and have
it sold by reliable agents, to be employed at such central
points as may be selected as distributing points.
If it is ascertained in future that the price now fixed
does not pay cost and all expenses, it can be raised until
it covers both ; or if it does more than this, it can be re-
duced.
For the present you are directed to dispose of the
salt, when received, as follows :
1st. You will give, without charge, one half bushel
to the widow of each soldier who has been killed in battle,
or has died in the military service of the State or the
Confederate States. As you cannot know the facts and
make the distribution without assistance from the differ-
ent counties of the State, I request the Justices of the
Inferior Court of each county to send you a list of the
names of all widows of soldiers in their county, with a
certificate of two or more of said Justices that the per-
sons whose names are sent are the widows of deceased
soldiers. On receipt of such list and certificate, you will
ship to said Justices at such point as they may designate,
one half bushel for each soldier's widow, to be distributed
among them by said Justices.
2nd. You will sell to the wife of each soldier now
in military service, if she desires it, and to each widow
228 Confederate Records
having a son or sons in service, one-half bushel for one dol-
lar; the names of those entitled to it to be certified by the
Justices of the Inferior Court, as in case of widows of
soldiers, and the salt to be shipped to the Justices of the
Inferior Court in each county, at such point on a railroad
as they may designate, so soon as you have it on hand
and they send you the money for it. It is supposed there
is no county in the State whose Justices will refuse to
make this advance from the county treasury for the bene-
fit of the soldiers families, and to take the trouble and
expense of getting the salt from the railroad, and dis-
tributing it among those in the county entitled, at the
price mentioned, which can be refunded to the county
treasury when paid in for the salt by those who are to
receive it.
Should the widow of a deceased soldier, or the wife
of a soldier in service, desire more than a half bushel
for her own use, she will be permitted to purchase it at
the price paid by others, in preference to all other per-
sons, if there is not a supply for all.
3rd. You will sell to all other heads of families at
the rate of four dollars and fifty cents per bushel. But no
head of family will be permitted to receive more than one
bushel till all are supplied with enough for present use.
You will have each agent to keep a book in which he will
enter the names of each head of a family who gets salt,
and in case one person applies for the quantity allowed
each of several families, and has the means of hauling
it, your agents will let him have it, taking from him a
written certificate giving the name of each person for
whom he receives it, and stating that he will deliver it
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 229
to such person at the price he pays for it, and such price
for hauling as may have been agreed on between the par-
ties.
The names of the heads of families thus supplied,
will be entered on the book, that the person receiving the
salt for his neighbors may be detected if he should act
unfaithfully. All purchasers will be required to bring
with them their own sacks to carry their salt home from
the place of sale.
4th. As I can place the salt only at a few central
points in the State, you will establish a depot for its sale
by a faithful agent at each of the following places, to-wit :
Cartersville, Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Griffin, Macon,
Albany, Columbus and Savannah. Were I to undertake
to send it to all the towns and depots on the railroads, I
must employ so many agents as to embarrass you in se-
curing prompt settlements and greatly increase the price
by the payment of so many salaries to distributing agents.
You will take bond and security from each agent for the
faithful discharge of his duties and the prompt payment
to you of the money collected by him, and for the delivery
to you of the salt on hand at any time when demanded by
you, or other agent of the State. Each agent will sell
for cash, and will remit to you the amount he has collected
each week. Any agent failing to make such remittance
will be promptly discharged.
5th. You will notify the Justices of the Inferior
Court of each county in this State of the arrangements
proposed for the purpose of supplying the widows of de-
ceased soldiers, and wives of soldiers now in service, with
230 CONFEDEEATE ReCORDS
salt to relieve present necessities, and request their active
co-operation in the proposed plan.
fith. When the people of a county will, by public meet-
ing, appoint a reliable agent who will obligate himself
to them to sell salt for the accommodation of the people
of the county at the prices above mentioned, adding only
the freight which he has to pay from the place where he
receives it from your agent to the place of sale, you will
be authorized, when you have a supply on hand, to sell
for cash to such county agent, in such quantities as would
be reasonable proportion for his county, at the prices
above specified. This will afford those who are disposed
to render a public service without charge, in a matter of
vital importance to their fellow citizens, an opportunity
to display their liberality. It is hoped some person with
sufficient means will be found in each county remote from
the central points of deposit, willing to serve the public
for the public good.
The different railroad companies in this State have
shown a liberality and a disposition to afford relief to
the people in the present emergency, which entitle them
to the gratitude of all. I determined to carry the salt
imported by the State over the State road to the places
of deposit and sale free of charge, and to carry from the
place of sale to the depot of the consumer free. I commu-
nicated this determination to the Presidents of the prin-
cipal roads of the State, and asked their co-operation, and
that they also carry all salt imported by the State free,
as well while in possession of the State as for the con-
sumer after he has purchased from the State's agent;
and it affords me great pleasure to say that I have re-
ceived responses from the following railroad presidents,
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 231
in the order mentioned, promptly and cheerfully agreeing
to render this public service free of charge, till further
orders: Hon, R. E. Cuyler, President C. R. R. and
branches, and of the S. W. R. R. ; Isaac Scott, Esq., Presi-
dent Macon & Western R. R. ; Hon. John P. King, Presi-
dent Ga. R. R. and branches, and of the A. & W. P. R. R.
It is not doubted that the President of each other road
in the State will meet this request with like liberality and
patriotism. The salt imported under my direction will,
therefore, no doubt, go to any point in the State on a
railroad, to the consumer purchasing from the State agent,
free of charge for freight.
I shall do what I possibly can to supply all during
the summer and fall, and I trust with what may be made
by the Georgia Salt Manufacturing Company, whose
office is located at Augusta, and with what our people will
make upon the coast, (it is expected that all who live
near the coast will at least make their own supply,) that
all who practice strict economy may have enough. I
respectfully suggest to our people to so divide what they
may receive among their neighbors, till more can be had,
that none may suffer. And I further suggest that they do
all they can to permit speculators, who have a supply on
hand for the accommodation of the people at fifteen to
tiventy dollars per bushel, to hold it till the end of the
war, when they can probably afford to sell it much
cheaper.
Joseph E. Brown.
Received of Joseph E. Brown, Governor of Georgia,
three Confederate States bonds of one thousand dollars
each, with the coupons running from 1st July last, which
232 Confederate Recobds
said three thousand dollars of bonds and the interest on
the coupons I am to use in payment of amounts due from
the Ordnance Department of this State as cash at par
this 4th October, 1862.
(Signed) Lachlin H. McIntosh,
Chief of Ordnance, State of Georgia.
Executive Headquarters,
Marietta, Ga., October 13, 1862.
To the Officers of the Militia of Georgia:
On the 11th day of September, last, a person calling
himself Capt. S. G. Cabell called on me, in company with
Lieutenant Eve, and presented to me a contract which he
had made with the Medical Purveyor of the Confederate
States, at Richmond, for one thousand barrels of whiskey,
stating that he had two other contracts for one thousand
barrels each. He represented our hospitals, etc., as be-
ing in a condition which required a supply at an early
day, for the use of the sick. He also brought a letter
from the Chief Medical Purveyor of the Confederate
States, asking that necessary facilities be accorded to
him.
Upon the examination of this letter, I endorsed upon
it that I offered no obstructions to the manufacture in
Georgia of such supply of whiskey as the proper officers
of the Confederate Government may order for the use of
the army of the Confederate States, and that Captain
Cabell would not be disturbed by the militia officers of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 233
this State, under my proclamation, so long as he did not
transcend the limits of his contract with the Confederate
G-ovemment, but that I requested him to take as little of
the corn necessary to make the whiskey as possible from
Georgia.
After I handed back to him the letter of the Purveyor
General, with my endorsement upon it, he mentioned that
he must employ other distillers to assist him, or he could
not fill his contract in time, and that he was under a
heavy bond for the delivery of the whiskey within the
time specified by the contract. I immediately replied
that I would not permit him to sub-let or put the distill-
eries of the State into general operation, as that would
defeat the very object of my proclamation, and that it
would be impossible to limit them to the supply necessary
to fill his contract, if they were permitted to run ; that he
could locate his distillery at any point in the State and
proceed to fill his contract, but that he could not be per-
mitted to go beyond his contract. He then began to in-
sist on having the privilege to make contracts with dis-
tillers at different points to make the whiskey for him,
when I replied that it was not worth while to multiply
words about it, as I would not permit it, and that I would
not only seize the stills employed, but if he attempted it,
I would revoke the privilege given him under his contract.
I was so positive and emphatic upon this point, having
repeated the expression more than once, that there was
no room for misunderstanding.
I am now informed that this individual, Cabell, is send-
ing copies of the letter of the Purveyor and my endorse-
ment upon it to distillers in different parts of the State,
234 Confederate Records
and making contracts with as many as possible to make
whiskey for him, exhibiting the correspondence as evi-
dence of my consent, that he employ them to distill whis-
key under his contract, while he conceals from them my
express verbal declaration that I would not permit it,
and that he must limit his own operations under his con-
tract to one single locality. I only stated in the written
endorsement that I would not obstruct the supply ordered
by the proper officers of the Confederate Government,
and that he, (not persons he might sub-let), would not
be disturbed, so long as he did not transcend the limits
of his contract. He is himself only a contractor with
the Confederate Government, and is not the contracting
agent of the Government. His contract with the Medi-
cal Purveyor binds the Government to pay him two dol-
lars and fifty cents per gallon, and I am informed he is
employing persons to make and deliver whiskey to him
at one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. Three thousand
barrels of forty gallons each, which I suppose is about
the usual barrel, would be one hundred and twenty thou-
sand gallons. Upon this he proposes to make one dol-
lar on each gallon or $120,000. He is, therefore, a spec-
ulator and not a proper officer of the Confederate Gov-
ernment, authorized to make contracts for it.
I, therefore, declare the contracts made by him with
distillers in this State to be unauthorized by me, and I
hereby charge, order and direct you, and each of you, to
enforce the orders in my proclamation strictly against
all persons who, after the publication of this order, giv-
ing notice of the imposition attempted to be practiced
upon them by this individual, Cabell, shall still a single
gallon of whiskey in tliis State. And on account of the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 235
bad faith to be practiced by the said Cabell, I hereby
revoke all privilege given to said Cabell to distill for
himself, under his contract, in this State, and direct the
seizure of any still or stills which he may put into opera-
tion. I also direct the seizure of all stills which may be
found running in any part of the State, under any pre-
tended Government contract, unless the person so distill-
ing has a contract direct from the proper officer of the
Government at Richmond, for the manufacture of a spe-
cific quantity, with a certificate of such officer that it is
absolutely necessary for the hospitals or other indispen-
sable purposes of the army.
I am unwilling to throw any unnecessary obstructions
in the way of the heads of Departments of the Confeder-
ate Government in procuring a necessary supply of any-
thing, even whiskey, if actually necessary for our gallant
troops — but since I have relaxed the rule in their favor,
I find every possible means resorted to by distillers and
speculators to abuse the privilege, for the promotion of
their own individual interest. The grain crop in this
State is not so abundant as was expected, and if distillers
are permitted to destroy it without limit, corn will be
worth a price next summer which will deprive many a
soldier's family and poor people of a plentiful supply of
bread. — ^When the General Assembly convenes, this will
be a question for them to control, and I respectfully
request that the people express in advance their wishes
to their representatives.
Joseph E. Brown,
236 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
Marietta, Georgia,
October 17th, 1862.
To the Planters of Middle and Southivestern Georgia:
From information in my possession of an ofiicial char-
acter, I am satisfied that the defences around Savannah
are not yet completed. They will be very strong when
completed ; and it is believed by military men that with
five hundred additional laborers, we can be ready for the
enemy in thirty days.
General Mercer informs me that he lacks this number
and appeals to me to assist him in procuring them.
If the enemy should take Savannah, it would be made
a safe place of refuge for all slaves who may attempt to
leave their masters and go to the enemy this winter ; and
the planters of this State must lose a much larger num-
ber of slaves than are now required to complete all neces-
sary preparations for her defence. Again, it has been
the boast of the people of this State that a hostile enemy
has occupied no part of the soil of Georgia of practical
value to them. It is a point of pride with them to take
the city, and of both pride and duty with us to hold it.
I can not doubt that every patriotic Georgian is ready
to make any sacrifice necessary to defend the city, as long
as one brick remains upon another. Let her property
and her noble citizens never share the fate of New Or-
leans, but let her emulate the example of Vicksburg, which
has been defended, while it has made a name in history
as lasting as the history of the war itself.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 237
I, therefore, appeal to each planter in the portion of
the State above mentioned, which from its location and
its large nmnber of slaves, is most deeply interested, to
tender to General Mercer, immediately, one-tenth of all
his working hands. He will accept only the number
needed; but as prompt action is necessarj^ I trust five
thousand, in place of five hundred, will be tendered in
ten days.
He only wishes them for thirty days and will pay for
the use of them reasonable and just compensation. Were
no compensation offered, I can not doubt the labor would
be promptly furnished to finish a work so important and
so nearly completed.
Let the proper authorities in each county, and espe-
cially the most wealthy planters having the largest num-
ber of slaves, address General Mercer, at Savannah, with-
out delay, and make the tender.
I order no impressment of your property, but appeal,
in an emergency, to your liberality and your patriotism,
and I know I shall not appeal in vain.
I am, very respectfully, etc.,
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
October 28th, 1862.
There is the greatest necessity for salt in this State.
If we can not increase the supply, it will be impossible to
238 Confederate Records
save half the meat of the State, I will agree to take all
that Messrs. Graves & Goldsmith can deliver in Atlanta,
at $7.50 per bushel of fifty pounds till the 1st of March,
to be distributed amongst the people of the State at cost.
I trust, therefore, in view of the necessity of the case,
that the Secretary of War will afford them the facilities
of transportation, and the use of clerks which they may
need.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
November 1st, 1862.
To the Planters of Georgia:
Since my late appeal to some of you, I am informed
by Brigadier-General Mercer, commanding at Savannah,
that but few hands have been tendered. When the im-
pressments made by General Mercer, some weeks since,
were loudly complained of, it was generally said that
while the planters objected to the principle of impress-
ment, they would promptly furnish all the labor needed
if an appeal were made to them.
I am informed that General Mercer now has ample
authority to make impressments. If then, a sufficient
supply of labor is not tendered within ten days from this
date, he will resort immediately to that means of procur-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 239
ing it, with my full sanction, and I doubt not with the
sanction of the General Assembly.
After you have been repeatedly notified of the abso-
lute necessity for more labor to comjDlete the fortifica-
tions adjudged by the military authorities in command
to be indispensable to the defence of the key to the State,
will you delay action till you are compelled to contribute
means for the protection, not only of all your slaves, but
of your homes, your firesides and your altars?
I will not believe that there was a want of sincerity
in your professions of liberality and patriotism, .when
many of you threatened resistance to impressment upon
principle ; and not because you were unwilling to aid the
cause with your means.
I renew the call for negroes to complete the fortifica-
tions around Savannah, and trust every planter in Geor-
gia will respond, by a prompt tender of one-fifth of all
his working men. As stated in my former appeal, the
General in command will only accept the number actually
needed.
Joseph E, Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 3d, 1862.
To the Military Authorities of the Confederate States,
and of the Several States:
This is to certify that Leopold Waitzf elder and Solo-
mon L. Waitzfelder are true and loyal citizens of this
240 Confederate Records
State, resident of the city of Milledgeville. They are con-
nected with the Milledgeville Manufacturing Company,
which has a large contract to supply woolen cloth to the
Confederate States for the use of the army. The man-
agers of this factory send the Messrs. Waitzfelder to
Texas for the purpose of purchasing and, if possible,
bringing wool to the factory with which to complete the
contract. The factory is furnishing cloth to the Con-
federacy at a ver>' low figure for the times, and I ask that
all facilities possible to be afforded to the bearers in pro-
curing and bringing in the wool so much needed to make
clothes for our troops.
They will not be interrupted by any enrolling officer,
as they are not subject to enrollment while thus engaged
in carrying out a contract with the Confederate govern-
ment.
Given under my hand and the seal of the Executive
Department at the Capitol this 3d November, 1862.
Joseph E. Brown,
Grovernor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 6th, 1862.
The following Annual Message of His Excellency,
branches of the General Assembly, to-wit:
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 241
ExECUTivB Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 6th, 1862.
To the Senate and House of Representatives :
For a statement of the condition of the Treasury, you
are respectfully referred to the reports of the Treasurer
and the Comptroller-General. It will be seen by refer-
ence to these reports that the whole public debt of this
State, including the Treasury notes issued up to this
period, amounts to $8,417,750, and that the public prop-
erty of the State, including Bank stock, Railroad stock,
and the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which is the prop-
erty of the State, amounts at a low valuation to $8,840,-
124.68. It would therefore be in the power of the State
to pay every dollar of her debt with the proceeds of the
sale of her public property, if her creditors would con-
sent to receive the amount of money before due.
The Five Million Appropriation.
Of the five millions of dollars, appropriated at your
last session for military purposes, only $2,539,290.25
have been drawn from the Treasury during the fiscal
year. Of this sum $350,000 has been returned by Lieut.-
Col. Jared I. Whitaker, Commissary-General, and $50,-
000 by Lieut.-Col. Ira R. Foster, Quartermaster-General,
and $58,286 by Major L. H. Mcintosh, Chief of Ord-
nance, for stores in their respective departments, sold to
oflficers under the army regulations, and to the Confeder-
242 CONFEDKRATE ReCORDS
acy after the State troops were transferred. The
amount of the ai>propriation which has been used, is
therefore, $2,081,004.25.
Of this sum $100,000 was expended in payment for
arms purchased in England prior to your last session;
and $50,000.40 for iron to be used in fortifications and
upon the gunboat called the ''State of Georgia." This
boat was built under the supervision of Major-General
Jackson while in command, and completed after he re-
tired. The balance of the money for its construction
was contributed by the cities of Savannah, Augusta and
other corporations, by soldiers, and chiefly by the ladies
of this State, who have shown since the commencement
of our struggle, on all proper occasions, a liberality and
patriotism worthy the most distinguished matrons of
the Revolution of 1776.
For support, equipment, pay and transportation of
two companies now in service as Bridge Guards on the
State Road, $10,000. This leaves $1,921,000.25, which,
together with a special appropriation of $100,000, was
expended upon the Georgia Army, and for other contin-
gent military purposes. It will be seen by reference to
the reports of the Quartermaster-General and the Chief
of Ordnance, that very considerable sums were expended
for the purchase of horses, artillery, etc., which were
transferred to the Confederacy with the Georgia Army,
for which no payment has yet been made to the State.
These sums ; with contingent military expenditures, when
deducted from the above-mentioned sums, will leave the
State Papebs of Governor Jos. E. Brown 243
whole cost of the Georgia Army of nearly 8,000 men, for
nearly six months, including pay, clothing, subsistence,
transj^ortation, and every other expense, a little short of
$2,000,000.
Treasury Notes.
The Appropriation Bill passed at your last session
made it my duty in case there should not, at any time, be
money in the Treasury to meet any appropriation, to raise
it by the sale of State bonds, or by using Treasury notes,
as I might think best. In each case where I had the dis-
cretion, I did not hesitate to decide to issue Treasury
notes, bearing no interest, in place of bonds bearing in-
terest ; and I have found these notes not only current, but
in great demand as an investment. The whole amount
of Treasury notes issued is $2,320,000.
Finding it difficult to get good paper and get the work
properly executed, I sent Hon. James Jackson as the
agent of the State to New Orleans, to make the necessary
arrangements for the importation of the paper and the
necessary contract with a competent engraver for the
execution of the work. In both particulars he was suc-
cessful. While the work was progressing in a satisfac-
tory manner, but before its completion, the city was so
seriously threatened by the enemy, that I thought it pru-
dent to have the work in its unfinished state, with the
stones, plates, paper, etc., removed to this State. Under
my instructions Judge Jackson returned to the city for
this purpose, settled with the contractor for the work
done, and had all the printed bills and materials in
244 Confederate Records
trinu^iiu for Georgia, when the city fell into the hands
of the infamous tyrant, Butler, whose name will descend
to posterity on history's darkest page. I then employed
Mr. Howell, of Savannah, to complete the job, which was
done in a manner quite satisfactory. The notes are pay-
able in specie or eight per cent, bonds, six months after
a treaty of peace, or when the banks of Augusta and
Savannah resume specie payments, if before that time.
These notes have generally been laid away as a safe in-
vestment by banks and others into whose hands they have
fallen ; and it is a rare occurrence to see one in circula-
tion. Should it become necessary, as it probabh* will, to
extend tlie issue to meet part of the liabilities of the
Treasury for the present fiscal year, I respectfully recom-
mend, that no alteration be made in the form of the
notes, as there is on hand a very considerable amount of
the printed bills that can soon be issued without expense,
which would be useless in case of any change in the pres-
ent form, and it would cost great delay and expense to
procure paper and have others prepared.
The only objection insisted upon against the issue of
Treasury notes, in place of the sale of bonds to meet the
demands on the Treasury is, that the issue of a large
amount of notes to be circulated as currency, depreciates
the value of paper currency in the market. This is un-
questionably true, as evidenced by the present state
of our currency. But it is equally true that enough of
paper currency must be issued, in the present condition
of the country, to meet the demand. Suppose the State
needs a million of dollars, and puts her bonds in the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 245
market to raise it, and receives paper currency in pay-
ment for them, it is quite evident that the Confederacy,
or the banks, must issue a million to meet this demand,
in addition to the issue they would otherwise make for
other purposes; and the same depreciation growing out
of a redundancy of paper currency follows, which would
happen, were the State to issue a million dollars in her
own notes, and thus meet her own demand. The ques-
tion is not one of the depreciation of the currency by over
issues of paper, as the number of dollars in paper cur-
rency to be placed upon the market is the same in either
case, but it is simply a question of interest. Shall the
State use her own notes, which pass readily as currency
without interest, and are generally laid away as an in-
vestment, or shall she pay interest to a corporation for
the privilege of using and circulating its notes, founded
upon a less secure basis than her own? In my opinion
there is no room for hesitation in making the decision in
favor of Treasury notes. The amount of interest saved
to the Treasury in one year at seven per cent, upon the
issue of notes already made in place of bonds, is $162,400.
To this might have been added the further sum of $170,-
870, had I been authorized by statute to issue and use
Treasury notes in place of bonds to meet the Confederate
War Tax. This statute was a special one for a special
purpose, however, and confined me to the use of bonds
without giving me discretion to issue Treasury notes.
Confederate War Tax.
An Act passed at your last session assumed the pay-
ment of the Confederate War Tax, assessed against the
246 Confederate Records
people of this State for last year, and made it my duty
to raise the amount by the sale of State bonds, with but
one restriction, which was that they should not bear ex-
ceeding eight per cent, interest per annum. As the Con-
federacy and the other States generally, were paying eight
per cent., it was not supposed that this State would be
able to raise the money upon bonds bearing a less rate.
Before I could get the Treasury notes prepared, which
I was authorized to issue for other purposes, I had to
negotiate some temporary loans with the banks at eight
per cent, to raise money to defray the expenses of the
army till the notes could be issued. It is but justice,
however, that I remark, that all the banks except the
Bank of Commerce and the Bank of the State, refused
to accept more than seven per cent, on settlement for
this temporary advance. The war tax was due the first
of April, and as I anticipated some difficulty in securing
promptly so large a sum, I visited Savannah in the latter
part of January, and had an interview with some of the
most prominent bankers of the city, which resulted in
a proposition on their part to take the bonds of the State
running ten years, bearing 7 per cent., payable quarterly,
and advance money to meet the emergency if I would
pay interest from the first of February. To this I con-
sented, and the banks advanced $2,000,000, a portion of
which was placed to the credit of the Treasurer after the
first of February, and bore interest only from the date
when it was placed to the credit of the State. Having
no use for the money till the first of April, the date when
the tax was due, I proposed to pay it to the Secretary
of the Treasury, if he would allow seven per cent, upon
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 247
the advance, till the tax should become due. This propo-
sition was declined, and I then invested it in six per
cent, stock of the Confederacy, and was able to realize
six per cent, upon it till the first of April. Bankers from
other States would have taken the balance of the bonds,
but I thought it best to put them on the market in this
State, and let them go into the hands of our citizens if
they would purchase them. This was done by a publica-
tion asking bids for them at par till first of March. The
bids were more than sufficient to cover the whole balance
of the proposed issue. The issue and sale under this
Act amounts to $2,441,000 in bonds.
The precise amount of the State's quota of the tax
could not be ascertained on the first of April, and the Sec-
retary of the Treasury proposed that I pay the amount
supposed to be due, and that a final settlement be made
when the necessary data could be obtained. To this I
agreed. Recently I was furnished with a statement
making Georgia's quota, less the ten per cent., $2,554,-
128.57. Upon the receipt of this statement, the Comp-
troller General, who has so often saved to the State
Treasury large sums by his vigilence and industry, care-
fully compared the returns of the counties with the re-
turns of taxable property made to the State Receivers,
and found that the difference in some counties was so
great that mistakes for large amounts must necessarily
have been committed against the State. This matter was
brought to the attention of the chief collector for this State
and the Secretary of the Treasury. After some corre-
spondence, the Comptroller-General visited Augusta, and
248 Confederate Records
after a careful examination of the books with Judge
Starues, the obliging Collector, it was found that the
quota of the State, after deducting the ten per cent.,
amounted to only $2,494,112.41. The amount saved to
the Treasury of the State by the correction of these err
rors committed by sub-collectors, and detected by the
Comptroller-General, is $60,016.16. Finding the sum
raised by the sale of the bonds, together with interest on
call certificates, and from individuals on coupons, to be
$33,974.01 less the amount of tax due in the final settle-
ment, I ventured to raise the money by the use of Treas-
ury notes at par, without interest, in place of bonds bear-
ing interest as directed by the statute, which, I trust, will
meet the approval of the General Assembly.
While it was difficult to raise the money on seven per
cent, bonds at par when first placed on the market, and
the banks acted with liberality in agreeing to take them
•when other good securities were offered at eight per cent.,
and by their action attracted the attention of private cap-
italists to them, they have lost nothing by their liberality,
as the bonds have since that time greatly appreciated in
the market, and are now regarded as a most desirable
investment at a considerable premium.
Comptroller General's Department.
The report of this able officer is replete with valuable
information, statistical cables, etc., which have been pre-
pared with great care and labor. It is but justice to say
that Col. Thweatt, the vigilant and active head of this
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 249
department, has, by his annual reports furnished much
valuable information to the present generation, and im-
portant material for the use of the future historian of the
State. The law imposes upon that officer very laborious
duties connected with the finances of the State, the collec-
tion of the taxes, and the auditing claims against the
Treasury. All settlements with Collectors are made
in that office. Colonel Thweatt, by his active energy,
has secured to the Treasury many thousands of dollars
due by Collectors prior to the Commencement of his term
of office, and has prevented the accumulation of these
claims. The correspondence imposed upon him, in mak-
ing settlements and furnishing information to the Tax
Collectors and to the Inferior Courts of the State, in con-
nection with the taxes, is very laborious. This, with the
other duties of his office, is more than any one man ought
to be required to do. I therefore recommend, as an act
of justice, that he be allowed a clerk, with a salary suffi-
cient to secure the services of an intelligent, experienced
business man.
State Troops.
In compliance with the resolution of the General As-
sembly passed at its last session, directing me to transfer
the State Troops to the Confederacy with the consent of
the Troops, I ordered the question of transfer to be sub-
mitted to a fair vote of each organized body of troops,
and the majority against the transfer amounted almost
to unanimity. Soon after the passage of the Conscrip-
tion Act, however, which passed after the expiration of
250 Confederate Records
the term of enlistment oi' part of the men, but a short
time before the end of the term of much the larger por-
tion of tliem, the Secretary of War informed me that all
the State troops between 18 and 35 years of age must go
into the Confederate service. At that time an attack
upon the city of Savannah was daily expected, and for
the purpose of avoiding conflict and collision with the
Confederate authorities in the face of the enemy, I agreed
to yield the point, and I immediately tendered the State
Army to Brigadier-General Lawton, who then com-
manded the Military District of Georgia, Major General
Henry R. Jackson, who commanded the State troops, hav-
ing retired from the command to prevent all embarrass-
ment. General Lawton accepted the tender, and as-
sumed the command of the troops. The claim made by
the Secretary of War did not include those under 18 or
over 35 years of age, but it was thought best to tender the
whole together, as the detachment of those between 18
and 35 from each organization would have disorganized
the entire force.
While referring to the subject, I feel it a duty which
I owe to the gallant officers and brave men who composed
the State Army, to say that they were, at the time of the
transfer, as thoroughly organized, trained and disci-
plined, as probably any body of troops of equal number
on the continent, who had not been a much longer time
in the field. They had performed, without murmur, an
almost incredible amount of labor in erecting fortifica-
tions and field works necessary to the protection of the
city, and had made their positions so strong as to deter
the enemy, with a force of vastly superior numbers, from
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 251
making an attack. Wliile they regretted that an oppor-
tunity did not offer to show their courage and efficiency
upon the battle field, they stood like a bulwark of stout
hearts and strongarms, between the city and the enemy,
and by their chivalrous bearing and energetic prepara-
tion, in connection with the small number of brave Con-
federate troops near, saved the city from attack and cap-
ture, without bloodshed and carnage.
It is but justice to Major General Jackson, that it be
remarked, that he had, with untiring energy and consum-
mate ability, pressed forward the preparation of the de-
fenses and the training of the army, and that the people
of Georgia owe much gratitude to liim for the safety of
the city of Savannah and its present freedom from the
tyrannical rule of the enemy. There is not, probably,
an intelligent, impartial man in the State who does not
regret that the services of this distinguished son of Geor-
gia should not have been properly appreciated by the
Confederate authorities, and that he should not, after
the Georgia army was transferred, have been invited by
the President to a command equal to his well-known
ability and merit. This was requested by the Executive
of this State, which request was presented to the Presi-
dent by her entire delegation in Congress.
It is also due Brigadier-Generals George P. Harrison,
F. W. Capers, and W, H. T. Walker, that their names be
honorably mentioned for enlightened generalship and
efficiency as commanders of their respective brigades.
The Executive of the State, appreciating the merits of
these officers, asked for positions for them, as command-
252 Confederate Records
ers in the armies of the Confederacy, but neither of them,
so far as I know, has been tendered any command. If this
might be excused as to Generals Harrison and Capers on
the ground tliat they were not graduates of West Point
and old army officers, though one of them has a thorough
military education, and the other is known to be a most
valuable, energetic military man, having the confidence
of the whole people of the State, this excuse does not
apply in the case of General Walker, who is a son of
Georgia, a graduate of West Point and an old soldier,
who has shed his blood in his country's service on many
a battle field. His ability and gallantry are acknowledged
by all who admire cool courage and high toned chivalry.
But no one of the Georgia Generals who commanded her
State army has since been invited to a position, and even
this gallant old soldier is permitted to remain in retire-
ment, while thousands of Georgia troops who entered the
service of the Confederacy under requisitions upon the
State, and whose right under the Constitution, to be
commanded by Generals appointed by the State is too
clear to admit of doubt, are thrown under the command
of Generals appointed from other States, many of whom
have had neither the experience in service, nor the dis-
tinction, which General AValker has, while confronting the
enemies of his country, purchased with his blood upon
the battle field.
State Armory.
In accordance with the provisions of the Act entitled
an Act to provide for the manufacture and purchase of
arms for the public defense and to appropriate money
for the same, which appropriates $350,000 for the pur-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 253
poses indicated in the title of the Act, and authorizes the
Governor, if the money is not in the Treasury, when
needed, to raise it by the sale of eight per cent, bonds, with
discretion to issue part of the amount in Treasury notes,
etc., I directed the establishment of an Armory in the
Penitentiary, and employed Mr. Peter Jones, who was
long connected prominently with the Armories and manu-
facture of arms, for the United States, to take charge
of and superintend the works. He has secured as much
material as he could, and made all the machinery in his
power, and has made as good progress as could have been
expected, considering the many embarrassments in the
way, and our inability to import any of the material or
machinery needed. We can now turn out an excellent
arm at the rate of about 125 per month, and will, in the
course of a few months, it is hoped, be able to extend the
capacity of the works, so as to make them a source of
substantial aid in the achievement of our independence.
I have not been able to purchase any small arms dur-
ing the year, nor have I been able to get possession ot
much the larger portion of those purchased in England
prior to your last session and since imported. About
4,300 of the excellent Enfield rifles, which were imported
by the State at great expense, have been seized at the
different ports where they landed, by the officers of the
Confederate Government and carried beyond my reach.
I have remonstrated against these unauthorized seizures
of 'the property of the State, and while my remonstrances
have been met with respectful language by those in
authority, and the act generally apologised for, as a mis-
take, they have neglected to restore the property seized,
and have, after my remonstrance, repeated the seizure
254 Confederate Records
on the arrival of other arms. As the rights of the State
were disregarded by the Confederate autliorities, I
thought it unwise to send more money to Europe to in-
vest in other arms to be lost at sea, or seized, without
consulting the authorities of the State, on their arrival.
In this connection, I would remark that the State
troops generally brought with them into service such
country arms as were at their command, which were
turned into the State Arsenal when better arms were
furnished to them. Many of these arms were taken posses-
sion of by the State authorities and distributed among
Confederate troops who were without arms. Part of Col.
D. J. Bailey's regiment, Confederate troops, were armed
with them, as were part of Lieut. -Col. Littlefield's battal-
ion and part of Col. Summer J. Smith's Rangers. Com-
pensation has not yet been made to the owners. I therefore
recommend that some one or more proper persons be
appointed under authority of law to audit the claims
of citizens who were thus deprived of their arras, and that
provision be made for payment of just compensation for
all that have been taken for the public service.
Change Bills.
The Superintendent of the W. & A. R. R., finding it
impossible to attend the duties of his office and sign all
the change bills, which he was required by the Act of 17th
of December, 1861, to issue, with my assent, employed
Mr. Wm. Grisham to sign the bills for him. The whole
amount of bills issued to 30th September is, in round
numbers, $80,000. Most of these are signed by Mr. Grish-
am for the Superintendent and by Ben. May, Treasurer.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 255
The balance of the $200,000 will be issued as soon as the
bills can be prepared, which has been found to be quite a
laborious task.
By Act 30th November last, each chartered Bank in
this State, which claims the provisions of the suspen-
sion Act, is required, upon the application of any person,
to issue and keep in circulation during its suspension,
small bills in denominations of five, ten, twenty-five and
fifty cents, to the extent of one per centum upon its capi-
tal stock, with the privilege to extend the issue to three
per centum. The Act of the 17th December relieved all
individuals and corporations who had issued and put
change bills in circulation from the penalties of the
existing laws, upon the redemption of said bills, but pro-
vided that they should not be authorized to issue any
other change bills, or to re-issue those then in circulation
when redeemed. This law has been constantly evaded,
if not openly violated, by individuals and corporations,
and large amounts in change bills, in the shape of prom-
ises to pay certificates of deposit, acknowledgements of
indebtedness to be discharged in specific articles, etc., etc.,
have been put into circulation. Many of these bills have
been printed upon very inferior paper and are soon worn
out by circulation. If these illegal issues are not effectu-
ally checked, it can not be doubted that they will result in
hea\'y losses to our people. I therefore recommend the
enactment of a law making it obligatory upon each char-
tered Bank of this State to extend its issues of change
bills to as much as three per cent upon its capital stock ;
and making it the duty of the Treasurer and Comptroller-
General of this State to issue and put in circulation
256 Confederate Records
State change bills of five, three, two and one dollar and the
usual denomiuations under that sum, to the amount of
three hundred thousand dollars, redeemable in the Treas-
ury notes of the Confederate States, when as much as
$20, is presented at the State Treasury. And I further
recommend that the issues by the Western & Atlantic
Railroad be extended to $300,000, in bills of different
denominations from five cents to five dollars, and that it
be made highly penal for any other corporation or person,
to issue, circulate, pay or tender in payment of any other
change bill, whether it be a direct promise to pay certifi-
cate of deposit, or in any other form, intended to circulate
as currency, except those issued under the authority of
the laws of this State.
This Legislation would, it is believed, provide for
the issue of as many change bills, as might be necessary
to meet the demands of our people, until it may again be
possible to procure silver change, and the people might
more safely rely upon the ultimate redemption of the bills
issued as above recommended than upon those now in
circulation. The law should allow a reasonable time for
the redemption of illegal issues now in circulation, and to
secure the suppression of illegal issues in future, it may
be necessary to impose upon the person \dolating the
statute, a hea\^ pecuniary penalty to be paid to the in-
former.
Bridge Guards and Home Protection.
The people of the State have been informed, through
the medium of the public press, of the facts connected with
the daring attempt, made by a band of spies sent by the
authority of the enemy, to burn the bridges on the W. &
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 257
A. R. Road. The conduct of Mr. Fuller, the Conductor,
and some others in the hazardous pursuit, while the spies
were in the possession of the train, deserves the highest
commendation and entitles them to the consideration of
the General Assembly. I therefore recommend the ap-
pointment of a committee of the two houses to enquire
into the facts and report upon them, and that such medals
or other public acknowledgement be awarded to the par-
ties whose conduct was most meritorious, as will do jus-
tice to their services and stimulate others to like deeds
of daring when necessary for the public security.
Soon after this bold attempt to burn all of the bridges
of the Road (two of which had been burned and replaced
but a short time previous,) I felt it my duty to organize
a military company to guard this valuable property.
Some time after the company had been raised, the Com-
mittee of the House of Representatives visited the Road
and joined in a unanimous recommendation that I add
another Company to the Guard. In deference to the rec-
ommendation of the Committee, which my own judgment
approved, I directed the organization of a second com-
pany. These companies now consist of about 150 men
each, the one commanded by Capt. E. M. Gait, the other
by Capt. Albert Howell. They are mustered into service
for an indefinite period of time and may be disbanded at
the pleasure of the State. There are sixteen valuable
bridges, besides smaller ones, upon the Road which is a
great thoroughfare, and will be, during the war, a great
military necessity. The destruction of two or three of
these bridges aver the large streams might not only
cause great derangement of the business of the Road and
great inconvenience to the traveling public, but might
so delay military movements as to cause the loss of an
258 Confederate Records
important victory. The expense to the State of keeping
ui> a sufficient guard, is ineonsidera])]e wlien compared
with the object, and I shall feel it my dutj' to continue
these troops in service unless otherwise directed by the
General Asseml)ly. The only (juestion with me, is,
whether the two companies should not be increased to
two Regiments, and tlioroughly armed, equipped and
trained and kept constantly in the service of the State till
the end of the war. So large a number of our arms-bear-
ing men have gone from the State into the Confederate
service, that we cannot feel entirely secure against inter-
nal troubles from servile insurrection, and even two regi-
ments of well armed and thoroughly disciplined troops
at the command of the State government, might, in such
event, be the means of preventing scenes of massacre and
misery too appalling to contemplate. Should you think
proper, by resolution or otherwise, to direct such organi-
zation, it would meet my cordial approval, and I should
lose no time in carrying your decision into practical oper-
ation.
Frequent complaints have been made to me that an
association of persons, unfriendly to our government
and cause', has been formed in the North-eastern portion
of our State, and that the members of the Association,
probably some fifty to one hundred in number, to avoid
military service, have concealed themselves in the moun-
tains and live by plundering the citizens whose homes are
near their lurking places. The State owes it to her citi-
zens to afford them all the assistance in her power to pro-
tect them against these inroads. Should an organization
of the character recommended, be formed, a portion of
it might be cavalry, which might be used to scour the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 259
mountains for the protection of the inhabitants, or be
thrown upon the coast, or into such otlier part of the
State, as the security of the people might require.
Distillation.
After our communication had been cut off by the ene-
my, and we could no longer get supplies of provisions
from Tennessee and Kentucky, it was soon discovered
that we had none to spare, and it was doubted whether
there was enough of grain in the State to answer all the
demands for bread. The supply of Western whiskey
had, however, been cut off, as well as the supplj^ of provi-
sions, and the demand for this article increased till distil-
lation was commenced at a rate that would, in the course
of Spring and early part of the Summer, have consumed
all the grain that could have been purchased, and in-
creased the price to an extent that must have put it out
of the power of the poorer classes of our people, and
especially the families of poor men who were in the army,
to get bread. These facts were made known to me from
different parts of the State, and earnest appeals were
•made for such action as would protect our people against
this great wrong. After mature reflection, I was satisfied
that it was my duty to exercise all the power I possessed
to check the evil. The only question was as to my con-
stitutional power to act. There could be no doubt that I
had the power to take private property for public use, and
as we were hard pressed by a powerful enemy, and needed
all the ordnance and ordnance stores we could command,
and as the stills were made of copper which could be used
in the manufacture of field artillery, I issued my procla-
mation ordering the militia officers of the State to seize
2 no CONFEDEBATE RECORDS
the still of any person in the State who should continue
distilling after the 15th day of March. While there were
doubtless cases in which the proclamation was evaded,
and while some military officers may have failed faith-
fully to discharge their duty, the evil was in the main
checked, and bread was saved to our people.
The proclamation only prohibited distillation till the
meeting of the General Assembly, and I now submit the
question for your consideration. While it is hoped we
may have a plentiful supply of corn for the use of the
people of the State, and can spare some for the army,
we do not know what may be the vicissitudes of war, and
it certainly is the duty of the Statesman, at such a crisis,
to do all in his power to so husband the blessings of
Providence, as to prevent suffering and secure a supply
of food for the people. I therefore respectfully recom-
mend the passage of a statute prohibiting the distillation
of grain into alcohol or ardent spirits, except under suffi-
cient restrictions, for mechanical and medicinal uses, till
the end of the present war. I think this legislation is de-
manded alike by an enlightened public opinion, and by
the exigencies of the times.
Since my proclamation I have permitted persons hav-
ing contracts with the Confederate Government to manu-
facture necessary supplies of alcohol and whiskey for the
army, but I have found it very difficult to prevent abuses
of this privilege, and I recommended the terms upon which
it shall in future be granted be accurately defined by law,
and that Government manufactories be confined to one, or
a few localities, so that this State shall not have to bear
more than her just part of the burden of furnishing from
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 261
her grain, the ardent spirits claimed to be necessary for
the use of the army of the Confederate States.
I have reason to believe that government contractors
have been through the State sub-letting their contracts,
and getting whiskey made at a much lower price than that
paid them by the Government. This speculation should
not be permitted, but the Government should be author-
ized to locate its distilleries at such points as it may
select, and there by its agents to make Georgia's part of
what it needs for medicinal uses and no more.
Salaries of Public Officers.
I recommend that the salary of every public officer in
Georgia, which is fixed by law, where there is no constitu-
tional prohibition, including the fees of officers of the
Courts, be increased fifty per cent, and that the Judges
be all placed upon an equality as they stood prior to your
last session, before the fifty per cent, is added, so as to
give all the Judges of each Court the same compensation.
Produce, clothing, groceries, medicines, and all the neces-
saries of life used by a family, have risen in the market to
an average of at least five times as much as they cost
when the fees and salaries of public officers were fixed by
law. The depreciation of the currency and the scarcity
of the supply of most of these necessaries, have united
to produce this result. The public officer now receives the
same number of dollars in currency which he formerly
received in gold, and can purchase T^ith it only one-fifth
as much of the necessaries of life. I do not propose to add
five hundred per cent, to the present salaries, which would
place the public officer in as good condition as he was be-
262 Confederate Records
fore the war, but I propose to add only fifty per cent, and
let him lose the four liinidred and fifty, as his part of the
burden imposed by the war, I think the most i)arsimoni-
ous citizen of the State cannot deny the justice of this
proposition, nor contend that the public officer shall take
all the burden without any of the compensation resulting
from the present high prices. This increase should in-
clude the pay of the members and officers of the General
Assembly as well as other public servants, if the Consti-
tution will permit, and I think it does. In making this
recommendation, I cannot be justly chargeable with in-
terested motives, as my own salary, though not worth as
much as one thousand dollars was when I first went into
office, cannot, under a provision of the Constitution, be
either increased or diminished during my term in office.
This, however, furnishes no sufficient reason why others
should suffer injustice. The farmer gets for most of the
articles which he produces, from three to five times as
much as formerly ; the manufacturer and merchant do the
same on their productions and stock in trade. The pay
of the public officer is his living; or, if you will allow the
expression, his crop. Why, then, should he alone be con-
fined to the old prices for his income and be compelled to
pay the increased prices for all he has to purchase! It
is not just, and a just people will not require it.
The Families of our Soldiers in Service.
The remarks made in reference to the high prices of
the necessaries of life, apply to the families of our noble
troops, who, by their gallant deeds, have illustrated the
character of our State on the battle field, and rendered
their names immortal on a brilliant historic page. These
heroic citizen soldiers have till recently received but $11
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 263
per month from the Government as wages. The act of
Congress, passed at its hist session, as reported by the
newspapers, raises the wages of the private and the non-
commissioned officer four dollars per month. Many of
these privates are poor men, who have left behind, the
large families dependent upon their own exertions for a
livelihood. They may be obliged to spend part of their
wages in camp for indispensable articles, but if they are
not, and send it all back, it affords their loved ones at
home a most meagre subsistence at the present prices of
provisions and clothing. Some of the wealthier counties,
under an act of the last session, are providing amply for
the wants of the soldiers' families, while others are not
able, without an oppressive tax, to render the large num-
ber within their limits much assistance. In this State of
things I think it j^roper that the wealth of the whole State,
when necessary, be compelled to contribute to the wants of
soldiers ' families in all parts of the State, who need assis-
tance. I therefore recommend that the State provide, by
general appropriation, a bounty of one hundred dollars
for the family of each soldier from this State in service
for the war, or who may hereafter enter the service for
a like period, whose property when last given by him on
the tax book, was worth less than one thousand dollars,
and the like sum for each widow of a deceased soldier, and
for each widow who has a son or sons in service, or who
has lost a son in service. And I further recommend, that
the whole net proceeds of the Western & Atlantic Rail-
road for the ensuing year be appropriated to pay the
bounty, and that freights be increased for that purpose
twenty-five per cent, upon present prices, and that each
person in this State who has been engaged in any kind
of speculation, in any of the necessaries of life, be taxed
264 Confederate Records
thirty-three and one-third per cent, upon the net incomes
of his speculation, to raise the balance of the fund. The
oath of the tax-payer should be so amended as to compel
each to state on oath the income of his speculation, and a
heavy penalty should be provided against any one who
swears falsely, I also recommend, that the Governor of
the State be authorized to raise the money to meet the
payment of this bounty by negotiating a temporary loan
at five per cent, to be paid to the creditors, so soon as the
money is paid into the Treasury by the State Road and
the Tax Collectors. The Act should provide for the ap-
pointment of one or more proper persons in each county
to receive the money for the families and see that it prop-
erly applied in the purchase of such supplies as are actual-
ly necessary for the comfort of each family, and should
provide a heavy penalty against anyone who shall mis-
apply the funds due a soldier's family, or speculate di-
rectly or indirectly upon the bounty money. While they
are absent, enduring all the hardships and privations of
camp life, their families should be supplied, if need be,
at the public expenses, with such of the necessaries of
life as their labor will not afford them, cost the State
what it may. The money could be raised in the manner
above recommended without serious burden to the peo-
ple of the State, as a large part of the freight on the
State Road is paid by speculators of this and other
States, who, if their commodities were shipped for noth-
ing, would still charge the highest prices for all they
sell. The tax of thirty-three and a third per cent, upon
the incomes of those who have been speculating upon
the necessaries of life would be just and proper, and
compel them to appropriate part of their gains to the
benefit of our cause. Many of them are making large
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 265
fortunes by taking advantages of the necessities of the
poor and needy, and will do nothing for the public good
unless they are compelled by laws too stringent to be
evaded.
"We need not attempt to close our eyes to the stern
reality. The success of our cause depends upon the
gallantry and endurance of our troops. They cannot
fight unless they and their families can be supplied with
at least the necessaries of life. The wealth of the coun-
try must come to their relief, and contribute whatever
the exigencies may require. The question for each prop-
erty holder to consider is, whether he will give up part
for the protection of the balance, or withhold the neces-
sary contribution and lose the whole.
Exemption of Soldiers From Taxation.
In consideration of the hardships and privations en-
dured by our soldiers in service, and the necessities of
the families of many of them, I recommend the enact-
ment of a law exempting all soldiers while in service
from the payment of poll tax. I also recommend the
exemption of one thousand dollars of the property of
each soldier from all taxation during his continuance in
service. Large numbers of our troops have not more
than one thousand dollars worth of property each. This
is all needed for the comfort of their families in their
absence, and should be exempt from the burdens of taxa-
tion. Those who have more than one thousand dollars
should only be required to pay on the balance beyond
that sum.
266 Confederate Records
I think it just that the wealth of the State and those
who remain n\ the enjoyment of home comforts, many
of whom are aeciimnhitinj;- fortunes by speculation, should
bear the burden of the taxation necessary to support the
Government, and the families of those who meet the ene-
my on the field of battle.
Clothing for the Georgia Troops.
Information of the most authentic character has been
received from the army, which verifies the report that
many of the Georgia troops in Confederate service are
almost destitute of clothes and shoes, and must suffer
terribly this winter, if speedy relief is not afforded.
This suffering should never be permitted by the people
of the State as long as we are able to raise a dollar for
their relief. I have recommended the Georgia Relief
and Hospital Association to draw and expend for clothes
and shoes for the most destitute, the remaining portion
of the appropriation which they have not had occasion
to use for hospital purposes, not doubting that such an
application of the money would meet your cordial appro-
val. They have done much, but there is still much more
to be done.
To meet the emergency I recommend the passage of a
joint resolution of the two Houses, at the earliest day
possible, authorizing the Governor of this State, if satis-
factory arrangements cannot be made with the proprie-
tors, to seize all the factories and tanneries in this State
and appropriate their whole products to this use, till a
good pair of shoes and a good suit of clothes are fur-
nished to every Georgia soldier in service who needs the
State Papees of Governor Jos. E. Brown 267
assistance. I do not know that the Confederate Govern-
ment would pay for the supply thus furnished. If not,
the State is able to give these necessary articles to her
brave sons who are suffering for them, and her people
should not hesitate a moment to do it. It would not be
necessary to keep the possession of the factories and
tanneries long, as the winter's supply could soon be made.
The resolution should fix the price per yard to be paid
for cloth, the price per pound to be paid for leather, and
the price to be paid for shoes if found ready made. As
no authority was given me at your last session to expend
money to furnish necessaries to the troops in Confederate
service, I have not felt authorized to make the seizures
now recommended, till you have given your sanction to
the proposed action. The cold part of the winter is fast
approaching, the climate of Virginia and Kentucky is
severe, and I think humanity, as well as justice to our
fellow citizens under arms, requires prompt action.
Cotton and Provisions.
While cotton has long been the great staple production
of the State of Georgia and several other States of the
Confederacy, we have been accustomed to draw a large
portion of our supplies of provisions from the Western
States. In the present condition of the country this is
no longer possible. Our ports are blockaded and we
cannot import from abroad. We are therefore left to
depend upon ourselves for the production of a supply
sufficient for our people at home and our army. We
have the ability to make this supply, if all our labor,
except enough to make cotton for home consumption, is
employed in the production of gTain and other articles
268 Confederate Records
used to sustain life. But so large a proportion of our
laboring men will be under arms during the ensuing year,
that we cannot probably do more than this. Without a
supply of provisions it is impossible to sustain our army
in the field and prevent the enemy from triumphing over
us. This question, then, becomes one of the most vital
importance, one upon which not the ''national life/' but
the lives of our people and the cause of the Confederacy
depend. The price which cotton now brings in the market,
presents the strongest temptation to the planter to pro-
duce a large crop. And it is feared without the restrain-
ing influence of prohibitory legislation, much of our land
and labor will be employed in its production next year.
The conduct of the planters of this State during the pres-
ent year has generally been alike commendable and pa-
triotic. But few have produced large crops of cotton.
The fact must not be overlooked, however, that the price
was low last spring and the temptation very small in
comparison with that now presented.
While our ports are blockaded, we cannot make use-
ful, more than is required to clothe our own people. Then
why produce it, and lay it up in store to tempt the enemy
to penetrate the interior of our country to obtain it! Or
why keep it for the benefit of commercial nations after
we have achieved our independence! They have left us
at a most critical period to take care of ourselves. Why,
then, should we not leave them to feed their own starving
operatives till such time as is compatible with our public
interest to produce the supply of cotton, without which
they must number their paupers by millions, and support
them by taxation? The States can regulate this produc-
tion by the exercise of their taxing power. There has, I
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 269
believe, never been a tax act in Georgia, from the earliest
period of the State government to this day, which did not
discriminate between different kinds of property and tax
some one higher than another. Wlien the power of
discrimination is admitted the extent of its exercise is
dependent upon the discretion of the Legislature. The
power to discriminate has not only been admitted in this
State, but the practice has been uniform in its exercise.
I, therefore, recommend the enactment of a law imposing
a tax of one hundred dollars upon each quantity of seed
cotton, sufficient to make a bale of four hundred pounds
of picked cotton produced next year upon all excess over
what is actually necessary for a home supply. Beyond
such supply, production should only be permitted upon
the payment of a tax which renders it unprofitable to the
avaricious.
I make no recommendation for the imposition of a
tax upon the crop of the past year, for the reason that
the Legislature had not in advance notified the people
of the State of the necessity which must induce a change
of policy in the taxation of this staple production. As
the law upon the Statute Book exempted the growing
crop from taxation when planted, and as many of our
planters were absent from the State in military service
and had but little opportunity to look to their crops and
other home interests, it would seem to be improper, by
retroactive legislation, to load it with a heavy tax when
gathered. Our policy should be made, known in advance,
that each citizen, when he plants his crop, may know
what the State will require on the production when made.
27«> Confederate Records
Western & Atlantic Kailroad.
For the operations of the Western & Atlantic Rail-
road durins: the })ast fisoal year, you are referred to the
Report of its faithful Superintendent. It will be ob-
served that the Road is now out of debt, so far as the
existence of any just claim against it is ascertained.
It has paid into the Treasury of the State four hundred
and forty thousand dollars out of net earnings for the
past year, and there was due on the road on the 30th of
September last, $577,864.78 from the Confederate Gov-
ernment for the transportation of troops and military
stores. Pa^^nent had been demanded, but not made, the
Secretary of the Treasury insisting that we should re-
ceive Confederate bonds. This I have declined to do,
on the grounds that there is no law of the State author-
izing the Superintendent to receive bonds and pay them
into the Treasury; and on the further ground, that it is
not the policy of the State, while she is in debt, to invest
in the bonds of any other State or government. I have
therefore demanded Confederate Treasury notes which
pass as currency, and can be used by the State in pay-
ment of her own indebtedness and her current expenses.
I trust the claim may be paid without much further de-
lay.
The Road bed is in excellent condition, and I have at
my command the means to keep it so. I was so fortunate
last winter as to be able to purchase eleven hundred tons
of new railroad bar at fifty dollars per ton. This iron
is now worth in the market at least one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars more than I paid for it. I was not
the legal purchasing agent of the Road, and if iron had
fallen as much as it has risen it is quite probably that
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 271
there might have been loud complaints, had I insisted
that the Road take the iron. I have, however, given the
Road the benefit of the contract, which is worth to the
State the sum above mentioned. I could sell the iron at
any time, and after refunding the sum paid for it, could
pay into the Treasury of the State one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars as a balance of the proceeds of the sale.
Since I was first inaugurated as Governor of the
State, the Road has paid the State Treasury $1,948,-
000, and has paid $302,681.07 in satisfaction of debts
and unliquidated demands for which it was then liable.
It is now in as good condition in every respect as it then
was with the exception of the rolling stock, which has
not been kept up as well as usual for the last two years,
on account of the impossibility of procuring, at any
price, part of the material used in construction and re-
pairs. The amount due the Road from the Confederacy
is, however, more than double the sum that would be re-
quired to make the repairs complete.
Upon the application of the military authorities of
the Confederate States they have frequently been per-
mitted to take our cars and engines and carry them on
other Roads, to such points as emergencies might require.
The lamented General Albert Sidney Johnston had or-
dered a large number of our cars upon the Memphis and
Charleston Road, a short time before the battle of Shiloh,
which, on account of the possession of that Road by the
enemy, have not been returned. At this and other points
we have lost 180 cars while in Confederate service.
Should they never be returned, it is expected that the
Confederacy will pay for them just compensation.
272 Confederate Records
Defence of Savannah.
I have been informed by the Military Commander at
Savannah that it is intended to make a defence of the
city "to extremity," and he requests assistance from
the State, in the removal of the women and cliildren and
other non-combatants from the city. In view of the fate
of New Orleans and other cities which have been sur-
rendered to the enemy, I cordially endorse and approve
this resolution of the Confederate General. Let us hold
the city as long as a house of a brick wall is left stand-
ing, behind which our troops can fight; and let the State
assume the loss occasioned by the destruction of proper-
ty, or at least divide it with the sufferers. It will be nec-
essary that food and shelter be provided for such of the
non-combatants as are unable to take care of themselves,
as soon as possible, that they may be removed in advance
of the attack. I therefore recommend on early appro-
priation of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for
this purpose.
Obstructions of our Rivers.
It is said the enemy are preparing gun-boats of light
draught to ascend our rivers, and plunder our inland
towns and cities, while the waters are high in the winter
season. This can probably be prevented in no other way
so effectually as by the obstruction of our streams. Most
of them can be entirely obstructed by felling the timber
which stands upon the banks into the channel of the
stream. It may, however, be very difficult at the end of
the war to remove these obstructions and restore the
navigation of the river .
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 273
As a Confederate General, who is an engineer of the
first order of ability and acquirements, is in command of
the Military Department which embraces this State, I
have thought it best to leave the matter entirely in his
hands till your meeting.
The question as to the best means of defence, in the
absence of any action by the Confederate authorities, is
an important one well deserving your serious considera-
tion. I doubt not that the Legislative department of the
State Government participates in the regret felt by the
Executive, that the Confederate authorities have done
no more for the defence of the State, when so large a
proportion of her militia have left lier limits and gone
into Confederate service, as to leave her almost power-
less for her own protection.
Military Organization of the State.
The efforts which our relentless foe has proclaimed
to the world, that it is his purpose soon to make, in vio-
lation of all rules of civilized warfare, to incite servile
insurrection among us, not unnaturally create serious
concern in the mind of every Georgian. So large a num-
ber of our arms bearing men have already gone into the
military service of the Confederacy, and so many more
may soon be required, that we have comparatively a
small number left in each county, and in some localities
where the slave population is very large, scarcely enough
to direct their labor remain with them. Those who re-
main have generally given up all their best arms to those
who have gone, and they are now nearly destitute of arms
or ammunition. Our women and children are, therefore,
274 Confederate Records
left at home almost entirely without protection. In this
condition of onr people, a general insurrection, even at
the most exposed points, might he productive of scenes
of misery and horror which no language can describe.
To provide every means possible for the prevention of
this terrible calamity, is the highest obligation of every
Georgian, and the imperative duty of every representative
of the people. Instead, therefore, of permitting our mili-
tary organization to be disbanded at this critical moment,
I recommend the enactment of such laws as will protect
every military and other State officer in his position, and
compel him to discharge his duties, or submit to heavy
penalties. I also recommend an extension of our State
militia laws so as to embrace all persons between sixteen
and sixty years of age, who are able to perform service
in their respective militia districts and counties; and that
the best provision possible be made to arm at least a por-
tion of the militia of each county most exposed to danger.
As it is not possible to secure a supply of fire-arms for
this purpose, I recommend that provision be made to arm
as many as possible with good pikes and knives.
As the insurgents would not be able to procure many
guns, pikes and knives in the hands of the militia might,
in the absence of better arms, be made very serviceable
in defence of our homes till the armed regiments, which
I have recommended be kept in the service of the State,
could be thrown to the point attacked, or menaced with
attack. If it were generally known among our slaves that
these precautions had been used, and, in addition to the
militia, that a regular force is kept constantly ready to
be thrown rapidly upon them, should they become insub-
ordinate, I can not doubt that a salutary effect would be
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 275
produced. It might also be wise to provide for a mounted
police in each of the counties most exposed, to be kept
as a volunteer company, read\' for service at a moment's
call, to drill once a week, and each member to receive a
reasonable compensation for his services on the day of
drill.
Georgia Military Institute.
It affords me pleasure to state that this valuable
State Institution has been in a prosperous condition
during the ])ast year. Many more cadets were offered
than the buildings would accommodate. I respectfully
recommend an appropriation, of fifty thousand dollars to
be used for the erection of the necessary buildings, the
improvement of the grounds, and for such other purposes,
as the board may find indispensable to the permanent
■establishment of the Institution upon a solid basis.
Adjutant and Inspector-General.
The report of the Adjutant and Inspector-General, of
this State with the accompanying documents, which give
a full and snfficiently detailed account of the official trans-
actions, and expenditures connected with that Depart-
ment, together with valuable suggestions upon the mili-
tary organization of the State, is herewith transmitted.
General Wayne was the first man who responded to
the call of his State, when the dissolution of the Union
was seen to be inevitable, and resigned an honorable and
comfortable position in the army of the United States to
cast his lot with his native land, and share her fortunes
whether for weal or for woe. From that day to the pres-
276 Confederate Records
ent time do one lias labored more incessantly or zealously,
to secure the safety, and promote the prosperity and glory
of his mother State. His labors connected with our mili-
tary organizations, both for State and Confederate ser-
vice, have been invaluable; and while he has always
shown the self-sacrificing disposition which is seen in
his report, no intelligent Georgian, acquainted with the
duties of his office and its importance, woud willingly
consent to dispense with his services, during the existence
of the war.
Appropriation for Military Purposes,
To meet any expenditures which it may become indis-
pensable to make for the defence of the State, and the
protection of our homes during the ensuing year, I recom-
mend the appropriation of three millions of dollars as a
military fund. I trust the action of those responsible
during the past year, will be received as a sufficient guar-
anty, that no more of the fund will be used than the exi-
gencies of the service may require.
Small Pox.
This dangerous disease has made its appearance in
several places in our State. Soldiers who have been ex-
posed to it without their knowledge are occasional!}' re-
turning home on furlough, and there is danger that it
may spread and become a great scourge.
As our people are too careless about adopting the
necessary preventative, I recommend such legislation as
will secure the early vaccination of all persons in this State
subject to the disease.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 277
Salt.
Messrs. Stotesberry and Humphries, of Screven coun-
ty, complied with the terms prescribed by the act passed
at your last session on the subject of the manufacture of
salt, and after giving a mortgage on sufficient property,
drew $10,000 of the appropriation. I am not aware of
any active efforts made by them to any considerable ex-
tent to make salt. Under the circumstances they should
either proceed with the business or refund the money
which imder the law, they hold without the payment of
interest.
Finding that the money placed at my command by the
act would be wholly inadequate, and that but little could
be expected under the provisions of this statute, I felt it
my duty to take the responsibility to make such arrange-
ments as in my judgment would do most to secure a sup-
ply of this indispensable article to our people. The
Virginia Salt Works in Smythe and Washington counties,
were believed to be the resource most to be relied upon.
The Legislature of that State held an extra session early
in the summer, and determined not to purchase nor lease
those works, but to leave them in the hands of the pro-
prietors. Immediately after the adjournment of the ses-
sion, I sent Hon. John W. Lewis (who tendered his ser-
vices without compensation, at his own expense,) to the
works, as the agent of this State. While there, he suc-
ceeded in closing a contract with the proprietors for the
use of water and privilege to make 500 bushels of salt per
day. This was the greatest quantity he could at that time
procure privilege to make. He also employed Maj. M. S.
Temple, of East Tennessee, to manufacture the salt for
278 Confederate Records
the State. The whole cost to the State of each busliel of
fifty pounds is one doHar and fifty cents, when weighed
for the kettles. W'v have to receive the salt as it is made,
before it is thoroughly dry, and it loses about one-fifth in
drippage and wastage by the time it reaches Atlanta. The
sacks, the exi)ress freight upon them, and the Railroad
freights on the roads in East Tennessee and Virginia are
all uncommonly high.
Feeling that it was the duty of the State to afford
relief as far as possible, first to the families of our gal-
lant soldiers, I directed the Commissary General of the
State, who is charged with the responsibility of the dis-
tribution of the salt, to make a donation of one-half
bushel to the widow of each soldier of this State who has
died in military service, and to each widow who has lost
a son in service ; and to sell to the Inferior Court of each
county a half bushel for one dollar, for each family of a
soldier now in service, or of a widow who has a son in ser-
vice. The Justices of the Inferior Courts of the several
counties have been requested to make a return to the
Commissary General of the names of all the soldiers'
wives and widows in their respective comities, and I di-
rect that officer, to distribute the salt among the counties
in the order in wliich the Courts made their reports. Con-
sequently, the counties whose Courts were most active
and reported first, have long since received their salt,
while some, I believe, have not yet reported.
As soon as this distribution is completed, it is proposed
to ]nit the State salt upon the market, at such rates as will
enable us to pay all cost upon it. It will probably be nec-
essary to sell the balance at about five dollars per bushel,
to make it pay all costs and charges. By the adoption of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 279
this plan, all who purchase are taxed something for the
assistance of the soldiers' families and widows who have
had each one-half bushel on the terms above mentioned.
In the next distribution, each citizen will only be per-
mitted to receive one bushel, till all have received some
relief. The soldier's families needing over one-half
bushel will be allowed the preference in this distribution
upon the payment of the prices paid by others. Many a
poor family will need little more than the half bushel
which they receive under the first distribution. Those
having more means can afford to pay the prices paid by
other citizens, for what they need over the half bushel.
It affords me much pleasure, in tliis connection to
state, that a company of patriotic citizens having its
office in Troup county, and another in Augusta, have ob-
tained privilege to make salt at the Virginia Works, and
are now turning out daily a large quantity. The State is
making five hundred bushels per day and these compa-
nies will soon average that quantity daily. They ])ro-
pose first to supply themselves and then to sell to the
citizens of the State without speculation. The State
and each of these companies has had much difficulty in
procuring the necessary labor and material to put their
works into successful operation. This difficulty has been
overcome, however, after some delay, which we would
gladly have avoided. I feel that I should fail to do my
duty were I not to state in this connection, that the peo-
ple of this State owe much of gratitude to Hon. B. H. Big-
ham, who is a member of your body, for his great energy
and activity as the President of the Troup com]^any. He
has spent his time at the works and superintended in per-
280 Confederate Records
sou, and has rendered very valuable service to the com-
pany and to the State.
The Railroad companies of the State have promptly
responded to a request made by me, that they carry the
State's salt to the depots of deposit, and thence to the
depot of distribution for each citizen free of charge. This
act entitles them to the thanks of the whole people. I
have ordered that the State salt, the salt made by the two
companies from this State, and all salt purchased at the
works by persons or county associations for their own
use, when no speculation is intended, be carried free of
charge over the State Road.
As no appropriation has been made which could be
used in carrying out my contract for the Virginia salt,
I ordered the Treasurer of the W. & A. Railroad to ad-
vance to the Commissary General sufficient funds to meet
the necessity. It will be necessary that the money be re-
funded to him to enable him to keep his accounts correctly.
For this purpose, I recommend the appropriation of one
hundred thousand dollars to be used in the purchase of
salt and refunded to the Treasury of the State when the
salt is sold.
Within the last few days Messrs, Graves and Gold-
smith have proposed to devote their whole energies to the
importation of salt into the State from the mine at New
Iberia in Louisiana. They do not propose to sell the salt
on speculation, but wish only compensation for their
efforts and expenses. I have agreed to pay them $7.50
per bushel of fifty pounds for all they will deliver in
Atlanta by the 1st of March next. If the enemy do not
interrupt the transportation, it is hoped their patriotic
efforts will be attended by successful results.
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown 281
Upon this subject it only remains for me to express
my deep degret at the course lately taken by the Legisla-
ture of the State of Virginia. As above stated, no con-
tract was made with the proprietors of the salt works in
that State, till after the adjournment of the Legislature,
which in extra session had taken the question of a supply
of salt into its consideration, and had adjourned, without
having taken any action, so far as I have been informed,
indicating a purpose to seize the works. Feeling that I
then had a perfect right to contract with the proprietors,
I entered into the engagements, which I mentioned, with
them, and have had large expenditures made in accord-
ance with the contract. The two companies from this
State, with my approval, acted in like manner, and hav-
ing expended large sums in preparing to make salt, not
for speculation but for home supply. Other States also
followed the example of Georgia. I am not aware, how-
ever, that the State of Virginia made, or till a late period
attempted to make, a contract with the proprietors of
the works for the privilege of making salt on State ac-
count. About the time the works of this State, and of
other States were going into successful operation, the
Legislature of that honored commonwealth again went
into extra session, and finding that the people of Virginia
were in need of salt, authorized the Governor, in case of
necessity, if other resources failed, to seize the works of
the other sister States within her borders. This seizure,
if made, takes from the families of Georgia soldiers now
in Virginia, defending the homes of the people of that
State more immediately than their own, all hope of getting
salt in time to prevent great suffering. This is not an
appeal to Virginia to furnish to our soldiers' families
that which she has made with her own capital and labor.
282 Confederate Records
If Virginia should make the seizure under the circum-
stances, her conduct will, in my opinion, be inconsistent
with the character of the ''Mother of States."
So soon as I saw the act of the Legishiture of that
State in the newspapers, I addressed a letter to His Ex-
cellency, Governor Letcher, upon the subject, a copy of
which I herewith transmit. I regret to say that I have
received no reply from him, and am therefore unable to
announce to you what will be his policy. The salt made
by the Troup company was seized under his proclamation
and subsequently released, but we have no guaranty
against future seizures. Wliile I will not believe till
compelled, that Virginia will attempt to rob Georgia of
rights so important, at so critical a period, I shall be
ready to carry out any instructions of the General Assem-
bly for the defense of the rights of the State of Georgia
to the last extremity. We can not submit to be deprived
of the salt we are making under fair contracts made with
the proprietors of the works, with the assent of the State
of Virginia strongly implied, and with full knowledge on
her part for months prior to the late act of her Legisla-
ture, that Georgia was making heavy expenditures at the
works to which she did not object.
Conclusion.
Profoundly impressed with the importance of the
struggle in which we are all engaged, the common dangers
and privations to which we are exposed, and with the
necessity for unanimity and harmony in our Legislative
action, I am prepared to sacrifice every personal consid-
eration, to the promotion of concord and unity, between
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 283
the different departments of the Government of the great
State, whose people have honored lis with their confidence
at a time of no ordinary peril ; and to join with the Gen-
eral Assembly in returning thanks to Almighty God for
his past mercies, and offering fervent invocations for his
future protection.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department.
The following special message of His Excellency,
Joseph E. Brown, was this day transmitted to both
branches of the General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department.
Milledgeville, November 6th, 1862.
To the Senate and House of Representatives-.
The great struggle for liberty and independence in
which we have been engaged during the past year,
against a powerful and relentless enemy, has called not
only for the exercise of the united energies of our whole
people, but for the most costly sacrifices of blood and
treasure. When we look at the material of which the
armies of the contending parties are composed, we can
but exclaim, how unequal the contest! In the armies of
the South are found her noblest and best sons, whose
valor upon the battle field has been unsurpassed, and
whose blood in abundant profusion has been poured out,
a rich sacrifice upon the altar of liberty. The Northern
armies, on the contrary, have been composed, in a
284 Confederate Records
great degree, of imported foreigners and paupers, and
of the worst classes of Northern society, who have
served as mercenaries, and whose destruction, in many
instances, has been rather a relief than a misfortune to
society. But the contrast does not stop here. The mo-
tives which prompt the people of tlie two sections to
protract the war, are as different as the material of
which the two armies are composed is unlike the peo-
ple of the North are fighting for power and plunder,
the people of the South for the liberty and independ-
ence of themselves and their posterity. Our enemies
have it in their power to stop the war whenever they
are content to do justice and let us alone. We can
never stop fighting while they continue to attempt our
subjugation, but must prosecute the war with vigor, if
necessary, to the expenditure of the last dollar and the
destruction of the last man. If we are subjugated, let
it be only when we are exterminated. We were born
free; and though it be upon the battle field, we should
die free.
This I believe to be the unanimous sentiment of the
people of Georgia who have, on this question, laid aside
all party divisions and differences; and have, from the
commencement of the struggle, promptly discharged
their whole duty to the cause, and to their brethren
of the other Confederate States. Not a requisition has
been made upon Georgia by the President of the Con-
federacy for assistance which has not been met without
delay; and in every case of requisition on the State for
troops, more men have been tendered than were re-
quired.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 285
In the face of this proud record no plea of necessity
could be set up, so far as Georgia was concerned, (and
I believe the remark will apply generally to all the
States,) for the passage of any Act by Congress to raise
troops, which either infringed her constitutional rights
or disregarded her sovereignty. The Act of Congress
of 16th April last, usually known as the Conscription
Act, in my opinion, does both ; and is not only a palpable
violation of the Constitution of the Confederacy, but a
dangerous assault upon both the rights and the sover-
eignty of the States. We supposed, when we entered
into this revolution for the defense of State Rights
against federal aggression, that, in a little over one
year, the persons of the free-born citizens of the res-
pective States would be regarded and claimed, while
at home in pursuit of their ordinary avocations, as the
vassals of the central power, to be like chattels, ordered
and disposed of at pleasure, without the consent, and
even over the protest of the State to which they be-
longed; and that he who raised his voice against such
usurpation would be denounced by the minions of power
as untrue to the cause so dear to every patriotic South-
ern heart? And who that has noticed the workings of
the conscription policy, will say that this picture is over-
drawn? Not only the rights and the sovereignty of the
States have been disregarded, but the indi\ddual rights
of the citizens have been trampled under foot, and we
have by this policy been reduced, for a time at least,
to a state bordering upon military despotism.
This extraordinary Act has been defended, however,
by two classes of individuals upon two distinct grounds.
The first class admit its unconstitutionality, but justify
286 Confederate Records
its i)assnge upon the ])lea of necessity, and say tliat
without it the twelve months' volunteers could not have
been kept in the field in a time of great emergency; and
further, that the Constitution is a mere rope of sand in
the midst of revolution. The second class justifies it
on the ground that Congress had the right under the
Constitution to pass it. Is either correct?
To the first, it may be replied that the plea of ne-
cessity cannot be set up, till it can be shown that the
States when called on had neglected or refused to fill
the requisitions made upon them for troops by the
President. Again, in reference to the twelve months'
troops, it should be remembered that the Governor only
called on them to volunteer for that period before thej''
left their homes, and that the contract clearly implied
between them and the Government, was that they should
faithfully serve it and do all their duty as soldiers for
that period, and that they should have all the rights of
soldiers, with the legal pay and allowances, and should
in good faith be discharged and permitted to return
home at the end of that time. The Government cannot,
therefore, be justifiable in \^olating its contract, and
acting in bad faith towards them, no matter how great
the emergency may have been, unless it can be shown
that the Government, by the exercise of due foresight
and energ}', could not have supplied their places in time
to meet the emergency. The fact that they were twelve
months' men was well known to the Government from
the time they entered the service. Why then were not
requisitions made upon the State for enough of troops
to fill their places a sufficient time before the expiration
of their term, to have men in sufficient numbers ready
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 287
for service? But admit that the Government had neg-
lected this plain duty until it was now too late to get the
men from the States in time to meet the crisis, and
that it had on that account become necessary for it to
violate its contract with the twelve months' men, to save
the cause from ruin; was it then necessary to pass a
general Conscription Act to accomplish this purpose?
Could it not have been done by simply passing an Act
compelling all twelve months' men, of every age, to re-
main in service for ninety days, as all under 18 and
over 35, though not conscripts, were compelled to do?
This would have given the Government three months
more of time to provide against the consequences of its
former neglect and raise the necessary force, and would
have left the troops, in the meantime, under the com-
mand of the officers appointed by the State, as provided
by the Constitution. The emergency would thus have
been met, more of justice been done even to the twelve
months' volunteers, and no dangerous precedent at war
with the constitutional rights of the citizen and the sov-
ereignty of the States would have been established. It
must also be recollected while upon this part of the sub-
ject, that the Act, by its plain letter, deprived the troops
who had volunteered for the war, in response to calls
made by the States to fill requisitions made upon them,
of the right to elect their officers when so authorized
by the laws of their respective States, and have them
commissioned by their State authorities; and that it es-
tablished a system of promotion of officers in violation
of this right of the troops and authorized the President
to issue the commissions. What pressing necessity ex-
isted to justify this Act of palpable injustice to the State
volunteers, who had entered the Confederate service at
288 Confederate Records
the calls of their respective States for the war, with a
constitutional guaranty that their officers should be ap-
pointed by the States, and with tlie further guaranty
from the States, as in this State, that they should have
the right to elect those who were to command them?
But it is said by the first class of advocates of con-
scription, that the Constitution must yield to the exigen-
cies of the times, and that those in authority may vio-
late it when necessarj^ during the revolution ; if so, it of
course follows that those in authority must be the judges
of the necessity for its violation, which makes their will
the supreme law of the land. If this were the intention
of the people, why did they form a Constitution at the
beginning of the revolution, and why did they require all
our senators and representatives in Congress, all the
members of the legislatures of the several States, and all
executive and judicial officers of the Confederate States
and of the several States, to take an oath to support this
Constitution ?
When the Governor of this State and each member
of the General Assembly took a solemn oath to support
the Constitution of the Confederate States, no exception
was made which relieved them from the obligations of
the oath during the revolution. This fact should be re-
membered by those who admit the violation of the Con-
stitution, but severally censure the public officer who,
true to his obligation, throws himself in the breach for
the support of the Constitution against the usurpation.
I here dismiss the first class of advocates, and turn
to the justification set up by the second, which from its
nature, however unfounded, is entitled to more respect-
ful consideration. Does the Constitution authorize Con-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 289
gress to pass an Act such as the one now under con-
sideration ?
The advocates of this power in Congress rest the case
upon the 12th paragraph of the 8th section of the first
article of the Constitution of the Confederate States,
which is an exact copy of a similar paragraph of the same
article and section in the Constitution of the United
States. This paragraph gives Congress the power '*to
raise and support armies." The advocates of conscrip-
tion take this single clause of the Constitution alone and
contend that it does not define any particular mode of
raising armies, and that Congress has the power, there-
fore, to raise them either by voluntary enlistment, or by
conscription or coercion, as it may judge best.
The Convention which framed the Constitution of the
United States, of which ours is a copy so far as it relates
to this point, must be supposed to have used terms in the
sense in which they were usually understood at the
time, in the government which had lately been their own
and from which as descendants, they had derived not
only the terms used, but their whole system of language
and laws, civil and military. In placing a just construc-
tion upon the phrase to *^ raise armies," as used by the
Convention, we are, therefore, naturally led to enquire
how armies had been, and were at that time, raised by
the British Government, from which the members of the
Convention "had derived most of their ideas upon the
subject." By reference to the legislation and history of
the British Government, it will be found that armies were
not then raised in that Government by conscription, but
only by voluntary enlistment. This was not only the
case at the time of the adoption of the Federal Constitu-
200 Confederate Records
tion, but liad become tbe settled and estabHshed practice
of that Government after deliberate consideration of the
question, wliicli fact cannot be jiresumed to have been
unknown to the Convention when they used the phrase
now under consideration.
The terms used by the Convention having acquired a
definite meaning well understood and recognized by all,
we cannot justly presume that the members of the Con-
vention intended that these terms when used by them
should be understood in a different sense. Had this
been their design they would certainly have used such
qualifying language as would have left no doubt of their
intention to reject the ordinary acceptation of the terms
and use them in a different sense.
By reference to the constitutional history of Great
Britain, it w^ill be seen that a bill was attempted in 1704
''to recruit the army by a forced CONSCRIPTION of
men from each parish, hut was laid aside as UNCON-
STITUTIONAL." It was tried again in 1707 with like
success ; but it was resolved instead to bring in a bill for
raising a sufficient number of trooi)s out of such persons
as have no lawful calling or employment. A distin-
guished author says: "The parish officers were thus
enabled to press men for the land service, a method
hardly more constitutional than the former, and liable
to enormous abuses." The Act was temporary, and
was temporarily revised in 1757, but never upon any
later occasion. The convention of 1787 sat thirty years
after the British Government had abandoned the policy
of conscription, even of persons having no lawful em-
ployment, as unconstitutional. The Convention was
composed mostly of intelligent lawj'ers, who were well
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 291
acquainted with this fact, which leaves no room to doubt
that when they gave Congress the power to "raise ar-
mies" they intended that the phrase to "raise armies"
should be understood in the sense then attached to it,
and that the armies should be raised by volunteer enlist-
nieut; which was the only constitutional mode then
known in Great Britain or this country. It had not only
been solemnly determined by the proper authorities in
the kingly government of Great Britain long before the
commencement of the American revolution, that it was
unconstitutional to raise armies by conscription, but even
the monarchial government of France had not yet ven-
tured so far to disregard the rights of the subject of that
Government as to adopt this practice which places each
man subject to it like a chattel, at the will of him who,
under whatever name, exercises monarchial power. The
practice of the Government of the United States was
also uniformly against conscription from its creation to
its dissolution.
In view of these facts of history, can it now be just
to charge the great and good men who framed our re-
publican Government, with the grave mistake of having
conferred upon the General Government of a Confed-
eration of States powers over the persons of the citizens
of the respective States, which were at the time, re-
garded too dangerous to be exercised by the most abso-
lute European monarchs over their subjects?
When we construe all that is contained in the Consti-
tution upon this subject together, the meaning is clear
beyond doubt. The powers delegated by the States to
Congress are all it has. These are chiefly enumerated
in the 8th Section of the 1st Article of the Constitution.
292 Confederate Records
Paragrapli 11 gives Congress power, "To declare
war; grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make
rules concerning captures on land and water."
Paragrai)li 12. "To raise and support armies; but
no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a
longer term than two years."
Paragraph 13. "To provide and maintain a na\y."
Paragraph 14. "To make rules for the government
and regulation of the land and naval forces."
If it were the intention of the Convention to give
Congress the power to "raise armies" by conscription,
these four consecutive paragraphs gave plenary powers
over the whole question of war and peace, armies and
na\'ies ; and it could not have been necessary to add any
other paragraph to enlarge a power which was already
absolute and complete.
If Congress possessed the power under the 12th para-
graph above quoted, to compel every officer and every
citizen of every State to enter its armies at its pleasure,
its power was as unlimited over the persons of the offi-
cers and citizens of the States as the power of the most
absolute monarch in Europe ever was over his subjects;
and it was extreme folly on the part of the Convention
to attempt to increase this absolute power by giving to
Congress a qualified power over the militia of the States,
when its power over every man composing the militia
was unqualified and unlimited. That the Convention
was not guilty of the strange absurdity of having given
Congress the absolute, unlimited power now claimed for
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 293
it, will be seen by reference to the two next paragrai)bs,
which give only Umitcct powers over the militia of the
States.
Paragraph 15 gives Congress the power, '*To pro-
vide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of
the Confederate States; suppress insurrections, and re-
peal invasions."
Paragraph 16. '*To provide for organizing, arming
and disciplining the militia ; and for governing such part
of them as may be employed in the service of the Confed-
erate States reserving to the States respectively, the
appointment of the officers, and the authority of training
the militia according to the discipline prescribed by
Congress."
Now it must be admitted that Congress had no need
of the limited power over the militia of the States, which
is given by the last two paragraphs, if it possessed under
the 12th paragraph the unlimited power to compel every
man of whom the militia is composed to enter the military
of the Confederacy at any moment designated by Con-
gress.
When the six paragraphs above quoted are construed
together, each has its proper place and its proper mean-
ing; and each delegates a power not delegated by either
of the others. The power to declare war is the first given
to Congress ; then the power to raise and support armies ;
then the power to jirovide a navy; then the power to
make rules for the government and regulation of tlie
land and naval forces. Congress may, therefore, make
war; and as long as it can do so by the use of its armies
294 CoNFKDKIlATH RpXORDS
raise by voluntary oiilistnients, (whicli was the meaniiii;-
of the term ''to raise armies," wlien inserted in tiie
Constitution,) and by tlie use of tlie navy it may prose-
cute the war without c'allin<>- uj)()n the States for assis-
ance, or in any way interfering with tlic militia. lUit
if it sliould become necessary for Congress to employ
more force than the army and the navy at its command
in the execution of the laws of the Confederacy, the sup-
pression of insurrection, or the repulsion of invasion,
Congress may then, under the authority delegated by
paragraph 15, provide for calling forth the militia of the
States, for these jmrposes. AVlien this is done, however,
paragraph 16 guards the rights of the States by reserv-
ing, in plain terms, to the State respectively the appoint-
ment of the officers to command the militia when em-
ployed in the service of the Confederate States. This
authority was regarded by the Convention of 1787, as of
such vital importance that they, with almost entire
unanimity, voted down a proposition to permit the Gen-
ei-al Government to appoint even the general officers;
while the most ultra federalists in the Convention, never
seriously contended that the States should be deprived
of the appointment of the field and company officers^
The Convention doubtless saw the great value of this
reservation to the States, as the officers who were to
command the militia when in the service of the Con-
federacy would not be dependent upon the President for
their commissions, and would be supposed to be ready to
maintain with their respective commands, if necessary,
the rights of the States against the encroachments of
the Confederacy in case an attempt sliould be made by
the latter to usurp powers destructive of the sovereignty
of the former. On the contrary, should the officers ta
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 295
command the militia of the States in the service of tlie
Confederacj^ be appointed by the Confederate Executive
and be dependent upon him for their commissions, they
miglit be supposed to be more willing instruments in his
hand to execute his ambitious designs in case of at-
tempted encroachment.
When, therefore, the ditTerent delegations of power
are construed togetlier, the whole system is harmonious.
When Congress has declared war, and has used all the
power it possesses in raising armies by voluntary en-
listment, and providing a navy, and still needs more
forces for the purposes already mentioned, it may then
provide for calling forth the militia of the several States,
as contradistinguished from its armies and navy; and
liere, for the first time, the States as such have a voice
in the matter, as Congress can not call forth the militia
without giving the States the appointment of the officers,
which gives them a qualified power over the troops in the
service of the Confederacy, and an opportunity to be
heard as States, if the delegated powers have been abused
by Congress or the military force is likely to be used for
the subversion of their sovereignty.
As the residuum of powers not delegated is reserved
by the States, they may, when requisitions are made upon
them for troops by the Confederacy, or when necessary
for their own protection or the execution of their own
laws, call forth the militia by draft or by accepting vol-
unteers.
The advocates of conscription by Congress have at-
tempted to sustain the doctrine by drawing technical dis-
tinction between the militia of the States, and all the
296 Confederate Records
ariii.s-bearing i)eoi)le of tlie States of whom the militia is
composed. In other words, they attempt to draw a dis-
tinction between a company of militia of one hundred
men in a district and the one hundred men of whom the
company is comjiosed. And while it is admitted that
Congress can not call forth the company by conscription,
but must take the company with its officers, it is con-
tended that Congress may call forth, not the company,
but the one hundred men who compose the company, by
conscription, and by this evasion get rid of the State
officers and appoint its own officers. This mode of en-
larging the powers of Congress and evading the consti-
tutional rights of the States, by unsubstantial technicali-
ties would seem to be entitled to respect only on account
of the distinction of the names of its authors, and not
on account of its logical truth or the soundness of the
reasoning by which it is attempted to be maintained.
If Congress may get rid of the militia organization
of the States, at any time, by disbanding them and com-
pelling all the officers and men of whom they are com-
posed to enter its armies as conscripts under officers ap-
]iointed by the President, the provision in the Constitu-
tion which reserves to the State the appointment of the
officers to command their militia, when employed in the
service of the Confederacy, is a mere nullity whenever
Congress chooses to enact that it shall be a nullity.
Again, if Congress has power to raise its armies by
conscription, it has the power to discriminate and say
whom it will first call. If it may compel all between 18
and 35 years of age, by conscription, to enter its armies,
it has the same right to extend the Act, as it has lately
done, from 35 to 45; and if it has this power, it has the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 297
power to take all between 16 and 60. The same power
of discrimination authorizes it to limit its operations and
take only those between 25 and 30, or to take any par-
ticular class of individuals it may designate. And it
must be borne in mind that the power to raise armies is
as unlimited in Congress in times of the most profound
peace as it is in the midst of the most devastating war.
If Congress possesses the power to raise armies by con-
scription it follows that it may disband the State Gov-
ernments whenever it chooses to consider them an evil,
as it may compel every Executive in every State in the
Confederacy, every member of the Legislature of every
State, every Judge of every court in every State, every
militia officer, and every other State officer, to en-
ter the armies of the Confederacy in times of peace
or war, as privates under officers appointed by the Presi-
dent ; and may provide that the armies shall be recruited
by other State officers as fast as they are appointed by
the States. x\dmit the power of conscription claimed for
Congress by its advocates, and there is no escape from
the position that Congress possesses this power over the
States.
It may be said, however, that the case supposed is an
extreme one, and that while Congress may possess the
power to destroy the State Governments, it would never
exercise it. If it possesses the power, its exercise de-
pends upon the will of Congress, which might be influ-
enced by ambition, interest or caprice. Admit the power,
and I exercise the functions of the Executive office of this
State, you hold your seats as members of the General
Assembly, and our Judges perform their judicial duties,
by the grace and special favor of Congress and not as
298 CONFEDERATi: RECORDS
matter of right by virtue of the inherent sovereignty of
a great State, wliose people, in the manner provided by
the Constitution have invested us, for the constitutional
period, with the right to exercise these functions.
For my views upon this question somewhat more in
detail, and for the strongest reasons which can be given
on the other side to sustain this extraordinary preten-
sion of power in Congress, I beg leave to refer you to
the correspondence between President Davis and myself
upon this question, a copy of which is herewith trans-
mitted to each branch of the General Assembly.
In my letters to the President will also be found the
reasons which induce me to resist the execution of the
Conscription Act of 16th April last, so far as it related
to the officers necessary to the maintenance of the Gov-
ernment of this State. It may be proper that I remark
that my first letter to the President upon this question, in
which I notify him that I will resist interference with
the legislative, executive or judicial departments of the
Government of the State, though dated the 22d of April,
as it was expected to go by the mail of that day, was
prepared on the previous day, which was the day the
exemption Act was passed by Congress in secret session,
of the passage of which I had no knowledge nor had I
ever heard that such a bill was pending when the letter
was prepared.
The question has frequently been asked why I did
not resist the operation of the Act upon the privates as
well as the officers of the militia of the State. But for
the extreme emergency in which the country was at the
time placed by the neglect of the Confederate Govern-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 299
ment to make requisition upon the State for troops to
fill the places of the twelve months' men at an earlier
day, and the fact that the Conscription Act by the repeal
of all other Acts under which the President had been
authorized to raise troops, place it out of his power, for
the time, to accept them under the constitutional mode,
I should have had no hesitation in taking this course.
But having entered my protest against the constitution-
ality of the Act, and Congress having repealed all other
Acts for raising troops, I thought it best on account of
the great public peril, to throw the least possible obstruc-
tions, consistent with the maintenance of the Government
of the State, in the way of the Confederate Government
in its preparation for our defense. I, therefore, at the
expense of public censure which I saw I must incur by
making the distinction between officers and privates, de-
termined to content myself till the meeting of the Gen-
eral Assembly, with resistance to the execution of the
Act, only to the extent necessary to protect the State
Government against dissolution, and her people against
the massacre and horrors, which might have attended
negro insurrections in particular localities, had the militia
been disbanded, by compelling the militia officers to leave
the State, which would have left no legal vacancies that
could have been filled by the Executive.
While the first Conscription Act made a heavy draft
upon the militia of the State, it left all between thirty-
five and forty-five subject to the command of her consti-
tuted authorities in case of emergency; and with these
and her officers, she still retained a military organization.
I did not at that time anticipate an extension of the Act,
which would embrace the whole militia of the State, be-
fore your meeting. The late Act of Congress extends the
.'UX) Confederate Records
Conscription Act to embrace all betwceu tliirty-fivo and
forty-five; and if executed disbands and destroys all mili-
tary organization in the State. Not only so, but it denies
to those between thirty-five and forty-five the right guar-
anteed by the Constitution of the Confederacy and laws
of this State, to every Georgian to elect the officers by
whom he is to be commanded while in Confederate ser-
vice, and have been commissioned by the proper authority
in his own State. This privilege has been allowed to
other troops when called to the field. Even those em-
braced in the first Conscription Act, were allowed thirty
days to volunteer and select their own officers from
among those who at the time the Act was passed, had
commissions from the Secretary of "War to raise regi-
ments. But even this limited privilege, which fell far
short of the full measure of their constitutional rights,,
is denied those now called for; and they are to be com-
pelled to enter organizations in the choice of whose offi-
cers they have had no part, till all the old organizations,,
with most of their officers appointed by the President,
are filled to their maximum number. This Act, there-
fore, not only does gross injustice to the class of our
fellow-citizens now called to the field, and denies them
the exercise of sacred constitutional rights which other
citizens, when they entered the service, were permitted
to enjoy, but, if executed, it takes the Major Generals and
all other militia officers of the State by force, and puts
them under the command of third Lieutenants appointed
by the President, and leaves the State without a military
organization to execute her laws, repel invasion, protect
her public joroperty or suppress servile insurrection
which the enemy now threatens to incite for the indis-
criminate massacre of our wives and our children.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 301
We entered into this revolution in defense of the
rights and sovereignty of the States, and sundered our
connection with the old government, because State rights
were invaded and State sovereignty denied. The Con-
scription Act, at one fell swoop, strikes down the sover-
eignty of the States, tramples upon the constitutional
rights and personal liberty of the citizen, and arms the
President with imperial powers under which his subaltern
in this State has already published his orders to drag citi-
zens of Georgia, who are not in military service, from
their homes '*in chains" for disobedience to his behest;
while invalids unfit for duty have too often been forced
into camp and victimized by exposure which they were
unable to endure. This action of the Government not
only violates the most sacred constitutional rights of the
citizens, but tends to crush out the spirit of freedom and
resistance to tyranny which was bequeathed to us by our
ancestors of the Revolution of 1776. When the first Con-
scription Act was passed, we had just gone through a
series of reverses which saddened the hearts of our
people, and the public mind acquiesced in the unsurpation
on account of the supposed necessity. The government,
presuming upon the advantage gained by the precedent
with the acquiescence, fastens upon the country a second
Conscription Act which not only detaches part from the
State militia, but disbands the whole. Xo plea of ne-
cessity can be set up for this last Act. Instead of re-
verses, all was success at the time of its passage. Our
glorious armies had driven the enemy, at the point of the
bayonet, from every battle field during the most brilliant
summer and fall campaigns to be found upon the pages
of history. These successes had been achieved by men
who entered the service as volunteers, and were not
302 Confederate Records
dragged froTii tlioir liomes as conscripts. The term of
service of the troops was not abont to expire at the time
of the passage of the hist Conscription Act, for tliey
were then, every one in for three years or the war. The
additional number needed to re-inforce the armies, if we
may judge from the past, could be furnished by the
States under reciuisitions, in half the time, and with much
less than the expense which it will cost the President to
get them into service as conscripts.
Under these circumstances, solemnls^ impressed with
a sense of the injustice about to be done to a large class
of our fellow citizens, under an Act which, in my opinion,
plainly violates the Constitution of the Confederacy and
strikes down the sovereignty of the States, I felt that
I should justly forfeit the confidence reposed in me by a
people who, ever jealous of their rights, had opposed
stern resistance to Federal encroachments under my
predecessors, Jackson, Troup and Gilmer, were I to per-
mit the injustice, and allow the Government of the State
to be virtually disbanded, and the right arm of her power
severed from her, without first submitting the question
of the surrender to the representatives of the people. I
therefore informed the President of the Confederate
States, in a letter dated the 18th of last month — a copy
of which is hereto appended — that I would fill promptly,
with volunteers legally organized, a requisition, (which
I invite,) for her quota of the new levy of troops needed
by the Government, but that I would not permit the en-
rollment of conscripts under the late Conscription Act,
till you should have time to meet, deliberate and act.
You have the power to adopt measures and give proper
directions to this question.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 303
During the approaching winter the enemy will make
every effort in his power, with large fleets and armies,
to take our sea-port cities, over-run a large portion of
our States, plunder our people and carry off our slaves,
or induce them to murder the innocent and helpless por-
tion of our population. At so critical a moment, the
portion of our militia who remain in the State should be
encouraged to volunteer and form themselves into effi-
cient organization, and should be kept within the limits
of the State, to strike for their wives and their children,
their homes and their altars. If all our population able
to bear arms are to be forced by conscription to leave
the State in the greatest crisis of the war, to protect
more favored points, and our own cities are to be left an
easy prey to the enemy, and our homes to be plundered
by his marauding bands without resistance, I will not be
privy to the deed. You are the representatives of the
people, and must make the decision. I therefore conjure
you to stand by the rights and the honor of the State,
and provide for the protection of the property, the liber-
ties and the lives of her people.
Hon. Tliomas W. Thomas, a judicial officer of the
State, of great ability and integrity, in a case brought
regularly before him in his judicial capacity, has pro-
nounced the Conscription Act unconstitutional, in an
argument which has not been, and will not be, answered.
Since the decision was made, Congress, as the newspapers
report has passed an additional Act, authorizing the
President to suspend the privileges of the writ of habeas
corpus, in all cases of arrest made under the authority
of the Government, which was doubtless intended to deny
to the judiciary the exercise of its constitutional functions
in this very case, and which places the liberty of every
304 Confederate Records
citizeu of the Confederacy at the mercy of the President,
who may imprison any citizen nnder tliis onier without
legal warrant or authority and no court dare interfere
to liberate the captive when the imprisonment is illegal.
I now submit the (piestion for the consideration and de-
cision of the representatives of the people of the State,
whether the constitutional rights of her citizens shall be
respected and her sovereignty maintained, or whether the
citizen shall be told that he has no rights and his State
no sovereignty.
The question is not whether Georgia shall furnish her
just quota of men and means for the common defense.
This she has more than done to the present time, and
this she is ever ready to do so long as she has a man or a
dollar at her command. But it is, shall she be permitted
to furnish troops as volunteers, organized in accordance
with her reserved rights, or shall her volunteers be re-
jected and her citizens be dragged to the field as con-
scripts in \dolation of their rights and her sovereignty?
Shall the pompous pretensions of imperial power, made
by a Government constituted by the State as their com-
mon agent, be acquiesced in, or shall the Government be
compelled to return to the exercise of the powers dele-
gated to it by the Constitution?
I am aware that it has been said by the advocates of
conscription, that it is no time now to correct errors.
If so, it follows that there is no responsibility for, and
no restraint upon their commission. Again, it is said we
should first decide whether we are to "have States," be-
fore we undertake to define the rights of the States. We
had States when we entered into this revolution. We
had States before the passage of the Conscription Acts.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 305
We still have States, but if conscription is to be executed
to the extent of the power claimed for Congress l^y its
advocates, we cease to liave States, or to have constitu-
tional liberty or personal rights. The solemn question
now presented for your consideration is, shall we continue
to have States, or shall we, in lieu thereof, have a con-
solidated military despotism!
Martial Law and Habeas Corpus.
We were recently informed by the newspapers that a
military commander holding a commission under the gov-
ernment of the Confederate States, had issued an order
declaring the city of Atlanta in this State, to be under
martial law, and had appointed a Governor and his aides
to assume the government of the city. At the time this
order was published, the headquarters of the General
by whom it was passed and most of his command were,
I believe, in another State, over 130 miles from the city
of Atlanta. The order was issued without any confer-
■ence with the Executive of this State upon the subject,
and the Governor appointed by the General assumed the
Government and control of the city. As you were soon
to assemble, I thought it best to avoid all conflict upon
this question till the facts should be placed before you,
and your pleasure as the Representatives of the sover-
eign people of this State should be known in the premises.
I consider this and all like proceedings, on the part of
Confederate officers not only high-handed usurpation, de-
pending for their authority upon military power without
the shadow of constitutional right, but dangerous prece-
dence, which if acquiesced in by the people of this State,
tend to the subversion of the government and sovereignty
306 Confederate Records
of the State, and of the individual rights of the citizen.
This order of tiie commanding General was, after some
delay, annulled by the War Department.
The 5th and 6th paragraphs of the 4th Article of the
Constitution, of the Confederate States, are in these
words :
5. "The enumeration in the Constitution of cer-
tain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people of the several States."
6. "The powers not delegated to the Confederate
States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the
people thereof."
Under these provisions of the Constitution, no de-
partment nor officer of the Confederate Government has
the right to assume or exercise any power not delegated
by the States, "each State acting in its sovereign and
independent character." It follows, therefore, that no
department nor officer of the Confederate Government
has the right to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, which
is the highest safe-guard of personal liberty, nor to ex-
ercise the high prerogative of sovereignty ,by the repre-
sentation of which alone, martial law may be declared,
unless the grant of power from the States to do so can be
found in the Constitution. That instrument declares;
' ' The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not
be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or inva-
sion, the public safety may require it."
This clause contains a grant, by plain inplication,
of the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus when
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 307
the public safety requires it, in the two cases of rebellion
or invasion, but in no other cases ; and no further in these
cases than may be required by the public safety. But
we look to the Constitution in vain for any grant of
power by the States to the Confederate Government, or
any department or officer thereof, to declare martial law
and suspend the laws and civil process of the States,
(other than the writ of habeas corpus) in any case or
under any emergency whatever. If a Confederate officer
may, by a declaration of martial laiv, set aside the laws
and civil process of a State in a particular city or other
locality, at his pleasure, he may extend his order to em-
brace the whole territory of the State, and set aside the
Government of the State, and may, himself, enact the
laws and appoint the Governors by which the people of
the State shall in future be controlled. Not only so, but
if the precedent m this case is to be tolerated, this may
be done by any military commander in any part of the
Confederacy, who chooses to send his edict to this State,
and appoint his executive officers to carry it into effect.
Impressment of Private Property.
It is also my duty to call your attention to another
matter considered by the people of this State a subject
of grievance. The power is now claimed by almost every
military commander, to impress the private property
of the citizen at his pleasure, without any express order
from the Secretary of War for the purpose; and in
many cases, without the payment of any compensation —
the officer who is in some cases only a Captain or Lieu-
tenant, giving a certificate that the property has been
taken for public use ; which seizure, after long delay, may,
308 Confederate Records
or may not, be recognized by the government; as it may
determine that the officer had, or had not, competent au-
thority to make it.
I am aware that the Constitution confers the power
upon the Confederate Government to take private
l>roi)erty for ])ublic use, paying therefore just com-
pensation; and I have no doubt, that every true and
loyal citizen would cheerfully acquiesce in the exercise
of this power, by the properly authorized and responsible
agents of the Government, at all times when the public
necessities may require it. But I deny that every subal-
tern in unform who passes through the countrj% has the
right to appropriate what he pleases of the property of
the citizen without being able to show the authority of
the Government for the exercise of this high prerogative.
As our people are not aware of their proper remedies
for the redress of the grievances hereinbefore mentioned,
I respectfully suggest that the General Assembly, after
consideration of these questions, declare, by resolutions
or otherwise, their opinion as to the power of the Con-
federate Government and its officers in these particulars.
I also respectfully request that the General Assembly de-
clare the extent to which the Executive of this State will
be sustained by the representatives of the people in pro-
tecting their rights, and the integrity of the Government,
and sovereignty of the State, against the usurpations
and abuse to which I have invited your attention.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 309
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, Ga.,
November 8th, 1862.
The following message was transmitted to both
branches of the General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, November 8th, 1862.
To the General Assembly.
Since I sent my annual message in which I referred
to our State contracts with the Virginia Company for
salt, and to my letter to his Excellency Gov. Letcher,
I have received from him a reply, a copy of which I here-
with communicate.*
While the language of the letter might leave some
doubt upon our minds, whether the contracts of the two
companies of this State, made with my sanction, under
which the State authorities expect to derive much of the
supply for our people, are included in the exemption, the
whole purport of the letter and the well known character
of Governor Letcher for liberality, justice and patriotism,
I think fully justify the conclusion that he will not inter-
fere with either the works put up by this State or by her
citizens with her sanction, for the supply of consumers
without speculation,
*[Enc]osure]
:]10 Confederate Records
\\ hile there is no written contract between the State
and tlie eompaiiies that tlie salt is not to ])e sold on specu-
lation, it was well understood between myself and them,
and in execution of this agreement, I have carried their
salt over the State Road free of charge, and they are
carrying out, in good faith, the agreement on their part.
The works of the companies are therefore in fact State
works, and are no doubt embraced within the exemption
made in our favor by the Governor of Virginia.
It is to me a source of much gratification that there
will be no cause to interrupt the friendly relations which
liave always existed, and should ever exist between Geor-
gia and that honored commonwealth.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Richmond, Va., October 31, 1862.
His Excellency, Joseph E. Brown.
Dear Sir: Since my return from Saltville, I have
been constantly employed with official duties of a press-
ing character, hence the unavoidable delay in replying
to your letter of the 8th instant. I have endeavored at
all times to pursue such a policy as would be calculated
to insure harmony and concert of action between the
States of the Confederacy and the Confederate authori-
ties. In this case I provided in the contract made on
the 22nd inst., as follows, viz.:
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 311
**And it is further understood and agreed that while
the State of Virginia requires the salt hereby contracted
for, to be furnished and delivered at the times and in the
quantities specified, without failure, the delivery thereof
shall not interfere with existing contracts made with the
government of the Confederate States, or with any sep-
arate State of the Confederate States, or with any county
or corporation court within this Commonwealth."
This action will, I suppose, give satisfaction to the
people of Georgia.
I am truly,
John Letcher.
The following message was this day transmitted to
both branches of the General Assembly, to-wit :
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Ga.,
November 10th, 1862.
To the General Assembly:
I transmit to each House a copy of a letter (Exhibit
A) from Brig.-Gen. H. W. Mercer, commanding at Savan-
nah, dated 7th instant, informing me that *'a letter from
the Secretary of War has been served upon him, which
withdraws from him all power to retain the negroes now
312 Confederate Records
working upon the fortifications of Savannah," and that,
"from this time forward, he will make no further efforts
to secure labor himself," and "if the people and govern-
ment of the State mean Savannah to be defended, they
must themselves furnish the necessary labor."
General Mercer also makes requisition upon the State
for negroes to work on the defences.
I also append a letter from him, (Exhibit B) dated 8tli
instant, in response to one from me, asking him to make
an urgent appeal to the Secretary of War to send to
Savannah reinforcements at an early day.
It will be seen, by reference to the first of these let-
ters, that the Confederate General looks alone to Georgia
for the means to defend her sea-port city. While the
right is denied to the State by the conscription Act, to
call into the field and retain in her service any portion
of her organized militia, or any part of the material of
which it is composed, to defend herself against the in-
vader at a time when the Confederate force within the
State is inadequate to the task, the War Department has
withdrawn from the General in command the power to
retain the labor necessary to complete the fortifications
which are indispensable to a successful defense.
I submit the question for the action of the General
Assembly, and recommend that promjDt provision be
made, to the extent of the ability of the State, for carry-
ing out your resolutions for the defense of the city to the
last extremity.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 313
In view of the fact that Georgia has furnished about
seventy-five thousand troops to the Confederacy, who
have rendered the most distinguished services on almost
every battle field of the war, I can not forbear the expres-
sion of my deep regret that so few of them should be
permitted to return to her bosom to strike for their
homes, and at a time of so much peril, when the right
even to supply their places in the field, upon her soil,
with others now at home, is denied to the State.
Joseph E. Brown.
[ENCLOSURES]
(EXHIBIT A.)
Headquarters Dist. of Georgia,
Savannah, 8th Nov., 1862.
His Excellency, Joseph E. Broivn,
Governor of the State of Georgia:
I have to inform your Excellency that this morning
a letter from the Secretary of War has been served upon
me, which withdraws from me all power to retain the
negroes now working upon the fortifications of Savan-
nah. Every negro, to the number of a thousand, will
probably leave me in a few days, and a portion are dis-
charged today.
From this time forward I will make no further efforts
to secure laborers myself. If the people and government
of the State of Georgia mean Savannah to be defended,
they must themselves furnish the necessary labor. The
314 C'oNrKDKKATE IvECORDS
agency for the collection of labor hitherto existing by my
creation, will continue only long onongli to wind up its
present business.
T have the honor to make requisition upon the State
of Georgia for fifteen hundred able-bodied negroes to
work on the defenses of Savannah.
I have the honor to be.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
II. W. Mercer,
Brig. Gen. Commanding.
(EXHIBIT B.)
Headquarters District of Georgia,
Savannah, 8th Nov., 1862.
His Excellency, Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of the State of Georgia -.
Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your Excellency's letter of the 6th instant, and to State
that I have represented, in urgent terms, to the War De-
partment, the necessity for reinforcements in this quar-
ter, and have requested that the two legions named may
be ordered to report to me at once.
The question of election in the 4th Regiment Georgia
Volunteers, I shall refer to the War Department for its
decision. It is important that the principle involved in
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 315
this case should be authoritatively settled, for present
and future guidance.
I take this occasion to express to your Excellency my
grateful sense of the support afforded to me in my en-
deavors to provide adequate defenses for the city of
Savannah, and which I trust your Excellency and the
Legislature of the State will continue to afford me.
With your invaluable aid I shall hope to be able to pre-
vent the abolitionists from effecting a permanent lodg-
ment anywhere on our shores.
I have the honor to be.
Your Excellency's most ob't. servant,
H. W. Mercer,
Brig. Gen. Commanding.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 10th, 1862.
To the General Assembly:
I herewith transmit a copy* of a letter from Col. Wil-
liam T. Wofford, commanding the 18th Regiment Georgia
Volunteers in Confederate service, presenting to this
State two stands of colors captured by that gallant Regi-
ment in the battle of the 29th and 30th of August last,
* Not found.
316 Confederate Records
upon the plains of Manassas. One of tliese flags was
taken by D. H. Northcut, of Capt. Oneill's Company of
Cobb county, from the 24th New York Regiment; the
other by Wm. King of Qapt. Roper's Company of Bar-
tow county, from the 10th New York Zouaves. The
Regiment also took from the enemy a battery of four
splendid brass pieces on the 30th of August. The two
stands of colors accompanying the letter are in the Ex-
ecutive OflSce, subject to the direction of the General As-
sembly.
It may not be inappropriate for me, in this connection,
to state that the glorious 18th Regiment constituted part
of General William Phillips' Brigade of State Troops,
which were fully armed, accoutered and equipped by
this State and trained by her authority under that gal-
lant officer and their heroic Colonel and other officers, at
Camp McDonald, prior to their transfer to Confederate
service. They have met the enemy on several of the
most bloody battle fields, and high as was the standard
fixed for their imitation by other Georgia Regiments
which had preceded them in the service, and glorious
as was the conduct of those who have been their com-
panions in arms, it cannot be invidious to state that no
Regiment has displayed better discipline, cooler courage
or more heroic daring than the 18th Georgia.
I recommend that the handsome donation, — the fruit
of intrepid valor, tendered by the distinguished Colonel
in behalf of his Regiment, be accepted and deposited
among the archives of the State as a trophy won by the
heroism of her sons, that the thanks of the General As-
sembly be tendered to the Regiment, and that appropri-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 317
ate medals be awarded to the individuals who first took
the flags out of the hands of the enemy.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 13th, 1862.
Col. Ira R. Foster, Quartermaster-General, is hereby
authorized and directed to take charge of the Pay De-
partment of this State, not only as relates to the duties
heretofore imposed upon him, but to include the Com-
missary General, Chief of Ordnance with theirs and his
commissioned assistants. Also he is directed to allow
and pay a reasonable compensation to the servants in
their and the Adjutant and Inspector General's official
employment.
Joseph E. Brown,
The following message was transmitted to both
branches of the General Assembly, to-wit :
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
Ngvember 13th, 1862.
To the General Assembly.
I communicate herewith a copy of a letter* received on
yesterday from Col. Henry H. Floyd, commanding the
*[Enclo3ure]
318 CONFEDKRATK HkcORDS
militia of Camden county, informing me tliat on the
fourth day of tliis month tliroe companies of negroes
were hinded in St. Mary's who, after insulting the few
ladies remaining there, and taking everything they could
lay their hands upon, retired to their gim-boats without
the slightest molestation. On the same day all the salt
works in the county were destroyed except two, which by
this time, have capacity to turn out twenty-five to thirty
bushels ])er day. Unless protection is afforded, these
must soon share the same fate. The people on the coast
possess large numbers of cattle, hogs and other stock;
the enemy leave their gun-boats, kill and carry off stock
without opposition. The Colonel asked for an order to
call out the militia for three or six months, and says he
can muster about thirty to forty. Adjoining counties to
the coast could add to the number enough to make a con-
siderable force, who are well acquainted with all the
localities, and could, on that account, act more effectively
against the enemy than the like number of men taken
from any other part of the State. It cannot be denied
that the State owes it to her citizens, so long as she
claims their allegiance, to afford them all the protection
in her power.
The Cx^nstitution of this State having invested me, for
the time, with the chief command of her militia, I should,
under ordinary circumstances, have had no hesitation
in issuing an order calling out the whole militia of her
county, and of the adjoining counties if necessary, to
protect our citizens, and especially the women against
the outrages of invasion, robbery and insult by negroes.
Under the Acts of the Confederate Congress and the
late decision of our own Supreme Court, the authority
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Bkowx 319
to command the militia of the State, either for the pro-
tection of our mothers, our wives, our sisters and our
daughters, against the brutality of our own slaves in a
state of insurrection, seems to be denied to the Governor,
as each man composing the militia of the State, except
the officers, is declared to be subject to the command of
the President, without the consent of the Executive of the
State. It follows therefore, that if the Governor should
order out the militia in this pressing emergency, which
admits of no delay, to protect those citizens 6f Georgia
to whom no protection is afforded by the Confederacy,
the President may countermand the order and compel
each person so called out to leave the State and go to
the remotest part of the Confederacy to protect those
who are not citizens of this State. The State has re-
served to herself the right under the Constitution to
"engage in war" when "actually invaded." and to "keep
troops" while she is invaded. That authority which has
the right to take from her this power, without which
no State can exist, has the power to destroy her.
I believe it is admitted, however, by high authority in
tliis State that the creature has no j^ower to destroy the
creator, the child no power to destroy the parent, and the
parent no right to commit suicide. If this be true, the
Confederate Government, which is admitted to be the
creature of the States, can certainly have no power to
deny to the States, which are the creators, the use of
their own militia to protect their own inhabitants against
the invasion of the enemy and the unbridled savage
cruelty of their slaves in actual insurrection; nor can
that Government, as the child, destroy the parent by
l)ara]izing her right arm when raised to ward off a blow
320 Confederate Records
struck at lior very vitals, nor indeed can the jiarent, which
is the State, commit suicide by surrendering tlie command
of her entire militia when she is invaded and her people
are left without other sufficient protection, nor by re-
nouncing lier obligation to protect her citizens and
thereby forfeiting their allegiance.
Placed as I am in an embarrassing condition, when
helpless innocents call upon the State for protection, and
when the Constitution of this State and the Confederate
States seem to point clearly to the path of duty upon the
one hand, but when the Acts of Congress and the decision
.of our own Supreme Court, rendered under heavy outside
pressure, and if not ex parte, under most peculiar circum-
stances, when the counsel on both sides who had brought
the case before the court, agreed that, in their individual
opinions the decision should be as it was made ; I deem it
my duty to submit the question to the General Assembly,
who as a co-ordinate branch of the Government, repre-
sent the sovereign people of the State, and to ask your
advice and direction in the premises.
If you should hold that the Governor no longer has
the right to command the militia of the State for the
protection of her people, it only remains for me to inform
the people of Camden and the ladies of St. Mary's, that
while the State collects taxes and requires them to bear
other public burdens, she withdraws her protection from
them and leaves them to the mercy of negro invaders who
may insult and plunder them at pleasure. Should you
hold, on the contrary, that the Governor still has the
command of the militia of the State, and that she has
the right to use her own militia for the protection of our
homes, I shall not hesitate to call them forth and hold
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 321
them in service as long as the coast is invaded and our
people are subject to the insult, robbery, and merciless
cruelty of the enemy.
Joseph E. Brown.
[ENCLOSURE]
(EXHIBIT A.)
Jeffersonton, Camden Co.
November 6th.
To His Excellency, Gov. Brown:
Sir: The day before yesterday three companies of
negroes were landed in St. Mary's, who, after insulting
the few ladies remaining there and helping themselves
to everything they could lay their hands on, returned to
their gun-boats without the slightest molestation. On
the same day all the salt works in the county were des-
troyed with the exception of two; and unless suitable
protection is afforded, these two will share the same fate.
By the time this reaches you they will turn out from
twenty-five to thirty bushels per day, and if they are
broken up will be of the greatest loss to this part of the
country.
There are in Camden county two companies of Con-
federate Cavalry, but they are stationed so far from the
coast that the Federals leave their gun-boats, kill beeves
and carry off stock without any opposition. The people
about here possess large numbers of hogs, cattle, etc.,
and the state of things is such that for the safety of
their property they are necessarily compelled to move
away. The troops stationed here, not being able to pro-
IV2'2 C'ONFEDKRATK RECORDS
euro provisions, will bo obliged to leave, and the conse-
(inonoo will be that the whole of this part of the country
will fall into the hands of the enemy.
My object in addressing you is to procure from 3'ou
an order to call out the militia for three or six months.
I can muster about thirty or forty and can readily sub-
sist men and horses. With these men I can do more
efficient service than both companies of cavalry stationed
here. Please oblige me by telegraphing to me at Waynes-
ville at the earliest opportunity, as I shall await your
answer with great anxiety.
Most respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
Henry H. Floyd.
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 18th, 1862.
To the House of Representatives:
In response to your resolution of inquiry in relation
to the mission of Hon. T. Butler King to Europe, I have
the honor to transmit herewith liis original report,*
*Xot found.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 323
with the accompanying documents,* which will afford
all the information in my possession.
I do not recommend the ratification of the contract
made with Mr. Frederick Sabel, of Liverpool, by Mr.
King, for the establishment of a line of steamers. It
will be seen, by reference to Mr. King's report, that he
doubts the propriety of its ratification and hopes that a
line of French steamers will be established without the
payment of the subsidy.
During the protracted stay of Mr. King in Europe,
it became necessary for him to draw upon me for $2,500
in addition to the $3,000 appropriated to defray the ex-
pense of the mission. This grew out of the necessity
which compelled him to remain much longer than was
anticipated, and the expense incurred on the publication
of part of the accompanying documents in Europe, which
it is believed, were productive of much good to our
cause. I honored Mr. King's draft and paid the amount,
with exchange, out of the contingent fund. I deem it
but just to him that he be relieved of all responsibility
to the State on account of the draft, and that reasonable
compensation be allowed him on account of his services,
if it shall be seen by a bill of his expenses rendered to
the House, that he has not been able to retain a sufficient
sum over his expenses out of the money received by him,
to afford him such compensation.
Joseph E. Brown.
*Por commission and instructions see Jan. 30, 1861.
324 Confederate Records
November 18th, 1862.
The following message was received from his Excel-
lency the Governor, by Mr. Campbell, his Secretary,
to-wit :
Mr. Speaker: I am directed by the Governor to de-
liver to the House of Representatives a communication
in writing, with accompanying documents, relative to
the mission of Hon. T. Butler King.
On motion of Mr. Cochran, of Glynn, the special mes-
sage of the Governor on the subject of the mission of
T. Butler King was taken up and read, when Mr. Coch-
ran, of Glynn, offered the following resolution, to-wit :
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed, to
whom the message of the Governor in regard to the
mission of Hon. T. Butler King to Europe, with acccom-
panying documents, shall be referred, which resolution
was adopted.
November 21st, 1862.
The special committee to whom was referred the
communication of his Excellency the Governor, on the
subject of the mission of the Hon. Thomas Butler King,
to Europe, to secure the establishment of a line or lines
of steamers from European ports, to the ports of Georgia,
under the Act of the General Assembly, passed Decem-
ber, 1860, with accompanying documents, beg leave to
report, that they have given the same a careful considera-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 325
tion, and that they have been exceedingly gratified with
the manner in which Mr. King has discharged the duties
of his mission. He was charged with power to offer a
subsidy to parties in Europe who would establish a line
of steamers between European ports and the city of Sa-
vannah, or other ports in this State, which he succeeded
in accomplishing, according to instructions, under many
difficulties. The merchants and the people of England,
France and Belgium were found to be quite ignorant of
the commercial resources and power of the Southern
States, having heretofore almost entirely received the
productions of the South and shipped her supplies
through Northern ports. It became therefore necessary,
for Mr. King to collect and publish such facts and statis-
tics as would enlighten the commercial mind on the sub-
ject ; and for this purpose he wrote and published and dis-
tributed, over most of the European countries, over five
thousand copies of his letter addressed to Lord John
Russell, published in English, and memoirs to the French
Minister of Commerce, and the French Minister of For-
eign Aif airs, in French, on the character of the blockade,
besides an elaborate and well digested argument on the
American blockade, also published in French, besides
many other articles written for the French papers on
the state of our political affairs. In addition to this, he
also concluded a contract with Messrs. Sable & Co., of
Liverpool, for the establishment of a line of steamers
from Liverpool to Savannah with the subsidy of one hun-
dred thousand dollars per annum, as provided by the
Act under which he was commissioned, which is here-
with submitted.
The result of Mr. King's labors in this behalf is seen
and felt, in having secured the change of a law, unani-
*52() Confederate Records
mously, by the Senate Corps Legislatif and Imperial
Council of Prance, jj^ranting a large subsidy to a com-
pany in Paris for the establishment of two lines of first-
class steamers, one from Havre to New York, and the
otlicr to the West Indies, whereby those were changed,
the one from New York to the city of Savannah, and the
other from the West Indies to the city of New Orleans.
This was a triumph of the intelligence and labor of our
representative.
To enable Mr. King to accomplish this task it became
necessary to incur much expense in employing a secretary
and translator, and in securing such quarters and living
as became the representative of the State of Georgia.
It will be remembered that Mr. King left the State
of Georgia about the first of March, 1861, before hostili-
ties commenced, and was in Europe when the blockade
was established. It was riot contemplated by the Gov-
ernor or the Legislature that it would require more than
two or three months to accomplish the purposes of his
mission, but soon after his arrival the blockade was es-
tablished and it was impossible for him to leave Europe
until November, and he was detained two months in Ha-
vana, and did not reach his home until eleven months and
seventeen days from the time of his departure, after en-
during the loerils of shipwreck. In consequence of this
delay, the expenses were largely augmented, and in ad-
dition to the $3,000 appropriated for the expense of the
mission, Mr. King was driven to draw upon the Gov-
ernor for $2,500, which the Governor met upon presen-
tation. Your committee have great pleasure and pride
in saying that Mr. King has not only ably and faithfully
accomplished the purposes of his mission, but has done
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown 327
more, much more, in securing the two French lines re-
ferred to, to Savannah and New Orleans, to be put in
operation as soon as the blockade is raised. And more,
the committee is of opinion that the able documents re-
ferred to, have done more to place the real political con-
dition and commercial resources of this countrj'' before
the European people than any acts or papers which have
fallen under their observation during our troubles, and
that the people of this whole country are much indebted
to him for their production. It is shown by the bill ren-
dered by Mr. King that his actual expenses of living,
traveling and preparing and publishing the papers re-
ferred to has been $5,900, being four hundred dollars
more than has been paid to him, and the committee
recommend that Mr. King be relieved from all liability
which he may have incurred by drawing the draft re-
ferred to, that he be paid the balance which he has ex-
pended, and that he be allowed the sum of twenty-five
hundred dollars in compensation for his very valuable
services to the State and country while in Europe, and
that his able report to the Governor and his memoirs on
Steam Navigation and the American Blockade, with his
report, be published, and we forbear asking the publica-
tion of his letter to Lord John Russell, only because it
has already been published in most of the newspapers
of the country, and the people have had an opportunity
to see it.
In consideration of the change of the circumstances
of the country since the contract was made, and the es-
tablishment of the French lines, which will subserve all
the purposes of the Legislature, we agree with the Gov-
ernor that it would not be wise and prudent at present
328 CoNFEDERAT?: Records
to ratify the contract negotiated with Messrs. Sable &
Co., of Liverpool, as provided in said contract.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
A. E, Cochran,
Chairman Special Committee.
November, 22nd, 1862.
On motion of Mr. Schley, it was ordered that 200 copies
of the letter from the Hon. T. Butler King to Lord John
Russell, be printed for the use of the House.
December 2nd, 1862.
On motion of Mr. Hester, of Elbert, the rule was sus-
pended, when he introduced a series of resolutions upon
the subject of remunerating the Hon. Thomas Butler
King for his services while on his mission to Europe,
which were taken up, adopted, and ordered to be sent
forthwith to the Senate.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 20th, 1862.
To the House of Representatives :
I have to reply to your resolution in reference to the
Quartermaster and Commissary Generals of this State,.
State Papers of Govebnor Jos. E. Brown 329
with their assistants, that they are still continued in office
because, in my judgment, these departments cannot be
dispensed with in the present condition of affairs, without
the most serious detriment to the interests of the State.
It will probably require most of the assistants they
now have, added to their own exertions, for three months
longer, to complete the unfinished business connected
with the late Georgia army.
I have directed that a complete record be made of all
the proceedings and of the reports of all assistant Quar-
termasters and Commissaries connected with the Divis-
ion, Brigades, Regiments and Battalions, while in ser-
vice, and that all the vouchers be numbered and carefully
filed in perfect order.
While these records will be voluminous, I regard it
very necessary that they be kept, as the State, at some
future day, will expect the Confederacy to refund to her
the money expended upon those troops, and may become
necessary to show on what account every dollar was ex-
pended.
A person unacquainted with the business has a very
imperfect idea of the immense amount of labor required
to perfect and systemize these records and vouchers.
After this duty has been performed it will still be neces-
sary, in case we keep troops or have to call out the militia,
for an emergency, to have a Quartermaster and Commis-
sary General with the proper assistants.
As an instance, the resolution passed by the Legisla-
ture making it my duty to collect fifteen hundred able-
.^.'iO Confederate Records
bodied negroes to lill tlie requisitions of Brigadier Gen-
eral Mercer, compels me at once to impose a very delicate
niul responsible duty upon the Quartermaster-General,
who is now busy in the execution of orders intended to
carry out the instructions of the General Assembly.
Upon the Commissary General is imposed the task,
in addition to his other duties, of receiving and distrib-
uting the salt made by the States, among the soldiers'
families and then among the people of the State. This
is no small burden; it requires a number of assistants,
and that regular books and accounts be kept.
This business is expected to continue during the en-
suing year. If it were not done by the Commissary
General it must be done by some other public agent by
some other name at no less expense.
Other emergencies may add other duties before these
now being performed by either of those officers are com-
pleted.
Upon the score of economy I entertain no doubt, that
it is better to keep them in service, paying them a regular
salarj^ and have them at all times subject to command,
than it would be to employ agents as each emergency
arises, and pay them such compensation as the Executive
or General Assembly would say was reasonable in each
particular case.
A State, of the importance of Georgia, in the midst
of a war of the greatest magnitude, subject at any day
to invasion and internal insurrection, without organized
Quartermaster's and Commissary's Departments, would
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown o31
be in a most singular position, which would cause serious
detriment, much confusion and embarrassments, and
would on that account add greatly to the public expense,
and to the misfortunes of our people, by delaying prompt
action for want of preparation and system in conducting
our defenses. I shall not retain either of these officers in
the employment and pay of the State a day longer than
I consider his services necessary.
In response to the enquiry contained in the resolution
about salaries, I have to state that the Quartermaster-
General and the Commissary General each has the rank
of Lieut. Colonel and receives the pay and allowance
fixed by the present General Assembly, at its last session
for officers of that rank.
The Quartermaster-General has one assistant with
the rank and pay of Captain, and three clerks, each with
a salary of $100 per month. Major Octavus Cohen, of
Savannah, who was division Quartermaster of the State
Troops, has ])een in service, with the pay due his rank,
till a late date, winding up the business of his office.
The Commissary General who, in addition to his other
duties, was charged with the distribution of salt among
the counties for soldiers' families, has had two assistants,
each with the rank and pay of Captain, one of whom has
performed the duties of Quartermaster and Commissary
of the Bridge Guards. He has also had three clerks, each
at a salary of $100 per month, till a late date, when it
was found necessary, on account of the increased duty
of keeping a separate record of the reports of counties
applying for salt, to employ an additional clerk with
like compensation.
332 Confederate Records
Tlie regimental Quartermasters and Commissaries
were each allowed a reasonable time after the army dis-
lianded, (the precise dates are not before me) to wind up
the business and make his report, when each was dis-
charged.
The Commissary General also has a military store-
keeper at Atlanta, at a salary of $100 per month, and
several agents in the different sections of the State for
the distribution of salt, who are to receive a reasonable
compensation, but none has yet been fixed or paid to
either of them.
The Paymaster General having resigned, the Quar-
termaster-General is also charged with the settlement
and payment of all outstanding claims due widows of
deceased soldiers for pay not drawn, and all other out-
standing claims.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
December 11th, 1862.
To Ira R. Foster, Quartermaster-General:
The General Assembly has passed the Resolutions
hereto appended, as amendatory of the Resolutions
passed at this session, authorizing the seizure of Facto-
ries, Tanneries and Manufactured Articles, for the pur-
pose of clothing our self-sacrificing troops in Confeder-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 333
ate service from this State. I have not approved and
signed these resolutions, because they are accompanied
by another, which limits the seizures to be made to a
time not to extend beyond the 20th day of this present
month. I could not, under the provisions of the Con-
stitution, sanction the resolutions copied below without
sanctioning the one which limits the time of the seizure
to the next nine days, and I could not do this without
virtually defeating the objects of the original resolu-
tions. It is impossible for you to take possession within
the next nine days of all the Factories and Tanneries of
the State, and it would be unjust to seize part of them
and limit them to the prices contained in these resolu-
tions, and leave the others to grow rich by extortion,
without limit as to price. Nor would it be just to seize
the goods in the hands of one merchant and let another
keep his goods for speculation because he may have been
successful in hiding them till after the 20th of the month.
Again, if the power of seizure is limited to so short a
time, it may be impossible to procure a supply of clothing
and shoes sufficient to afford substantial relief to our
troops. As the prices fixed by the original resolutions
were, however, considered by the General Assembly, upon
more mature consideration, to be inadequate, and as dis-
cretion was allowed me to vary the prices then fixed, and
as the resolutions below contain the latest expression
of the will of the General Assembly upon the subject of
the conpensation to be paid to the owners of articles
seized, I think it safest to adopt these resolutions under
the discretionary powers given me in the first resolutions,
and to be governed in settlements with those whose prop-
erty has been or may be taken by the prices and rules
laid down in the amendatory resolutions. You will,
33-1- Confederate Records
tlierefore, proceed to execute the orders issued through
tlie Adjutant and Inspector-General, with sucli variations
only as may be necessary to conform prices to the orders
herein contained.
Tn case any ISfauufacturer or Tanner or other person
attempts to protect his goods or articles seized, under a
contract with a Confederate officer, you will require the
exhibition of a written contract, as directed in Resolution
No. 3. It is not expected or intended that any conflict
be in'oduced between you and the officers of the Confed-
eracy, but it is expected that j'ou will, in a spirit of har-
mony, mutually assist each other in the accomplishment
of the great object of clothing our gallant Georgia troops.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following are the Resolutions referred to in the
above order:
Resolved 1st, That the Governor be, and he is, hereby
authorized and requested to order to be paid to such par-
ties, not engaged in manufacturing, as have sold or may
sell their goods to tlie proper authorities, under the res-
olution above referred to, or whose goods have been, or
may be hereafter, seized by the authority aforesaid, ten
per cent, on the cost, to the owners of all such articles
so sold or seized; provided, that in every case the party
owning said goods shall make an affidavit setting forth
the price paid by hi^i and the name of the person or per-
sons from whom he purchased said article, and provided,
further, that in all cases, when the officer of the State
may suspect the correctness of the price reported by the
owner, it shall be determined by arbitration, as follows,
State Papers of Governor Jos. JE. Brown 335
to-wit: The officer and owner each shall choose a disin-
terested person, to whom the question shall be referred,
and these, in case of disagreement, shall call in a third
person, who shall act as umpire, and where such cost,
when ascertained, exceeds the market value of the arti-
cles, the officer must abandon the seizure in that particu-
lar case, and may do so, in his discretion, when such cost
exceeds the rate fixed by the original resolutions.
Resolved 2nd, That all goods taken from manufactur-
ing establishments be paid for at the rate of ''twenty-
five per cent." on the "prime cost" of manufacturing
said articles, said cost to be ascertained as provided in
the foregoing resolution, and subject to the same con-
ditions.
Resolved 3rd, That no contract made with the Confed-
erate Government shall interfere with the execution of
said resolutions as herein amended, except such as were
made and reduced to writing previous to the passage of
the original resolutions; unless the Governor or his
agents, exercising their sound discretion, may conclude
that public welfare will be promoted by allowing such
contracts to stand.
The following Special Message was transmitted to the
General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 12th, 1862.
To the General Assembly:
The complaint is frequently made to me by Georgia
336 Confederate Records
trooi)s iu the service of the Confederate States that the
right of electing their own officers to fill v^acancies which
happen in Companies and Regiments is denied them by
the Generals in command, in the execution of the Con-
scri])tion Act, and that officers, who have not their confi-
dence, and are not of their choice for the positions to be
filled, are assigned to them by promotion of otherwise,
at the pleasure of the President.
The 16th paragraph of the 8th Section of the 1st Ar-
ticle of the Constitution of the Confederate States gives
Congress power "To provide for organizing, arming and
disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of
them as may be employed in the service of the Confeder-
ate States; reserving to the States respectively the ap-
pointment of the officers, and the authority of training
the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Con-
gress. ' '
By this paragraph of the Constitution, the States
reserve to themselves, in language strong and plain as
could be used, the right to appoint the officers to com-
mand their militia, when employed in the service of the
Confederate States. Each State is left to appoint its
officers in such a manner as it may select.
The old Constitution of this State, after providing that
the general officers should be elected by the people subject
to militia duty, declared that all other officers of the
militia should be elected in such manner as the Legis-
lature might direct, and should be commissioned by the
Governor.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 337
The new Constitution of this State declares that
^'All militia and county officers shall be elected by the
people in such manner as the General Assembly may by
law direct."
The statutes of this State, in accordance with the pro-
visions of the Constitution, provide for the election of
all such officers by the citizens liable to bear arms; and
that whenever any vacancy shall happen by death, resig-
nation or otherwise, it shall be filled by election by the
citizens liable to bear arms, who shall become subject to
the command of such officers when elected.
By the above reference to the Constitution and laws
of this State, it will be seen that the policy fixed by her
and incorporated into her fundamental law for the elec-
tion of officers, is that it be done by election by those
who are to be subject to the command of the officers to
be appointed. The wisdom of this policy cannot, I think,
be successfully questioned. If our troops have confi-
dence in their officers, and are cheerful and contented, it
is naturally to be expected that they will display more
distinguished valor, and do better service, than they
could do if discontented and unhappy under officers as-
signed to command them without their consent, who have
not their confidence, and have no fellow feeling with them.
Under the above-mentioned provisions of the Consti-
tution of the Confederate States, and of this State, and
of the statutes of this State, the right to elect officers to
fill vacancies is as expressly guaranteed to the militia of
this State, employed in the service of the Confederate
States, as is the right to select their officers by election
at the organization of the regiment, battalion or company.
338 Confederate Records
The President of the Confederate States has made
frequent requisitions upon nie for regiments of troops
as part of the quota of Georgia. I have in every such
case promptly and fully responded to such requisitions
and have sent militia of this State as volunteers organ-
ized, with officers, in accordance with her laws, into the
service of the Confederate States.
These troops have generally been intelligent citizens
of the State, and have entered the service with full knowl-
edge of their Constitutional rights, and with a guarantee
that this State would protect them in the exercise of
their right of electing those who are to command them.
This right is now expressly denied them by the Con-
scription Act, and in most of the regiments it is practi-
cally denied them by the orders of the Confederate Gen-
erals who command them. Officers are now put upon
them by promotion, or by appointment of the President,
who, in many instances, have not their confidence; when,
if their Constitutional right of election were not denied
them, they would select those who, in service, have shown
that they are much more competent, and who would have
the full confidence of those by whom they might be
chosen.
If Georgia's troops, who have nobly responded to her
call, and have entered the service of the Confederacy as
organized by the laws of the State, are part of the
militia, "employed in the service of the Confederate
States," there can be no question that she has the right
to appoint the officers, and that the troops, under her
Constitution and laws, have the undoubted right to elect
those who are to command them. Nor can it be ques-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 339
tioned that it is an imperative duty which the represen-
tatives of the people of this State owe to our gallant
troops, to see that the right is not taken from them.
Are they part of the milita of this State now employed
in the service of tlie Confederate States'? If I am not
misinformed, both branches of the General Assembly of
this State, at its present session, have determined that
they are, and have protected the rights of their members
by the decision. If this be so, are not the rights of our
glorious troops in the field as much entitled to protection,
and shall it be denied them!
The 5th paragraph of the 1st Section of the 2d Article
of the Constitution of this State declares, that "No per-
son holding any military commission or other appoint-
ment, having any emolument or compensation annexed
thereto, under this State or the Confederate States, or
either of them, (except Justices of the Inferior Court,
Justices of the Peace, and officers of the militia), shall
have a seat in either branch of the General Assembly. ' ' .
Several members of each branch of the General As-
sembly now hold commissions in the Georgia regiments
in the Confederate service, having emolument or compen-
sation annexed thereto. This clearly disqualifies them
to have seats as members of the General Assembly, unless
they fall within the exception as officers of the militia.
They now have their seats under the decision of their re-
spective houses in their favor.
The constitutional prohibition applies not simply to
the time of the qualification or election of a member, but
it extends through his term. The language is not, that a
person holding a military commission having emolument
340 Confederate Records
or compensation annexed thereto (except an officer of the
militia), shnll not be elegible to election, or shall not take
a seat in either branch of the General Assembly. But it
is, that he shall not have a seat. The language applies to
the present time — the time when he holds such commis-
sion. In other words, the language is, that no persoi*
"holding" such commission shall "have" a seat. He
can therefore Jiave the seat at no time while holding the
commission. The same paragraph of the Constitution
also declares that no person who is a defaulter for public
money shall have a seat. I presume it would not be
contended that a member who might become a defaulter
for public moneys, after he had taken his seat, would,
on that fact being made known to the branch of the Gen-
eral Asesmbly to which he belongs, be allowed to have a
seat while he remained a defaulter. Doubtless, there-
fore, both branches of the General Assembly put the de-
cision on the true ground, and now permit their members
holding military commissions with compensation an-
nexed, to have their seats, because they are officers of the
militia of this State, employed in the service of the Con-
federate States.
Admit the correctness of the decision of both branch-
es of the General Assembly, and I do not question it,
that these members are officers of the militia of this
State, and it cannot be denied that the Regiments, Bat-
talions and Companies commanded by them are part of
the militia of the State now in the Confederate service,
and that the other oflScers in command in these Regi-
ments are also officers of the 7niltia of this State, em-
ployed in the ser\'ice of the Confederate States; and in
case of vacancy, that it is the right of the State to
appoint the officers to fill such vacancy, and that ac-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 341
cording to the Constitution and laws, it is the right of
the men who are to be commanded, to elect the officers
to fill these vacancies, and have them commissioned by
the Executive authority of the State. And if this be
true, it must also be admitted, that the provision in the
Conscription Act which denies to the State the right of
appointment, and to the men the right of election, and
gives the appointment to the President by promotion
or otherwise, is unconstitutional and void.
If it were necessary to sustain the decision of the
General Assembly on this question, I need only to refer
to the opinions of President Davis and the Secretary of
State, Mr. Benjamin.
In his letter to me of the 29th May last, the Presi-
dent says, ''Congress then has the power to provide for
organizing the arms-bearing people of the State into
militia. Each State has the power to officer and train
them when organized." Again he says: "The term
militia is a collective term meaning a body of men or-
ganized." Again, "The militia may be called forth in
whole or in part into the Confederate service, but do not
thereby become part of the 'armies raised by Congress',
they remain militia, and go home militia, when the
emergency which provoked their call has passed." And
again, "During our whole past history, as well as dur-
ing our recent one year's experience as a new Confed-
eracy, the militia 'have been called forth to repel inva-
sion' in numerous instances, and have never came other-
wise than a^ bodies organized by the States, with their
company, field and General officers, and when the emer-
gency had passed they went home again."
.*U2 Confederate Records
So far as tlie General officers are ooncerned, tlio
President must be understood to refer to "our whole
past history" and not to "our recent one year's expe-
rience," as I am aware of no instance in which lie has
permitted them to enter the service of the Confederacy
with their General officers. This right was expressly
denied to Georgia, in tlie case of General Phillips' Brig-
ade, but the Regiments, Battalions and Companies were
allowed to enter the Confederate service with their ofli-
cers appointed by the State. This has been permitted
as far as Regiments, Battalions and Companies are con-
cerned in every case where a call was made on the
State for "organized bodies of troops" or for organ-
ized bodies of her militia to be employed in the service
of the Confederate States. But while the right to ap-
point the officers when these Regiments were organized
was allowed to the State, the right to till vacancies which
occur in them is now denied to the State by the Conscrip-
tion Act.
The testimony of Mr. Benjamin, who was at the time
Secretary of AVar, is also to the ])oint upon this ques-
tion. In his letter to me of 16th February, 1862, refer-
ring to the twelve Regiments, for which requisition had
been made, he says: "I will add that the officers of
the Regiments called for from the State, under the re-
cent Act of Congress are, in my opinion, to be commis-
sioned by the Governor of Georgia, as they are State
troops tendered to the Confederate Government."
The right of the State to api)oint the oOicers to com-
mand her militia now "employed in the service of the
Confederate States," is therefore admitted by the Presi-
dent and Secretary of State, and has been decided by
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 343
the General Assembly, and is too clear for doubt or cavil.
Yet this right is denied by the Conscription Act, and
our troops are deprived of its benefits.
This is a practical question of the utmost importance
to the troops. They feel and know that they are de-
prived of an important right. They have nowhere to
look for protection but to their own State. At present
they can only be heard at Richmond through their State
authorities. They have appealed to me as their Execu-
tive for the protection due them. I have demanded of
the President its practical recognition, and have failed
to receive it. You are the Representatives of the peo-
ple, and probably each one of you represent a portion of
those whose rights are disregarded. All must admit that
the State owes it to her people and especially to her brave
troops, to see that their plain Constitutional rights are
respected.
I therefore submit the question for your calm con-
sideration, and earnestly recommend that you take such
action in the premises as will vindicate the dignity and
sovereignty of the State, and protect those rights which
are so vital to her citizens now under arms for the de-
fense of all that is dear to a people.
It may be inappropriate for me to remark in conclu-
sion, that the abolition 'Government at Washington, from
which we seceded, on account of its disregard for, and
violations of State Rights, has in this respect, shown
itself more attached to the rights of the States, and
more careful not to violate them, than our own Govern-
ment, which had its very origin in this great doctrine,
as will be seen by reference to paragraph 1648 of the
Regulations of the War Department at Washington,
o44 Confederate Records
edition of 1861, which is in the following words: ''Va-
cancies occurring among the commissioned officers in
Volunteer Regiments, will be filled by the Governors of
the respective States by which the Regiments were fur-
nished. Information of such appointments will, in all
cases, be furnished to the Adjutant General of the
Army." Thus it will be seen that the Lincoln Govern-
ment does not dare to violate the rights of the remain-
ing States of the old Union, by taking from them the
appointment of the officers to command their Volunteer
Militia, when employed in the service of the United
States; and yet we say that Government is fast tending
to military despotism. A very recent decision of our
own AVar Department under the Conscription Act, upon
a case carried before it from the 47th Regiment Georgia
Volunteers, which is one of the Regiments furnished by
this State under the call made upon the State last spring,
for twelve Regiments, has, I am informed, expressly de-
nied this right to the Georgia troops in the service of
the Confederate States. In the whirl of revolution,
whither are we drifting?
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MlIiLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 12th, 1862.
To the General Assembly.
It affords me pleasure, in response to your call for
information upon the subject of the manufacture of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 345
pikes and knives, to transmit copies of the statement
of Major L. H. Mcintosh, Chief of Ordnance, who has
had this matter under his control, as it pertained prop-
erly to his department.
The accompanying document marked A, is the letter
of Major Mcintosh in reply to my call on him for the
information desired. The inclosure marked B, is the
usual form of proposal, which, when accepted by the
party, becomes the contract and contains, as I am in-
formed by Major Mcintosh, the prices paid respectively
for pikes and knives. C contains the names of the per-
sons from whom knives were purchased at the prices
contained in B, with the number received from each, D
contains the names of persons by whom pikes were fur-
nished, with the number received from each, at the pri-
ces mentioned. There were, occasionally, lots, or parts
of lots, tendered and rejected, because they were not
made according to contract, or not delivered within the
time agreed upon. All pikes and knives were inspected
by Mr. Peter Jones, our Master Armorer, before they
were received.
By way of exception to the general rule laid down
in my last remark, it is proper that I state that Major
Brown, of the county of Habersham, at a time when we
were quite scarce of arms to arm troops to defend Sa-
vannah, proposed to me that he would raise a battalion
of troops to be armed with pikes, and would undertake
to have them made if I would pay the actual cost of
making them. To this I agreed. He attempted to raise
his battalion and failed; but one brave Company was
raised, who, under this agreement, armed themselves with
pikes and went from the mountains to the defence of the
••4f) CoXFF.Dr.nATK IxKCORDS
coast, aiul wci-e the I'avoi-itcs of the nallaiil Walkci-. in
whoso hriuadc tlicy were i)la('C(l.
These pikes witc, I think, mostly made liy Mi-. E.
I*. Williams, a citizA'n of liigh charaetor. He liad, I
tliiiik, taken a contract for enough to aim the battalion,
and wlien it failed, payment was made for the number
which lie had comi)leted, or on the way to completion.
These pikes were of a different })attern from that af-
terwards adopted by the Adjutant and Inspector Gen-
eral and the Chief of Ordnance, and as they were infe-
rior to them, did not cost quite as much.
I issued my address to the mechanics, inviting them
to make ])ikes and knives, soon after the fall of Fort
Donaldson, when our prospects were gloomy and when
serious alarm existed on account of the short supply of
arms in the Confederacy. We could not make guns in
this State at the time, and I felt it my duty to do all in
my power to provide for our defense with the best
weapon we could make. Tf T am not misinformed, other
xStates, and the Ordnance Department of the Confed-
erate States Government, commenced the manufacture
of pikes about the same time.
By the mercy of a kind Providence, and the valor of
our troops, we have since procured a much better sup-
])ly of firearms, and but little use has been made of the
pike.
At the request of President Davis I sent to his head-
quarters at Chattanooga, for the Western troops, 829
pikes and 321 knives, and have since issued to Col. Wil-
liam Phillips and Col. Jack Brown, 9G0 knives for the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 347
use of the brave troops under their command in Con-
federate service.
Col. Griffin, in command at Augusta, liad also been
furnished with 400 pikes, for the use of the militia under
his command.
The fact that President Davis, at a time when other
arms were scarce, accepted pikes and knives from Geor-
gia, showed his appreciation of them as a military
weapon.
And it may not be amiss, in this connection, to state
that the pike was in constant use as a military weapon
prior to the invention of the bayonet, and that it has
been used with fearful effect during the present century.
By reference to William's life and campaigns of the
Duke of Wellington, it will be seen that during the Span-
ish war of independence against Napoleon, England, in
1808 and 1809, sent 79,000 pikes, among other munitions
of war, to Spain.
Those conversant with the history of that struggle
have been struck with the terrible slaughter of the
French troops by the Spanish mountaineers, who use
pikes as their weapons.
In our last war with Great Britain, the lamented
General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, whose name and
gallant death are embalmed in our national history, was
a great advocate for the pike and introduced it into his
command. For the charge he regarded it superior to
the bayonet and to resist cavalry much more reliable.
348 CONFEDEEATE ReCORDS
Still later, in 1832, Mitchell, in his Thoughts on Tac-
tics, a work of great merit and high authority, advocated
strongly the retention of the pike and its partial dis-
tribution among infantry battalions. He argues thus:
What is the musket and bayonet, after all, but a "crook-
ed pike," and an unwieldly one at that? And is not a
straight, handy pike, light and readily wielded, a
more effective weapon?
If Spaniards in 1808 and 1809 could rout the troops
of the great Napoleon with pikes, and one of our most
gallant Generals in the war of 1812 could use them with
great effect against the enemy, why may not the gallant
sons of Georgia take them in hand and strike for their
homes and their liberties, when no better weapon is at
their command?
In case of servile insurrection, as the insurgents
would not probably have firearms, our militia might
make the pike and knife a most destructive weapon.
Those not distributed as above stated, remain in the ar-
senal of the State subject to the directions of the Gen-
eral Assembly.
The number on hand is stated in the accompanying
<loeuments.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 349
A.
[Copy.]
State of Georgia,
Adj. & Ins. Gen's. Office, Ordnance Bureau,
Milledgeville, December 8th, 1862.
To His Excellency Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia:
Sir: In obedience to your order I have the honor
to report, under the resolution of the General Assembly
requesting certain information from you as to pikes and
knives, that the only agent employed to make contracts
for their manufacture was myself, under your authority
and that my compensation is that attached to my rank as
Major and Ordnance Officer. All the contracts were
made under your general instructions to me upon the
subject. I enclose herewith the terms of the contracts,
with a list of the contractors, and the number furnished
by each. If any other pikes or knives were purchased
than those herewith reported, I have no cognizance of
the contracts or purchasers.
I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
Lachlan H. McIntosh,
Chief of Ordnance, State of Georgia.
350 Confederate Records
B.
[Copy of letter addressed to proposed contractors.]
March 12th, 1862.
Sir: I send you a pattern knife, and will send you
a pattern pike as soon as we can obtain them.
AVe will take as many of either, or both, as you can
furnish within this month — March. The heads of the
pikes to be of steel, well tempered; the staff to be of
ash, white oak, or hickory, well seasoned — to be of
straight stuff, not cross-grained. For every pike, that
passes inspection, we will pay five dollars.
The knives, with scabbard tipped, belt and clasp, we
will pay four dollars and sixty cents ($4.60) for, upon
their passing inspection.
The knives and pikes to be sent to this place to Cap-
tain T. M. Bradford, Military Storekeeper.
Be pleased to send me a receipt for the pattern.
Very respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
Lachlax H. McIntosh,
Major and Chief of Ordnance.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 351
c.
STATEMENT OF KNIVES RECEIVED AT THE ARSENAL.
Date-1862.
Number received.
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
Apr
1 1 -
1 1 _
1 1 .
1 2 -
1 7 -
1 S-
1 9 _
1 12
1 16
1 16
1 16
1 16
1 18
1 23
1 24
1 30
84
4
62
150
50
43
14
49
15
1294
1103
50
91
327
99
104
May 9 | 199
May 9 | 25
May 10 I 175
May 27 | 283
May 28 } 296
May 29 | 1
May 29 | 15
June 5 I 136
June 13 I 219
June 13 I 507
June 21 I 55
June 30 | 49
August 5 I 317
knives
knives
knives
knives
knives
knives
knives
knives
knives
knives
belts
knives without belts.
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts _ .
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts
knife with belt
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts -_
knives with belts
knives with belts
knives with belts
4908
From whom received.
N. Weed.
John Baker.
N. Weed.
J. W. & L. L. Moore.
John C. Smith.
Cameron & Winn.
J. C. Zimmerman & Co.
O. S. Haynes.
James M. Hall.
R. J. Hughes.
R. J. Hughes.
N. Weed.
J. C. Zimmerman.
J. W. & L. L. Moore.
Christian.
J. C. Zimmerman.
J. W. & L. L. Moore.
H. Gilleland.
R. J. Hughes.
Cameron & Winn.
John D. Gray.
John Baker.
Will Berry.
H. Gilliland.
J. J. Ford.
Cameron & Winn.
J. W. & L. L. Moore.
John C. Smith.
F. M. Hail.
J. D. Gray.
T. M. BRADFORD
M. S. K.
KNIVES-4909
321 sent to the Confederate Q. M., Chattanooga.
60 sent to Col. Wm. Phillips, Hardeeville, S. C.
900 sent to Col. Jack Brown, Macon, Ga.
3628 knives now in Arsenal.
352
Confederate Records
STATEMENT OF PIKES RECEIVED AT THE ARSENAL.
Date-1862.
March IS
March 27
March 28
Apri
Apr
Apri
Apr:
Apr
Apr:
Apr
Apr:
Apr:
Apri
Apr:
Apri
Apr
Apr
Apri
Apri
Apr:
Apri
Apri
Apri
1 1
1 1
1 1
1 3
1 4
8 .
9 -
9 .
9 -
10
14
14
15
15
1 15
1 15
I 15
1 16
16
April 16
Apri
Apr:
Apr:
Apr:
Apr
Apr:
Apri
Apri
Apri
Apri
Apri
Apr:
Apri
Apr:
18
19
1 19
1 19
1 19
1 21
1 22
1 24
1 26
1 28
1 28
1 29
1 30
30
No. Received.
116
45
80
52
3
15
16 p
lip
48 p
44 p
7p
29 p
100 p
33 p
90 p
63 p
34 p
198 p
32 p
90 p
17 p
6p
159 p
10 p
45 p
12 p
193 p
210 p
lip
80 p
100 p
76 p
46 p
98 p
19 p
199 p
78 p
28 p
kes
kes
kes.
kes
kes
kes
kes
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes
kes.
kes.
kes-
kes.
kes
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
From whom received.
D. B. Woodruff.
J. R. Dorsett.
Grier & Masterson.
Marshall & Rice.
John Baker.
N. Weed.
Samuel Griswold.
W. L. Rainey.
Marshall & Rice.
J. R. Dorsett.
G. N. Wyman & Co.
J. C. Zimmerman & Co..
J. G. White.
Grier & Masterson.
Ford & Dumas.
O. W. Massey.
T. C. Nisbet.
D. B. Woodruff.
T. C. Nisbet.
S. Griswold.
James Hurt.
James M. Hall.
N. Weed.
Marion Cleveland.
J. C. Zimmerman.
J. J. Martin.
Lowry & Wilder.
Wm. J. Mc.Elroy & Co..
Turner & Webb.
F. F. Hyer.
Samuel Griswold.
Humphrey Reid.
J. J. Ford.
J. G. White.
William Berry.
H. Stephens.
J. C. Zimmerman & Co.
E. R. Hodgson & Bro.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 353
STATEMENT OF PIKES RECEIVED AT THE ARSENAL— CONT.
Date-1862.
May l...
May 3..-
May 9--.
May 10..
May 16- .
May 17-.
May 17..
May 21 . .
May 22..
May 22.-
May 23--
May 23--
May 27--
May 27--
May 27--
May 27--
May 30.-
June 2
June 10--
June 12-.
June 17--
June 21-.
June 30- -
July 10--
August 5-
Sept. 5 .-
October 1
Sept. 16 .
No. received.
29 p
142 p
105 p
194 p
104 p
83 p
300 p
10
5p
50
87 ,
12 p
18 p
676 p
97 p
525 p
215 p
201 p
290 p
168 p
126 p
33 p
18 p
107 p
769 p
55 p
47 p
140 p
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
kes.
From whom received.
7099
S. Dunlap.
J. R. Dorsett.
J. G. White.
H. Stephens.
James M. Higgins.
Wm. Schley.
Samuel Griswold.
M. E. Mathews.
Mark A. Cooper, Agt.
W.H.Elder & D. H.Winn
James M. Higgins.
William N. Watkins.
William Berry.
John D. Gray.
Samuel Griswold.
John Esper.
H. Stevens.
Samuel Griswold.
John Esper.
John Esper.
J. C. Eve.
Alfred Kent.
B. B. Alfred.
E. P. WUliams,
J. D. Gray.
F. F. Hyer.
H. Stevens.
E. P. Williams.
*1229 issued to the Confederate Quartermaster, Chat-
tanooga, Tenn., and W. B. Griffin, Augusta, Ga.
5870 now in the Arsenal.
State Arsenal, Milledgeville, December 6, 1862.
T. M. BRADFORD, M. S. K.
Received at Savannah, 156 pikes from Wm. J. McElroy.
*829 pikes sent to Confederate Quartermaster, Chattanooga, Tenn.
400 pikes sent to W. B. Griffin, Augusta, Ga.
354 Confederate Records
The following message was transmitted to the Sen-
ate, to- wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 15th, 1862.
To the Senate :
I herewith return, without my sanction, the resolu-
tion passed on the tenth, and enrolled and handed to me
on the eleventh instant, entitled, '* Resolutions supple-
mentary, amendatory and explanatory of resolutions,
(already passed) authorizing the Governor to provide
clothing and shoes, etc., for the destitute Georgia troops
in the Confederate service."
These resolutions fix a different rate of compensa-
tion to be paid to persons whose manufactured articles
may be seized for the purposes mentioned, from the com-
pensation fixed by the original resolutions, and, in my
opinion, a more just basis of settlement. I have there-
fore, adopted the prices specified in these resolutions, un-
der the discretionary powers given me by the first reso-
ultions. But I have withheld my sanction from them
for the reason that they direct '^that all seizures author-
ized by the original resolutions and these amendments
shall cease their operations after the 20th of December
instant, except in the following cases: when a case of
contest as to cost may be pending on the 20th instant, it
shall be proceeded with until completed, and when a fac-
tory or tannery may be seized, it may be held until the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 355
owner of it will agree to furnish, and will furnish, its
products on the terms provided by the original resolu-
tions, as hereby amended.
It is only the factories and tanneries which may be
seized from the 20th instant, that can be held under this
resolution till they agree to furnish, and do furnish, the
articles, etc.
The time allowed is so short, that it is not possible
for the Quartermaster-General, who is charged with this
matter, to take possession of half the factories and tan-
neries of the State and attend to the other pressing du-
ties of his office, within the time above specified.
The result must, therefore, be to place some of them
under the restraint as to prices provided for by the reso-
lution, and leave others free to charge the State as exor-
bitantly as they may choose to do, on account of her
inability to get possession of them by the 20th of the
month. This would not be justice as between them.
Again, it is not just to seize the manufactured articles
in the hands of part of our merchants, who do not hide
them, and exempt from seizure, when needed, the goods
of others who may succeed in hiding their goods, till
after the day fixed for the seizure to cease. The great
object of the passage of the original resolutions was to
enable the State authorities to obtain with certainty, the
supply necessary to alleviate the suffering of our troops
in the field, and, in my opinion, this object would be, in
a great measure, defeated by the adoption of the amenda-
tory resolution above quoted.
Joseph E. Brown.
.^^ tOiii— ii^ri liaDKW^
>AiVTTr^'
. ««*w». i.
>,^
Tt' ^kr ^Kfiigein^ o^ ^At 4»r « «N|^/
cifiri
"^."^j^fS. \^ '*^"^
StaTZ pAPKta ' ? CJV.T-R^i^-xro^ -7'-,*' "?! B^r.'irxr :»57
niii&t I ntay eoMdev liae A^eead^fj %aa£
to
tbe kyvrest na^MMnalle Iflddef; wW will ;
tibe faoOfd perlisinBaaKe of Air «0«t»e~
proper ^^bnlvtMS of IIk; spiritft wftea m^.
tiMS ]iecM» 1dm lo nalcer tiie nqypij lor Ihbp.
win gire tadi ^stiller a fair ^kemet to c
tiraely and Ae lowe^ ladder will W lAie >
fbme for iriMn 1^ sqjpfj is to l»e Hadcu
I ^^ , • -
the tr '^ to flK> for
Wh^rii i /. eetfj' tbe :'.
of . -iwi ©on
b:
it
a: . - -.
XT - - _ — -- -■ -.--.-'.
if jpeto
see
<c£<i.-.-: -i.:.. .j...-r , .r :.- ■ ' --
feeiie)!/.
The ststote does iM>t pr -
The r;
tracts au-
-*»"
atattrte.
358 Confederate Records
I am frequently asked wlietlier it is a violation of
the statute to distill the seed of what is usually called
Chinese sugar cane. This is a question for the courts
to determine, when a proper ease is made before them.
If this seed is grain, then it is a violation of the law to
distill it; and he who does it, is subject to a fine of not
less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000 and imprisonment
for each day he distills. As the informer gets half the
fine and the penalty is a very heav^ one, I should think
the risk greater than a prudent man would wish to take.
Those who have those seeds on hand can feed them to
stock and save their corn for bread, and rest satisfied
that they violate no statute of this State.
Respectfully,
Joseph E. Brown.
N. B. — A copy of the foregoing Circular was for-
warded to each County in this State.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVTLLE, GeORGIA,
December 22nd, 1862.
The following indorsement was made upon a commun-
ication of Lieut. Col. Wm. S. Rockwell to General Mer-
cer, and by him referred to General Beauregard and by
him referred to the Governor of Georgia, upon the sub-
ject of landlords dispossessing their tenants, who are
soldiers' families, in Savannah; and the communication
with the indorsement was returned to General Beaure-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 359
gard by mail on the 23rd of December, 1862, to Charles-
ton, to-wit:
While I do not think a declaration of Martial Law
necessary to the suppressment of the evil complained of,
and while I have not the power, without further legis-
lation, to suspend the ordinary process, or even the
summary process of the courts, as conferred upon them
by the legislature, other than by a declaration of Martial
Law, I am of opinion, the military authorities may take
such cognizance of these evils within the lines, (as at Sa-
vannah) and apply such remedies by military discipline
as will suppress the mischief. Such is my unlimited con-
fidence in the wisdom, justice and prudence of General
Beauregard, that I do not hesitate to say, I will sanction
any action he may take for the suppression and punish-
ment of the inhuman and disloyal practices referred to
in the within statement.
Milledgeville, Dec. 20th, 1862.
Joseph E. Brown.
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
January 17th, 1863.
Ordered, That the Secretary of State issue a Procla-
mation, commanding all persons, as well officers as pri-
vates, within the limits of this State, who have been ac-
tually engaged in the military Service of the Confeder-
360 Confederate Records
acy, and who liave deserted, or are otherwise absent
from their respective commands, without legal furlough,,
to return to their commands immediately.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
February 9th, 1863.
To T. T. Windsor,
Sir: You have been appointed to sell the Cotton
Cards made at the factory in this city, under the control
of the State. The object had in view by those who origi-
nated this State enterprise, was the supply of the people
of this State, at the earliest day possible, with this indis-
pensable article, without which our people cannot much
longer be comfortably clad. If the women of Georgia,
who, from the commencement of our struggle for inde-
pendence, have acted so noble a part, were supplied with
Cotton Cards, they would not only clothe their families,
but would, by untiring industry, contribute largely to
the supply necessary for our gallant troops in service.
With the assistance of those who are laboring hard to
put the necessary machinery in motion, it will be my con-
stant effort to supply the deficiency as fast as possible.
This, however, can only be done to a limited extent for a
considerable length of time to come. So long as there
is not a supply for all, the distribution of the limited num-
ber produced will be a difficult task, which it is impossible
to perform without displeasing such persons as look
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 361
only to their own interest and are never satisfied unless
they are preferred. My object is to make the distribu-
tion among the different counties of this State as equit-
able as possible. It is not just that the counties nearest
to this place, or to the railroads of the State, have all
they ask, before the counties further back from the thor-
oughfares receive any. At present, we have but one ma-
chine in operation, which is turning out about an average
of 20 pairs per day. We hope soon to have other ma-
chinery, made here, under the direction of Mr. Peter
Jones, our Master Armorer, in successful motion.
If we succeed in this, we must have leather to make
the cards, or our machinery will avail us nothing. As
the supply of leather is very limited, probably nothing
but cards will bring what we need. You will, therefore,
give the preference to all persons who bring you leather,
or hides suitable to make leather, fit for use in this busi-
ness. He who brings one good skin, whether tanned or
not, will be permitted to purchase one pair of cards at
six dollars, and pay the difference in money. He who
brings skins or leather suitable for use, worth more than
six and less than twelve dollars, may purchase two pairs
of cards, and pay the balance in money.
If the lot of leather or skins is worth over twelve dol-
lars, the owner may receive two pairs of cards and the
balance in money, unless he will sign a written obligation
to sell to his neighbors the balance of the cards over two
pairs, at six dollars per pair, not exceeding two pairs
to any one family, and will bring the certificate of the
Clerk of the Superior Court that the families for whom
he proposes to purchase, reside in his county and that
362 Confederate Records
lie is a reliable man, in which case he may receive cards
in payment for the whole lot of skins or leather.
Persons bringing skins or leather will be supi)lie(l
each in his turn, in the order in which they are delivered
at the Penitentiary. All cards made over what is nec-
essary to pay for leather, will be distributed as follows :
The first 3,300 pairs will be distributed among the 132
counties of the State, in proportion to population. This
is an average of 25 pairs to the county. Of course, a
larger county will get more than a smaller one, in pro-
portion as its population is greater. For instance, one
county of large population may get 40 pairs, while
another of one fourth as many pojjulation, only gets 10
pairs.
These are to be delivered to the Justices of the Infe-
rior Court of each county, on payment by them of six
dollars per pair, which they will be authorized to pay
out of the fund distributed to the county for the benefit
of soldiers' families. The Court will be required to dis-
tribute the cards among the most needy families of sol-
diers (who will use them) in place of their value in
money. In this distribution, each family to have one
pair. As each county will wish to be first supplied, all
cannot be gratified. As some must necessarily be sup-
plied before others, and I wish to show partiality to
none, you will take an alphabetical list of the names of
the counties and supply each in the order in which its
name comes in the list, beginning at A and going through
the alphabet.
All the cards made will be disposed of for leather
and skins and distributed among the counties for sol-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 363
diers' families, in the manner above directed, till further
order. To this rule you will not make a single exception
in favor of any person whomsoever. As many persons
are sending in money by mail and by express to try to
get preference in the distribution of cards, you will re-
turn all such remittances by the same conveyance, at the
risk of the owner. If we succeed in duplicating the ma-
chine and the enterprise is successful, as we have reason
to hope, the people of the State may be generally sup-
plied during the present year. When we have enough
for general distribution, you will receive such change of
orders as circumstances may require, which will be made
public. You will annex to this order a statement of the
kind of leather and skins you will receive and the price
you will pay ; and as there are so many letters addressed
to the heads of different Departments that they cannot
answer all, a printed copy of these instructions, with
your statement, will generally be sent as a reply, which
will give the desired information, as no person can get
cards upon any other terms than those specified.
Joseph E. Brown.
Salesman's Office,
Georgia Card Factory,
February 11th, 1863.
In compliance with instructions of the Governor, cards
will be given in exchange for sheep skins, goat skins,
dog skins or deer skins, whether tanned or not. For
every piece of good leather, five inches broad and twenty-
two inches long, which will make one pair, I will pay
364 Confederate Records
fifty cents, and for each p'lOi-e of raw hide of tlie same
size, twenty-five cents. In measuring tlie skin or leatlier,
tlie tliin parts not fit for use will not be paid for. A skin
larp:e enough to make six j)airs of cards, if well tanned,
will be worth three dollars; if not tanned, one dollar and
fifty cents. No damaged hide will be received. Sheep
skins that have been used as saddle l)lankets or covers,
and all skins from any cause unlit to make good leather,
will be rejected. If skins unfit for use are sent by ex-
press, they will be thrown aside and nothing paid for
them. Every person sending leather or skins by express,
must accompany them with a letter, giving a description
of what he sends and the name and postoffice of the
owner; otherwise, I cannot know who is the owner of
each package, and will not be responsible. Each pack-
age sent by express must be prepaid to receive attention.
Thomas T. Windsor,
Salesman.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 10th, 1863.
Revd. J. M. M. Calwell, President of Rome Female
College, is hereby authorized to ship unmolested, over
the Western & Atlantic Railroad, one bale of thread.
Officers on said road will respect this order accord-
ingly.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 365
Executive Department,
MrLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 13th, 1863.
I consent, if the other parties do, that Messrs. Porter
& Wells use the chimney of the engine at Cartersville
belonging to the Card Manufacturing Co. till it is called
for by 'Hie or other persons having the right to control
the affairs of the Company, they having this day filed in
the Executive Office their obligation to return it on
demand.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
The following is a copy of the obligation referred to
in the above.
Milledgeville, Ga., Feb. 13th, 1863.
Having obtained the consent of owners of the Card
Machine to use a sheet iron chimney or smoke pipe, now
in Cartersville, belonging to said parties, to enable us
to manufacture gun carriages at Etowah, Ga., for the
Confederate States: We hereby obligate ourselves to
return said smoke pipe to the owners whenever notified
so to do.
Porter & Wells.
3f)() Confederate Records
A Proclamation.
By Joseph E, IJrown,
Governor of Georgia.
To the Officers and Members of the General Assembly.
I am satisfied that developments have clearly shown
the necessity for further legislation at an early day to
secure the use of all our productive labor this year, in
the cultivation of our lands in grain and other articles
necessary to sustain, and not in cotton, tobacco or like
])rodu('tions, and to prevent the destruction of articles
of food by distillation.
As the public exigencies do, therefore, in my opinion,
require that the General Assembly convene at an earl-
ier day than that fixed by your meeting when you last
adjourned, I issue this, my Proclamation, requiring you
and each of you to assemble in your respective Halls, in
the Capitol, in this city, on "Wednesday, the 25th day of
this present month, at 10 o'clock, A. M.
Given under my hand and the Great
Seal of the State, at Capitol, in the
city of Milledgeville, this, the 11th
day of March, in the year of our
Lord, Eighteen Hundred and Six-
ty-three.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor:
N. C. Barnett, Secretary of State.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 367
The following message of his Excellency, Joseph E.
Brown, was transmitted to the General Assembly, con-
vened in the Capitol by his Proclamation, March 25th,
1863, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I have felt it my duty to convene you at an earlier
day than that fixed for your meeting when you adjourned.
In the midst of a revolution of such vast magnitude
as that in which we are engaged, the constant change in
the circumstances by which we are surrounded must fre-
quently influence our actions, and develop sufficient rea-
sons for a change of our opinions, or our policy. In
December last, we passed an act prohibiting the cultiva-
tion of more than three acres of cotton to the hand this
year, which virtually legalizes and invites its production
to that extent. I am now fully satisfied, if the quantity
of land mentioned in that Act, is planted in Georgia and
each of the other cotton States, the result will be our
subjugation by hunger, and the utter ruin of the Con-
federacy. Hence, I have felt it my duty, before the crop
is planted, to call you together and recommend the pas-
sage of an Act, that will make it highly penal for any one
to cultivate exceeding one-fourth of an acre to the hand.
The enemy has overrun, and now holds, a large part of
the most productive lands in the Confederacy. As our
368 Confederate Records
limits areoiroumseribed and contracted, many of the loyal
people of the sections in the possession of the enemy re-
tire to the interior and the numher of persons to be siip-
])orted from the products of the land in our ))ossession,
is <?reatly increased, while the area of ])roductive lands
from which the support must come, is almost daily dimin-
ished. Most of the white laborers of the country are
now in the anny, and new levies are constantly being
■made from those who remain. As these enter the mili-
tary service our fields are left uncultivated, while the
women and children are still in our midst and must be
supported. The result is, that the country and the army
are mainly dependent upon slave labor for support. At
the present prices of all the necessaries of life, it is im-
possible for the women and children to support them-
selves. In my opinion, it wall take every acre of land,
and every days' productive labor which we can command
this year, to make our necessary support; and he who
employs any portion of his lands and labor in the pro-
duction of cotton, tobacco or any other products that
will not sustain life, to that extent endangers the success
■of our cause. The present prices of cotton make the
temptation to plant it very strong and the planter will
quiet his conscience by the reflection that the Legislature
has authorized him to plant three acres to the hand, and
will plant his best land, place his manure upon it and
make it the object of his' special care and attention.
There is now cotton enough in the Confederacy to clothe
our people for several years, and there is no reason why
we should plant more than is actually necessary to keep
seed. It may be said that the planter can make more
money out of cotton than grain and vegetables. This is
very questionable. But if we admit that he can make
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 369
double as much, this is no reason why he should be per-
mitted to do it, if by so doing, he hazards the very exis-
tence of the States. What will his money, or his cotton,
or his slaves, or his lands be worth to him if we are
subjugated and the evil and religious liberties of himself
and his posterity are destroyed?
As the war is now prosecuted by the Lincoln Govern-
ment, for the avowed purpose of abolishing slavery, no
class of our people has so much at stake as our slave-
holders, who are generally our chief planters. They are
dependent upon our white laborers in the field of battle,
for the protection of their property; and in turn, this
army of white laborers and their families are dependent
upon the slave owners for a support while thus engaged.
The obligation is mutual and reciprocal, and neither party
has the right to disregard it.
Tlie conduct of our planters last year was most pa-
triotic and praiseworthy, and has saved our cause for the
present, but the temptations held out to the avaricious
are much greater this year, owing to the high prices of
cotton in the market, and I consider legislation abso-
lutely necessary to restrain those who would hazard all
for gain. As it is now time to commence planting, I in-
voke your early attention to this question, in my opinion,
second in importance to no other that is likely to come
under your consideration. At the present time money
will not buy bread, in a large section of our State, at a
reasonable price. This is caused partly by the severe
drouth of last summer, but is probably owing, in a great
degree, to the fact that the lands in that section of the
State are cultivated most entirely by white labor; and
most of that labor being now in the army, the lands lie
370 Confederate Records
idle, and the women and children are destitute of bread.
But for the large surplus in the cotton regions, scenes of
sull'ering must ensue which would be appalling to con-
template, and which must demoralize, if not disband,
that part of the army where the husbands and fathers of
the sufferers stand as a bulwark between us and the en-
emy. Let not the people of the cotton sections of the
State, where there is labor to cultivate all the lands, risk
the chances of similar or worse distress another year,
lest consequences ensue which may cost them, not only
their cotton crops, but all that they have, and all that
they expect to have in future. We can never be con-
quered by the arms of the enemy. AVe may be by hunger
if we neglect to husband all the resources for the supply
of provisions, which a kind Providence has placed within
our reach. Attempt to conceal it as we may, the fact is
undeniable, that the great question in this revolution is
now a question of bread. The army must be fed and
their families at home supported, or the sun of liberty
will soon set in darkness and blood, and the voice of
freedom will be forever hushed in the silence of despotism.
The Law Against Distillers.
Experience has shown that the law against the distil-
lation of grain into ardent spirits, needs amendment.
From information received from different parts of the
State, I am satisfied that a large portion of the potato
crop, most of the dried fruit, and a considerable quantity
of the molasses in the State have been and are being dis-
tilled. Under pretense of distilling these articles, it is
also said that quantities of corn are being used by dis-
tillers, who keep their doors closed and refuse to admit
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 371
visitors who might testify against them. In other sec-
tions, it is said, they are running their stills in open
violation of the law, and no one has the nerve to with-
stand and prosecute them. To arrest these evils, I rec-
ommend that the law be so changed as to make it highly
penal during the war for any one, in addition to the
present prohibition, to distill potatoes, dried fruit, or mo-
lasses without a license. And that every person who
keeps his distillery locked and refuses to admit visitors,
day or night, when admission is asked, shall be held prima
facie guilty of a violation of the law. And that every
person who runs his distillery without a license, shall be
presumed to be guilty of distilling grain, or other article
prohibited, and the burden of proof shall rest upon him,
to show the contrary.
The law should also make the owner of the distillery
liable to the penalties if his stills are run by an insolvent
person. And it should be made the duty of the Sheriff
of the county to call to his aid all the force necessary
and destroy any distillery which is run in violation of the
law as he would abate any other nuisance.
It has been impossible for the Inferior Courts of
some of the counties, under my instructions, to find a
person who will take the contract to make the quantity
of spiritous liquors or alcohol necessary for medicinal
uses at the prices fixed by the statute. And as it is a
violation of the law for a person distilling under a license
to sell for more than the prices fixed by the statute, I
recommend such change as will authorize the lowest re-
sponsibile bidder to be licensed at such price as may be
agreed on between him and the Court for the supply
372 Confederate Records
necessary for the county; the quantity recommended by
the Court to be subject to the approval of the Governor
before he issues the license.
Transportation of Provisions.
So great is the scarcity of provisions in Cherokee
county that it is impossible to subsist the soldiers' fami-
lies and the poor much longer without the transporta-
tion of corn from South-western Georgia. The rolling
stock upon the South AVestern and the Macon & Western
Railroads is not sufficient to carry forward the corn and
to do the work required by the Confederate Government.
Surrounded by these difficulties, I thought it best to direct
the Superintendent of the State Road to put one of his
best trains upon the roads to South-western Georgia for
the transportation of corn to supply bread to those who
must otherwise suffer, I shall be obliged to continue
this policy till the emergency is passed, though I may not
be able to carr^'- over the State Road all Government
freight offered as promptly as I could wish. I feel it to
be my highest duty to so use the property- of the State as
to prevent if possible, suffering on the part of the poor
or the families of soldiers for want of bread.
Salaries.
I earnestly recommend the passage of an Act repeal-
ing the Act of 28th November, 1861, entitled "An Act
to fix the salaries and compensation of certain officers
mentioned therein, and for other purposes;" and that
reasonable salaries be allowed.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 373
It now takes the whole salary of a Judge of the Su-
perior Courts for twelve months to purchase fifteen bar-
rels of flour or fifteen hundred pounds of bacon in the
markets of this State. The per diem pay of a Judge
while on his circuit does not nearly defray his necessary
traveling expenses. Is this right? Can any intelligent
legislator claim that it is compatible with the justice or
the dignity of a great State?
The Constitution of Georgia, which we are bound by
solemn obligation to support, says, **The Judges shall
have salaries adequate to their services fixed by law."
Are the present salaries of the Judges or other officers
of the State, adequate to their services? The question,
to my mind, is too plain for argument. I trust it is only
necessary again to bring it to your attention to secure
prompt action.
The New Code.
The Code of this State having gone into operation on
the first day of January last, it is a matter of great im-
portance that the public officers be supplied with copies
of it, that they and the people may have an opportunity
of learning what the law is. It is not in my power to
supply copies to even a considerable proportion of those
who are entitled to them, on account of the neglect of
Mr. John H. Seals, the printer, to comply with his con-
tract. Since the contract was entered into by him he has
represented to the General Assembly his inability to com-
ply with his obligation without additional compensation,
and five thousand dollars of extra pay has been allowed
him. He has been paid the full amount agreed upon by
the original contract for the whole job, and one-half
374 Confederate Records
of the extra amount appropriated. After this has been
done, he still failed to comply with the contract, alleging
that he could not get leather to make the binding. To
relieve him from this difficulty, at your session in No-
vember and December last, you authorized the Governor
to receive the books bound in an inferior style. Since
this action on your part, he has not delivered a single
copy, and no assurance is given when the books will be
delivered. I have reasons to believe that Mr. Seals has
sold a considerable number of copies to individuals or to
the trade. I call your attention to this subject, and rec-
ommend such action on your part as may be necessary
to compel performance on his part, or to take the printed
sheets out of his hands and have them bound by others at
his expense.
Small Pox.
The physicians' bills sent to this Department by the
Inferior Courts of many of the counties, for attention
to persons afflicted with small pox, liave, in my opinion
been so exorbitant that I have refused to pay them.
There are several instances of physicians who have made
out bills against the State for one or two months' atten-
tion to small pox cases, amounting to larger sums than
they would, I suppose, be able to make by one or two
years practice. I respectfully ask that the law be so
amended as to establish some just rule by which I am to
be governed in the pajnuent of those claims. The Act
only makes provision for the payment by the State of the
expenses incurred at hospitals established by the Inferior
Courts of the different counties. Many of the courts
have established no hospitals and have had the cases
treated at the houses of the afllicted, in different parts
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown" 375
of the county. It is desirable that the will of the Legis-
lature be more clearly expressed in reference to cases of
this character. While I do not think that stronger rea-
sons exist why the state should pay the physicians' bills
and other expenses incurred by attention to persons who
have small pox, and are treated at home, when they are
themselves able to pay, than in cases of other contagious
diseases of a malignant character, it may be proper that
such payments be made by the State, when the persons
afflicted are unable to pay, and might otherwise be neg-
lected on account of their poverty.
Impressment of Negroes.
It will be remembered, that Brigadier-General Mercer
made a requisition upon the State, while you were last in
session, for twenty-five hundred negroes, for sixty days,
to work on the fortifications around Savannah, and that
the Governor was authorized, by the action of the Gen-
eral Assembly, to fill the requisition. A call was after-
wards made by authority of General Beauregard, for
three hundred negroes to work on the obstructions of the
Altamaha River, which requisition was also filled.
Many of the negroes sent to Savannah have not yet
been discharged, because, in the opinion of the military
authorities there, the emergency was such as to make it
a military necessity to retain them. New and additional
fortifications have been projected, and no one seems to
know when they will be completed. It is now required,
that the negroes remain ninety days longer; or, if they
are discharged, that their places be supplied immediately
by a new levy.
376 Confederate Records
The up])or and western portions of the State, liave
not yet furnislied their quota. If a new impressment is
made, as the hiw now stands, it must be from these sec-
tions. Tlie warm season is commencinf}^, and tlie nej^roes
from these })arts of the State are not accustomed to the
climate of Savannah. Much sickness and many deaths
must therefore be expected among them. Again, the
crop is now being planted, and it is a matter of great im-
portance, that as little labor as possible be taken from the
agricultural pursuits of the State.
In this state of the case, I respectfully ask, that the
General Assembly, by joint resolution, or otherwise, give
directions, at as early a day as possible, as to the best
mode of furnishing the labor to complete the fortifica-
tions. It will also be proper that some just mode of
ascertaining the value, and compensating the owners for
the negroes who have died in the service, and the still
larger number who may die during the summer season,
be prescribed by law.
Military Law.
Section 1040 of the Code provides, that all elections
for militia officers, of and above the rank of Captain, shall
be ordered by the Commander-in-Chief.
This will cause a great accumulation of labor in the
Executive Department, with much unnecessary delay and
expense. I therefore recommend that the old rule be
re-established, and that all vacancies below the grade of
General, be filled by election ordered by the officer next
highest in command, except in the case of lieutenants,
whose election should be ordered by the Captain, as pre-
scribed by Act of 11th February, 1850.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 377
I also recommend the repeal of Sections 986, 987, 988,
989, 990, 992 and 993, of the Code, which provide for the
payment of a commutation tax in lieu of military service,
as wholly inapplicable to the present condition of the
country. The Comptroller-General, by my direction, has
left the columns relating to this commutation tax out of
the Receiver's Digest, till you shall have considered the
question.
Rights of the Churches.
I recommend the repeal of Section 1376 of the Code,
which prohibits ''any church, society, or other body, or
any persons, to grant license or other authority, to any
slave or free person of color, to preach or exhort, or
otherwise officiate in church matters." I entertain no
doubt, that the negroes are sometimes very useful among
their own people as preachers or exhorters. This is a
question of which the church of the living God, and not
the legislature of a State, is the proper judge. The loyal
support which the churches of all religious denominations
have given the Confederate and State Governments, and
the aid which they have afforded the Government, in the
maintenance of our slavery institutions, have demon-
strated that they understand this question, and may safely
be trusted. The Legislature, under pretense of police
regulation or otherwise, therefore, has no right to in-
fringe upon religious liberty, or usurp the power which
belongs to the churches. Render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's, is
an injunction which the State has no right to disregard.
378 Confederate Records
State Endorsement of Confederate Debt.
I transmit herewith copies of resolutions, passed by
the legislatures of the States of Alabama, South Caro-
lina, Mississippi and Florida, proposing upon different
plans, the endorsement of the debt of the Confederacy
by the States. No one can doubt the patriotic motives
which have prompted this action of our sister States.
But as this is a question of great magnitude, involving
important principles, and as our action in the premises,
must be followed by consequences seriously affecting the
credit of the State, present and prospective, it is our duty
to examine it for ourselves, and not to be controlled by
the decision and action of others.
If the proposed endorsement will have the effect of
arraying the capital of the country against the Confed-
eracy, and in favor of a reconstruction of the old Union,
however laudable the motive, the act would be most un-
fortunate. Again, if the effect would be to level the
credit of all the States to an equality, without regard to
the manner in which they have managed their financial
affairs, or the amount of debt now owed by each, it would
be gross injustice to those States which have conducted
their affairs so well as to incur but little debt, and have
maintained their credit at the highest point.
Furthermore, if the endorsement of the Confederate
debt, by the States, can only be productive of temporary
appreciation of Confederate credit, without permanent
benefit, and must be followed by serious injury to the
credit of the States, the policy is unwise, and should not
be adopted.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 379
Let us consider whether these would not be the legiti-
mate effects of the proposed endorsement.
At present, almost every capitalist in the country, is
the creditor of the Confederate Government, and is di-
rectly interested in maintaining its existence, and sus-
taining its credit. I speak not of individuals, but capital
is generally selfish, and controlled more by interest than
patriotism. When we have ascertained what will be
the interest of capitalists we may generally have but little
diflficulty in determining what will be their action.
Suppose the whole debt of the Confederacy to have
reached one billion of dollars, as it probably will have
done by the time the States have all acted upon this prop-
osition. It is not probable that capitalists, as a matter
of choice, would prefer to credit our government with a
larger debt than this hanging over it. But having al-
ready invested this enormous sum, if they feel that their
only hope of payment rests upon the success and perma-
nent establishment of the Confederacy, and it becomes
necessary to invest another billion to establish the Gov-
ernment and avoid the loss of the sum already invested,
interest will prompt them to stand by the Government,
sustain its credit, and make further advance if they have
the means. But suppose at this period, all the States
indorse the whole debt, or each indorses its portion of it,
what effect will this have upon the mind of the capitalist?
If prior to the act, he looked only to the Confederacy for
payment, and having now obtained the legal, as well as
moral obligation of the individual States to pay, he is
satisfied that this secures the debt, his interest in the
permanent success of the Confederacy ceases, and he
looks in future to the States for payment. If after this,
380 Confederate Records
the old Union should be reconstructed, and the States of
our Confederacy should return, and become members of
it, the capitalist is not left to look to a Confederacy no
longer in existence, for payment, nor to rely on the moral
obligation of the States, to assume and pay the debt, but
he rests ui)on the solemn legal endorsement of the indi-
vidual States, which would be as binding upon them, in
one Confederacy as in another. The capitalists having
thus obtained the solenm indorsements of the States, for
a sum as large as they could reasonably expect to pay,
would naturally desire to prevent an increased liability,
on the part of their debtors, the States, which would
weaken their ability to pay, and might in future, cause
the people to throw off the whole burden, on account of
its accumulated weight. Knowing, in other words, that
it is possible to increase debt to an amount so onerous
as to drive a people to repudiation, they might prefer to
take their chances of payment of one billion of dollars
of State debt, in the old Confederacy, rather than of two
billions in the new. Hence it would be their interest to
oppose the appropriation of the second billion of dollars,
to prosecute the war for the establishment of the Confed-
eracy, and to advocate a reconstruction for the purpose
of securing an early peace, and of stopping further ex-
penditure, that they may save what is already owing to
them.
The rivers of blood which have been drawn from the
veins of our fathers, brothers, husbands, sons and other
relatives by the hands of our cruel enemies, form an im-
passable gulf between us and our wicked invaders. How
can we again shake hands with them over the slain bodies
of our loved ones, and again embrace them in fraternal
relations! Were Georgians to do this, the blood of their
State Papebs of Governor Jos. E. Brown 381
brethren, who have fallen martyrs to our glorious cause,
would cry to them from the ground, and rebuke the das-
tardly deed. Sooner than reunite with those now seeking
to enslave us, and under the name of Union with them,
become, with our posterity, hewers of wood and drawers
of water for them, let us submit with more than Roman
firmness, to the devastation of our fields, and, if need be,
the extermination of our race. But let us do not act
hastily, which, however patriotic the motive, may tend to
array a powerful class in our midst against the Confed-
erate Government. While Georgia, with the dignity of
a great State, should firmly maintain her reserved rights,
and, if need be, restrain the Confederate Government
within the limits assigned it by the Constitutional com-
pact to which she is a party, she should stand by it, con-
fined within its Constitutional limits, with an unyielding
determination to sustain it at every hazard, as well
against injuries inflicted by the injudicious action of im-
prudent friends, as against the thrusts of domestic ene-
mies, or the herculean assaults of foreign foes. The
future happiness of her posterity is firmly linked with
the Confederacy. Thousands of her sons have nobly im-
molated their lives upon its altars, and the tens of thou-
sands who survive should see to it that no rude hand is
uplifted against it, that no false policy undermines its
foundations, and that no usurpers destroy the beautiful
symmetry of its magnificent structure.
We should not only sustain the Confederacy at all
hazards, but we should also sustain the administration.
We may differ from it on Constitutional questions, or
questions of policy. Such is the nature of the human
mind, and such is the variety of human intellect, that
no two honest men were ever fully agreed in every senti-
382 CONFEDEBATE KeCORDS
ment. As long as freedom of thoiiglit and freedom of
speech exist, we should have the independence to express
our dissent from what we consider the errors of our rul-
ers, and they should have the magninimity to tolerate
the difference. But while we contend earnestly for what
we consider sound principles, we should do no act which
can seriously embarrass the administration in the prosecu-
tion of the war. In my judgment the proposed indorse-
ment would, in the end, array a class of capitalists against
the Gov^ernment which would amount to serious embar-
rassment.
Again, it can not be denied, that some of the States
have managed their financial affairs better than others.
Some have submitted to the necessary burdens of taxa-
tion, and met their liabilities as they were incurred, while
others have added much of them to their debts. Hence,
the debts of some are much larger, in proportion to their
resources, than the debts of others. The consequence is,
that the credit of the State that has the greatest resources
and the least debt is worth most in the market. But, sup-
pose all the States indorse the immense debt of the Con-
federacy, what is the result? As each State has its own
individual indebtedness, and would then have assumed a
legal liability for the debt of the Confederacy, the credit
of each State is at once placed below the credit of the
Confederacy; and as each would then be liable for as
much as it could reasonably be exj^ected ever to pay,
the credit of the respective States would be placed not
only at a low point, but very nearly upon a level with
each other. This would be injustice to those States
which have maintained their credit at the highest point.
Take for instance our own State. It may be truly re-
marked, without disparagement to other States, that the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 383
debt of Georgia is less, in proportion to her resources,
than that of any other State in the Confederacy, or,
indeed, any other upon the continent. The consequence
is that her credit is worth a higher premium in the mar-
ket than the credit of any other State in the Confederacy.
Her people are therefore entitled to the benefits of her
economy, her wise management and her far seeing states-
manship. If she and the other States now indorse the
Confederate debt, her credit is at once placed upon a level
with Confederate credit, if not below it, and very nearly
or quite upon a level with that of all the other States.
The result is that the people of the other States reap the
benefits of her credit, to which the people of Georgia are
alone entitled. This would be injustice to the people of
Georgia, and to her creditors who have invested in her
securities and are entitled to the benefits of her superior
■credit in the market. If it is said her people should
make sacrifices for the common cause I reply that no
State has responded more promptly to every call made
by Confederate authority for men, money or other assist-
ance, and that she is ever ready to comply with every
Constitutional obligation.
Having shown, I trust to your satisfaction, that the
proposed indorsement would place the interest of the
capitalists of the country in the scale against hazarding
further appropriations for the establishment of the Con-
federacy; that it would be productive of injury to the
credit of the individual States, and of injustice as be-
tween the States themselves; I now proceed to inquire
whether, if we waive these objections, it could be produc-
tive of the permanent benefits to Confederate credit
claimed by its advocates.
384 Confederate Records
Before proceeding, however, it is proper tliat I remark
that the advocates of indorsement are not agreed among
themselves, and that two plans are proposed. One prop-
osition contemplates a general indorsement of the whole
debt of the Confederacy, by the several States; each to
be liable in proportion to its representative weight in
Congress.
The other which may, I believe, properly be desig-
nated as the South Carolina proposition, proposes the
indorsement of $500,000,000 of the bonds hereafter to be
issued by the Confederacy; each State indorsing its pro-
portion of the bonds, on the basis of its relative repre-
sentative weight in Congress. The latter proposition is,
to my mind, the less objectionable of the two, as it does
not hold out the temptation above mentioned to capital-
ists, to whom the present debt is owing, to favor the re-
construction of the old Union, to prevent an increase
of debt to maintain the further existence of the Con-
federacy.
The advantages claimed for both propositions are I
believe, substantially the same. The chief of wliicli is,
that the proposed indorsement would reassure the confi-
dence of capital in Confederate credit and cause its in-
vestment in the bonds of the Confederacy, in amounts
sufficient to fund all treasury notes issued in redundancy
of healthy circulation, and thus reduce the circulation to
an amount only necessary to meet the legitimate com-
mercial demand for currency.
This looks well on paper, and might work well in
practice, if there were enough surplus capital in the
Confederacy, to convert hundred dollar bills into interest
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 385
bearing bonds, and lay them away as an investment, as
fast as all the paper mills in the country can make the
paper, and all the engravers can print upon it the likeness
of circulating medium, and an army of Government
clerks can sign these promises to pay. But here lies the
difficulty. Whatever may be the confidences of capital-
ists in these securities, the country, devastated as it is by
a destructive war, cannot yield surplus capital for per-
manent investment, as fast as hundred dollar bills, or
thousand dollar bonds, can be manufactured.
Prior to the commencement of the war, the surplus
capital of the South was invested in State Bonds, Bank
Stock, Railroad Stock, Bonds of Corx)orations, etc. Since
that time most of the surplus has been invested in Con-
federate Bonds ; and our people have not now, probably,
the half of five hundred millions of dollars that they can
spare to invest in any securities, however desirable.
This measure might afford partial and temporary re-
lief by inducing some capital not now employed, to seek
investment in these bonds. But if the war goes on, and
the Government is under the necessity of issuing two or
three millions of dollars a day, of its notes, for the next
one two or three years, it must be admitted that we have
not the capital to absorb them as fast as issued; and the
indorsement could only cause a temporary suspension
of the depreciation which must follow our over issues,
for the ultimate jDayment of which, no adequate provision
is being: made.
'to
The advocates of this plan also contend that the Gov-
ernment could fund the debt at home at a heavy premium
in its favor after the indorsement, basing the calculation
386 Confederate Records
upon the fact that State credit is now worth a large
premium when compared with Confederate.
To show the fallacy of this conclusion it is only nec-
essary to inquire why the bonds of the individual States
command this premium. The debts of most of the States
are now small, compared with their resources and their
ability to pay, and capitalists naturally conclude that in
case of failure of the Confederacy, or ultimate repudia-
tion by it, the States would pay their individual indebted-
ness, resting upon both legal and moral obligation in
preference to their indirect indebtedness resting upon
moral obligation, with no further legal obligation than
that their people submit to such taxation as may be im-
posed by Congress to raise the money to pay the debt.
Georgia's seven per cent, bonds are said to be worth 40
per cent, premium, in currency, in the market. Why?
Because her resources are great, and her debt small. In-
crease her indebtedness to one hundred millions and her
bonds will cease to command a premium. If we adopt
either of the proposed plans her debt may soon exceed
this sum. When the States have committed themselves
to the policy and have indorsed the present Confederate
debt, or have indorsed $500,000,000, they must extend
their endorsements as future exigences may, in the opin-
ion of the Government, require, until they have indorsed
all future issues to be made by the Government. The
advocates of the plan will have much stronger reasons
for claiming the extension when the States are once com-
mitted to the policy, than they now have for claiming the
first indorsement. It is like a whirlpool, from which,
when the States have once placed themselves within its
power, there is no return. When the amount indorsed
becomes, as it soon must, an enormous sum, the effect
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 387
of the indorsement will be to bring down State credit,
even below Confederate credit, and not to bring up Con-
federate credit to the present level of State credit.
It is again said that the proposed State indorsement
would enable the Government to negotiate its bonds
abroad at a premium, and that there is a sufficiency of
foreign capital to absorb all our issues. The sufficiency
of capital in that case is admitted, but the inquiry is,
would the indorsement induce its investment in these
bonds at a premium or at par, or even near to par?
We are engaged in a gigantic war. Our ports are
blockaded. The great powers of Europe refuse even to
recognize us as a Government. Our expenditures are
enormous, which cause our debt to accumulate rapidly,
and we are not collecting taxes sufficient to pay interest,
much less to create a sinking fund for the ultimate ex-
tinguishment of the principal. In this state of things,
foreign capitalists refuse to invest in Confederate se-
curities, and the credit of the individual States is far
below par in foreign markets. How then is it to be rea-
sonably expected that the endorsement of Confederate
bonds by the States will give them a value in foreign
markets, which is attached to neither the credit of the
Confederacy nor of the individual States! While the
war and the blockade last and while we refuse to submit
to taxation sufficient to retire a reasonable proportion
of our paper issues, it is vain to expect that we can fund
the debt abroad without the most ruinous sacrifice, no
matter how often the paper is indorsed by the parties
now morally bound for its payment.
388 Confederate Records
But it may be said, if the States are now morally
bound for the payment of the debt, and their people are
legally bound to submit to the necessary tax for that
purpose, when imposed by the Confederate Government,
why not indorse the bonds, and let the States take upon
themselves the direct legal obligation to pay. To my
mind, there are very obvious reasons why it should not
be done.
While the Constitutional obligation rests upon the
people of the States to submit to the taxation imposed
hy Congress to pay the debts of the Confederacy, the
Constitution imposes upon Congress, which is the power
that creates the liability, the sole responsibility of de-
vising the means and assessing the taxes necessary to
discharge the obligation. This is as it should be. The
power in the Government that creates the debt should
liave resting upon it the sole responsibility of devising
the means for its pa>Tnent, and of imposing the taxes
for that purpose which may be necessary. The people
then know how to hold their agents to a proper account-
ability.
Suppose, however, the States indorse the debt and
pledge their individual faith as States, for its payment
at maturity, and Congress, afraid of its popularity, does
not wish to take the responsibility to assess the tax to
meet it. AVhat follows? The States, to maintain their
individual credit, must themselves assess and collect the
tax, and make the payment. Congressmen finding that
in this way they could avoid an unpleasant responsibility
and retain their places with less difficulty would, after
having contracted the debt, when pay day came, turn over
the responsibility to the Legislatures of the States. Thus
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 389
we should have one Government to spend the money and
another chargeable with the responsibility of raising it.
Congress would then occupy very much the position of
the rich man's prodigal son at college who, having no
responsibility about footing the bill at the end of the
year, feels very little concern about the size to which it
accumulates.
Again, sad experience has shown us, that the ten-
dency of our Government is to consolidation, and that
the central Government is ever ready to usurp as much
undelegated power as the States will consent to lose. As
the central Government grows stronger the States grow
weaker, and their just rights are disregarded. Now I
can imagine no one Act of the States that will tend so
much to strengthen the central Government at the ex-
pense to them of the loss of their just powers, as the
adoption of the policy now proposed, which binds them
individually to i:)rovide for the payment of all the debts
which Congress may choose to contract, but may not be
willing to impose the taxes to pay. The consummation
of the policy is the complete consolidation of the Gov-
ernment, making the States the mere burden bearers of
the central superior.
I may be met here with the remark often made that
it is no time now to defend the rights of States or to
maintain principles. State rights and Constitutional
principles are the same in times of war as in times of
peace and should be maintained at all times and under
all circumstances. Power once usurped, with acquies-
cence, is never relaxed but at the point of the bayonet,
and we should not forget that rights surrendered in war
are never regained in peace. We should therefore do no
390 Confederate Records
act tending to destroy the States in one grand consolida-
tion, and lay the foundation of a central despotism upon
their ruins.
Having given some of the reasons which satisfy my
mind that the hopes entertained by the advocates of State
indorsement, that the adoption of their policy would
retire the excess of the currency and reduce it to a
healthy condition, are entirely delusive, I may be asked
if there is no remedy for the evil. My opinion is that
so long as the war is carried on in its present magnitude,
requiring the amount of daily expenditure now^ made, and
the demand for all the necessaries of life exceeds the
supply as it now does, there is no complete remedy for
the present evils, of high prices and redundant paper
currency. There is one remedy, and only one, which can
mitigate the evil, inspire confidence in the stability of the
Government and the ultimate payment of the debt and
induce the investment of surplus capital of the people
of other Governments as well as our own, in Confederate
bonds. That remedy is taxation by Congress sufficient
to pay the interest upon the whole debt in gold, or its
equivalent, and to create an annual sinking fund suflficient
to extinguish the debt within some reasonable time.
Convince cajjitalists ever}'where that this is the settled
policy of the Government, and that our people are ready
to submit to it and make all the sacrifices necessary to
carry it out, and Confederate securities will be sought
after in the market and most of our excess of circulation
funded without the question being once asked whether
State indorsements have been written upon the bonds.
In place of the indorsement of the bonds of the Con-
federacy by the States, I therefore recommend as our
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 391
response to be made to the propositions of our sister
States and as the Georgia policy in which their co-op-
eration is respectfully asked, the passage of a joint reso-
lution by the General Assembly, urging the Congress of
the Confederate States, in view of the full magnitude of
the crisis, to come up with nerve and firmness to the dis-
charge of its duty, by the assessment of a tax adequate
to the purposes above mentioned, and pledging the people
of Georgia to a prompt and cheerful payment of their
proportion of it. If this be done I have no misgivings
about the result. The good, common, practical sense of
the people, which is seldom properly appreciated by poli-
ticians, has already grasped the question. The people
understand it. Every practical business man knows that
paper promises, with paper indorsements, can never sus-
tain our credit as long as we appropriate and draw hun-
dreds of millions of dollars annually from the treasury
and return nothing to it. No matter how many expe-
dients we may try, we shall be constantly driven back
to the same point. Government has but one way of rais-
ing money to reduce its indebtedness, and that is by taxa-
tion, direct or indirect. And as our ports are blockaded,
so that we cannot raise money by direct taxation upon
imports, we have no alternative left but direct taxation.
As long as we attempt to conduct this war and maintain
our armies upon paper promises alone, we must expect
to endure all the evils of depreciated credit, inflated cur-
rency and high prices.
European Governments are already convinced by the
gallant deeds of our armies, that we can never be con-
quered as long as we can keep and maintain these armies;
but they very well understand that the financial question
underlies and is the foundation upon which the whole
302 Confederate Records
structure is built. Tluis far our policy has been such as
to atTord them but little evidence that this is with us a
sure foundation. AVhenever we have convinced them that
we are prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to es-
tablish a safe and permanent financial system, we may
expect both recognition and credit. Till we have done
this we cannot reasonably expect either.
Again, we lose almost nothing by submitting to the
taxation necessary to pay the interest and create a sink-
ing fund upon the gold basis. Whenever this becomes
the settled policy of the Government, the depreciation is
very nearly stopped, and the currency left in our hands
is worth almost or quite as much, as all we had was worth
before we paid the tax. To illustrate: The mechanic
has one hundred dollars of Confederate Treasury notes.
He wishes to purchase a good cow and calf, and he finds
it will take the whole sum to pay for them. The cur-
rency is still depreciating, and at the end of the next
three months it may take one hundred and twenty-five
dollars to make the purchase. At this point suppose the
Government assesses a tax of five per cent, to establish
the policy above indicated, and he is required to pay five
dollars of his hundred to the collector. The effect of
this is to absorb that much of the over issue and to give
confidence in the ultimate redemption of the whole. This
will at once stop the decline in the value of the notes,
and may cause them to appreciate. The consequence
will be, that he can probal)ly purchase the same property
with the ninety five dollars which remain in his hands
after the payment of the tax. In a word, by paying
back part of the redundant currency into the Treasury,
we stop the depreciation of its value and leave the balance
in circulation, worth as much in the purchase of property
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 393
as the whole was worth before the tax was paid. But
suppose the tax to be burdensome, and to absorb a large
proportion of our surplus income. Is this a reason why
it should not be collected? We must submit to burdens,
and make heavy sacrifices to sustain the Government,
maintain our credit, and support our armies; or all we
possess must go down together in a crash and involve us
and our posterity in one common ruin.
Before closing my remarks upon this subject, I beg
leave to express my firm conviction that the policy ad-
vocated by some of assuming the Confederate tax, when
assessed, and adding it to the debt of the State, instead of
collecting it, has already been carried as far as wise
statesmanship or the exigencies of the times will permit.
It is simply shifting the burden from one shoulder to
the other. Or in other words it is an attempt, in another
form, to conduct the war upon paper, without its costing
us anything. We have no right to turn over all the bur-
dens of the present generation to posterity. This would
be as contrary to justice and sound principles as it
would be for Congress to contract the debt and turn over
to the State Governments the responsibility of providing
the means for its payment.
The policy is exceedingly unwise in this also, that it
causes the State to borrow the present currency at par,
to be paid back, years hence, with interest in gold. What
prudent man would do this in the management of his own
affairs? Suppose one planter owes another ten thousand
dollars, would he sell property now at the present high
prices in currency and pay the debt, or would he hold on
to his property and pay interest upon the debt till the
war is over and the price of everything is again estimated
394 Confederate Records
upon the ^old basis, and then sell five times as much
])roperty to pay the same debt? If he adopted the latter
alternative we would say he needed a guardian. If we
agree that this j)olioy would be unwise in individuals, we
must not forget that the State is but an association of
individuals. When upon a question of this character we
have ascertained what would be the interest of a prudent
individual, or a small number of individuals, we have
only to enlarge the circle and we have the interest of the
State. This is a rule by which I have been guided in the
management of the finances of the States, and I believe
it to be the only true and successful one.
Our people can now pay five millions of dollars in the
present currency easier than they can pay one million in
gold, in what are usually called hard times, when prop-
erty is low and money scarce. It may be said, why not
keep our property and leave this matter to posterity?
Who are to be posterity? Our children. For whom are
we laboring? Our children. If, then, our property is
expected to descend to our children, why accumulate a
debt to hang over it and descend with it, by borrowing
money at the rate of twenty cents for a dollar, to be paid
back by them out of our property, in gold, dollar for
dollar, with interest. I trust this policy will find very
few advocates.
It is infinitely better for us to submit to all the taxa-
tion, and make all the sacrifices necessary to maintain
our Government and sustain our credit, than to permit
the enemy to overturn our Government, plunder our
homes insult our wives and our daughters, confiscate our
property and enslave ourselves and our posterity. We
can not avoid the one alternative or the other. Humblv
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 395
imploring a continuation of Divine favor, let us resolve
to stand in our alotted places, make all the sacrifices
necessary and place our entire trust in the God of Israel,
who is **a very present help in trouble," and all will yet
be well.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Senate,
to-wit :
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 26th, 1863.
To the Senate:
In response to your resolution I herewith transmit a
copy of the contract* made with Divine, Jones & Lee, by
which it will be seen that I purchased the one-half inter-
est in the Card Factory, with the material on hand, at
the price fixed by the General Assembly, to-wit: Sixty
Thousand Dollars. The Act only authorized the pur-
chase of a half interest.
The business is being carried on in connection with
the State Armory in the penitentiary. We could now
turn out about one hundred pairs of cotton cards per day
if there was on hand a supply of wire. But we are out
of wire and are much embarrassed for the want of it.
Mr. Jones, the late Superintendent, who has resigned,
was of the opinion we could make the wire successfully
*Not found.
39G Confederate Records
but up to the time of his resignation his success had
not been productive of practicable benefit. AVe are still
doing all in our power to make wire. I have also made
an engagement with Messrs. Russell Bro. & Co., of Dal-
ton, for the manufacture of wire and have sent an officer
to make a contract with certain importers whose names,
for public reasons, it may not be prudent to mention in
this message, for the importation of a sufficient supply
by running blockade. There may be more delay than I
anticipate in procuring the supply by either of the modes
employed. I shall do all in my power to accomplish
the object, as I am fully sensible of the great impor-
tance of running our machines every day and increasing
the number of machines as fast as possible.
It is not easy to estimate the exact cost of making a
pair of cards with the present difficulty of getting leather
and wire. It cannot I think, fall below four dollars at
this time, and the tendency is upwards, owing to the
increase in the prices of labor and materials. I am in-
formed by the workmen that the cost of making a dupli-
cate machine is, as nearly as can be estimated, about one
thousand dollars.
The purchase of the State consisted of two old ma-
chines, one for making card clothing for factories, upon
which, by dividing the pieces after the teeth are set in
them, we have been making cotton cards. The other is
for making filleting, which is a narrow card clothing for
factories, about two inches wide, both of which are in
good order and upon the latter of which a considerable
supply of card clothing for factories could be turned out
daily, if we had wire.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 397
There are two new machines lately completed and
three more well under way, with about three-fourths
of the work on them done, there are about five more
about half done, and three large machines just begun,
with about one-tenth of the work on them done.
These three are for making 44-inch card clothing for
factories, but which by dividing the prices may be used
in the manufacture of cotton cards.
Five of the machines are for cotton cards: Three
for wool cards and three for filleting.
There have been manufactured, since the purchase by
the State, about eleven hundred and seventy-seven pairs
of cards. By reference to a printed circular herewith
inclosed you will see how the cards are disposed of as
manufactured. In this connection I feel it my duty to
mention that Messrs. Divine, Jones & Lee did not furnish
more than wire enough to make eleven hundred and sev-
enty-seven pairs of cards.
They represented to me, previous to the purchase, and
which was a part of the consideration, that they had
wire enough to make twelve thousand pairs. This was.
my understanding when I made tlie purchase.
If they fail to furnish balance of the quantity, it is
but just that the State withhold a sum equal to half its
value out of the price agreed to be paid for the half in-
terest purchased.
As the State has entire control of the work and can
carry it on as successfully as if she had no partners, I do
not think it would be good policy to purchase the other
303 Confederate Records
half interest, as the parties would no doubt expect to
chariijo the State a very high price, as they did for the
first half interest.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Kejiresentatives, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, GeORGIA,
April 1st, 1863.
To the House of Representatives :
As' the returns from the Inferior Courts of the re-
spective counties of the State, made under the Act appro-
priating $2,500,000 for the support of indigent soldiers'
families, etc., are on file in the office of the Comptroller
General, I referred your resolution of inquiry to that
office and now have the honor to transmit herewith his
report, which will afford the House the information de-
sired.
The other two resolutions of inquiry will be responded
to as soon as the facts can be collected. As they cover
a wide scope and are very general in their nature, it
will necessarily require time and labor to enable me to
furnish, all the information required by the House. Your
indulgence is therefore asked until full reports from the
different officers can be made up and forwarded to this
department.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 399
Comptroller General's Office,
MiLLEDGEviLLE, March 31st, 1863.
His Excellency Joseph E. Brown, Governor:
Sir: Your Excellency having referred to me for an
answer th€ following resolution :
"Resolved hy the House of Representatives, That his
Excellency the Governor is hereby respectfully requested
to inform this House, as early as practicable, what dis-
position has been made of the Two Million Five Hundred
Thousand Dollars that was appropriated by this Legis-
lature for the benefit of indigent and disabled soldiers'
families and widows; the number of beneficiaries from
each county in the State, and the count of money appor-
tioned to each county."
Warren Akin,
Speaker House of Representatives.
L. Carrington,
Clerk House of Representatives.
I have the honor to submit the accompanying table,
showing the classes and number of beneficiaries returned
from each of the several counties in this State, under the
Act of the 13th of December, 1862, and also the amount
appropriated to each county, as provided for by said Act.
It will be seen that at the time the apportionment was
made, there were 84,119 beneficiaries returned, and that
400 Confederate Records
tlie ninounl approjjriatcil was witliin a small fractiou of
$29.72 to oaeli beneficiary.
The Act retjuired the returns of the Justices of the
Inferior Courts to be made by the first day of February,
and the Comptroller General wa.s directed at that time
to proceed to the consolidation of the returns of the
several counties, and when finished, in connection with
your Elxcellency, to make the api)ortionment. But, on
the first day of February, not more than half of the
counties had made their returns, and it was not until the
3d of March that sufficiently full returns had been re-
ceived to enable a full and fair apportionment to be
made. In the meantime, your Excellency, when called
upon, advanced to the several counties such sums as you
were authorized by the Act of 1862 to advance.
It will be seen that the particular classes of bene-
ficiaries are not given for the counties of Charlton,
Echols and Screven. This has occurred from the fact
that these counties, among many others, made their re-
turns in the first instance, without swearing to them or
making them as the statute required. At the time, there-
fore, of sending back all these returns to be perfected,
I only made an entry of the total number of beneficiaries,
as an approximation of the amount going to these coun-
ties, in case their perfected returns did not reach this
office before the distribution was made. The perfected
returns from Charlton, Echols and Screven had not
reached this department at the time the apportionment
was made. Hence the apportionment was made to each
of these upon the first imperfect return, but the amount
apportioned will not go to either of said counties unless
the perfected returns of each shows that, by the number
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 401
of its beneficiaries, it is entitled to the amount appor-
tioned to it. Since the distribution, the perfected re-
turn of Screven county has been received, and as the
number of beneficiaries does not amount to more than
491, the sum going to that county will be $14,592 instead
of $15,345; which will leave $753 in the Treasury not
apportioned. What will be the results as to Charlton
and Echols cannot be seen until the perfected returns
of these counties are received. The return of Gwinnett
county being much larger than any other county, and the
proportion, according to the white population, exceeding
that of any other county, your Excellency was "induced
to an opinion" that perhaps persons were included in that
return not embraced in the returns of other counties and
therefore, by your direction I have, in accordance with
the statute, asked a "full explanation and report from
the Justices of the Inferior Court of such county, re-
quiring in said report that the said Justices shall state,
on oath, to the best and utmost of their infonnation and
belief, the amount and nature of the property held by
any and all persons who have been allowed to become
beneficiaries of this Act in their county." This report
has not yet been received.
On the 3d of March, when the apportionment was
made, your Excellency notified the Justices of the Infe-
rior Court of the amount apportioned to each county; and
as the Act authorizing the apportionment also authorized
the Governor to "make distribution of the fund appro-
pro priated," "in quarterly installments, or at such other
stated periods as he may think best," your Excellency
directed that one-half (including the advance) appor-
tioned to each county, be distributed upon the call of
the Justices of the Inferior Courts of the several coun-
400 Confederate Records
tlio ;iiiioiint aj)i)roi)riatiHi was within a small I'ractiou of
$29.72 to eacli beneficiary.
The Act required the returns of the Justices of the
Inferior Courts to be made by the first day of February,
and the Comptroller General was directed at that time
to proceed to the consolidation of the returns of the
several counties, and when finished, in connection with
your Excellency, to make the apportionment. But, on
the first day of February, not more than half of the
counties had made their returns, and it was not until the
3d of March that sufficiently full returns had been re-
ceived to enable a full and fair apportionment to be
made. In the meantime, your Excellency, when called
upon, advanced to the seA'eral counties such sums as you
were authorized by the Act of 1862 to advance.
It will be seen that the particular classes of bene-
:ficiaries are not given for the counties of Charlton,
Echols and Screven. This has occurred from the fact
that these counties, among many others, made their re-
turns in the first instance, without swearing to them or
making them as the statute required. At the time, there-
fore, of sending back all these returns to be perfected,
I only made an entry of the total number of beneficiaries,
as an approximation of the amount going to these coun-
ties, in case their perfected returns did not reach this
office before the distribution was made. The perfected
returns from Charlton, Echols and Screven had not
reached this department at the time the apportionment
was made. Hence the apportionment was made to each
of these upon the first imperfect return, but the amount
apportioned will not go to either of said counties unless
the perfected returns of each shows that, by the- number
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 401
of its beneficiaries, it is entitled to the amount appor-
tioned to it. Since the distribution, the perfected re-
turn of Screven county has been received, and as the
number of beneficiaries does not amount to more than
491, the sum going to that county will be $14,592 instead
of $15,345; which will leave $753 in the Treasury not
apportioned. What will be the results as to Charlton
and Echols cannot be seen until the perfected returns
of these counties are received. The return of Gwinnett
county being much larger than any other county, and the
proportion, according to the white population, exceeding
that of any other county, your Excellency was "induced
to an opinion" that perhaps persons were included in that
return not embraced in the returns of other counties and
therefore, by your direction I have, in accordance with
the statute, asked a "full explanation and report from
the Justices of the Inferior Court of such county, re-
quiring in said report that the said Justices shall state,
on oath, to the best and utmost of their infonnation and
belief, the amount and nature of the property held by
any and all persons who have been allowed to become
beneficiaries of this Act in their county." This report
has not yet been received.
On the 3d of March, when the apportionment was
made, your Excellency notified the Justices of the Infe-
rior Court of the amount apportioned to each county; and
as the Act authorizing the apportionment also authorized
the Governor to "make distribution of the fund appro-
pro priated," "in quarterly installments, or at such other
stated periods as he may think best," your Excellency
directed that one-half (including the advance) appor-
tioned to each county, be distributed upon the call of
the Justices of the Inferior Courts of the several coun-
402 Confederate Records
ties; and aUo that one-half of this amount be paid to
each county in Confederate Treasury Notes, and one-half
in State Treasury Notes, if preferred. From day to day,
since said order has been issued, the various counties
have been calling for the sums coming to them, and the
amount paid out on said fund, up to date, is $869,137.50,
leaving undrawn $1,630,862.50.
Believing that the above, and accompanying table,
fully answers the call made in the foregoing resolution,
I am, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
Peterson Thw^eatt,
Comptroller General.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 403
CONSOLIDATED SCHEDULE OF THE BENEFICIARIES OF THE
INDIGENT SOLDIERS FAMILY FUND.
COUNTIES.
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Appling
Baker
Baldwin
Banks
Bartow
Berrien
Bibb
Brooks
Bryan
Bulloch
Burke
Butts
Calhoun
Camden
Campbell
Carroll
Catoosa
Charlton
Chatham
Chattahoochee.
Chattooga
Cherokee
Clarke
Clay
Clayton
Clinch
Cobb
Coffee
Columbia
Colquitt
Coweta.-
9
13
30
46
81
30
58
14.-.
3'--.
12.
14
17
16
52
104
16
49
18
39
93
40
17
19
17
65
22
23
16
59
127
64
149
108
448
140
361
65
67
26
184
162
67
42
269
444
240
30
21
33
114
185
76
98
44
26
17
26
30
123
247
34
469
106
203
509
177
97
119
108
475J
68'
113^
39'
306!
22
35
68
218
49
54
47
34
161
60
44
123
293!--.
99|....
215'--.
256'-..
988 17
330J.--
6O3L.-
155'---
168|..-
76L-
300'.--
243| 8
143...
106'-
587! 3
1 ,040, 3
428' 6
14
253'
443
1 ,024
354,
210
253
319 14
1 ,016 15
24.5--.
175---
95 19
700' 5
36
459
197
429|
524
1,772
577
1,206
281
238
141
516
466
263
150
1,055
1 ,843
731
200
558
425
766
1,985
657
396
455
494
1 ,743
335
375
218
1 ,199
494
Confederate Records
CONSOLIDATED SCHEDULE, &C.— Continued.
COUNTIES.
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o'
Eii
Crawford
Dade . . .
31
14
42
40
41
44
9
20
5
6
5
2
6
2
4
1
116
153
208
173
387
245
82
115
65
39
79
96
84
84
18
44
263
278
403
365
703
463
139
200
8
4
492
490
753
699
1 ,233
838
273
383
270
176
629
344
859
976
1 ,693
1,397
591
1 ,466
1,441
143
80
316
1 ,180
2,505
745
1,165
351
386
600
690
517
854
738
$14,622
14 562
Dawson _
12
1
4
4
22
8
22 379
Decatur .
20 774
DeKalb
36 644
Dooly
24 ,905
Dougherty
Early .
3
18
3
8,113
11 382
Echols
8 024
Effingham
2
34
22
32
50
56
49
48
45
62
2
3
18
42
118
43
73
36
31
50
27
45'
22
2
9
5
67
9
2
9
1
o
1
18
8
5
0
8
5
5
42
155
73
216
252
423
406
142
457
418
51
28
82
318
615
253
253
117
92
165
172
119
219
20.5'
5
84
64
90
123
139
76
117
86
131
9
7
46
46
294
84
168
15
58
65
119
55
87
41
124
301
180
493
526
968
84S
281
834
799
85
36
166
773
1 ,378
338
635
189
197
329
342
314
497
440
50
3
19
4
2
4
7
6
3
5
20
36
7
3
38
15
2
5 230
Elbert
18 693
Emanuel _. _
10 223
Fannin. ..
25 529
Fayette ..
29 .006
Floyd
50 ,315
Forsj'th
41 518
Franklin.. ..
17 ,564
Fulton .
43 568
Gilmer
42 .826
Glascock
4 ,398
Glvnn.- _.
2 ,377
Greene
9 ,391
Gordon. ...
35 ,069
Gwinnett
48
19
13
8
2
6
34
18
7
3
2
2
1
17
74 ,448
Habersham
Hall
22.141
34 .623
Hancock.. . .. ..
10,431
Haralson .
11 ,470
Harris
17 .831
Hart..
20 ,506
Heard
15,365
Henrv
25 ,380
Houston .
21 ,933
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 405
CONSOLIDATED SCHEDULE &c.— Continued.
COUNTIES.
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Irwin
Jackson
Jasper
Jefferson
Johnson
Jones
Laurens
Lee
Liberty
Lincoln
Lowndes
Lumpkin
Macon
Madison
Marion
Mcintosh
Meriwether..
Miller
Milton
Mitchell
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan
Murray
Muscogee
Newton
Oglethorpe..
Paulding
Pickens
Pierce
Pike
Polk
Pulaski
9
66
16
27
14
12
17
12 ..
5
9
25
45
21
46
22
10
45
16
25
30
25
15
11
26
37
53
16
61
51
11
55
18
37
2
1
4
10
2
7
11
1
4
2
1
16
20
40
...
219
145
435
98
36
234
- .-_
138
3
326
7
56
36
135
86
214
182
62
485
5
80
31
148
--_
94
14
237
2
37
16
61
95
68
248
336
108
485
122
46
229
126
117
283
170
20
452
44
20
77
5|
239
107
487
84
33
148
198
43
420
5
151
57
329
154
51
309
6
68
46
155
64
29
111
248
59
549
382
91
587
8
40
107
171
21
284
5
162
281
139
609
92
127
529
34
80
33
187
230
144
415
4
205
54
428
146
97]
348
—
26
12
3
7
16
28
2
2
84
868
389
503
242
312
779
271
365
123
438
974
421
572
669
157
883
281
696
572
548
287
224
899
1,137
604
271
1,097
1,044
312
852
716
632
$2,496
25,796
11,561
14,949
7,192
9,272
23,151
8,054
10,847
3,655
13,017
28,947
12,512
16,999
19,882
4,666
26,242
8,351
20,684
16,999
16,286
8,529
6,657
26,718
33,791
17,950
8,054
32,602
31,027
9,272
25,321
21,279
18.782
406 Confederate Kecords
CONSOLIDATED SCHEDULE ftc. — Continued.
COUKTIES.
i; *
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Quitman
Rabun
Randolph
Richmond
Schley
Screven
Spalding
Stewart
Sumter
Talbot
Taliaferro
Tattnall
Taylor
Telfair
Terrell
Thomas
Towns
Troup
Twiggs
Union
Upson
Walker
Walton
Ware
Warren
Washington
Wayne
Webster
White..
Whitfield
Wilcox
Wilkes
Wilkinson
Worth
17| 18
181...
13
36
48
27
37
36
21
12
20
71
12
26
27
16
26
24
28
25
49
76
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24
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56
32
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68
93
112
137
412j
84
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4|
121
4l
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29
210
151
301
106
31
131
150
2
5
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2
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6
4
3
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9
4,003 550
107
214
145
121
116
234
179
373
190
84
143
195
102
63
147
356
76
73
197
70
32
31
32
85
9
13
61
104
12
49
29
39
107
64
46
70
41
94
55
65
43
114
198
40
70
111
5
51
73
53
88
29
91
16
185 I 32
174|...
2521 12
289
470
181
428
289
607
189
40
293
355
131
187
472
346
268
205
580
340
839 j 11
444 |.-.
200 I - . .
231 I 5
418|-.-
331 I 1
174 ...
306! 4
719|...
186 ...
174|...
434|...
1041 13
-I 1
5| 8
1
4
5
40
21
3
40
2
352
316
426
559
953
287
516
731
609
968
380
113
473
722
208
366
804
550
515
417
911
596
1,401
950
338
497
773
492
311
574
1,184
386
298
758
231
22,637 I 8,492 I 45,718 |592 |843 1841 19
2 500 000
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 407
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit:
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
April 2d, 1863.
To the House of Representatives :
I herewith transmit a report from Ira R. Foster,
Quartermaster-General, which contains a statement of the
amount of the $1,500,000 appropriation, which has been
expended, with the quantity of clothing supplied to the
troops and the quantity now on hand ready to be for-
warded to them, which will, I trust, afford the informa-
tion desired by the House. The report of the Quarter-
master-General contains important suggestions in ref-
erence to the procurement of future supplies of clothing
for the troops, which are worthy the serious consideration
of the Legislature. If it is the policy of the State to
continue to supply her needy soldiers, and I think it
should be, I entertain no doubt that the supply for the
next twelve months could be purchased now for one-third
less than it can be had six months hence. The price of
all articles of clothing has, I believe, advanced nearly
one-third since your adjournment in December last.
Joseph E. Brown.
408 Confederate Kecords
Report
OP
LiEUT.-CoL. Jra K. Foster, Quartermaster-General,
ON THE
$1,500,000 Appropriation.
March 25th, 18G3.
Quartermaster-General's Office,
Atlanta, March 25th, 1863.
Col. 11. C. Wayne, Adjutant General:
Colonel: I have the honor herewith to submit to
you, to be laid before his Excellency the Governor, the
following report of my operations in procuring clothing
for the destitute Georgia troops in Confederate service,
imder an Act entitled, '*An Act to appropriate money
to procure and furnish clothing, shoes, caps or hats, and
blankets for the soldiers from Georgia, and to provide for
raising the same," and instructions from your office.
I entered upon the duties assigned me by the above
instructions under circumstances the most embarrassing.
The State had been stripped of the necessary material,
both by home consumption and the officers of the Confed-
erate government. I have succeeded, however, far be-
yond my most sanguine expectations.
Fortunately for the country, I succeeded in securing
a large quantity of wool at reduced prices, which is rap-
idly being manufactured into clothing. I found it im-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 409
possible to obtain a sufficieney of tipper leather, hence I
had to resort to the use of duck as a substitute, which
subserves the end sought admirably. Its power of re-
sisting moisture is greater than ordinary leather manu-
factured in haste. With it our troops are well pleased.
I have established a clothing bureau at Augusta, imder
the control of my efficient assistant, Capt. Geo. W. Evans.
He is discharging his duties creditably to himself and
beneficially to the State.
I have also established a shoe manufactory at Ma-
rietta, under the superintendence of Capt. E. M. Field,
A. A. Q. M., who is managing it with energy and ability.
Up to this date I have filled requisitions made by C. S.
^Quartermasters, and approved by the officers command-
ing, showing the number of men present, the number of
men actually destitute, and the articles of which they
were destitute, of nineteen Regiments and two Battalions,
as follows :
Xos. of Regiment.
Stations.
as
or)
03
en
O
O
CL,
Q
O
14th
17th.
24th.
27th.
51st.
59th.
55th.
5th.
6th.
19th.
Va..
Va.-
Va...
Va..
Va..
Va..
Tenn
Tenn
Va..
Va.-
100
38
114
86
78
200
162
102
189
124
118
250
18
33
69
81
61
202
317
317
317
317
317
350
285
291
303
270
233
400
632
632
632
632
632
632
119
88
117
71
80
93
179
38
100
32
36
152
118
183
184
185
185
203
106
69
145
160
143
174
159
225
40
317
303
632
133
115
180
130
410
Confederate Records
Nos. of Regiment.
Stations.
to
K
00
"3
O
o
00
u
to
u
la
CO
o
o
CO
«i
O
jQ
CO
23d
Va
20
no
165
133
160
160
131
28th
Va
134
71
127
116
91
110
55
43d..
Vicks
300
435
425
460
500
410
36th
Vicks
775
775
775
775
775
775
775
20th
Va
525
525
525
525
525
525
525
Col. Gordons'
Sav'h
100
100
150
200
400
200
300
Sav. Vol. G'ds
Sav'h
5
33
108
80
123
217
21st Bat
Chas'n
71
71
50
200
39th Reg
Vicks
750
750
750
750
750
750
750
21st
Va
200
172
6371
200
2oth
Sav'h
8
13
4556
47
5288
243
225
5449
148
Total issued
4648
4858
5744
These stores have been shipped to their destination
in charge chiefly of bonded State Agents. In a few in-
stances the Quartermasters of the Regiments have re-
ceived them at our storehouses.
Requisitions are still coming in, which we can easily
fill. Information, however, has reached us that through
the irregularities of the mails, a number of Georgia Regi-
ments have not heard of the appropriation, and are com-
plaining for want of clothing.
Our amount of clothing on hand is as follows:
Hats.
Coats.
Pants.
Drawers.
Shirts.
Socks.
Shoes.
129
7,272
! 9,257
1
1 11,867
10,400
1
1,976
5,878
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 411
Besides the clothing manufactured, we have stock on
hand amounting to the following:
OBnaburgs.
Shirtings.
Kerseys.
Duck.
Leather.
12,983
18,850
6,410
970
35,063
We have entered, quite largely, into contracts with
factories and tanneries. I would here take occasion to
state that the proprietors of these factories and tanneries
have, in the main, shown themselves worthy of the great
struggle in which we are engaged.
I have labored to my utmost ability to use the funds
appropriated prudently and economically. Thus far I
have expended about $800,000. To meet contracts al-
ready entered into, will require about $400,000.
From present indications the appropriations already
made will scarcely be sufficient to meet the pressing
summer demands of our troops. If another appropria-
tion be not made by which to provide in advance, a fur-
ther supply of clothing, our troops will suffer more the
coming winter than they did during the past. Prices are
continually going up. Owing to the increasing scarcity
of material and the redundancy of our currency, the
sooner contracts are entered into and purchases made,
the better for the State.
If it should be the intention of the Legislature to fur-
nish our destitute troops with clothing during the tear,
the earlier their action, the better. It will, I fear, be
412 CONFEDERAIK KkcOKDS
suicidal to iiululjii^e the hope that our armies will be dis-
banded before the rigors of another winter will have set
in. Our better policy will be to prepare for the sad
crisis, should it come upon us. In view of our prospects
in the future, and the alarming bareness of our leather,
hide and wool markets, I have been induced to send com-
petent agents to Savannah, Vicksburg and Texas to pur-
chase and ship these articles to me to this place. I expect
at an early day, unless the enemy intercepts our western
transportation, to procure a sufficiency to supply our
pressing demands next winter, provided I am not ordered
to abandon the enterprise. I have already purchased and
put in process of tanning, several thousand pounds of
green hides, which will be ready for use early in the com-
ing winter.
The leather and cloth, manufactured out of hides and
wool thus purchased, will be much less abundant next
winter than the past, or even now, and will be of vital im-
portance to the State in shoeing and clothing her brave,
hut destitute troops. In case the Legislature fails to
make additional provisions for her troops in the field
(which I feel confident they will not do) the products
of these purchases will be in great demand and the prices
thereof very high. In either case, the enterprise will be
profitable to the State; and in no wise can the State be
the loser.
The noble women of Georgia have patriotically re-
sponded to my appeal for socks ; for which they are enti-
tled to the country's gratitude. The appeal was made
because the article could not be had until they were manu-
factured by our ladies. Already a large quantity have
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 413
been received and we are daily receiving them. As will
be seen above, several thousands have been issued.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
Ira R. Foster,
Quartermaster-General,
State of Georgia.
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit:
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
April 3d, 1863.
To the Hou^e of Representatives :
I communicate herewith a copy of the contract (Ex-
hibit A) made through the agency of Hon. John W.
Lewis with Maj. M. S. Temple, for the manufacture of
salt at Saltville, Virginia, together with a correspondence
(Exhibit B) between Major Temple and myself upon the
subject of increased compensation for the manufacture
of salt. I am also permitted, by the kindness of Hon.
B. H. Bigham, of the House, to copy a letter (Exhibit
C) from the Superintendent of the Virginia and Ten-
nessee R. R. Co., upon the subject of the transportation
of salt from Saltville to Bristol, and of wood to the Geor-
gia works at Saltville. These documents will, I trust, be
414 Confederate Records
found to contain the information rcquirod by tlio resolu-
tion of tlie House.
It may not be improper for me to remark that while,
as a general rule, 1 oppose the payment of additional com-
pensation to those who have undertaken to perform any
service for the State for a sum agreed upon by the par-
ties, I am of opinion that the interest of the State would
be advanced by a de})arture from the rule in this case.
The outlay of money in the manufacture of salt with the
present difficulties in procuring wood, and at the present
liigh prices of labor and provisions, is so much greater
than it was at the time the contract was made, that it
is not now possible for the contractor to make the salt
at the price agreed upon. As the contract is a large one,
running through the war, the result must be the bank-
ruptcy of the contractor and the suspension of the work.
I therefore recommend such change in the contract as
will enable the contractor to press forward with the work,
upon condition that he enlarge his works, if not already
sufficient, so as to supply to the State the full quantity of
five hundred bushels per day, while he receives the ad-
ditional compensation.
By reference to the letter of Dr. Dodamead it will be
seen that our trains will not be permitted to run over
his road to Saltville to transport our salt to this State.
This settles the question that it is impossible for us to
do our own carrying, as we can have no control over the
roads beyond the limits of this State. We are therefore
at the mercy of the railroads and will be obliged to sub-
mit to such terms as they may impose.
While the compensation offered by the Virginia and
Tennessee road for the use of engines and cars which
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 415
we may furnish to the Superintendent of that road, to
be used by him in the transportation of wood and salt
for this State and her people, is much less than that
actual value of the hire of the trains, I recommend that
his proposition be accepted and that two trains be fur-
nished by the State for the purpose of supplying all the
Georgia works with wood and bringing out the Georgia
salt to Bristol. To accomplish this object it will be nec-
essary that I be authorized to purchase or impress the
trains from some of the company roads of this State, as
the resolutions of the last session do not, in my opinion,
contemplate a permanent impressment, but only a tem-
porary seizure of trains to run from this State to Salt-
ville. The State Road cannot furnish the trains, as we
have already lost about two hundred cars and several of
our most valuable engines, which were carried to other
sections of the Confederacy in military service and never
returned to the road. The press of business, especially
for the Confederate Government, is very heavy^ upon the
road, and I am obliged to continue to run the corn train
to South-western Georgia during most of this spring and
summer to supply bread to the people in the destitute
sections of the State. It will become necessary for the
State and her companies to build a warehouse at Bristol
and store the salt as fast as it is brought from Saltville.
We shall then be dependent upon the East Tennessee and
Virginia and the East Tennessee and Georgia roads
to bring it to Dal ton. Wliile I anticipate diffi-
culty in getting it through from Bristol to Dalton, I
trust arrangements may be consummated by which it can
be done within the year. Provision should be made for
furnishing additional rolling stock on these roads to carry
it, if we can do no better. Every effort in our power
416 Confederate Records
should 1)0 made to secure a sup]»]y of salt for the State
as soon as possible, that we may avoid the panic and hi<i:h
prices which may result from scarcity next fall.
Joseph E. Browx.
(EXHIBIT A)
Salt Contract.
Whereas, A Contract was made and entered into on
the 30th day of May, 1862, between Stuart, Buchanan &
Co., of the first part, and John W. Lewis, Agent of the
State of Georgia, under power of attorney, from the Gov-
ernor of said State, of the other part, the terms and con-
siderations of which is as follows, to-wit:
(Copy)
State of Virginia,
Smyth County, May 30th, 1862.
Articles of Agreement made and entered into between
Stuart, Buchanan & Co., of the first part, and John W.
Lewis, Agent of the State of Georgia, under power of
attorney from the Governor of said State, of the other
part,
WITNESSETH, That the said party of the first part
agrees to furnish and raise sufficiently high to run to the
salt kettles, at the location selected in the meadow below
the Preston Furnace, at the Salt Works, known as the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 417
Preston & King Salt Works, in the county and State
aforesaid, a suflficiency of salt water to make as much as
five hundred bushels per day of salt, (if that much can
be made by the party of the second part) for which the
party of the second part is to pay at the rate of fifty cents
per bushel of fifty pounds, on every bushel of salt manu-
factured from said water so raised, payment for the same
to be made every week. The party of the second part is
to incur every expense connected with the manufacture
of said salt, except furnishing the water raised as above
stated, and have liberty connected with the grounds ad-
jacent to the location above described, to put up the nec-
essary kettles, shelters, hauling wood, salt, etc.
The party of the second part has the liberty of ex-
tending this contract until the end of the present war,
and until three months thereafter. The party of the
second part does not obligate himself to make any given
quantity per day, but will, after getting kettles, shelters,
etc., make, if he can, 500 bushels per day. If it becomes
necessary to increase the stationary motive power, or oth-
erwise increase the power of elevating the salt water, the
party of the second part can have it done and retain pay
for the same out of the salt rent. In the event of a fail-
ure of an ample supply of salt water of good strength,
the said Stuart, Buchanan & Co. are to be liable for no
damages on account thereof. And the said John W.
Lewis, agent, is not to interfere with the said Stuart,
Buchanan & Co. in getting wood hauled upon the rail-
road; and unless both parties can have enough hauled
for their purposes, said Stuart, Buchanan & Co., for
their furnaces now in operation, shall have the prefer-
ence, so far as the hauling of the Virginia and Tennessee
418 CONFKDERATK RkCORDS
Railroad is concerued; and the said Lewis, Agent, agrees
to disj)ose of tlie salt inainifactured by him to the citizens
of the State of Georgia for their consumption.
Signed in duplicate. Witness the following signa-
tures :
(Signed) Stuart Buchanan & Co.
John W, Lewis, Agent,
Under Power of Attorney for the State of Georgia.
Now, in order to the full execution of the above re-
cited contract, the said John W. Lewis, Agent, agrees
with M. S. Temple, of the county of Greene and State of
Tennessee, as follows : The said M. S. Temple assumes
the carrying into effect in good faith the above recited
contract, on the part and in the stead of the said John
AV. Lewis, Agent. The said Lewis turns over to the said
Temple: forty-one kettles, now at the place; 2,500 feet
of plank; 11,050 brick, now at the place; one and a half
barrels of nails; two iron ladles; 3 small iron bevy chis-
els, pointed for cleaning kettles; 12 bars of old railroad
iron; and 3 axes. These articles are to go without spe-
cial charge, but form a consideration in the general con-
tract. The said Lewis is to have furnished, at the salt
works, to the said Temple, ready made, sacks to hold the
salt and twine to sew the same, as much as five hundred
bushels of salt per day, unavoidal)le accidents in break-
age, leakage and things not within his power to control,
excepted.
The said Temple obligating himself, his heirs, execu-
tors and administrators, to furnish that much salt deliv-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 419
ered in bags as above, on the cars, pro\'ided the cars are
furnished at the salt works, and is to receive one dollar
and fifty cents per bushel, of fifty pounds to the bushel,
for the same, payable weekly, in bankable currency, and
is to continue to deliver that much until the end of the
present war, and until three months afterwards. The
said Temple is to put up the kettles as soon as possible,
those now on hand; and to have enough in operation to
make as much as five hundred bushels per day, as soon as
it is possible to do it. If the present war should termi-
nate before the amount of sixty thousand bushels is made,
the said Lewis, agent, is to take that much on the above
terms at any rate. In case the public enemy should take
and possess the said salt works, then, as a matter of
course, none of the parties to these contracts are bound
by them, while so possessed by the enemy. The said
Temple is to pay for the water out of the funds received
for the salt.
Witness our hands and seals, this 17th day of June,
1862.
(Signed) John W. Lewis, (L. S.)
(Signed) M. S. Temple, (L. S.)
Witness: W. E. Rector.
We guarantee to John AV. Lewis, Agent, the full and
faithful performance of the above contract on the part of
M. S. Temple.
Witness our hands and seals.
(Signed) Samuel McGaughy, Security. (Seal.)
4l!0 Confederate Records
State of Oeorgta, Cobb County,
July 3rd, 1862.
Whereas, it is not ('onvonient for tlie lion. .John W.
Lewis, Agent of the State of Georgia, in the capacity men-
tioned in the foregoing copy contracts, to remain at tlie
salt works to see in person to the carrying out of the said
contracts and to attend to all the business incident to the
same; I hereby appoint and constitute Jesse E. AVikle, of
the county of Bartow, in this State, Agent, to remain at
the salt works, to do and perform all necessary acts and
things to be done on the part of the State of Georgia in
carrying out said contracts; but not giving him power,
unless specially authorized hereafter, to change or alter
said contracts; nor revoking hereby any powers hereto-
fore given to said John W. Lewis.
(Signed) Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
(EXHIBIT B)
LETTER OF M. S. TEMPLE TO GOV. BROWN.
Saltville, Va., Feb. 1st, 1863.
Hon. Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of the State of Georgia.
Dear Sir: I hope you will not be deterred from giv-
ing this communication a careful perusal on account of
its great length.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 421
The vital interest I have in the subject embraced, and
the deep solicitude manifested by your Excellency for its
success, justify the expectation and belief that you will
give it a patient and imjiartial consideration, and pass
such judgment on the merits of the question embraced
between the parties in interest, as the character of the
case under all the circumstances may seem to justify.
1 refer, of course, to the subject of making scdt, with
all its attending perplexities, annoyances and difficulties.
These things attended my early efforts at preparation
for salt making in a most remarkable manner, and have,
I regret to say, more than kept pace with every subse-
quent movement up to the present hour. Difficulties with-
out number or parallel have been met that were not antici-
pated, and of course not provided for. My present pur-
pose is to bring to your notice the question of the pro-
priety and justice of allowing increased compensation for
the production of salt for the people of Georgia. I have
no legal claim to present, I offer none. I ask, however, the
privilege to refer to some of the circumstances by which
I was surrounded at the time of making said salt contract,
and which had their influence in causing me to engage in
making salt, as distinguished from those that now sur-
round me.
In the first place, I was negotiating at the time I met
with Dr. J. W. Lewis, with Messrs. Stewart, Buchanan &
Co., for a salt water privilege on my own private account,
and on terms that would have made me a large fortune.
Dr. Lewis at once urged me in an earnest and pressing
manner to undertake to carry out his contract, and to lose
sight of all idea of speculation. He more than once re-
marked to me that it was all wrong for any man to specu-
422 CONFEDKRATE ReCORDS
late on the necessities of a suffering people, and that the
voice of public sentiment would overwiielm any man in
such an undertaking.
To the representations and entreaties of our mutual
friend, Dr. Lewis, I am today indebted for my connection
with your State, believing as I then did, and as things
then were, I could perform a patriotic act for a noble and
public spirited people, and at the same time make a rea-
sonable compensation for my family. The result of our
frequent interviews was the contract you have on file in
your office.
I have spared neither money nor effort to carry it into
successful execution. I am sorry it has not been in my
power to make more salt and thereby enable you to realize
your highest expectations on this important subject. At
the time I made my contract, no other State, nor do I re-
member of any individual having made salt contracts
with the proprietors, consequently no competition in the
various articles of supplies for making salt on the part
of States, communities, counties and individuals to an
almost indefinite extent, could have entered into the cost
of making salt at the time.
At that time there was a very flattering prospect for
the growing crops of all this country — no sign of a famine
or famine j^rices for farm products. Labor was com-
paratively plenty and cheaj). Most supplies could be had
in abundance and at moderate rates. No excess was per-
ceptible in the volume of the currency of the country at
that time. No conscript law liad been passed and put
into force. No demonstration had been made by military
or other authorities to seize and impress and appropri-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 423
ate property regardless of ownership or circumstances.
There were then no fears of an almost total failure of
the Railroads to haul wood, nor could we anticipate such
unheard of charges for transportation of wood and other
supplies. I certainly had a right to expect the privilege
of shipping to this place, for my own consumption, the
production of my own farm, but even that has been
denied me, until consumed by degrees by the military
authorities until but little remains for shipment. Since
I commenced work here, the military of the C. S. and
the Lincoln troops, when in view at the bridges, have
taken corn and hay and appropriated the same without
one dime of compensation, to the value of between four
and five thousand dollars. Every article that enters into
the production of salt has rose from one hundred to one
thousand per cent, in the past seven months. The people
of the entire country have become excited, I may say
gone wild with the spirit of speculation. Promises made
today are disregarded and broken tomorrow by nineteen
out of twenty of the community, provided they can make
money by the operation. These are some of the circum-
stances that surround me today, in trying to make salt
for your people. They are the result of causes beyond
my power to foresee or control. The cost today of mak-
ing salt is more than I am receiving from the State.
For the convenience of comparison, I append a list of
present and past prices for some leading articles of con-
sumption.
I have no idea of repudiating the contract, nor of re-
laxing my energies in any particular, but candor compels
me to say, that should the war continue for a great length
of time, and supplies remain at present prices, it is un-
4lI4 Confederate Records
certain liow loiiir 1 may be able to carry on the business.
I have sj^ent at this j^lace a hirge share of tlie earn-
inp:s of a very active life for 25 years, in preparation and
sui)plies for making salt, lioping for a reasonable reward
from our contract, but at })resent I am fully of the opin-
ion I am to be greatly disappointed unless you see proper
to alter the contract to correspond witli the very remark-
able and unprecedented change that has taken place in
the value of every article connected with the business.
The agents for making salt for the State of Tennessee
and Alabama are, as I am informed, receiving net for
each bushel of salt made, tivo dollars, with an additional
privilege of raising salt in payment of all supplies from
the first beginning, which enable them to buy, at very
low rates, all articles to carry on their works. These
payments have had precedence over the deliveries to the
States for consumption. Our contract was the first one
made, in the absence of, and not expecting competition,
consequently less guarded, and at much lower rates than
any contract since made by any party.
I respectfully ask of your Excellency a careful sur-
vey of all the facts and circumstances of the trade, and
decide the question that I now^ propose, (viz.) : So to
change the contract as to allow me the same the Tennes-
see and Alabama agents are receiving, two dollars per
bushel instead of one, as per the present agreement.
The change proposed, if made, can not be very in-
jurious to a whole State, and yet may save an individual
and his family from bankruptcy and ruin, and who had
certainly hoped for very different results. In this con-
nection I will remark, that last fall I made a private con-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 425
tract for salt water privileges to a small extent, but had
to agree to give gold coin in payment at high rates. On
this contract I was able to make only a small amount of
salt, and the amount made was mainly appropriated to
aid in carrying on your contract in the shape of payments
for supplies, etc.
I would be glad to hear from you at your earliest
convenience. I have sent to Dr. John W. Lewis a copy
of this communication, as he is quite familiar with all the
circumstances, and being the agent to make the contract.
We have on hand between 20 and 30 carloads of salt, and
making as fast as we can when we get wood. My wood
forces in Tennessee are progressing finely up to latest
accounts.
Yours respectfully,
M. S. Temple.
Jan. 1862. Jan. 1863.
Corn per bushel 1.00 4.00
Hay per cwt 75 4.00
Iron per pound 6 30
Tallow per pound 25 85
Beans per bushel 1.00 5.00
Nails per pound 10 75
Domestics 4 1-4 20 -.._ 85
Jeans per yard 1.50 5.00 to 8. 00
Shoes 4.00 10.00 to 15.00
Irish potatoes per bushel 1. 00 5. 00
Bacon per pound 20 60
Cord wood per cord 5 .QQ delivered 30.00 to 50. 00
Do in woods standing 40 to 1.00 2.00 to 4. 00
Mechanics per day 2.00 to 3. 00 6.00 to 10.00
Cutting cord wood 1.00 3.00to4.00
Hauling cord wood 2.00 .- 10.00
Horses, mules, wagons, etc., in like proportion.
426 Confederate Eecords
LETTER OF GOV. BROWN TO M. S. TEMPLE.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 12th, 1863.
Maj. M. S. Temple
Dear Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter in reference to extra compensation for making salt
under the contract made between you and this State, act-
ing through Dr. Lewis as agent. The contract has been
reported to the Legislature, and approved by them, and
I do not feel at liberty to change it and allow more com-
pensation without the concurrence of that authority.
Col. Bigham, who is also engaged in manufacturing
salt at Saltville, and knows the cost of making it, is a
prominent member of the General Assembly. When the
Legislature meets again in April, I will confer with him
and others, who have had experience, and will advise such
action as may be considered just and right.
The fact that you have not delivered, up to this time,
or to the time your wood failed, near as much per day
as the contract called for, may be a circumstance not
favorable to your application. I would suggest that you
deliver all in your power till the Legislature meets.
Col. AVliitaker will place funds in the hands of Mr.
Wikle to pay for it.
Very respectfully, etc.,
(Signed) Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 427
LETTER OF M. S. TEMPLE TO GOV. BROWN.
Saltville, Va., 25th March, 1863.
Hon. Joseph E. Broimi, Governor of Georgia :
Dear Sir: Your favor of the 12th February last, in
reply to my application for increased compensation for
manufacturing salt for your State, was duly received. I
beg leave respectfully to reply to that part of your letter,
in which you refer to the fact, that previous to the burn-
ing of the bridges on the line of the E. T. & Va. R. R.,
on the 29th December, I had not delivered to your agent
as much salt per day as the contract required.
I will briefly state the circumstances and allow you
to arrive at your own conclusions. I commenced build-
ing salt furnaces the last days in June. By the 20th of
August I had one furnace completed, and at once com-
menced making salt, at the rate of about two hundred
bushels per day, for six days in the week. By the 23d
of October I had a sufficient number of kettles in success-
ful operation to make five hundred bushels of salt per day.
The balance of that month, and all the month of Novem-
ber, we succeeded finely. The first days of December,
our business was mainly suspended. The great demand
for salt by the Confederate States, and the State of Vir-
ginia, was such, that nearly all the available transporta-
tion on the Va. & Tenn. R. R. was appropriated to the
benefit of those interests, in hauling wood and salt, they
demanding the preference in every instance, over all other
States. Thus matters stood at that important season for
making salt for your State. Seeing no other remedy, 1
428 Confederate Records
It'l't the works and called on your P^xcellency in i)erson, at
Milled<j:ovilIe, for an engine and cars to aid me in carrying^
on the business, equal to my own wishes and your just ex-
pectations.
'^'our i)atrioti(' desire to acconi})lisli every thing pos-
sible, for the good of the people of Georgia, prompted you
witliout n moment's hesitation, to give me an order for
an engine and cars, but unfortunately, our common enemy
burned two bridges on the E, T. & Va. Road before I had
time to receive the train. jMemoranda made at the time
by my clerk, show that our furnaces were idle for the
want of wood hauled by the trains in the month of Decem-
ber, sixteen days at one time, to say nothing of previous
stoppages at short intervals, from the same cause. Since
the first of January, the transportation for wood and salt
has been mainly for the Confederate States and the State
of Virginia ; of course but a small amount of salt has been
made by the agents of other States. I have sent from this
place to Bristol, since the first of January, only 8 carloads
of salt. The combined efforts of your agent, Mr. Wikle,
and myself have been unable to accomplish more.
My principal difficulty at present is, transportation.
Our expenses are very heavy and must go on day and
night, whether we remain idle or make salt. Your agent
will furnish you with a statement of salt shipped, as "well
as salt now on hand ready for shipment.
I hope I am, under the circumstances, excusable for
again calling your attention to the propriety of allowing
an increase in the compensation for making salt. I find,
in making a careful comparison of the relative value of
the leading articles of consumption, that enter into the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 429
production of salt, since the first of February, as set
forth in my letter to you of that date, var}- from 25 to 60
per cent, of an increase in value, over the value of the
same articles, less than sixty days since. I may, with
propriety, refer to the fact that quite recently Charles
Scott & Co., have made a salt contract with a joint com-
mittee of the Legislature of Virginia for 750,000 bushels
of salt at $2.23 per bushel, reserving privileges of an im-
portant character to those making the salt. The Con-
federate States pay for their salt this year $2.50 per
bushel.
For further and fuller information in regard to tlie
facts set forth in my correspondence, and the salt ques-
tion generally, I respectfully refer you to Col. Bigham
of the House of Representatives of the Legislature of
your State.
Yours most respectfully,
(Signed) M. S. Temple.
J. R. WICKLE'S LETTER TO GOV. BROWN.
Saltville, Va., March 27th, 1863.
Hon. Joseph E. Brown,
Dear Sir: Our friend, Maj. Bigham, will hand you
this letter, who can inform you on the subject of our salt
operations. We have about 40 carloads of salt sacked,
with every prospect of getting all or more than our con-
tract in the future, provided we can procure transporta-
tion for it. That is the great object to be consummated
now, Maj. Bigham will hand you for perusal and con-
430 Confederate Records
sideration, a ccmmunication and proposition from Mr,
Dodamead. You will perceive it is in answer to letters
from Maj. Bigliam, Maj. Temple and myself, on the sub-
ject of transportation. He admits that he has not suffi-
cient rolling stock and motive power to do the work of
the road and carry off the salt for us, yet he has de-
termined not to permit foreign trains to run over his
road. The acceptance of the proposition which will be
submitted j'ou from Mr. Dodamead, is the only means
of getting off our salt. I think it a better plan than to
send trains here. It will not require as many engines
and cars as to send trains through, and it will not be
near so expensive to the State. It is true, the compen-
sation proposed is very low, yet it is better than none,
and relieves the State of the expense of engines, firemen,
oil, tallow, etc.. which would have to be incurred by the
State, were trains to run through. I think one engine —
large size — and sixteen cars would carry all our salt to
Bristol, if a schedule is -made to make a trip daily. If a
trip could not be made daily, it would probably require
more. An engine will carry eight cars from here to
Bristol.
Maj. Temple will be at Milledgeville. on the subject
of an increase of compensation for salt. He is evidently
losing money at the present price.
It will require an engine and about eight open cars
to haul wood for the Georgia furnaces. Should you de-
cide to send engines and cars to this road, the sooner the
better.
I get a car load occasionally. If we depend upon this
road as at present managed, we will get comparatively
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 431
little salt shipped here. In the meantime .1 shall con-
tinue to importune them for cars, and get off as much
salt as possible.
If not too much trouble, will you kindly send to me a
certificate of my appointment as salt agent, with the seal
of the State attached?
Yours truly,
J. R. WlKLE.
(EXHIBIT C)
COL. THOS. DODAMEAD, SUPT. OF VA. & TENN.
R. R., TO MAJ. B. H. BIGHAM.
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Co..
Lynchburg, Va., March 24, 1863.
Ma.t. Bigham, Prest. Planters' Salt Mfg. Co.:
Dear Sir: In reply to your application through Mr.
Cox, and the application of M. S. Temple & Co., and of
Judge Wikle. making inquiry on what terms this Com-
pany would permit trains belonging to roads in the State
of Georgia to run over this road between Bristol and
Saltville, I would state that my judgment and past ex-
perience has convinced me that it is injudicious and in-
expedient, as well as dangerous and embarrassing, to
the operations on the salt works branch to allow the
trains from other roads (under the control of their re-
spective employees who are not familiar with the pe-
culiarities of this road, or with the rules or regulations
-l.">2 Confed?:rate Records
of the road, and not responsible to the officers of this
road) to be run over it, consequently we have determined
to refuse all a])plications for that ])iirpose. At the same
time, bein^ desirous of facilitating the transportation of
salt, and believing that we have not a sufficient supply of
•motive power or cars, we are dis|X)sed to make such ar-
rangements as will effect the object without the danger
and inconvenience attending the running of strange trains
over the roads, I therefore propose, if the State of Geor-
gia has a surplus stock of engines and cars, that they
shall furnish to this company one or more locomotives,
and sufficient number of freight cars, to be supplied with
good brakes (on each car) to be used with the engine or
engines, they to be run and managed entirely by the
employees of this company, under t'le control of, and
to be responsible to the officers of this company, and
to be used in the trans])ortation of salt for the State
of Georgia, wood and other supplies necessar\^ to the
manufacture of salt for that Staite. I propose that
this company shall pay to the proprietors or owner
of said engines and cars a reasonable rate of compen-
sation for the use of them, to be hereafter named, and
that after the salt required to be transported for the
State of Georgia, wood supplies shall have been trans-
ported, then this compatiy to have the privilege of using
said locomotives and cars for the transportation of salt
or wood supplies, etc., for other parties, provided they
shall not be used on any part of the road except between
Bristol and Saltville, and only so to be used for the pur-
pose of keeping the said locomotives and cars, and the
hands in charge of same employed. This company pro-
pose, in consideration of the use of said locomotives and
cars, to pay for each locomotive the sum of ($10) ten
State Papers of Go\t:rnor Jos. E. Brown 433
dollars per day, furnishing engineman and fireman, oil,
waste, fuel, etc., and to do the small ordinary re})air3
necessary to keep the engine in running condition; but
not to perform any large or important repairs. The
consideration proposed for the use of the cars, is that
this company shall pay 2 cents per mile run by each car;
an accurate account to be kept of the same, and to fur-
nish oil and grease for the purpose of keeping the axles
properly lubricated; the same conditions as to repair as
proposed for the engines. It is further to be understood
that the size of the engine or engines to be furnished shall
be such as may be approved by me ; in consequence of the
heavy grades over which they are compelled to work, the
heaviest class engine in use on the roads in the State of
Georgia, where the grades are light, will be required. I
would further state that if the companies furnishing the
engines prefer to send their own engineermen and fire-
men for the time being, to be in the employment of this
company, and paid by them, and subject in all respects
to be governed as employees of this company, I have no
objections.
Yours very respectfully,
Thos. Dodamead.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEviLLE, April 6th, 1863.
To the General Assembly:
The armies of the Confederate States are composed,
in a great degree, of poor men and non-slaveholders, who
434 Confederate Kecords
have but little property at stake upon the issue. The
rights and liberties of themselves and of their posterity
are, however, involved; and with hearts full of patriotism,
they have nobly and promptly responded to their coun-
try's call, and now stand a living fortification between
their homes and the armed legions of the Abolition Gov-
ernment. Upon their labor their families at home have
depended for support, as they have no slaves to work for
them. They receive from the Government but eleven
dollars per month, in depreciated currency, which, at the
present high prices, will purchase very little of the neces-
saries of life. The consequence is, that the wives of
thousands of them are now obliged to work daily in the
field to make bread — much of the time without shoes to
their feet, or even comfortable clothes for themselves or
their little children. Many are living upon bread alone,
and feel the most painful apprehensions lest the time
may come when enough even of this can not be afforded
them. In the midst of all the privations and sufferings
of themselves and their families, the loyalty of those
brave men to the Government can not be questioned, and
their gallantry shines more conspicuously upon each suc-
cessive battle field. Freemen have never, in any age of
the world, made greater sacrifices in freedom's cause, or
deserved more of their country or of their posterity.
AVhile the poor have made, and are still making, these
sacrifices, and submitting to these privations to sustain
our noble cause and transmit the rich blessings of civil
and religious liberty and national independence to pos-
terity, many of the rich have freely given up their prop-
erty, endured the hardships and privations of military
service, and died gallantly upon the battle field. It must
be admitted, however, that a large proportion of the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 4?,o
wealthy class of people have avoided the fevers of the
camp and the dangers of the battle field, and have re-
mained at home in comparative ease and comfort with
their families.
If the enrolling officer under the Conscript Act has
smnmoned them to camp, they have claimed exemption to
control their slaves, or they have responded with their
money and hired poor men to take their places as substi-
tutes. The operation of this Act has been grossly unjust
and unequal between the two classes. When the poor
man is ordered to camp by the enrolling officer, he has no
money with whicli to employ a substitute, and lie is com-
pelled to leave all the endearments of home and go. The
money of the rich protects them. If the substitution prin-
ciple had not been recognized, and the Act had compelled
the rich and poor to serve alike, it would have been much
more just.
Again, there is a class of rich speculators who remain
at home preying like vultures upon the vitals of society,
determined to make money at every hazard, who turn a
deaf ear to the cries of soldiers' families and are prepared
to immolate even our armies and sacrifice our liberties
upon the altar of mammon. If laws are passed against
extortion, they find means of evading them. If the neces-
saries of life can be monopolized and sold to the poor at
famine prices, they are ready to engage in it. If contri-
butions are asked to clothe the naked soldier or feed his
hungry children, they close their purses and turn away.
Neither the dictates of humanity, the love of country, the
laws of man, nor the fear of God seem to control or in-
fluence their actions. To make money and accumulate
wealth is their highest ambition, and seems to be the only
436 Confederate Records
object of their lives. The pockets of these men can be
readied in but one way, and that is by the tax gatherer,
and, as they grow rich upon the calamities of the country,
it is the duty of j)atriotic statesmen and legislators to see
that this is done, and that the burdens of the war are, at
least to some extent, equalized in this way. They should
be compelled to divide their ill-gotten gains with the sol-
diers who fight our battles ; both they and the wealthy of
the country, not engaged as they are, should be taxed to
contribute to the wants of the families of those w^ho sacri-
fice all to protect our lives, our liberty and our property.
I consider it but an act of simple justice, for the
reasons already stated, that the wages of our private sol-
diers be raised to twenty dollars per month, and that of
non-commissioned officers in like proportion, and that the
wealth of the country be taxed to raise the money. I
therefore recommend the passage of a joint resolution by
the Legislature of this State, requesting our Senators
and Representatives in Congress to bring this question
before that body, and to do all they can, both by their
influence and their votes, to secure the passage of an Act
for that purpose, and to assess a tax sufficient to raise
the money to pay the increased sum. This would enable
each soldier to do something to contribute to the comfort
of his family while he is fighting the battles of his country
at the expense of his comfort and the hazard of his life.
I respectfully but earnestly urge upon you the justice
and importance of favorable consideration and prompt
action upon this recommendation.
Let the hearts of our suffering soldiers from Greorgia
be cheered by the intelligence that the Legislature of this
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 437
State has determined to see that justice is done them, and
that the wants of themselves and their families are sup-
plied, and their arms will be nerved with new vigor when
uplifted to strike for the graves of their sires, the homes
of their families, the liberties of their posterity, and the
independence and glory of the Republic.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to both
branches of the General Assembly, to-wit ;
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Ga., April 10th, 1863.
To the General Assembly :
Your resolution has been communicated to me, calling
for the information in my possession touching the neces-
sity for a longer continuance of the office of Adjutant and
Inspector-General of this State.
While I am not aware that I possess any important in-
formation upon this subject which is not common to the
General Assembly, and to all intelligent citizens of this
State who have any knowledge of military offices, I do
not suppose there can be a doubt upon the mind of any
one who has any connection with the military system and
operations of the State, that the office is a very important
one, especially during the continuance of the war.
It is the duty of the Adjutant and Inspector-General
to keep a fair record of all orders, which he shall, from
440 Confederate Records
State of Georgia,
Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office,
MiLLEDGEVTLLE, April lOtli, 18G3.
To the Commander of the 33rd Regiment, G. M., Bald-
win County —
Sir: It having been represented to the Governor,
by a Justice of the Inferior Court, that a hiwless mob is
now engaged in pillaging the stores of the merchants of
Milledgeville, and that the city authorities of Milledge-
ville are either unable or indisposed to preserve the
order and peace of the city ; and to protect the merchants
in their rights and goods, His Excellency directs you
to assemble at once such portion of your regiment as can
be immediately warned, and reporting with them to the
Mayor of Milledgeville, to act, under his orders, as a
posse comitatus for the suppression of the riot and for
the recovery and restoration of the goods pillaged to
their respective owners. The men engaged in the riot
should be arrested at all hazards and lodged in jail, to
await the action of the civil courts, and all such women
as can be recognized will be noted also for indictment
and prosecution under the laws.
The Ordnance Officer, Maj. Mcintosh, will furnish
you and your command with arms and ammunition on
application to him.
Very respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
Henry C, Wayne,
Adjt. and Insp. General.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 441
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 16th, 1863.
This is to show that I have employed Capt. Simeon
Gerstmann to procure and bring in from beyond our
military lines articles which the State very much needs.
I respectfully request our military authorities and the
agents of transportation to afford him all the facilities
in their power for the speedy delivery of said articles
within this State.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 18th, 1863.
To Whom it May Concern — Greeting :
Whereas, In view of the changed political and com-
mercial relations of the State of Georgia with other
States, by reason of her separation from the "United
States of America," as a sovereign independent State,
and whereas the General Assembly of the State, deem-
ing it of the first importance that her industrial and
commercial interests, embraced in the extension, by di-
rect trade, of her cotton interest, should be promoted
among the principal European powers; and reposing
special trust and confidence in the ability, wisdom, pru-
442 Confederate Records
dence and lidelity of C. G. Baylor; Therefore, l)e it
known that T, Josepli E. Brown, Governor and Com-
inandor-in-C'liief of tlie Anny and Navy of this State,
and of tile militia thereof, do hereby constitute, commis-
sion and appoint the said C. G. Baylor as Commissioner
to the Government of her Britannic Majesty, Victoria,
Queen of Great Britain, to the Government of his Im-
perial Majesty, Napoleon III., Emjicror of France, and
the Governments and Empires respectively of Belgium,
Prussia, The Hollands, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Sar-
dinia, Portugal, Russia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark,
with powers, and charged with the duties set forth in the
*Instructions and Joint Resolution of the General As-
sembly of Georgia accompanying this Commission.!
And I request for the said C. G. Baylor, as Commissioner
of the State of Georgia, such protection, courtesies and
official facilities in the prosecution of his duties as are
accorded among all civilized States to persons engaged
in the discharge of responsible public trusts.
Done at the Capitol, in the city of Milledgeville,
on the 18th day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand, eight hundred and sixty-three.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of
the State.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
By the Governor:
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
* Not found.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 44.'i
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 18th, 1863.
*SiR: The accompanying commission confers upon
you the powers and facilities contemphited by the joint
resolution of the General Assembly of the State of Geor-
gia, passed at its annual session, approved on the
day of 186 , and numbered , an
official and certified copy of these resolutions are here-
with attached and made a part of these instructions.
You will be careful to observe the conditions and objects
of these resolutions, and report to me from time to time
the progress of your mission, and such facts and in-
formation as may be useful or instructive to the interests
you represent. Particularly your attention is called to
the importance of communicating to me, as soon as you
arrive in Europe, such information, financial and com-
mercial, derived from reliable sources, as may prove
useful to the Executive Department.
Relying upon your discretion and the knowledge of
that official caution and propriety in the discharge of
public duty which your long and honorable position in
the consular service of the United States government
has taught you the importance of,
1 have the honor to be,
Respectfully your obt. servt.,
Joseph E. Brown.
To C. G. Baylor, Commissioner, etc., etc.
*[ Enclosure]
444 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 24th, 1863.
It is hereby ordered that U. B. Wilkinson, of the
county of Coweta, in this State, be, and he is hereby, ap-
pointed an Appraiser under tlie impressment Act of Con-
gress, to act witli the person appointed by the President
under said Act.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
April 24th, 1863.
COL.H.H. Waters:
Sir: You are hereby appointed to go to Augusta,
Georgia, on the 28th instant, then and there to attend the
Railroad Convention, called at the suggestion of Col. W.
M. Wadley, A. A. G., and in conjunction with E. B.
Walker, Master Transportation of the W. & A. R. R.,
to represent said road and to make any arrangements
to carry out Col. AVadley's plans which will not cripple
the working of the State Road.
If the engine and cars, now sent to Virginia, are
delivered over to the R. R. company there, it must be
with the distinct understanding and agreement on the
part of that road that it be used solely for the transpor-
tation of wood for the Georgia interests, and salt for
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Browx 445
them to Bristol, in preference to all other uses or trans-
portation, and that Col. Wadley shall take the train and
deliver it back to the State Road, or its agent, when such
contract is not carried out.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 25th, 1863.
CoL. Ira R. Foster,
Quartermaster-General, State of Georgia —
Being satisfied that our armies will remain in the field
next winter, and fearing that Georgia troops in Confed-
erate service will suffer for want of shoes and clothing,
unless early preparations are made to avert calamity,
you are hereby directed to draw your requisition for two
millions of dollars on the military five million fund,
appropriated in the year 1861 for 1862, and deposit Ex-
ecutive Warrant with John Jones, Treasurer of this
State, taking his receipt therefor, subject to be drawn by
you from time to time, as the demands of your Depart-
ment in that line may require; and you are further di-
rected so to use said funds as will enable you to furnish
next winter, if needed by Georgia troops, forty or fifty
thousand pairs of shoes, and about thirty thousand suits
of clothes.
The order is given to draw the whole sum now, to pre-
vent it from reverting to the Treasury on the first day ot
May next, as it would do. This fund was appropriatecl
44() Confederate Records
as a military fmid, subject to my discretion, and I am
satisfied it is my duty to the State and her brave sons in
military service to commence in time to provide for them,
so as to prevent suffering next winter. There can be no
doubt that clothing and leather will liave greatly ad-
vanced in price and will be exceedingly scarce by the time
the Legislature meets next fall. The course now directed
to be ])ursued will secure a supply at greatly reduced
])rices, when compared with what the same articles will
cost next winter. You will take immediate steps to make
the necessary contracts before there is further advance
on the materials of which clothing and shoes are made.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 26th, 1863.
To the People of Georgia:
I have this day received a dispatch from General
Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the army in Missis-
sippi, stating that he is informed that numbers of strag-
glers from the army are reported going east through
Georgia, especially in the northern part, and requesting
me to have them, officers as well as men, arrested and sent
back to Jackson, ''employing for that purpose associa-
tions as citizens as well as State troops."
I, therefore, order the commanding officers of the
State troops and all the militia officers of this State, and
rec^uest all good citizens, to be vigilant and active in ar-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 447
resting all stragglers or deserters, whether officers or
men, and when arrested to deliver them to Col. G. W.
Lee, commanding post at Atlanta, to be by him sent to
Jackson, in obedience to the orders of General Johnston.
Prompt and energetic action is necessary.
Joseph E. Brown.
PROCLAMATION.
By Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
To the People of Said State :
The serious aspect of affairs threatening, as they do,
an early invasion of our State, impels me, your Chief
Magistrate, to address you once more, and to appeal to
your patriotism and valor in defence of your homes, your
wives and your children. Whatever may have been your
opinions of coercive measures, you have never failed to
respond promptly and nobly to every appeal made for
volunteers. If the enemy be successful in overrunning
Mississippi and Alabama, the State of Georgia can be
taken in flank, and we shall be open to serious and dan-
gerous attack. A powerful force of cavalry is being or-
ganized in Tennessee and Kentucky, with the avowed
object of penetrating our State, plundering and burning
our cities and devastating our factories, our workshops
and our fields. The first raid was well nigh successful,
when the gallant Forrest and his brave followers stopped
the destruction by the capture of the vandal force. To
repel the enemy in future, it is necessary that every
448 Confederate Records
man capable of bearing arms should rally to the defence
of the State and devote his strength and, if need be, his
life, not only to prevent the invasion, but to roll back the
tide of war from our borders. For this purpose, I call
upon old men and young men to rally around the banner
of our glorious old State, which has never yet trailed in
the dust, and strike for their loved ones, their homes,
their firesides and their altars. I address you with more
than usual earnestness, as I am satisfied that never, since
the commencement of this struggle, has the danger to our
State been so imminent. Heretofore the din of battle
has been heard in the distance and has been echoed among
us only in the heaving bosoms of the bereaved. Now
the thunders are rolling towards our borders and the
storm threatens to burst with fury upon our heads. In
solemn adjuration, therefore, I pray you to prepare to
meet and withstand it. Burying past differences and re-
membering only our common danger, let us work har-
moniously in our heaven-protected cause, putting for-
ward in places of command and responsibility our ablest
and best men, and grounding our trust in the justice of
our undertaking and the mercy of Him who will protect
the right.
From the reciprocal confidence which has existed be-
tween us for the last six years and the jjrompt response
made by you to every call since the commencement of the
war, I feel that my appeal to you, my fellow citizens, will
not be in vain.
I, therefore, request and urge upon you to organize
Military Companies of Volunteers, infantry and cavalry,
throughout the State, at least one in each county and
more where the population is sufficient, and to arm your-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 449
selves with the best weapons you can command. At
present, I have nothing but pikes and knives to give, but
I have appealed to the Confederate Government to re-
turn part of the arms in its possession belonging to Geor-
gia, and I ti-ust its response to my appeal may soon enable
me to arm all who volunteer. So soon as organized,
you will send by letter or otherwise to the Adjutant and
Inspector-General of the State, at this place, your election
returns, together with a list of the names of all persons
belonging to the organization, when commissions will be
sent to the officers and you will be held in readiness to
meet any emergency. This will place you regularly in
the service of the State, when called out, and will protect
you from the fate of unorganized citizens in arms and
entitle you to the rights of soldiers in service.
You will not be called from your homes, however, ex-
cept in cases of absolute necessity. It will not be in my
power to protect, in these voluntary organizations, those
who are subject to conscription and liable to be called
by the common government for service in the provisional
army; but I trust all not within the conscript age, or
otherwise exempt, and all conscripts till called to other
service, will enroll themselves in these organizations and
unite with those under arms in what may, I trust, be our
final successful struggle for liberty and independence.
All militia officers in this State will provide themselves
with the best arms thej^ can obtain, and hold themselves
in readiness to march at a moment's warning.
Given under my hand and the Seal of the Exec-
utive Department, at the Capitol, in Milledge-
ville, this 26th day of May, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
450 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 27th, 1863.
Ira R. Foster, Q. M. G.,
Sir: a resolution of the General Assembly, passed
at its late session, makes it my duty to procure and dis-
tribute spun yarns to the Inferior Courts of the respec-
tive counties of this State, for the use of the needy sol-
diers' families, in place of part of the money appropri-
ated for their relief, and makes it the duty of the Inferior
Courts of the respective counties to report to me, by the
15th of June next, the quantity needed in each county.
Notice of the passage of this resolution was at once mailed
to the Justices of the Inferior Courts of all the counties
in the State, and you are instructed, as Quartermaster-
General, to do all in your power to procure the yarn from
the factories, upon the best terms possible. I have re-
ceived your report, detailing your actings in the prem-
ises, and feel it my duty to say that the promptness and
energy which you have displayed meet my cordial
approval and entitle you to commendation. The liberal
ity shown by the manufactories of the State in response
to your call entitles them, also, to the thanks of our peo-
ple, for agreeing to furnish the thread at six dollars per
bunch. The helpless families of our brave, self-sacrific-
ing soldiers must not only be fed but they must have
clothes, at the expense of the State, when necessity re-
quires.
You will, from time to time, be furnished with state-
ments of the reports made by the Inferior Courts of the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 451
different counties, in the order in which they are re-
turned to this office ; and you will supply them in the order
in which they report, giving to diligence its proper re-
ward. So soon as you have received notice from this
office of the quantity of yarn required by a county, you
will write to the Justices of the Inferior Court, inform-
ing them that they will receive the yarn on sending you
a power of attorney, of which you will send them a proper
form, authorizing you to receive and receipt for and
apply in payment such part of the fund due the county
for the relief of indigent soldiers' families as may be
necessary to pay for the yarn. Upon the receipt of the
power of attorney, you will send the thread in such way
as the Justices may direct; and you will at once notify
John B. Campbell, financial Secretary of the Executive
Department, of the amount for which the power of attor-
ney is given, that he may retain that sum to meet your
draft.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
June 2nd, 1863.
Ira M. Foster, Q. M. Genl. :
As the time has arrived when you are to begin to re-
ceive spun yarn from the factories for distribution among
soldiers' families, as required by the resolutions of the
Legislature, and as it is impossible in taking the power
of attorney from each Inferior Court to know in advance
what will be the freight on the thread for each county
452 Confederate Records
from the factory to your office, so as to include it in the
power; and it being, therefore, almost impossible to ap-
portion this freight fairly among the counties, 1 hereby
order and direct that the freight on the bales of yarn
from the factory to the store in Atlanta, when shipped to
a store there or elsewhere, before distributed, be paid
out of the general Military Fund; and that the thread
when shipped to the respective courts from the store, be
sent without payment of freight, so that the courts may
pay, each, upon its own thread when received.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
June 8th, 1863.
Whereas, The manufacture of cotton cards in the
State Card Manufactory is greatly impeded for want of
suitable card wire ; and
Whereas, What little of such wire there is in the coun-
try for sale is held at enormous prices, viz. : about thirty
dollars per pound, the cost of which delivered in the
Confederacy did not exceed two dollars per pound in our
currency; and
Whereas, Mr. Solomon L. Waitzfelder, of Milledge-
ville, who is in every way trusty, reliable and prudent,
is about to go to Europe, to purchase and import card
clothing for the Milledgeville Manufacturing Company,
and is willing to undertake to purchase in Europe and
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 453
import a quantity of card wire for the State, to be used in
the State Card Manufactory; it is
Ordered: That Peter Jones, Esq., Superintendent of
the State Card Manufacturing Company, draw the sum
of four thousand dollars in currency from the Treasury
of this State, chargable to the one hundred thousand dol-
lar appropriation for the manufacture of wool and cotton
cards and card clothing for factories, by Act of December
6th, 1862, and to hand the same over to said Waitzfelder
for said purposes, and to take his receipt therefor; and
that a warrant do issue to said Peter Jones on the State
Treasury for said four thousand dollars, chargeable as
aforesaid.
Given under my hand and Seal of the Executive
Department, this 8th June, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor :
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
June 15th, 1863.
Col. p. Thweatt, Comptroller-General :
I am informed that some wealthy individuals and cor-
porations, who have made very large profits during the
year, from 1st April, 1862, to 1st April, 1863, refuse to
^ve in their tax returns under the Income Tax Act,
454 Confederate Records
passed 18th April, 1863, as they are of opinion that the
penalty fixed by law for sucli refusal is less than the tax
due under the Act; while others, with less capital, who
have probably labored harder, are obliged to give in and
pay the tax on all they have made, as they are not able to
pay the penalty for refusing to make their returns. It is
generally understood that the penalty is $5,000. This de-
pends upon the proper construction of the third section
of the Act, which declares: ''That if any person or body
corporate shall fail or refuse to make a return of his, her,
or their profits made or realized aforesaid, he, she or
they shall be held to have made the sum of $100,000, and
shall be taxed accordingly."
The defect in this Section is that it does not say at
what per cent, he shall be held to have made the $100,000.
If at 100 per cent., then the penalty is $5,000. But if at
1,000 per cent., it is $50,000. Upon a careful review of
the whole statute, I adopt the latter construction, and
hold that this is the penalty or tax assessed for refusal
to make a return.
In the 4th Section it is provided that a person or body
corporate charged with having made a false return and re-
fusing to produce his or their books of entry, if they kept
any, shall be held to have made 1,000 per cent, upon
$100,000. Construing the two Sections together, I think
it a fair conclusion that the per cent, which a person re-
fusing to make a return shall be presumed to have made
was intended to be as large as that which a person refus-
ing to produce his books of entry is presumed to have
realized. This conclusion seems not only to be warranted
by the usual rules of construction, but it can work no in-
justice, as no one can be compelled to pay the $50,000 who
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 455
will make a fair return and pay the amount of tax which
the statute requires him to pay upon his actual income.
He who refuses to make the return may be safely set
down as having made profits so large as to subject him
to more than the $50,000 of tax, and he is not injured by
being compelled to pay a sum less than the tax which
would be due from him if he obeyed the law and gave in,
as other citizens do.
You are, therefore, directed to order the Tax Col-
lectors of the respective counties of this State to assess
and collect a tax of $50,000 from each person or body
corporate in this State who shall fail or refuse to make
a return of his, her or their profits, made or realized as
aforesaid.
I am also informed that some persons in the State
who commenced with very small capital have made sev-
eral thousand per cent, during the year, and as the whole
amount made by such person will not pay his tax, if his
profits exceed 2,000 per cent., and as I can not suppose
it was their intention to take all a person made for tax,
much less to bring him in debt, as authorized in the 76th
Section of the Code, I direct you to order the collectors,
in all cases, where the tax exceeds one-half of all net
profits a person or body corporate has made, to collect
one-half of the whole amount made by such person as
tax and suspend the collection of the balance required
by the statute till the meeting of the Legislature.
Joseph E. Brown, Governor.
450 Confederate Records
PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia, June 22d, 1863.
To the People of Georgia:
lu view of the exigencies of the public service and in
compliance with the request of His Excellency President
Davis, made through the Secretary of War, I again ad-
dress you upon the subject of our local defence against
the threatened raids of our vindictive foe.
It is not doubted that our enemies are increasing their
cavalry force and making preparations to send raids of
mounted men through Georgia, as well as other States, to
burn all ])ublic property in our cities, destroy our rail-
road bridges, workshops, factories, mills and provisions,
leaving our country, now the home of a happy people,
little better than a desolate waste behind them.
They have met our brave troops in battle and have
been again and again ingloriously defeated and driven
back. Despairing of their ability to conquer us in hon-
orable warfare, they now violate all the rules of war as
recognized by civilized nations, disregard the rights of
private property, arm our slaves against us, and send
their robber bands among us to plunder, steal and de-
stroy, having resi)ect not even for the rights or the neces-
sities of infirm old age, or of helpless women and children.
To hold in check the mighty hosts collected for our
destruction by the Abolition Government, the President
is obliged to mass the provisional armies of the Confed-
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown 457
eracy at a few important key points, and can not, without
weakening them too much, detach troops to defend the
interior points against sudden incursion^. He, there-
fore, calls upon the people of the respective States, who
are otherwise not subject to be summoned to the field,
■under the Conscription Laws of Congress, to organize;
and while they attend to their ordinary avocations at
home, to stand ready at a moment's warning to take up
arms and drive back the plundering bands of marauders
from their own immediate section of country. To this
end, he requests me to organize a force of eight thousand
men in this State, who are over the age of forty-five years
or who are not otherwise subject to military duty in the
armies of the Confederacy, to be mustered into the ser-
vice of the Confederate States for six months from 1st
of August next, for home defence. If this force is not
organized by the first of August, by the tender of volun-
teers, I am notified that he then makes a positive requisi-
tion for it and requires that such requisition be responded
to if need be hy draft.
It is never yet been necessary, in filling a requisition
on this State, to draft Georgians to go to the remotest
parts of the Confederacy for the war. They have always
volunteered in larger numbers than have been required.
And I know it will not now be necessary to draft them to
hold themselves in readiness at home, to drive the enemy
away from their own plantations, workshops, firesides
and churches.
The President predicates tliis call upon the different
Acts of Congress for local defence and not for general
defence. No volunteer, under the requisition, will be called
into active service except in case of pressing emergency,
458 Confederate Records
and tlieii only until the emerp^ency is passed. In case a
raid is made upon a particular j)oint in the State, the
troops nearest that point and those most accessible to it
will be called out, and those more remote will not be dis-
tur])ed, unless the force of the enemy is so strong as to
render it absolutely necessary. In no case is it ex-
pected to call out this force to guard bridges or other
public works longer than the enemy is in the vicinity or
threatening an early dash upon it. The State troops,
now in service, are regarded sufficient for such guard
duty.
Tlie Government appreciates the necessity of leaving
tlie productive labor of tlie country not subject to con-
scription, as free as possible, to make all tlie provisions
and other supplies of clothing, etc., which can be made,
and it is not intended to call this class of laborers from
their occupations at any time for a longer period than is
indispensable to drive the enemy from our midst. Will
Georgians refuse to volunteer for this defence? The
man al)le to bear arms who will wait for a draft before
he will join an organization to repel the enemy, whose
brutal soldiery comes to his home to destroy his prop-
erty and insult and cruelly injure his wife and his daugh-
ters, is unworthy of the proud name of a Georgian, and
should fear lest he be marked as disloyal to the land of
his birth and to the government that throws over him the
jegis of its protection.
The object of mustering this force into the service of
the Confederate States, is to have it in readiness, that it
may be relied upon and to afford to the volunteers the
protection, in case of capture by the enemy, which is en-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 459
joyed by other troops in service, including the right to
be exchanged as prisoners of war.
Pay, rations and transportation will be allowed to all,
when on active duty; but no one will receive any pay or
allowances while at home, as each is expected to be most
of his time attending to his own business.
The command of the troops now required of this State
will, under the Act of Congress, belong to the President
and not to me, so soon as they have been organized and
mustered into service. The President, however, having
called upon me to organize the troops who volunteer,
under the Acts of Congress, in this State, has thought
proper to say, through the Secretary of War, that he
places the execution of the organization entirely under
my supervision and control. For the purpose of main-
taining order and system in the organization and that I
may know when the full number required has been raised,
it becomes necessary that all companies, battalions and
regiments which have lately organized and tendered to
the President or to any Confederate officer, for local
defence in this State, as well as all hereafter to be organ-
ized, report to me without delay. By virtue of the au-
thority vested in me, I therefore require all such organ-
izations, as well those heretofore formed as those here-
after to be formed, to report immediately to the Adju-
tant and Inspector-General, at this place, with their mus-
ter rolls made out in conformity to law, accompanied by
their election returns, if they have not already received
commissions. And I request the commandants of the
different military posts in this State, who have accepted
the tender of volunteers for local defence, to see that
the companies, battalions or regiments accepted by them
4G0 Confederate Records
comjily with this reiiuirement as early as possible. Cor-
dial co-operation and assistance on the part of the Con-
federate officers in tlie State are invited and expected, as
harmony between the State and Confederate officers is
essential to success in the prompt formation of the organ-
ization re(|nired by tlie President.
All militia and civil officers of this State are hereby
authorized and are expected to unite with these organi-
zations for home defence, and to be active and energetic
in assisting to form such organizations.
Furloughs of six months, unless sooner revoked, are
hereby granted to all militia officers of this State, from
the time they connect themselves with companies formed
under this proclamation, and are mustered into service,
and they are authorized to occupy any position as officer
or i)rivate to which the companies may assign them, (by
election, if it be an official position,) without prejudice to
their commissions as militia officers and without the loss
of the protecton which the Constitution and Laws affords
them as such, and no presumption of resignation will be
raised against tliem on account of having entered this
service. They are expected to show the same promptness
and patriotic devotion to the State, in response to
this call which they have shown in response to every
previous call. As it is not expected that the troops now
called for will be on active duty any considerable pro-
portion of their time, the civil officers of the State, of
every grade, can do the service required without much
detriment to the public interest, in their respective offices,
and each of them who is able to bear arms is invited to
unite with his fellow citizens for the defence of his home.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 461
Any commissioned officer of the militia of this State
of the rank of Captain or of a higher grade, is authorized
to muster into service any company, when organized,
and to send muster rolls of the company immediately by
mail to H. C. Wayne, Adjutant and Inspector-General,
at Milledgeville. The clerk of the Superior Court, Sher-
iff and Ordinary of each county are directed to assist
such officer, on his application, in making up the muster
rolls in proper form and in a plain legible handwriting.
Proper forms will be sent by mail to the Clerk's office of
the Superior Court of each county as soon as they can be
prepared.
The patriotism of the civil officers is hereby appealed
to for efficient and prompt aid in forming these organi-
zations.
An apportionment will be made, having in view the
strength and exposed condition of each county, and a
statement of the number of volunteers required of each
will be forwarded in a few days to the commanding
officer of the county; and to provide against miscar-
riages of the mail, a copy will be sent to each Ordinarj^
Clerk of the Superior Court and Sheriff in the State,
who are requested to give publicity to it in the county.
The citizens of the respective counties in this State
are requested to lay aside all other business on the first
Tuesday in July next and assembly at the court-house
in each county, in mass meeting, and organize the num-
ber of volunteers required of county, and report them to
the Adjutant and Inspector-General, at Milledgeville, as
soon as possible. Every militia and civil officer in the
county, from the highest to the lowest, is expected to be
402 Confederate Records
present, to aid aud encourage the organization. In case
any county fails to raise its quota on that day, it is
hereby required of the civil and military oHicers of each
county to travel through the county without delay and see
the citizens and enroll the names of all who will agree
to volunteer, till the number is completed. Let no officer
forget tliat he will be more successful in inducing others
to volunteer wlien he can show his own name upon the
list as a volunteer. And let the people of each county
mark every one, officer or private, who without sufficient
cause refuses to defend his home.
Georgians, I appeal to your patriotism and your
pride. Let the people of no other State excel you in
promptness of action or in the overwhelming numbers
tendering in response to the President's call. Your
brethren in the field have undergone hardships and en-
dured privations to which you have not been exposed, and
have nobly illustrated the character of their State when
in deadly conflict with the enemy. The time has now
arrived when you are expected to defend their homes
and your own in the interior, while they defend the bor-
der. Grey headed sires, your influence and your aid is
invoked. The crisis in our affairs is fast approaching.
Georgia expects every man to do his duty. Fly to arms
and trust in God to defend the right.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Department, at the Capi-
tol, in Milledgeville, this
23d day of June, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 463
To the People of Georgia:
Since the date of my proclamation calling for eight
thousand volunteers for home defence, I have received
a letter from the Secretary of War, dated 19th June,
1863, upon the subject of the proposed organizations and
the material of which they are to be composed, embrac-
ing a class of fellow citizens not included in the original
requisition. The Secretary says: ''It is expected that
men between forty and forty-five shall enter the proposed
organizations, but should such be hereafter called out by
the President, they will be liable to be transferred or dis-
charged and conscribed."
*'It is expected that as far as the men entering these
organizations have guns or arms they shall use them, but
we hope to be able to make up deficiencies in arms and
accoutrements and to supply ammunition when needed."
In obedience to the above requirement of the Presi-
dent, made through the Secretary of War, it is expected
that each man in the State able to bear arms, including
those hetiveen forty and forty-five years of age, will
promptly unite with one of the volunteer organizations
called for by my proclamation. Let no county fail to
organize on the first Tuesday of July and let each ten-
der its full quota within the appointed time. The late
raid of the enemy into East Tennessee and the destruc-
tion of the railroad bridges, together with their depreda-
tions upon our own sea coast, admonish us that we have
no time to lose in preparation for our defence. Let no
one, high or low, rich or poor, officer or private, who has
physical ability to endure one week's service, falter or
make an excuse.
464 Confederate Records
The patriotic (laughters of Georgia will mark with })er-
petual reproach and regard in future with merited dis-
trust every man who hides himself behind any sort of
exemption and lia.s not the courage and the manliness to
take up arms, when the enemy is in our very midst, to
I^rotect their houses against the flames, their little chil-
dren against nakedness and hunger and their persons
against the insults and injuries of hands of ruffian rob-
bers, who are destitute alike of honor, civility and shame.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Department, this 30th day
of June, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
To the People of Georgia:
The late serious disaster to our arms at Vicksburg
and Port Hudson, together with General Bragg 's retreat
with his army, to our very borders, while they are cause
of despair of ultimate success, if we are true to our-
selves and place our trust in God, admonish us that if we
would protect our homes from the ravages of the enemy,
it is time for even*' Georgian able to bear arms to unite
himself, without delay, with a military organization and
h-old himself in readiness, at a moment's warning, to
strike for his home and the graves of his ancestors, with
an unalterable determination to die free rather than live
the slave of despotic power.
Tens of thousands of our fellow citizens have volun-
teered for the war, and those of them that have not been
State Papeeus of Goveenoe Jos. E. Brown 465
slain or disabled are still riskin,^ everything for our suc-
cess in distant fields, upon the borders of the Confeder-
acy. On account of the near approach of the enemy to
the interior, the call is now upon those at home, who have
made comparatively little sacrifice, to volunteer to de-
fend their own habitations and property, and the homes
and families of their neighbors who are in the army
against the threatened attacks of the enemy.
Is there a Georgian able to bear arms so lost, not only
to patriotism but to all the noble impulses of our nature,
that he will, in this emergency, refuse to take up arms
for the defence of his home and his family, when the
enemy comes to his very door to destroy the one and
insult and cruelly injure the other? If there is a Geor-
gian possessed of so little courage or manliness, let his
fellow citizens mark and remember him. If he hides him-
self behind some legal exemption, as a mere pretext to
avoid duty, let him be exposed to the censure he de-
serves; or, if in his anxiety to make money and become
rich, he turns a deaf ear to the promptings of patriotism
and would sacrifice his liberties to his avarice, let him be
exposed with indignant scorn to public contempt. The
time has come for plain talk and prompt action. All that
is dear to a people on earth is at stake. The best efforts
of every patriot are required to save our cause from
ruin and our children from bondage. We are detennined
to be a free people, cost what it may, and we should per-
mit no man to remain among us and enjoy the protection
of the Government who refuses to do his part to secure
our independence.
If all our people at home will organize for home
defence, and the Secretary of War will issue and enforce
466 Confederate Records
such orders as will compel the thousands of persons in
Confederate service who, on account of the wealth of
parents or political influence or other like causes, are
now keeping out of the reach of danger, as passport
agents, impressment agents, useless subalterns connected
with the different Departments, including other favorites
of those in position, stragglers, etc., many of whom are
suspected of riding over the country at public expense,
engaged on private speculations — enrolling officers in
counties where the officers exempt are almost as numer-
ous as the conscripts now in the counties subject to en-
rollment, and the host of officers in uniform and others
who are daily seen in every city, town and village and
upon every railroad train and in every hotel in the Con-
federacy, to return immediately to their respective com-
mands in the field, we should soon have armies strong
enough to roll back the dark cloud of war which now
hangs over us, and drive the invaders from our soil.
By reference to the General Order herewith pub-
lished, it will be seen that a draft will be had on Tues-
day, the 4th day of August next, in each county in this
State which neglects or refuses to furnish the quota of
men required of it.
Though some few of the counties have exhibited too
little interest, I can not believe that a single one will
have its character stained by the necessity for a draft
for men to defend their own homes.
To those counties which have nobly and promptly
responded, and especially to those which have tendered
much more than their quota, I return my sincere thanks.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 467
While the militia officers of this State have generally
responded jiromptly and willingly, I regret to hear that
some of them, in contradiction of all the professions they
have made, that they remained at home for home de-
fence, now refuse to volunteer. To all such, I hereby
give notice that if they fail to connect themselves, as vol-
unteers, with the organizations now called for and to
enter the service as invited in my proclamation calling
for eight thousand troops, by the fourth day of August
next, the protection of the State against conscription will
be withdrawn from them and they will be turned over to
the enrolling officers under the conscription act. If, how-
ever, any militia officer, when approached by the con-
script officer, will make an affidavit that he has not heard
of or seen this proclamation or had notice of it, he shall
liave five days from that date within which to join one
of the companies now called for, as a volunteer.
This rule does not embrace any one connected with
the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief, as they are ex-
pected to hold themselves in readiness at all times to
obey his orders, and are not expected to join these com-
panies. All justices of the peace and constables are to
be subject to the same rule as militia officers, as their
offices are not now so important that they can not be
Bpared to do local and temporary service in the defence
of the State.
In protecting State officers against conscription, I
liave acted upon what I considered an important prin-
ciple. If any of them now refuse to aid in defence of
their homes, it will be proper that the State withdraw
this protection from such in the future.
468 Confederate Records
Let no one despair of our ultimate success. We
should not expect to be victorious upon every field. The
splendid achievements of our armies in the past have
made us an historic people and clearly foreshadowed the
final triumph of our arms and the future glory and gran-
deur of the Confederacy. Such a people, inhabiting such
a countr>' and having such mothers, wives, sisters and
daughters, need only be true to themselves and humbly
trust in Almighty Powers, to be invincible.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Department, this July 17^
1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia, July 28th, 1863.
To the Commanding Officer of Baldwin Counts/:
Should it become necessarj" to draft inen on Tues-
day, the 4th of August, to fill the requisition made on said
county, you will not draft any of the officers of the State
House or any one regularly employed in any of said
offices or any of the clerks employed in issuing State
Treasury Notes or Change Bills. Nor will you draft any
of the officers, overseers or guards in the Penitentiary
or the State Armor}^ or the Card Factorj^, nor any of
the officers or necessary employees of the Lunatic Asylum,
who were employed there one month prior to the draft,
nor any of the officers or operators in the Factory in the
citv. nor those regularlv em^loved as editors or other-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 469
wise of the newspapers of the city. All the above, ex-
cept the State House officers and those employed by them,
are expected, prior to the draft, to unite in one or more
military companies and tender and be mustered into the
Confederate service, under my proclamation for the de-
fense of Baldwin county, including the interests with
which they are connected and the Capitol of the State.
In case of attack, it will be the duty of the State
House officers and clerks to see that the Treasury, the
Public Records, Papers and other valuable articles in the
State House are removed to places of safety. If any of
the persons above mentioned, except those connected with
the State House, fail to join a company for the local de-
fence of the county before the draft commences, they
will be subject to draft.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia, July 29th, 1863.
To the Commanding Officer of Richmond County:
You will exempt from the draft on the 4th day of
August next, should one become necessary in your county,
the editors and all other persons connected with, and
necessary to the publication of, each and all newspapers
in your county, upon their furnishing to you evidence
that they have united themselves with one of the com-
panies formed under the orders already issued for the
local defence of the county of Richmond.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
470 Confederate Records
PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department,
September 5th, 1863.
To the Arms-bearing People of Georgia:
Thus far you have experienced but little of the hor-
rors of war ; and while you have been obligated to dispense
with luxuries which you might otherwise have enjoyed,
you have suffered comparatively little privation, except
the loss of friends on battle fields in other States. Now,
a powerful army, commanded by one of the most un-
scrupulous of the Generals of the enemy, is advancing
upon your Northwestern border, threatening to violate
your homes, lay waste your fields, destroy your cities,
desecrate the graves of your fathers and the altars where
you worship the living God.
If the enemy is successful, you must flee from your
native countiy and, as outcast paupers, wander in foreign
lands ; or you must submit to tyranny, with chains of op-
pression the most galling that were ever worn by an
enlightened people.
Let no one hope to escape by mean abandonment of
our cause, in the midst of our troubles, or by swearing
allegiance to a government that has wantonly shed so
much precious Southern blood and laid his friends and
relatives cold in death. Our noble dead, slain by the
enemy, would rebuke such dastardly conduct from their
bloody graves. Let none hope to save their property by
favoring a reconstruction of the Old Union or by any
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 471
re-union with our wicked and heartless invaders. All
such dreams are worse than delusions. Three quarters
of a century of experiences has proved that no covenant,
agreement or Constitutional compact will bind the people
of the Northern States, as communities, longer than it is
their interest to observe the obligation. It would take
all the property of the South to pay the immense war
debt of the North and to satisfy Yankee cupidity in pos-
session of unrestrained power. Reconstruction is noth-
ing but submission; and submission plunges us into the
deepest degredation and the most abject poverty and
misery. If there be any who favor such means to secure
peace, let them remember the sentiment of the great
Carolina statesman: *'It is the peace which the kite
gives to the dove, the wolf to the lamb, Russia to Poland,
and death to its victim," If we prefer to die free rather
than live slaves, we must put forth our whole energies in
this crisis of our fate.
Georgia has never failed to respond to every call
made by the President for troops, from the commence-
ment of the war to the present day, and has, in every case,
when a call has been made for volunteers, tendered more
than the number required. In response to the late call
for 8,000 men for local defence, I shall have the grati-
fication to tender to the President over 15,000 without
counting the drafted men. The draft was only necessary
in a few localities to compel each county to do its just
part, when some had tendered three times the number
required, and to compel a few men to enter service who
could not otherwise be influenced to do so. The result
has been a triumphant vindication of the character and
volunteer spirit of the State. There yet remains in our
472 Confederate Records
hclovi'd State, including tlic organizations formed for
homo defence, over forty tliousand men able to bear
arms in an emergency. If bnt half this nmnlx'r will
reinforce the Confederate army now on our l)order, we
can drive the enemy out of East Tennessee and fi-ec our
State from threatened invasion.
Georgians, yon who remain in the State owe this to
the galhmt men wlio liave ]eft tlieir homes and gone to
distant lields to meet the foe. You owe it to the or-
phans of the immortal dead, who have lost their lives
in your defence. You owe it to tlie noble women of
Georgia wlio, with hearts full of patriotism, have by
their untiring energy clothed the naked and contributed
millions of dollars to the support of our cause; and
who, like guardian angels, have ministered to the com-
fort and soothed the agony of the sick and wounded of
every State, who in their passage over our territory, have
come within their reach. You owe it to your wives and
children, to the families of our soldiers now in service
in other States, and to unborn posterity. AViil you not
rise in your might and put forth all your manliness for
this glorious consummation?
Having been asked liy the authorities at Richmond
to call ont the Home Guards to assist in this emergency,
T in\nte their attention to the order of the Adjutant and
Ins])ector-Gcneral of this State and direct that it be
promptly obeyed.
Men of Georgia who have stout hearts and strong
arms: when you leave your farms and your merchandise
to assist in driving the vandals from our borders, the
remembrance of the fate of New Orleans, Nashville, and
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 473
other places which have surrendered to the enemy, must
unalterably fix your determination that they shall not
occupy Georgia's territory and tyrannize over Georgia's
citizens; and must nerve your anns for the contest and
impel you to strike for the preservation of your homes,
the protection of your property, the purity of your wives
and daughters, and the transmission of your liberties
to the latest posterity.
Dark clouds hang around us and we are passing
through a trying ordeal, but truth and justice are on our
side ; and if every man will put his trust in God and do
his whole duty, our cause will triumph and we shall not
only conquer a peace, but we shall establish Constitu-
tional Liberty without which our struggle will have been
in vain.
Joseph E. Brown.
PROCLAMATION.
To the Civil and Military Officers of Georgia:
It becomes my duty to notice the complaints which
frequently reach me from different parts of the State
of the outrages and abuses which are being committed
by those who profess to have power, under the Act of
Congress, to make impressments of private property for
public use ; and to afford to the citizens of this State all
the protection in my power against the robberies which
are being committed by unprincipled persons, under
pretence of legal authorities.
I am informed that subaltern officers of the army,
without authoritv from the General in command of the
474 CONFEDEIIATK RecORDS
Departmeut, not infrequently make impressments of pri-
vate i)roperty and give certificates which will not bind
the government to compensate the owner for his prop-
erty, as tliey are not authorized by the Government to
make impressments. Stragglers, deserters and refu-
gees are daily impressing horses, cattle, provisions or
other property, under pretense of authority to do so for
the public service. Those professing to be agents of
the Quartermaster's and Commissary ])oi)artmonts are
also making impressments. In some instances, the per-
sons above designated, without legal authority, sense of
propriety or feelings of humanity, have taken the last
yoke of oxen or cow in possession of the aged and infirm
and have deprived soldiers' families of the scanty means
of sup})ort for which they have labored and without
which they must suffer.
Such practices of persons professing to be Govern-
ment Agents are alienating the affections of our people
from the Government at a time when it is very impor-
tant to the public safety that it have the confidence and
support of all good citizens. I am quite sure the Presi-
dent approves of no such injustice and outrage.
While I entertain no doubt of the Constitutional
power of the Government to make such impressments of
private property for public use, upon the pajTiient of just
compensation, I am satisfied that this power should never
be exercised by subalterns without written instructions
from the Government, in which the powers they are to
exercise should be well defined. Nor should any citizen
be deprived of his necessary means of support.
While I consider it the duty of every good citizen to
furnish to the Government, at reasonable prices, all the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 475
supplies of provisions for the army which he can pos-
sibly spare and support his family, I consider it the duty
of the State authorities to protect such, as far as pos-
sible, against unauthorized seizures and open robberies.
To this end I hereby inform the citizens of this State
that it is their right and duty to resist all impressments
of their property by persons who cannot show legal au-
thority to make the impressment, and to use all the force,
in such cases, which is necessary to the protection of their
persons and property. And I hereby direct all civil and
military officers in this State to assist all persons who
are defending their property against illegal seizure ; and
they, in connection with the Home Guard Companies of
this State, or any of them separately, are hereby di-
rected to arrest and lodge in the nearest secure jail all
persons making impressments without authority, until
warrants can be sued out against them for robbery and
they can be bound over to attend court and answer for
their offense, as the law directs. All persons should be
arrested who attempt to deprive the citizens of ithis
State of their property by impressment, unless they can
show written authority to do so from the President of
the Confederate States, the head of one of the Depart-
ments at Richmond, the General in command of a De-
partment, or the Chief Confederate Quartermaster or
Commissary in this State.
In the latter ease the written authority must show
upon its face that the Chief Quartermaster or Commis-
sary has instructions from the head of the Department
to exercise this power and to delegate it to others. In
all cases, the person who is to make the impressment
must be named in the written authority and the prop-
erty to be seized must be described, of the kind and quan-
47(i Confederate Records
tity of proi)erty to be impressed by siicli person must
be distinctly specified. The person mailing tlie impress-
ment will, in all cases, be required to produce and show
liis authority as abov^e stated, or he will be arrested.
This order is not intended to embarrass Government
Agents in the just and equitable execution of the Im-
pressment Act of Congress, but only to protect the peo-
ple of the State against the outrages of thieves, robbers
and other bad men who are not agents of the Govern-
ment, but represent themselves to be such, to enable them
to plunder and rob with impunity.
Given under my hand and the Seal
of the Executive Department, this
23d day of September, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
Headquarters,
Marietta, September, 1863.
To the Home Guards twic called into service:
I have had a correspondence with President Davis
upon the subject and he has decided, that, as you were
organized under his requisition upon the State for troops
for home defence and have been mustered in to Confed-
erate service, it is his right to appoint the General Offi-
cers to command you. He therefore denies my right to
command you and advises me that he has directed Briga-
dier-General Howell Cobb to attend to the organization
of the troops now called out.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 477
Whatever may be my opinion of my rights or the
rights of the State in connection with the command in
the present state of the organizations, I can have no
conflict with the Confederate authorities in the face of
the enemy, when they are upon our soil, threatening our
homes. I have therefore, in compliance with the direc-
tions of the President, turned over the command to Gen-
eral Cobb, an eminent Georgian well known to all, who is
now in Atlanta, to whom all future communications in
reference to supplies, details and other matters connected
with the organization should be addressed. I shall ren-
der General Cobb all the assistance in my power and am
ready to do all I can for your comfort and to share with
you any danger, or serve in any capacity where I can
best promote the public interest. Let every Georgian
rally to the rescue and let us bury all past differences
of opinion and personal jealousies till we have driven
the wicked invader from the sacred soil of our beloved
old State.
Joseph E. Brown.
Atlanta, October 10th, 1863.
It is agreed between Joseph E. Brown, Governor of
Georgia, and A. K. Seago, of the firm of Seago, Kennedy,
Palmer & Co., that said Seago shall proceed to Virginia
and have the engine ''Texas" belonging to the State, now
in the possession of the Virginia and Tennesseee road,
repaired, and that he shall use the ''Texas'* and all the
cars now in Virginia belonging to the State, in the ship-
ment of the salt now at Saltville or other x">oints in Vir-
ginia, which is the property of the State of Georgia or
•of said Company of which said Seago is a member, until
478 Confederate Records
the salt now in Virginia belonging to either the State or
said Company is shipped.
It is to be shipped by the Southern route; and said
Seago is to give his own individual attention closely to
the business until it is done, and is to ship by each train
an equal quantity of salt for the State and the Company.
The State and Company are to share equally the ex-
pense of the repairs of the engine and all the expense of
transportation of the salt of the State; and said Seago
and such other member of the Company or other person
as the Company may select, are to put in their whole
time and energy in getting the salt through, their time
to set off against the use of the train.
This contract is to be subject to the right of the State
to take the train for other uses, at any time, after five
trains of salt have been shipped, one-half of State and
the other half of Company salt. Mr. Seago is to exhibit
the contract to Mr. Q. R. Wikle, the State Agent at Salt-
ville, who will deliver the rolling stock to him and will
see that the shipments are made as herein agreed, and
that as much salt is shipped for the State as the Com-
pany.
The salt is to be consigned to J. T. Whitaker, Com-
missary-General, at Atlanta.
(Signed) Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
A. K. Seago.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 479
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
October 28th, 1863.
Whereas, at the instance and request of the Inferior
Court of the county of Harris in this State, I did, on the
18th day of May last, issue a license to Thomas H. Moore
of said county, under the Act of the General Assembly
of this State, passed the 11th day of April, 1863, entitled,
**An Act to alter and amend an Act to prevent the un-
necessary consumption of grain by distillers and manu-
facturers of spirituous liquors in this State, approved
22d November, 1862," authorizing the said Thomas H.
Moore to distill fifteen hundred gallons of whiskey for
said Inferior Court, to be used by the people of said
county for medicinal, hospital, chemical and mechanical
purposes: And Whereas, the said Inferior Court have
notified me that the said Thomas H. Moore has en-
tirely failed to distill and deliver to said Court the said
whiskey, or any part thereof, as he had contracted with
them to do, and have let a contract to another person to
distill said quantity of whiskey for said county, and have
rescinded said contract with said Moore to distill as
aforesaid for said county, and have requested me to li-
cense Mr. J. Hudson of said county, to distill for said
county of Harris fifteen hundred gallons of whiskey, in-
stead of the quantity to be made by said Moore, which
license to said Hudson has this day been issued to him.
Therefore it is
Ordered That the said license issued as aforesaid to
said Thomas H. Moore on the 18th day of May, 1863,
480 Confederate Records
being license No. 49, be, and the same is, hereby revoked^
and that the sheriff or his lawful deputy of said county
of Harris, do serve personally upon said Moore a certi-
fied copy of this order and return the order, with his
entry of such serv^ice thereon, to this department.
Given under my hand and
seal of the Executive De-
partment tliis 28th day of
October, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
October 29th, 1863.
Whereas, at the instance and on the recommendation
of the Justices of the Inferior Court, and of certain
county officers of the county of Lincoln in this State, I
issued, on the 11th da}" of March last, a license to Wil-
liam H. Davie of said county, under and by virtue of the
statute in such case made, authorizing him to distill in
said county, five hundred gallons of whiskey, to be used
by the people thereof for medicinal, chemical and me-
chanical purposes; And Whereas, from information
which has been furnished me, I have reason to believe that
said license has l>een abused or perverted from the uses
intended by the Act authorizing its issue. It is therefore^.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 481
Ordered, That the license issued as aforesaid to the
said William 11. Davie, being license No. 6, be, and the
same is, hereby revoked, and that the sheriff, or his law-
ful deputy, of said county of Lincoln, do serve personally
upon said Davie, a certified copy of this order, and that
he return to this department the order with his entry of
such service thereon.
Given under my hand and the Seal
By the Governor, of the Executive Department, this
H. H. Waters, 29th day of October, 1863.
Sec'y. Ex. Dept, Joseph E. Brown.
The following annual message of his Excellency, Jos-
eph E. Brown, was this day delivered to both branches
of the General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 5th, 1863.
To the Senate and House of Representatives :
Since the last annual meeting of the General Assembly
our noble State, in connection with her Southern sisters,
has passed through the vicissitudes of another year of
bloody war, waged with more than savage cruelty, by a
revengeful and unjust, though powerful enemy. Thou-
sands of her most gallant and chivalrous sons have poured
out their life's blood upon the battle field or yielded to the
stern messenger upon the sick couch of the soldier ; and
482 Confederate Records
as they have entered the dark valley of the shadow of
death, covered with wounds, or emaciated with disease,
they have cast a lingering look back upon the land for
whose freedom they have fought; and in the heaving
pangs of dissolution have exhorted all who survive to
emulate their example and die as they have died, sooner
than permit their descendants to be enslaved. These
noble men have risked and lost all in their own and our
defense, and we should merit and receive the scorn of
the civilized world if we should permit their orphan
cliildren to pass under the yoke of bondage, for lack of
manliness on our part to meet the foe face to face and
grapple with him hand to hand while he invades our ter-
ritory and we are able to maintain an army in the field,
or to strike a blow in freedom's cause.
No one can doubt what his duty is if he reflects upon
the nature of the contest in which we are engaged and
the motives which impel the people of the two Govern-
ments to action.
We of the South are fighting for the great principles
of self-government bequeathed to us by our fathers of
the revolution of 177G. We are fighting for the land of
our nativity, our homes and our property, our wives and
our children. We have waged no aggressive war upon
the people of the Northern States. We have not denied
their right to govern themselves or to adopt such form
of Government as they may prefer. We have neither
insulted their wives, destroyed their cities, stolen their
propert}', desecrated their churches, nor the graves of
their ancestors ; but we have conceded their right of self-
government, respected their private property and treated
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 483
as sacred the altars of their religion and the resting i^la-
ces of their dead. All these have been violated on our
soil by their vandal armies.
In imitation of our fathers of the first revolution, we
submitted to wrong till our grievances were intolerable,
and when we could no longer live with the people of the
Northern States in peace and were obliged to throw off
the yoke, we only asked to be permitted to depart in peace.
This right was denied us and the present cruel and unjust
war waged against us. We fight then, for the inalienable
right of self-government and for the civil and religious
liberties of ourselves and our unborn posterity.
For what are our enemies fighting! They fight for
power and plunder and for the destruction of the right
of self-government. They commenced the war under the
hypocritical pretext of restoring the Union and main-
taining the Constitution. Recently, however, the despot
who now rules at Washington has thrown off this mask
and has informed a committee from a Southern State,
claiming loyalty to his Government, that he now conducts
the war for the abolition of slavery, the subjugation of
Southern States and the confiscation of their property.
Abolition, subjugation and confiscation are the terms of-
fered us. Who that is not a dastard is prepared to sub-
mit to either?
I have heard it remarked that this is the rich man's
quarrel and the poor man's fight, and that the abolition
of slavery would not injure the poor, who are not slave-
holders. A greater error has never been conceived.
While I admit that many of the rich have fallen far short
of the discharge of their duty in this contest and have
484 Confederate Records
merited the condemnation of all true patriotes; I affirm
that no olaas of society would suifer aa much from aboli-
tion as the poor, and that no class has a greater interest
in every thing but property, at stake upon the triumphs
of our arms and the success of our cause.
Mr. Lincoln avows his purpose to abolish slavery by
force of arms and to establish negro equality among us.
If he is successful the rich who own slaves will lose their
money which is invested in them, but they will generally
have enough left to enable them to take their families and
get away from a state of society so wretched and so de-
grading. The poor, who have not the means to enable
them to leave, must remain with their families and submit
to negro equality. What is the result? The poor white
man goes to the polls to vote, if he is ever again permitted
to vote, and the negro, claimed by Mr. Lincoln to be his
equal, goes by his side to exercise the same right and
make a set-off against his vote. The poor man enters
the jury box in the Court of justice where important
rights are to be decided and the negro takes his seat by
his side and is recognized by the Court as his equal. The
poor man is on trial for his life, the negro appears upon
the stand, as his equal, and is permitted to testify against
him. The poor man who labors for his daily bread goes
to his wealthier neighbor to seek employment, the negro
appears by his side and underbids him in fixing the
price of labor. The poor man sends his children to
school, and the children of the negro are seated by their
side, and if he remonstrates he is informed that the negro
child is the equal of his own.
Again, our form of Government is emphatically the
poor man's host Government, and he loses all his political
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 485
riglits if he permits it to be overthrown. If our Govern-
ment were monarchial, and wealth and honors, with the
right to Govern, descended by the laws of the kingdom in
the same family from generation to generation, the poor
man would have but little interest in it, and but little
inducement to fight for it. But under our form of gov-
ernment, wealth and honors are the exclusive preroga-
tives of no i)articular family. Like the waves of an ocean
they are constantl)^ changing place, and are transferred
as generations pass, from one family to another. The
youth who learns that his father has wealth and honors,
is apt to make them his dependence and relax his ener-
gies, and it not infrequently occurs that his mental and
physical constitution are destroyed by drunkenness, or
other dissipations. The consequence is that he descends
to a lower position in society. On the other hand, the son
of the poor man, who has been trained in the school of
adversity and labor, if he has ambition, talent, honesty,
integrity, and energy, finding the road to wealth and
honor open before him, often distances competition, and
<'arries off the most valuable prize. Some little bright-
eyed boy, now meanly clad and neglected, the son of the
poorest man in the Confederate army, may by his econ-
omy and energy, become the wealthiest man in his State,
or by his talent and eloquence, he may in future lead the
Senate ; or on account of his wisdom, his patriotism and
his administrative ability, he may be called to the re-
sponsible position of President of the Confederacy. Tell
me not that the poor man has no interest in the contest,
when the social elevation, or degradation of himself and
his children, depend upon its results. Let it never be said
that he is disinterested, when the momentous decision
is to be made, whether he is in future to be the sui)erior,
486 Confederate Records
or only the e<|iial of tlie negro. Surely no poor man
will say that this is not his fight, when the very existence
of republican government is at stake, which is the only
government that guarantees to him and his children
ecpiality of political rights. Let the South be conquered,
and the sun of liberty will set in blood, military despot-
ism will be established, and the equal political rights of
the jioor, and their children will be forever lost.
But the abolition of slavery is not the only object for
which the war is now prosecuted. We are informed that
the armies of the enemy are to be used for our subjuga-
tion. What would then be our condition! We should
have no political rights, except such as our masters chose
to permit us to exercise. Our States would be reduced
to provinces, or territories. We could neither have leg-
islatures nor courts, ^vithout the consent of the visitors.
Our right to vote, or to hold property, or to sit upon
juries, or testify in court, would be subject to their
caprice. W^hether we were permitted to worship God
according to the dictates of our own consciences, or must
submit to such esta])lished form of religion as our con-
querers might prescribe, would depend entirely upon
their will, as we should then have no constitutional rights,
and no guarantee of the liberty of conscience. It is
impossible to conceive of a people in a more wretched
condition, than we would be after our subjugation. But
our misery is not to end here. Our slaves are not only
to be set free among us and be made our equals; and our
subjugation to be complete; but all our property is to be
confiscated to pay the war debt of the abolition govern-
ment, and to maintain an insolent army in our midst, to
dragoon us into perpetual submission, and to rivet our
chains more closely from generation to generation.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 487
Every reflecting mind is obliged to comprehend that
it would take nearly or quite the whole property of the
South to pay the immense war debt of the North ; and if
any should be left after its payment, that Yankee cupid-
ity in possession of unrestrained power, would soon ap-
propriate the balance to its own use. But suppose the
abolition government should modify its policy and re-
peal the confiscation act, what would be the result? We
should be permitted to keep the possession of our prop-
erty, but we should be taxed to the full extent of its
annual incomes. Instead of giving it up to pay a debt at
once, we should be compelled to act as overseers for the
Lincoln government, receiving a bare subsistence for our
labor. Whether our property is all confiscated and sold
to pay the debt immediately or is left in our hands, and
taxed till it is worthless to us, matters very little, as in
either case we are subjugated serfs — mere paupers and
slaves to abolition power. Not only every principle of
honor and of manliness, but every obligation which an-
cestry can be under to future posterity, requires that
we should never yield to subjugation, but that we should
defend our liberties and strike for independence, as long
as we have a man to muster or a weapon to use.
The reconstructionist who imagines that if the war
were ended, we should be placed back where we were
when it commenced, labors under an egregious error.
The Lincoln government offers no such terms, and it is
not in his power to grant any such, as it could not restore
our slaughtered kindred, compensate our injured females,
or return our devastated fields and cities as they were
when this wicked war was waged upon us. Let the re-
constructionist remember that the terms offered by the
Government at Washington are not the restoration of
4SS Confederate Records
the Union, and compensation for the injuries it has done
us; but tlioy arc abolition, subjugation, and confiscation.
It is announced by an olTicer high in position, upon the
authority of tlio Supreme Court, tliat all the ])roperty of
all the citizens of a State in rebellion, as they term us,
is subject to confiscation, whether such citizens favored
the rebellion or not. In other words, they declare their
intention, so soon as we are subjected, to confiscate all
the ]iro])erty of all the people of the Confederate States,
no matter what may have been their opinions of the war,
or their conduct during its prosecution. These terms
can not be very consoling to the friends of the abolition
government, if there be any such in the Confederacy.
Substitutes in the Army.
That portion of the Conscript Act which authorizes
those within conscript age to employ substitutes, has, in
my opinion, been productive of the most unfortunate re-
sults. If conscription is right, or if it has to be ac-
(juiesced in as a matter of necessity, it is certainly just
that it act upon all alike, whether rich or poor. With
the substitution jirinciple in the Act, its effect has been to
compel the poorer class, who have no money witli which
to employ substitutes, to enter the army, no matter what
may be the condition of their families at home, while
the. rich, who have money with which to employ substi-
tutes, have often escaped compulsory service. This is
not just as between man and man. While I trust that
I have shown that the poorest man in the Confederacy
has such interest at stake as should stimulate him to en-
dure any amount of liardship or danger for the success
of our cause, it can not be denied that the wealthy are
under as great obligation to do service, as they have, in
State Papp:rs of Governor Jos. E. Brown 489
addition to the rights and liberties of themselves and
their children, a large amount of property to protect.
If every wealthy man would do his duty, and share his
part of the dangers of the war, but few complaints would
be heard from the poor. But if the money of the rich is
to continue to secure him from the hardships, i)rivations,
and dangers, to which the poor are exposed, discontent,
and more or less demoralization in the army must be the
inevitable result.
He who has paid two or three thousand dollars for
his substitute, has often made it back in a single month
by speculation, and it has not infrequently happened that
the families of those in service at eleven dollars per
month, have been the most unfortunate victims of his
speculation and extortion.
A very large number of stout, able-bodied young men,
between 18 and 45 years of age, are now out of the army,
and in their places the Government has accepted old
men over 45, who have, in most cases, been unable to
undergo the long marches, privations and fatigue. Thou-
sands of these have sunk by the way, either into the hos-
pitals or into the grave. It is also understood that much
the larger number of deserters and stragglers from the
army have been substitutes, who have entered it for hire,
and after receiving the stipulated price, have sought the
first opportunity to escape, which they have in some in-
stances been permitted to do, with the acquiescence and
encouragement of the officers, who have been their part-
ners in guilty speculation. Thus the same individual
has been accepted as a substitute for each of several able-
bodied young men who have been left at home to seek for
41)0 CV)nfi:dkhatk Kecords
^ain and enjoy comfort, while our enemies have gained
advnntac^os on account of the weakness of our armies.
If we expect to be successful in our struggle, the law
must be so changed as to place in service the tens of
thousands of young men, who are now at home. This
would reinforce our armies, so as to enable us to drive
back the enemy u])on every part of our borders. After
this change in the law the Government could provide for
the i)rotection of the most important interests at home,
by making proper details of such j)ersons as are indis-
pensably necessary. This would be much better than
the extension of the Conscription Act up to 50 or 55, as
it would bring into the field young men able to endure
service, in place of old men who must soon fail when ex-
posed to great fatigue and hardship, many of whom are
as competent as young men to oversee plantations and
attend other home interests.
But it may be denied that the Government can now
so change the law, as to make those who have furnished
substitutes liable to service, as it is bound by its contract
to exempt them, and they have acquired vested rights
under the contract, which it is not in the power of the
Government to divest. Let us examine this for a moment.
I purchased a lot of land from the State of Georgia, and
pay her one thousand dollars for it, and she conveys it to
me by grant under lier great seal. The contract is as
solemn, and binding as the Government can make it. My
fee simple title is vested and complete. But while I
have the grant in my pocket and the State has my money
in her treasury, it is discovered that public necessity re-
quires the State to repossess herself of the land; I re-
fuse to sell it to her ; she may pay me just compensation
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 491
and take the land without my consent, and she violates
no fundamental principle, as all our private rights must
yield to the public good, and if we are injured we can
only require just compensation for the injury.
Again, suppose I have labored hard and made upon
my land a surplus of provisions, which are my own right
and property, and I refuse to sell them to the Govern-
ment, w^hen the army is in need of them; it may take
them without my consent and pay me just compensation,
and I have been deprived of none of my constitutional
rights.
The right of a person who has employed a substitute
to be exempt from military service, can certainly stand
upon no higher ground. The Government has extended
to such persons the privilege of exemption upon the em-
ployment of a proper substitute, but if the public safety
requires it, the Government certainly has as much right
to revoke this privilege as it has to take from me my
land, or my provisions, or other property for public use ;
and all the persons who employed the substitute could
demand what would be just compensation for the injury.
The measure of damages might be the amount paid by
the principal for his substitute, less the pro rata for the
time the substitute has served ; and upon the payment of
the damage or just compensation for it, the Government
would have the right to retain the substitute, as well as
the principal, in service, as the substitute has been paid
by the principal for the service, and the principal has
been compensated for the damage done him by ordering
him into service. It would be competent, however, in
estimating the damage in such case, to take into the ac-
count the interest the principal has in the success of our
41 111 CONFEDEIIATE KeCORDS
cause, Miul tlic establishment of our independence, as
necessary to tlic perpetuity of liis liberties, and the se-
curity of nil his rights. It would also be competent to
in(iuire whether he has indeed suffered any pecuniary
loss. If he has paid three thousand dollars for a sub-
stitute, and has been kept out of the army for that sum
for one year, and (hninii: that time he has made ten thou-
sand dollars more, by speculation, or otherwise, than he
would have made had he been in the army, at eleven dol-
lars per month, the actual amount of compensation due
him from the Government might be very small indeed,
if anything.
Believing that the public necessity requires it, and
entertaining no doubt that Congress possesses the power
to remedy the evil, without violating vested rights, I re-
spectfully recommend the passage of a joint resolution
by this General Assembly, requesting Congress to repeal
that part of the Conscript Act, which authorizes the em-
ployment of substitutes, and as conscription is the pres-
ent policy of the Government, to require all persons able
to do military duty, who have substitutes in service, to
enter the military service of the Confederacy, with the
least possible delay, and to provide some just rule of
compensation to those who may be injured by the enact-
ment of such a law. I also recommend that said resolu-
tion instruct our Senators, and request our Representa-
tives in Congress, to vote for and urge the passage of
this measure at the earliest possible day.
Deserters and Stragglers From the Army.
Deserters and stragglers from the army, and the too
common practice of overstaying the time allowed those
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 493
on furlough, are evils which if not checked, must result
in great injury to our cause and endanger our success.
A person who has travelled over the country to any
considerable extent can not have failed to observe the vast
number of persons in the uniform of Confederate officers,
and of soldiers, who crowd our railroad cars, and fill
every hotel on our lines of travel. Many of these per-
sons are believed to be neglecting duty, and attending to
speculations and other private interests or pleasure. Some
who are not in commission no doubt wear Confederate uni-
form to enable them to avoid enrollment as conscripts.
Those absent on sick leave have frequently stayed weeks
and months after they were able to return to camps, have
procured from unscrupulous surgeons, certificates, which
have excused them with their commanders. Others over-
stay their time without excuse, till they fear the penalties
that await them, and they then determine never to re-
turn. By these practices, the army is greatly depleted,
and has not in the field much more than half its strength ;
and many in the service are denied furloughs which
ought to be granted, because others have not been com-
pelled to do their duty, and return at the appointed time,
Wliether these abuses are caused by the favoritism or
negligence of officers in command, or by the failure of
the people at home to require of all who are absent, in
violation of orders, to return, I do not pretend to decide.
The evil is an alarming one, however, and calls for a
speedy remedy.
In response to the request of Confederate Generals in
command, I have by proclamation, directed the civil and
military officers of this State, and the State troops, to be
vigilent in the arrest of deserters and stragglers. Many
494 Confederate Records
have been arrested by tbeni, and returned to their re-
spective eommands, but I'urtlier lej^islatiou is required,
to enable the Executive to api)ly on effective remedy. It
is necessar}' that the hiw make it the imperative duty of
all sheriffs, constables, and all other civil officers of
every grade; and of all the militia officers of this State,
to arrest each and every person in their respective coun-
ties who belong to the Confederate army, and can not
show that he has a legal furlough, and has not overstayed
the time allowed him. A heavy penalty should be im-
posed upon each officer who neglects to discharge his
duty, and execute the law ; and a sufficient sum should be
appropriated to defray the expense of the arrest of all
deserters and stragglers, and of their conveyance and
delivery to a Confederate officer authorized to receive
and return them to their commands. A resolution should
also be passed, requesting the Confederate Government
to refund to Georgia, all sums necessarily expended in
the return of such persons to their places of service; or
to authorize the Post Quartermaster at the place where
the deserter or straggler may be delivered to a Confed-
erate officer, to pay all necessary expenses. The latter
plan if adopted by Congress, would be the more equitable
and just, and would l>e attended with less complication
of the accounts between the Confederate and State Gov-
ernments.
If each State will adopt a policy of the character
above indicated, and the Government at Richmond will
require its Generals in command of Departments, to pun-
ish severely, all officers guilty of favoritism, in granting
furloughs, and will compel all its Chief Commissaries
and Quartermasters to dismiss from their service, all
persons subject to conscription, and to send back to the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 495
army, the large number of idlers, who are found about
all our towns and cities, many of whom have details with
very little duty to perform, or positions, which are of
little practical use, other than to keep them out of reach
of danger; and if it will put negroes in the place of eight
out of ten of our teamsters in the army, leaving enough
of the most experienced and energetic white teamsters
to control the negroes; and will fill with negroes the
places of nine-tenths of the white men now engaged in
making potash, and attending to other similar duties,
and will in each case compel the white men relieved to
take their positions in the ranks as soldiers, and will
order into service the swarm of enrolling officers, who in
some counties are spending their time in idleness and
dissipation, and are scarcely sending to the camp of in-
struction once a month, a number of conscripts as large
as their own number, we shall soon see the array greatly
strengthened, and the troops much better contented and
more irresistible. Justice to those who have done their
duty faithfully requires that others shall be compelled to
do likewise.
Exemption of State Officers.
The Congress of the Confederate States, at its last
session, passed an Act, exempting from conscription, all
State officers, claimed as exempt by the Governor of each
State, till the meeting of the next Legislature of the State,
after the date of the Act. It is now left for the General
Assembly of this State to determine what State officers
shall in future be exempt from conscription. While Con-
gress has no power to disband the Government of a State,
or take from it any of its officers civil or military by con-
scription, without its consent, the State has the power, if
VJG Confederate Records
it chooses to exercise it, to turn over any of its officers
not necessary to its existence, to the Confederate Govern-
ment, for military service.
Entertaining the opinion that the State should always
keep within her limits, and at her command, a sufficient
force to execute her laws, do police duty, and repel raids
and robber bands from her soil, and should preserve in-
tact her government; I have felt it my duty to refuse
to permit her officers to be enrolled as conscripts; but I
have required them to hold themselves in constant readi-
ness to do local sei*vice, and to enter the organizations
formed for home defence, without regard to rank; and
have given the officers furloughs when necessary, to en-
able them to discharge even the duties of privates in vol-
unteer organizations. When I refused to permit the
officers to be taken as conscripts, I acted upon a principle,
and not from favoritism to the officers as individuals, as
I have no personal acquaintance with one in ten of them,
and there is no reason why I should be more partial to
them than other good citizens. Though my course at
the time gave much dissatisfaction, and political op-
ponents seized upon the occasion, to prejudice the minds
of the people against me, I trust the result has vindicated
my conduct.
Had I peiTuitted the military organization of the State
to be disbanded, it would not have been in ray power to
have filled the late requisition of the President upon this
State for 8,000 troops for local defence, as I should have
had no officers at my command in the several counties to
conduct the organization required by the President.
This will be more clearly seen by contrasting the action
of Georgia with that of Alabama. The legislature of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 497
Alabama by joint resolution, if I mistake not, turned over
all militia officers in that State within conscript age, to
enrollment. Georgia retained hers. The (President
called upon Georgia for 8,000 men for home defence ; and
upon Alabama for her quota. Georgia raised and ten-
dered over 18,(K)0. Alabama failed to raise the number
required, and the Governor was obliged to convene the
Legislature, and recommend the reorganization of the
militia, and the appointment of new officers, before the
quota of the State could be filled. The fault rested not
with the people of Alabama, for none are more loyal,
gallant and patriotic, but it resulted from the action of
the Legislature in permitting the militia system of the
State to be virtually destroyed by the enrolling officers,
which left the Governor without officers to obey his
orders, and conduct the organizations necessary to fill
the quota.
He who yields to popular clamor, in the midst of ex-
citement, and abandons principle, whether from mistaken
ideas of patriotic duty, or for mere expediency, is sure
to have abundant cause to regret it. The majority of
the people are honest, and though they may become ex-
cited, and may for a time be led astray by designing poli-
ticians or unprincipled leaders, they will, when correctly
informed, generally do right, and stand by principle ; and
will in the end bestow their confidence most liberally
upon the public man, who has the moral firmness and de-
termination to resist their will, when they are excited
and misled, and to invite them back to the true path of
first principles.
498 Confederate Records
Pay of Soldiers,
The rate of monthly compensation fixed by law for
officers and soldiers when everything was upon the gold
basis, which was the case when the Act was passed, may
then have been sufficient. But the currency has been
depreciated till it is now virtually no reward for their
services. Take for instance a Lieutenant in a company,
who has to purchase his clothing and his rations out of
his pay, and his wages will not pay for his board, much
less will it clothe him. Our company officers have to
live upon scanty allowance, and can not afford generally
to purchase uniforms, to distinguish them from privates.
The private gets rations and clothing and eleven dollars
per month in the present depreciated currency. The
question of an increase of compensation was, at my sug-
gestion, pressed upon Congress by the last Legislature of
this State, but the Senate refused to sanction it. The
objection urged against the measure with the most earn-
estness seemed to be, that the soldiers were not fighting
for pay, but for glory, liberty, patriotism and independ-
ence. There might be some force in this position, if
Congress, which compels the soldier to fight at eleven
dollars per month, for independence and glor}', could
compel the manufacturer to make cloth to clothe the sol-
diers' naked families, or the tanner to make leather for
their shoes, or the merchant to sell them goods, or the
farmers to supply them with provisions, at the rates
which existed at the commencement of the war, when the
soldiers' pay was fixed, and to take all the balance of the
present price in glory and independence. There is not
the semblance of justice in the pretext, that it is the duty
of the soldier to serv^e his country at these low prices.
State Papf-Rs of Governor Jos. E. Brown 4!)9
when every necessary of life which his family must pur-
chase has risen five fold in the market. When the pro-
ducts of the manufacturer, the goods of the merchant, the
leather of the tanner, the corn and meat of the farmer,
and the wages of every other class of the community,
have increased several fold, what fair and just minded
man can say, that the soldier who makes the greatest sac-
rifice of all others, should alone be made an exception to
the rule?
Another objection urged against the increase of sol-
diers' pay is that it increases the quantity of the cur-
rency, by compelling the Government to issue a large
amount of treasury notes to meet the payment, and that
this causes still greater depreciation and higher prices;
and it is contended that soldiers could buy but little more
witli twenty-two dollars per month than he now gets with
eleven. The same argument might be urged with equal
force against allowing the manufacture to charge one
dollar per yard for cloth, which he sold for ten cents at
the time the Act was passed fixing the soldiers' pay; or
against permitting the farmer to charge five dollars per
bushel for wheat, which was then worth only one dollar,
or one dollar a pound for meat, which was then only worth
ten cents; or against permitting the mechanic to charge
ten dollars per day, when he formerly got but two. All
this has had its eifect upon the currency, and raised the
price of provisions. But the price of provisions used by
the soldiers' family has increased as much as the price
of those used by the manufacturer or the farmer, and the
soldier receives only the price for his services which he
got before the depreciation began, while all other inter-
ests get the benefit of the increase in the price of labor
and material. This can not be defended upon any just or
5(^0 Confederate Records
(Hjuitable principle. Let all be affected equally by the in-
crease of prices, and if the volume of the currency is too
largely increased, let it be absorbed by taxation, wliicli
acts ecjually upon all. But do not single out our brave
defenders and compel them to bear all the burthens of the
depreciation without receiving any of the benefits of in-
creased compensation which are allowed to all other
classes.
In luy opinion, it is the duty of the Legislatures of the
several States, to continue to urge upon Congress a re-
consideration of the question, till justice is more nearly
a])proximated. I therefore recommend the passage of
a joint resolution by the General Assembly, instructing
our Senators and requesting our R-epresentatives in Con-
gress to use all their influence and energy, to procure the
passage of an Act to allow all commissioned officers in
the Confederate service an increase of twenty-five per
cent. u])on their pay, and to allow them rations in addition
to the compensation now allowed by law, and to increase
the compensation of private soldiers to twenty-two dol-
lars per month, and of non-commissioned officers in like
proportion.
Clothing Our Troops in Service.
It is the duty of the Confederate Government to fur-
nish all our troops in service with comfortable clothing;
but as this is not always done, it should be the settled
determination of the Government and people of this State,
that her sons in service shall not suffer for clothing, as
long Jis she has the means at her command to supply them.
The State violates no principle and assumes no unwar-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 501
ranted powers, when she clothes her naked sons whose
wants are not provided for. Humanity as well as duty
requires this.
Acting upon the proper policy, the Legislature at its
session last winter, appropriated $1,500,000 for this pur-
pose. It was found, however, that the troops suffered
much for clothing, on account of the delay which was
caused by consumption of time in debating upon the ap-
propriation, and the time necessarily taken after the bill
was passed, before the clothing could be procured.
I thought it very desirable that this delay be avoided
in future; and as I had the means at my command to
make purchases for this winter, though not appropriated
with a view to this specific object, I felt it my duty to
make an effort to procure the necessary supply. The
$5,000,000 appropriated by Act of December, 1861, was
a general appropriation for military purposes, to be ex-
pended at the discretion of the Governor. A large bal-
ance remained unexpended, which under the law, would
have reverted to the Treasury on the 1st day of May,
1863, had it not been drawn. On the 26th day of April,
1863, I directed the Quartermaster-General of this State,
to draw $2,000,000 on the appropriation, to be expended
in the purchase and manufacture of clothes and shoes for
the troops, and for other military purposes, and to de-
posit it in the Treasury subject to his draft, from time to
time, as he needed it for the uses aforesaid. The Quar-
termaster-General has on hand, besides those already dis-
tributed, nearly forty thousand suits of clothes, which are
ready for distribution among the troops as their necessi-
ties may require. He has been unable to get blankets,
and it has been very difficult to procure shoes. A very
o02 Confederate Records
considerable quantity of raw liides has been purchased,
which are now in tan, and will add to the number of shoes.
For a detailed statement of the supplies procured and
distributed, you are respectfully referred to the report
of the Quartermaster-General. He has been energetic
and attentive, and has acted with much foresight and pru-
dence. The stock which he has purchased would now
command probably $2,000,000 profit, if placed upon the
market.
Should the war last another year, (and we can not
assume to the contrary), it will be necessary to make fur-
ther appropriations to secure clothing for next winter.
This should be done at the present session, to afford time
to avail ourselves of the best market, and to enable us to
be ready to supply the needy and prevent suffering. It
may be the best to make suitable provisions for the im-
portation of part of our future supplies.
To meet the demands likely to be made upon us for
the next year, I recommend the appropriation of $2,000,-
000 as a Clothing Fund.
Support of Soldiers' Families.
It will not only be necessary to clothe our naked troops
while they are in the army, but it is an imperative duty
which the people of Georgia owe to them, to see that their
families do not suffer for the necessaries of life, in their
absence. "While I am no advocate for supporting them
in idleness, and hold that it is the duty of every man,
woman and child in the State, able to work, to labor with
all their strength to support themselves and those de-
pendent upon them, I know it is impossible for a woman,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 503
at the present high prices of provisions, to support her-
self and children, by her labor. Many of our soldiers who
are almost destitute of property, have responded nobly to
their country's call, and have endured an amount of
fatigue, hardship and danger to which those at home are
strangers, while their wives and children, and the widows
and orphans of the slain, have been supported upon the
most scanty allowance, or left to suffer for the necessaries
of life. This should never be so. Our soldiers from
every part of the State fight for the protection of the lib-
erties of the whole people, and the wealth of the whole
State; and I hold that it is their right to demand of the
people and of the wealth of the State, that their wants be
supplied while in camp, and that such assistance be af-
forded their families at home, as may be necessary to
save them from the want of the necessaries of life. This
should be done at the expense of the wealth of the State,
if it takes an annual tax of ten per cent. If it is neg-
lected, the army must be demoralized, if not disbanded,
and our liberties and property are all lost. I do not
think, in view of the scarcity of provisions and the depre-
ciation of the currency, that less than $5,000,000 will be
suflScient; and I recommend the appropriation of that
sum for the purpose. I also recommend such changes in
the mode of disbursing the fund, as experience in the dif-
ferent counties may have shown to be necessary. The
system should be as nearly uniform as possible in all the
counties.
Assistance to Counties Overrun by the Enemy.
In addition to the appropriations necessary for the
assistance of soldiers' families, it is absolutely necessary
that relief be afforded to the people of Dade, Walker,
Catoosa, Chattooga, and part of Whitfield counties, whose
504 Confederate Records
territory has been i)artly overrun by the enemy, and
whose supply of provisions has been almost entirely con-
sumed by the enemy, and by our own army. The supplies
of these people have either been taken by the common
enemy, or by our army for the common good. In either
case, it is the duty of the whole people of the State to
consider the loss as a common one, and provide assist-
ance from the common treasury. Having no other ap-
propriation at my command upon which 1 could draw
for this purpose, I set apart two thousand dollars of the
contingent fund, for the purchase of provisions in each
of the counties of Catoosa, Walker and Chattooga. I
was unable to extend relief to the people of Dade, on
account of the impossibility of procuring transportation,
as the enemy hold Chattanooga through which the rail-
road passes to the county. I recommend liberal appro-
priations for the relief of the people of these counties,
many of whom must suffer unless relief is afforded by
the State.
Provision Supply.
I feel that I can not too earnestly invoke the attention
of the people, and their representatives, as to the import-
ance of looking well to our future supply of provisions.
This is the only point upon wliicli we have anything to
fear for the success of our cause. If we can continue to
feed our armies and sustain our people at home, we can
fight the enemy for an indefinite period of time, without
the least danger of subjugation. But should our pro-
vision supply fail, our armies must be disbanded, and all
will be lost.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 505
The last Legislature passed an Act restricting the
cultivation of cotton to three acres to the hand. This
act needs amendment. No one should be allowed to
plant, cultivate or gather more than one-fourth of an
acre to the hand, while the war continues. This, with
the quantity on hand, will keep seed and clothe our peo-
ple, and we should permit no more to be raised. All the
land, labor, and energy of the State, should be employed
in the production of provisions and every faimly, whether
rich or poor, should live upon the smallest quantity which
will sustain life and preserve good health. The man
who, because he has the means, indulges in luxuriant
abundance is guilty of a crime against society, as others
must suffer on account of his indulgence of his appetite
or his vanity, when there is not a plentiful supply for all.
In the northeastern part of our State, especially in
the mountains, the crop of the present year has been al-
most a failure. The season has been very unfavorable,
and the early frost has destroyed a large proportion of
what was being made.
It is believed that the patriotism and loyalty of the
people of no other part of the State has been subjected to
so severe a test as has been applied in that section. The
people own but few slaves, and almost the entire produc-
tive labor has been called to the military field, leaving a
large population of women and children, and old men,
to support themselves. This they are unable to do with
good seasons, and when these fail many of them must
starve unless they get assistance. To add to their em-
barrassments the impressment officers of the Confeder-
ate Government have gone among them, and taken from
them part of their scanty supply. They have been de-
506 Confederate Records
prived of most of their oxen, which was their dependence
to transport food from the railroad. In many cases they
have received insolent treatment, from those who have
taken their means of living, under circumstances little
better than robbery.
With the exception of the section above mentioned the
crop has been generally good, and it is hoped that bread
enough has been made to maintain the people of the
State and the army upon her border. In addition to
the difficulties above mentioned, heavy drafts are made
upon our productions to support the large negro popula-
tion imported into the State, from sections of the country
overrun by the enemy, who, after their arrival, have not
been employed in agricultural pursuits, or have not been
here long enough to make a crop.
We are also called upon to divide our provisions with
a large refugee population of our fellow citizens from sis-
ter States. These persons are generally of the better
classes of society, intelligent, high-toned, and honorable,
who, on account of the leading positions which they have
occupied, and their unyielding devotion to our cause, have
been obliged to leave their homes upon the approach of
the armed legions of the enemy, to avoid banishment and
imprisonment. Having as a class made sacrifices for
Southern independence, to which we are yet strangers,
they are entitled to our highest respect and most pro-
found sympathy, and we should welcome them with warm
hearts, divide with them as long as we have bread, and
be willing to share with them a common fate.
I refer to these facts to show the heavy demands made
upon the productions of the State, and the great impor-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 507
tance of exerting every energy' to secure supplies for an-
other year. The bread question is the question in this
contest. Our independence is staked upon our ability to
continue to raise a sufficient supply of provisions to
support the army, and maintain the women and chil-
dren at home. By the blessings of Divine Providence
we shall succeed, but to do it, we must lay aside every
production not necessary to sustain life.
State Troops.
The two regiments of State troops raised under the
joint resolution of the last General Assembly, are now a
well organized body of men, with good arms and equip
ments. During the earlier part of the year they were,
at the recjuest of the Confederate General in command at
Savannah, ordered to that point, to assist in the protor*-
tion of that city. While there, the enemy made the first
attack upon Fort Sumter, and an assault upon the city of
Charleston was expected. Believing that they could
then defend Savannah more successfully at Charleston,
they volunteered and went to that place, where they re-
mained till the danger of attack was passed. In May,
when the bridges upon the State Road were seriously
threatened by the enemy, they were ordered up for the
defence of the road, where they have since remained, and
I have been assured by General Bragg, that they have been
of great service to him in protecting his rear, since the
army has been near Chattanooga. Atlanta has been his
base of supplies, and the destruction of the bridges on the
State Road, would have destroyed the communication be-
tween him and his base, and might have compelled him
to fall back. Had the State not been able to protect his
508 Confederate Records
rear, tlie General must have sent part of his own army to
do that duty, which would have weakened his force and
made his success more doubtful. Part of the State
troops were ordered to the mountains early in the year to
suppress threatened insurrection, and arrest offenders
and deserters. This service was rendered in a manner
very creditable to the troops. Detachments from the reg-
iments have frequently been sent out during the year, to
arrest deserters and stragglers, which service they have
performed with promptness and efficiency. In case of a
raid into this State, this force would be of great service
in the protection of public and private property, and in
repelling the aggressors. No State in the Confederacy
should be without such a force during the continuance
of the war, as emergencies must frequently arise, which
make it indispensably necessary that the State should
have at her command a force sufficient to suppress slave
insurrection, repel incursions of the enemy or meet
other sudden exigencies. I notice that the Governor of
South Carolina has lately convened the legislature, and
recommended the organization of a similar force in that
gallant State.
For more detailed information in reference to the
organization and services of the State troops, as well as
for information upon other military subjects, you are
referred to the able report of Henry C. Wayne, Adju-
tant and Inspector-General, to which your attention is
respectfully invited.
Military Appropriation.
I recommend the appropriation of three millions of
dollars as a military fund for the support of the State
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 509
troops, and for other military purposes, for the ensuing
year.
Taxation.
As the appropriations of the present session must
be heavy to meet the public necessities, it will be the
duty of the legislature to provide for raising the money.
The currency, both State and Confederate, is so much
depreciated, that it is extremely unwise to contract debts
at the prices now demanded for all articles purchased
by the State, and agree to pay, after the war is ended,
when property must again be estimated upon the gold
basis. This is like borrowing ten cents and agreeing to
pay a dollar in gold for it after the war is over. No
prudent man would do this in the transaction of his pri-
vate business, and no wise, sagacious statesman should
do so, in the management of the affairs of the State.
The people of the State can probably pay ten millions of
dollars in the present currency, as easily as they could
pay one million after the war is over, when property has
depreciated ten fold in value. Then why add our ex-
penditures to our debt. Nothing could be more unwise.
I recommend and urge upon you to make an estimate
before the adjournment of the session of the amount
appropriated, and to impose a tax sufficient to raise and
pay it. There is not a sensible thrifty man in the State,
who reasons upon the question, who would not prefer
this, rather than add the sum appropriated to our State
debt. It is believed, that from one to one and a half
I^er cent, upon the property of the State, will raise all
that will be needed for the year. This will be a nomi-
nal tax compared with the present Confederate tax.
510 Confederate Records
If it should be necessary to raise money for use, be-
fore the tax can be collected, it is not doubted, that an
arrangement could be made with our banks, for a tem-
porary loan of the amount required upon reasonable
terms.
If the General Assembly should differ from me in
this policy, and determine to continue to increase our
debt, at the present depreciated rates of currency, thus
virtually giving ten dollars for one, I recommend a con-
tinuance of the issue of Treasury notes, or Treasury cer-
tificates, to raise all sums appropriated, for which no
provision is made by taxation. I feel, however, that I
can not too earnestly urge upon you, the importance of
imposing a sufficient tax, to raise such sums as may be
needed. This would preserve the credit of the State,
and protect us and our posterity from a heavy burden,
which it would at present cost us but little to avoid.
The Currency.
Without reproducing the argument here, I respect-
fully refer the General Assembly to my message ad-
dressed to your predecessors, when convened in extra
session in March last, for my views upon this question,
so far as they relate to tlie action proper to be taken by
the Legislature.
The Constitution of the Confederate States, gives
that Government full and ample power over the whole
subject matter of the Confederate currency.
Congress has power :
To borrow money on the credit of the Confederate
States.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Browx 511
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.
To coin money and regulate the value thereof.
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the Confederate States.
And to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and ex-
cises, for revenue necessary to pay the debts, provide
for the common defence, and carry on the government
of the Confederate States.
It is worthy of remark, that the power is given not
only to regulate commerce, coin money, and borrow
money, but to impose taxes, based upon proper equality,
to an unlimited extent upon exports, imports, and the
individual property of every citizen of every State in
the Confederacy, to pay the debts, provide for the com-
mon defence, and carry on the Confederate Government.
The States having delegated to the Confederate Gov-
ernment these vast and unlimited powers over the public
debt and tlie means providing for its payment should
leave the management of the Confederate finances and
the responsibilities therewith connected, where the Con-
stitution leaves them.
An offer by the States, as States, to interfere actively
with the Confederate finances, or a request by the finan-
cial officers of the Confederacy that the States do so in-
terfere by indorsing the bonds of that Government or by
loaning their bonds to it to be sold in the market to pur-
chase its own issues at depreciated rates, when the States
have delegated the full, ample and exclusive manage-
512 Confederate Records
ment of this matter to the Confederate Government, is
a virtual declaration that the Government is a failure;
or that the officers entrusted with this branch of the
Government are incompetent to the task of establishing
a wise financial system, unworthy of public confidence,
and deserve to be superseded by men who have finan-
cial ability and practical statesmanship to discharge the
duties imposed by the Constitution and laws upon them.
I am not prepared to make this charge, if I were I would
say that a change of administration in this department
and not the inauguration of a patch-work policy by
which the States are called upon to discharge the duties
of the Confederate officers on account of their incompe-
tency, would be the proper remedy. Let the State and
Confederate Government each move within the sphere
assigned it by the Constitution, and let each be respon-
sible to the people for the faithful discharge of the trust
reposed in it. When either undertakes to discharge the
duties which properly pertain to the other it not only
takes responsibilities not its own but it assumes the in-
competency of the other.
But it may be said that State credit is worth more
than Confederate credit in the market, and if the States
will issue fifty millions of dollars of their bonds and
loan them to the Confederacy, it can purchase sixty-five
millions of its outstanding issues and thus make fifteen
millions of dollars.
It is not denied that the Confederacy, by turning bro-
ker of its own bills, might make some money by such an
operation, so long as the relative difference between
State and Confederate credit could be maintained. But
it must be apparent to all that this speculation would
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 513
be overbalanced by loss of character and of the confi-
dence of the public in the ability of a Government which
would resort to such an expedient; ever to establish and
maintain a wise financial system of its own. The specu-
lation made by such a transaction could have little or no
influence in regulating the currency. Instead of increas-
ing public confidence in Confederate credit it would do
much to destroy it, as it would be an implied acknowl-
edgement of the imbecility and incompetency on the
part of those responsible for the management of the
Confederate finances.
If the war lasts a few months longer it will require
the proper management of billions, not millions of dol-
lars, to regulate the currency and sustain public credit.
Suppose in place of fifty millions the States should issue
their bonds for a billion of dollars (and less would not
long suffice) what would be the result? The debt of
each State would become so large that its bonds in the
market would be worth less than Confederate bonds,
which are the bonds of all the States combined. So soon
as the system is adopted and published to the world,
State credit will at once sink below Confederate credit
and the whole speculation is at an end. In a word, the
infant giant, so soon as its proportions are developed,
immediately commits suicide.
But it may be said that the States are only asked to
loan the Confederacy fifty or one hundred millions of
their credit. It is very true that all this is proposed
to initiate the system. But he must be a very superficial
observer who does not see that as soon as this amount
is disposed of, another one Imndred or five hundred mil-
lions will be demanded, with more confidence than the
514 Confederate Records
first demand ia made, as the officers of the Confederate
Government will then have ])recedent to quote in favor
of the demand and the credit of the States must at once
be dragged down below Confederate credit and the coun-
try still left without a financial system to carry it through
the difficulties by which it is now surrounded. I am fully
satisfied that each Government should be left to meet its
own obligations and manage its own affairs, within the
bounds assigned by the Constitution, and that when
either, with ample powers, becomes incompetent to the
task, a change of administration, where the defect exists,
is the only proper remedy.
Impressment of Private Property.
The right of the Government of the Confederate
States to make impressments upon the personal prop-
erty of the citizens of the respective States for public
use, upon the payment of just compensation, is not
questioned. Congress has passed an Act regulating im-
pressments and defining the powers and duties of Con-
federate officers in making them. This Act of Congress
provides, ''that the property necessary for the support
of the owner and his family and to carry on his ordinary
agricultural and mechanical business," ''shall not he
taken or impressed for the puhlic iise." The Act also
provides, when the owner and impressing officer cannot
agree, for the appointment of two appraisers, one to
be chosen by the owner of the ])ro])erty and the other by
the impressing officer, and if they disagree, that they shall
choose an umpire, who shall determine upon the quantity
of property necessary as aforesaid, and such decision
shall be binding upon the officer and all other persons.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 515
The Act of Congress, therefore, expressly and posi-
tively prohibits any impressing officer from taking, un-
der any circumstances, the property necessary for the
support of the owner and his family, etc. In open viola-
tion of this positive law, those professing to be officers
of the Government, under appointment of one or more
of its District Commissaries, have impressed the prop-
erty absolutely necessary for the support of the owner
and his family and carried it off with threats of armed
force if resisted, after refusing to submit the question to
the decision of appraisers. They have jDretended to jus-
tify these outrages by saying that they had orders from
those who appointed them to take all of certain kinds of
property. Such orders if given, so far from being a jus-
tification for a violation of the Act of Congress, could
only subject the officers issuing them, to just punishment.
It is believed that large and corrupt speculations have
been made by those professing to be impressment officers
and others acting in concert with them, and that many
persons have made impressments who have no shadow
of legal authority for so doing, but have plundered and
robbed the people under pretense of such authority.
While it is the duty of every good citizen to furnish
to the Government, for the support of the army, all the
provision he can possibly spare, it is the imperative
duty of the Government to see that the people are not
plundered by unprincipled speculators or thieves, who
may profess to be or may be. Government officials.
These impressments have been ruinous to the people
of the northeastern part of the State, where there is not,
probably not half, a supply of provisions made for the
support of the women and children. One man in fifty
516 Confederate Records
may have a surplus, and forty out of fifty may not have
enough. Tf tlie inipressin<j^ officer is permitted to seize
and carry olT tlie little surplus in the hands of the few,
those who have not enou<j^h iiave nowhere to look for a
supply. Every pound of meat and every bushel of grain
carried out of that part of the State by impressing offi-
cers must be re])laced by the State at ])ublic expense, or
the wives and children of the soldiers in the army must
starve for food.
As all efforts to procure the suppression of this sys-
tem of moral robbery and plundering in a portion of the
State almost destitute of supplies has failed, I deem it
the duty of the Legislature to take the matter into its
own hands and protect its own people.
To this end I recommend the passage of a law making
it felony, to be punished by ten years imi)risonment in
the penitentiary, for any person, claiming to act as a
Confederate officer or agent, to impress the property of
any citizen of this State in violation of the Act of Con-
gress, or to refuse to allow the citizen all the rights given
by the Act of Congress. And if any person should pro-
fess to be an officer or agent of the Government, with
power to make impressments, who has not such au-
thority, I recommend that the Act make it the duty of
the court to sentence such person to receive thirty-nine
lashes on his bare back and to be imprisoned ten years
in the penitentiary. I also recommend that the law be
so changed as to make it a felony in any Commissary
or Quartermaster to send an officer or agent into any
county in the State to make im])ressments until he has
published the name and description of such officer with
the nature of his powers, in a newspaper having general
State Papers of Goverbtob Jos. E. Brown 517
circulation in the county, or by posting such advertise-
ment upon the door of the court-house and at three of
the most public places in the county. So much oppres-
sion and corrupt speculation is believed to have grown
out of this power that it will require stringent laws to
arrest the evil.
Income Tax.
I invite the attention of the General Assembly to the
remarks of the Comptroller-General in his able and very
valuable report upon the subject of the income tax, and
recommend such change in the law as will in future guard
against the evasions and abuses to which he refers. I
think it would be wiser policy to compel each person
dealing in the articles enumerated in said Act to give in,
on oath, the amount of capital or credit actually em-
ployed, and the amount of income made from 1st of April
1863, to the 1st of April, 1864, and deduct 20 per cent, of
the profits made upon which no tax should be paid, and
impose a tax of twenty-five per cent, upon all balance of
profits realized. This would be more equitable as be-
tween the different tax payers, and would yield a much
larger amount to the Treasury than has been received
for the past year.
Public Printing.
On account of the great advance in the price of labor
and material as well as provisions, the compensation
fixed by the Code of this State for the public printing,
will not enable the printers to do the work without the
loss of several thousand dollars per annum. The prices
were fixed at what was considered reasonable at the
51S Confederate Records
time the Code was prei)arecl, but are wliolly inadequate
iu the present condition of the country.
As an act of justice, I recommend that the law be so
changed as to allow the printers a reasonable per cent.,
say 125, upon the actual cost of the labor and material
employed.
Correspondence With the British Consul.
I beg leave to lay before the General Assembly cop-
ies of the correspondence between Mr. A. Fullerton,
Her Britannic Majesty's acting consul at Savannah, and
myself upon the question of the liability of British sub-
jects to do military service in defense of their domiciles.
Regarding this service as unquestionably due from all
domiciled foreigners by the laws of nations, I can only
regret that the British Consul felt it his duty to call in
c^uestion the right of the State to demand it. So long
as the British Government recognizes no legal commerce
with the Confederate States and denies the existence
of such a power, we are certainly under no obligation
to extend to the subjects of that Government privileges
or exemi:)tion not provided for by the laws of nations.
Salaries of Public Officers and Agents.
I feel it my duty, as an act of justice to the public
officers and agents of this State to recommend an increase
of their salaries, in all cases where there is no Constitu-
tional prohibition.
I am sure I need not enter into an argument to con-
vince the Legislature that the present salaries will not
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 519
support the public servants and their families. The last
General Assembly authorized me to increase the salaries
and compensation of the officers and employees on the
W. &. A. Railroad fifty per cent. It will be necessary
that the law be so changed as to authorize a further in-
crease, or the employees and workmen can not support
themselves and their families by their labor and they
will be compelled to leave the Road and go to other Roads
where they can get better wages. In the present state of
things it would not be possible to supply their places with
others at the same compensation. It would certainly be
very unwise to turn them off for want of support. We
should raise the freights to cover the cost and give them
good wages. I must express my regret that the Consti-
tution and law does not allow the members of the General
Assembly sufficient compensation to pay their actual ex-
penses. I apprehend no liberal-minded citizen approves
it.
Salt Supply.
Prior to the occupation of East Tennessee by the en-
emy we were succeeding well in the importation of salt.
Since that time we have been unable to get any from the
Virginia works. The appropriation of our trains by the
order of the Board of public works of Virginia, has
been a serious interruption. I have, however, through
the agency of Hon. B. H. Bigham, a member of this Gen-
eral Assembly, laid our complaint before the Governor
and Legislature of Virginia and have great confidence
that we shall receive justice and even liberality at the
hands of the Government of that noble old common-
wealth.
520 Confederate Records
Before our oommunieation with the works was cut
oi'f I liad succeeded in securing a sufficient quantity to
furnisli every soldiers' family in Georgia with a half
bushel in addition to that furnished at a former distribu-
tion.
The responsibility of receiving and distributing the
salt has been placed upon Col. J. I. Whitaker, the Com-
missary-General of the State, who has discharged it as
he has every duty, with ability, honesty, promptness and
iidelity.
The different salt companies of the State have im-
ported large quantities, and while it is feared we shall
be hard run for a supply, it is hoped there may be no
suffering.
Cotton Cards.
For a statement of the operations of the Card Fac-
tory, I refer you to the report of its Superintendent.
While we have not been so successful as we could have
wished, the number made and distributed has been of
great service to the people.
The greatest difficulty has been in procuring wire. I
do not consider our undertaking to make wire, in suffi-
cient quantities, as by any means a success. But I have
lately been able to get a good quantity through the block-
ade, and anticipate but little future difficulty in keeping
up the supply.
As the wire costs very high and has to be paid for in
lots as it arrives, I ask an appropriation of $200,000 for
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 521
that purpose, to be refunded to the Treasury out of the
proceeds of the sale of the Cards.
Treasury Certificates For State Treasury Notes.
I am informed that State Treasury Notes have gener-
ally been laid away as an investment and that bankers and
capitalists who hold large amounts of them, to get rid
of the care of so great a bulk of paper, desire to exchange
them for Treasury certificates of large amounts, binding
the State to the same obligations contained in the face
of the notes. I can see no objection to this, and there-
fore recommend the passage of an Act authorizing the
Treasurer to take up the State Treasury Notes when
presented in sums of five thousand dollars or upwards,
and give Treasury certificates in place of the bills, pay-
able to bearer, upon the terms mentioned in the face of
the bills. It would certainly be quite an accommodation
to a person having ten thousand dollars of State Treas-
ury Notes in five dollar bills, which he designs to hold
as an investment, to be permitted to return them to the
Treasury and receive in place of them a certificate for
ten thousand dollars . I would not recommend the issue
of a certificate for a smaller sum than five thousand
dollars.
If the General Assembly should not levy a tax suffi-
cient to carry on the operations of the Government and
should adhere to the policy of issuing State Treasury
Notes to meet appropriations, the Treasurer might be
authorized to re-issue the notes redeemed by him and
thus save the expense and labor of issuing new notes.
522 Confederate Records
Western and Atlantic Railroad.
The report of the SuperinteDdent of the State Road
shows that $1,050,000 has been paid into the Treasury
of the State from the incomes of the Road, during the last
fiscal year, and that there was due from the Confederate
Government on the 30th of September, 1863, $427,586.75
as a set-olf against $577,864.76 due the 30th of Septem-
ber, 1862, showing the net earnings of the Road to have
been nearly one and a half millions of dollars for the
year.
This would of course be subject to reasonable deduc-
tion for the wear of rolling stock and of the track, which
has not been kept in as good condition as usual, on ac-
count of the impossibility of procuring supplies of mate-
rial essential in making repairs.
As a great proportion of the property transported
over the road, other than Government freights, belongs
to speculators, I have felt it my duty to order the freights
raised from time to time, so as to keep them nearly as
high as the freights on other roads. This enables the
State to raise, by the use of the road, a considerable
amount of revenue in a manner less burdensome to the
people of this State than it could be done in any other
way, and to transport freights necessary- for the support
of the poor without charge. And as the price of nearly
every kind of property has increased immensely in the
market, it is right that the freights for transporting it
be increased in a just proportion. There is no justice
in requiring the road to transport a barrel of flour, a
hogshead of sugar, or a ton of iron at the old rates, paid
in currency, when either is worth in the market in the
same currency ten times the old rates to the producer.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 523
To enable us to continue to run the road, if the war
should last for a year or two longer, it will be necessary
to import, by some means, such supplies as are indis-
pensable in making repairs. On account of the position
which the road occupies as a main trunk, with so many
roads diverging from it at each end, the drafts made
upon its rolling stock, for military use on other roads,
in sudden emergencies, has been greater than upon any
other road in the Confederacy. Our rolling stock has
not only been greatly injured when under military or-
ders, but we have lost about two hundred cars and a
number of valuable engines, when upon other roads, by
the interception of the enemy.
The State Road is not singular in needing repairs.
No other Road in the Confederacy called upon to make
equal sacrifices of its rolling stock in the service of the
country, is believed to be in better condition.
After the death of Major John S. Rowland, its late
honest and upright superintendent, Dr. George D. Phil-
lips, whose high character is well known to the people
of Georgia, has been appointed Superintendent of this
great State work.
Reorganization of the Militia and the Home Guard.
The conscript law having been executed in the State
upon persons from 18 to 45, the organized militia of the
State not in Confederate service, under existing laws, is
composed of the non-conscripts between those ages.
The late call of the President upon this State for
8,000 volunteers as Home Guards, and for local defence,
5:24 Confederate Records
was addressed to those exempt from conscription. To
tliis call, as will be seen by reference to the report of
AdjiiUint and Ins})ector-General II. C Wayne, over 18,-
000 men responded. These troops were organized for six
months only, witli the understanding that they were not
to be called out and kept in the field as regular soldiers,
but that they were to be mustered into the service and
remain at liome in pursuit of their ordinary avocations,
wlien not needed to repel a raid or meet an emergency.
Part of them have been called out and have now been near-
ly two months in service ; and I regret to say, that I do not
see satisfactory evidence of an intention on the part of
the Government, to discharge them at as early a day as
our home interests imperatively require. It is now time
tliat the corn crop were gathered and the wheat crop
sowed. If we are to continue the war, we must take care
of the provisions already made; and if we would harvest
next summer, we must not neglect seed time this fall.
The troops are now well organized, and if permitted to
go home, could, in case of emergency, return to their re-
spective commands on the shortest notice. We shall
doubtless need Home Guards after the expiration of the
six months ; and it is to be feared that the effect of con-
tinuing these troops in the field longer at a time than
necessity requires, will be to discourage volunteering at
the end of their present term. If the Government will
act in good faith with these men, there will be no difii-
culty in keeping up a suflicient Home Guard organization
during the war; but if it should fail to do this, the task
may be difficult, as the men who compose the organiza-
tion are the indispensable productive class, and can not
«5pend all their time in the military field without ruin to
our home interests.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 525
It was said by some, as a justification for the adop-
tion of the conscription policy, that the volunteer spirit
was dead when that bill was passed. The very reverse,
however, was true. Only a few weeks before the pass-
age of the conscript law, the President called upon Geor-
gia for twelve regiments of volunteers, and they re-
sponded promptly, with a large additional number.
Lately he called upon the State for eight thousand troops,
which is the first call made since the conscript policy was
adopted; and over double the number responded. From
the first day of the war till the present hour, Georgia has
never failed to fill promptly every requisition made upon
her for volunteers, and I think I may safely say, that if
good faith is observed and their constitutional rights
in the selection of their officers are respected, she never
will fail to fill a requisition for her just quota as long as
the war may last.
To provide, however, for any future contingency
which may occur from mismanagement or otherwise, and
to maintain an organization for police purposes, I rec-
ommend the passage of an Act making all white male
persons 18 and 60 years of age, subject to militia duty,
when not on active duty in the military service of the
Confederate States, and subject to draft to fill any fu-
ture requisitions to be made upon the State by the Con-
federate States for troops ; with a proviso that the State
will not hold them liable to serve when their Constitu-
tional right of electing their officers is denied, and will
not permit them to be punished for refusing to serve
when this clear and important right is usurped; with a
further proviso, exempting ministers of the gospel and
the most important civil officers, both of the State and
5*Jl) Confederate Records
counties, whose official duties are onerous and indispens-
able, from all military sei'V'ice.
It will also be necessary to authorize the Governor to
appoint such staff officers as may, in his judgment, be
necessary to enable him to organize troops to fill
promptly and future requisitions made upon the State,
or to meet other emergencies.
Right to Elect Officers.
In this connection I earnestly invite the attention of
the General Assembly to the correspondence, (copies of
which are herewith forwarded) between the Secretary
of War and myself, in reference to the right of Georgia's
volunteer militia in the military service of the Confeder-
acy, to elect their own officers. And it is proper that I
here remark that since the correspondence was ended,
even the right of the Home Guards to elect to fill vacancies
is also denied, and the power of appointing the company,
officers, as well as the field officers, is claimed by the
President.
The Constitution gives Congress power to provide
for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in
the servke of the Confederate States, reserving to the
States respectively, the appointment of the officers. The
right of the State to appoint the officers to command her
militia or any part thereof, when employed in the service
of the Confederate States, is not left to inference, but is
reserved in plain, simple language, which admits of no
two constructions. The State, b7 her Constitution and
laws, has provided how she will make these appointments.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 527
All militia officers are to be elected by the people subject
to do military duty under them, and the officers of the
volunteer militia are to be elected by the members of the
volunteer organization, to be commanded by the officers
when elected, and all vacancies are to be filled in the same
way. In a word, the State appoints those who are
elected by the persons to be commanded.
If the militia of Georgia, or any part thereof, is now
employed in the service of the Confederate States, no one
can question the right of the State, as reserved in the
Confederate Constitution, to appoint the officers to com-
mand them, and the right of the troops, under the Con-
stitution and laws of the State, to have those elected by
them, appointed or commissioned to command them, is
equally unquestionable.
By the militia of the State, I understand the farmers
of the Constitution to have meant the arms-bearing peo-
ple of the State. That they intended to use the tenn in
this sense is evident froom the fact that they speak of the
militia as in existence at the time they are making the
Constitution, and confer power upon Congress, not to
create a new militia, nor to organize that already in ex-
istence, but to provide for organizing the militia. In
other words, they gave Congress power to provide for
forming into militia organizations the arms-bearing peo-
ple of the respective States. Had the Constitution given
Congress power to organize the militia without any quali-
fying words, it would have had power to appoint otBcers
to command them, or to authorize the President to ap-
point them, as the militia can not be organized without
officers. The language used was well weighed and care-
fully guarded. Power was given to Congress to provide
528 Confederate Records
for organizing that already in existence without sufficient
organization — the militia or arms-bearing people of the
States. When Congress has provided for the organiza-
tion, and the States have organized the militia, congress
may authorize the President to employ them in the ser^dce
of the Confederate States, but in that case the States
expressly reserve to themselves the right to appoint the
officers to command them, and Congress can not, without
usurpation, exercise that power or confer it uj^on the
President.
The Pre3(ident (has made repeated calls upon this
State, for organized bodies of her troops for Confederate
service, and his requisitions have invariably been filled
by the tender of militia organized and officered by the
State, and they have been accepted by him with their offi-
cers as organized. In addition to this, the Conscript Act
has been passed, which has made all persons between
18 and 45, (except those exempted by the Act), subject
by compulsion to Confederate service. This Act has been
executed in Greorgia. In contemplation of law, every
person in this State between 18 and 45, not specially
exempt, is now in Confederate service; and the fact cor-
responds very nearly with this contemplation of law.
Thus the whole organized militia of the State is now
employed in the service of the Confederate States; and,
notwithstanding the State in such case has expressly re-
served the right to appoint every officer to command them,
her right to appoint a single officer to fill a single vacancy
in a single company, battalion or regiment, is now denied;
and it is claimed that they are all in future to be ap-
pointed, not by the State, but by the President.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brovvx 529
One of the reasons given for this extraordinary pre-
tension is that it will not do to trust the troops after they
are in service, with this important right of choosing their
own officers, as they would not elect officers who are faith-
ful and who maintain discipline and do their duty. This
objection would certainly a^jply with equal force to the
first election, when a regiment or company is being or-
ganized. If the men are competent on entering the serv-
ice to elect those who shall command them, why are they
not equally competent to elect to fill vacancies which af-
terwards occur? Do experiences in the military field
and intimate acquaintance with their comrades in arms,
make them less competent to judge of the qualifications
of those who aspire to command? The simple statement
of the proposition is a sufficient expose of its fallacy. At
the organization of our regiments, the men elected officers
on short acquaintance, as but little time was allowed them,
and doubtless made some mistakes, putting in men less
competent than some others left out. They have since
seen them tried in service, and now know who is best
qualified. But when a vacancy occurs, they are now to
be confined to those who were first elected to lower posi-
tions, to fill the higher positions to which they never chose
them. And if an officer who claims promotion is set
aside for incompetency by an examining board, the next
in rank may step forward and claim the place, and is held
to be entitled to it over the best man in the regiment if he
is a private, though he may be the choice of every man in
the command. It is only the lowest commissioned officer
in the company who is taken from the ranks; and if the
best and most competent man failed to get a commission
at the first election, he can not now aspire from the ranks
to a higher position than the lowest lieutenancy. The
530 Confederate Records
policy of filling all vacancies by promotion, not only dis-
regards the Constitutional rights of all the States, but it
does the grossest injustice to those who are often the
most deser\'ing of promotion, and denies to the men tlie
valuable right of selecting their own rulers.
If it is said the President may go out of the regular
line of promotion, and reward merit in the ranks, it may
be truly replied that this is seldom done; and that the
men can not look to their companions in arms, but can
look only to the President for promotion. This not only
concentrates all power in his hands, but subjects every
man's claims to his favoritism, prejudice or caprice; and
destroys independence of thought and action, by compell-
ing all to depend for promotion upon their capacity to
flatter or their ability to please a single individual. Geor-
gia's troops have done their duty nobly in the field, and
they have a right to look to the government of their State
for the protection of their rights. Many of them now
claim this protection. Shall they have it?
I recommend that this General Assembly pass a joint
resolution declaratory of the reserved rights of the State,
and of the Constitutional right of election by her troops,
and demanding of the Confederate Government the recog-
nition of this right.
While they took no formal action upon this particular
point, your predecessors of the last General Assembly
virtually decided the question in favor of the right of the
State to appoint her own ofiBcers to command her militia
now in Confederate service, and determined further that
the troops which the State has furnished for the field
are the militia of Georgia, "employed in the service of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 531
the Confederate States," and not the armies of the Con-
federacy, in the sense in which the Constitution uses that
term.
Several gentlemen holding commissions in command
of Georgia troops in Confederate service, furnished by
the State as organized by her to fill requisitions made by
the President, were members of the last General Assem-
bly. The question of their right to hold seats was
raised and decided in their favor, on the express ground,
as I understood from the discussions, that they were
officers of the militia of this State, and not ofificers of the
armies of the Confederacy. Indeed, it was impossible,
under the oaths which the members had taken to support
the Constitution, for them to have determined that these
were officers of the armies of the Confederacy, and not
officers of the militia of Georgia, and still have permitted
them to have their seats as members of the General As-
sembly. The 5th paragraph of the 1st Section of the
2nd Article of the Constitution of this State declares
that,
''No person holding any military commission, or
other appointment having any emolument or compensa-
tion annexed thereto, under this State or the Confeder-
ate States, or either of them, (except Justices of the In-
ferior Court, Justices of the Peace and officers of the
militia), shall have a seat in either branch of the Gen-
eral Assembly."
This language of the Constitution is plain, positive
and unequivocal. No person holding a militaiy com-
mission under this State or the Confederate States, hav-
ing any emolument or compensation annexed thereto.
532 Confederate Records
(except officers of the militia), shall have a seat in either
branch of the General Assembly. If the Georgia troops
in Confederate service are not the militia of the State
employed in the service of the Confederate States, then
their officers are not officers of the militia. If they are
part of the armies of the Confederate States, then their
officers are officers of the armies of the Confederate
States, and not officers of the militia of Georgia, and are,
by the express language of the Constitution, excluded
from seats in either branch of the General Assembly.
And if their officers are officers of the militia of Georgia,,
'^emploj'ed in the service of the Confederate States,"
and are entitled to the Constitutional privilege of having
seats in the General Assembly, then the men whom they
command are the militia of Georgia, ''employed in the
service of the Confederate States," and are equally en-
titled to the exercise of their Constitutional right to elect
officers to command them. The one right is as plain,
as broad, and as valuable as the other. If the General
Assembly recognizes and protects the right of the officers
to have their seats, as I think it should do, I am unable to
see upon what principle of justice, right or equality, it
can refuse to recognize and protect the right of the jiri-
vates to elect their own officers. They are co-extensive
and co-equal rights, and he who claims the privilege to
exercise the one, is obliged to admit the existence of the
other, and is bound to protect it.
Georgia Military Institute.
This Institution is in a very flourishing condition,
and is entitled to the fostering care of the legislature..
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 533
Its efficiency and usefulness would be greatly promoted
by the erection of additional dormitories, so as to pro-
vide for the reception of a larger number of cadets.
Numerous applicants for admission have been rejected
during the past year for want of room to accommodate
them. Difficulty in procuring building material may,
however, be in the way of extending the accommodations
for the present. The Faculty and Cadets have responded
to every call made upon them for military service, and
stand ready to do their duty in every emergency.
The State University.
The exercises of the University have been suspended
for a time, by the patriotic response, made by the Chan-
cellor and Faculty, to their country's call. When the
soil of Georgia was invaded by a large army of the enemy,
and I, in compliance with the request of the President,
called for volunteers to rally to the rescue, the whole fac-
ulty responded nobly and promptly, and laying aside for
a time the scientific and literary pursuits in which they
stand so deservedly high, they assumed the habit and
garb of the soldier, and have undergone the hardships
and fatigues of the camp. Rev. Dr. Mell, the Vice-Chan-
cellor, was called by his fellow soldiers to the command
of a regiment, and Rev. Dr. Lipscomb, the Chancellor,
preferring not to accept official position entered the ranks
as a private. I have had the pleasure of visiting these
gentlemen with the balance of the faculty around their
camp fires with their gallant comrades in arms, and have
been assured by other persons connected with the com-
mand, that every member of the faculty has discharged
promptly and cheerfully every duty of the soldier.
.'j.'U Confederate Records
This does not exhibit the spirit of a people prepared
for subjugation. There is indeed a moral grandeur in
this conduct of the faculty of the University which is
worth thousands of men to our cause. What State can
exhibit more encouraging evidence of the patriotic de-
termination of her citizens, to uphold her honor and her
sovereignty at every hazard. Every Georgian should be
proud of the University, and of its noble, patriotic, self-
sacrificing faculty.
1 transmit herewith the annual rej)ort of the Board of
Trustees of the University, by which it will be seen that
not only the faculty, but a large number of the students
have entered the military service in defence of our honor
and our independence.
Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,
Believing that the present miseries of the country
have overtaken us on account of the wickedness and
transgressions of the people, and that the Almighty Ruler
of the Universe who controls as well the Hosts of Heaven
as the armies of earth, and has the powers to cause wars
to cease at his pleasure, will enable us to drive our ene-
mies from our territory, and will restore ])eace and ])ros-
perity to the country, when our rulers and people shall
have forsaken their transgressions, and have humbled
their hearts in deep penitence before Him. And believ-
ing that it is the im])erative duty of a Christian people
in times of national calamity and distress, to assemble
together and publicly acknowledge God as their Ruler,
and implore his forgiveness, through the merits of His
Son, Jesus Christ, I recommend the General Assembly of
this State, by joint resolution, to set apart Thursday, the
10th of December next, as a day of fasting, deep humilia-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 535
tion and prayer ; and that the Congress of the Confeder-
ate States, and the Legislatures of the diiferent States,
together with all the people of the Confederate States,
and all our armies in the field, be respectfully requested
to unite with us in the religious observance of the day.
Let it be no formal observance, but let all public and
private business be suspended, and let the people assem-
ble with the Reverend Clergy, at their respective places
of worship, and let us present before God a whole nation
on its knees, fasting, in deep humility, and penitential
confession; and it is my solemn conviction that God will
hear our prayers, strike terror and dismay into the hearts
of our enemies, and give such victories to our arms as
will soon establish our independence, and restore peace
in all our borders.
Joseph E. Brown.
Ordnance Department,
Milledgeville, November 5th, 18G3.
I have this day received of Joseph E. Brown, Gover-
nor of Georgia, seven thousand five hundred dollars,
(7,500) which said Brown pays on account of sale of Con-
federate bonds, etc., and which I received and am to
appropriate in payment of accounts against my Depart-
ment, and am to account for it in my report under the
same liability as if I had drawn it from the Treasury
under appropriation, as I receive it as public money to
be paid out in satisfaction of dues against the State.
(Signed) Lachlan H. McIntosh,
Major and Chief of Ordnance,
State of Georgia.
536 Confederate Records
Tlie original of which the above receipt is a copy, is
filed, by order of the Governor in the Executive Depart-
ment and is here entered of record.
H. J. G. Williams,
Recording Clerk Ex. Dept.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7th, 1863.
Executive Department,
MjlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 7th, 1863.
His Excellency Joseph E. Brown, of the county of
Cherokee, elected by the people for the Fourth Term, on
the first "Wednesday in October last. Governor and Com-
mander-in-Chief of the x\rmy and Navy of this State, and
the Militia thereof, for two years next ensuing, was this
day, at 12 o'clock M., inaugurated in the Representative
Chamber, at the Capitol, and being conducted by a Com-
mittee to the Executive Office, entered upon the discharge
of his duties.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 10th, 1863.
Whereas, on the 26th day of December, 1863, at the
instance and request of Captain A. M. Allen, as the agent
of the Commissary Department of the Confederate Gov-
ernment, I issued, under the Act of 22d November, 1862,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 537
entitled, **An act to prevent the unnecessary consump-
tion of grain by distillers and manufacturers of spirit-
uous liquors in Georgia," a license to Andrew Dunn of
the county of Monroe in this State, authorizing him to
distill out of grain at his distillery in said county, twenty
thousand gallons of whiskey for the use of the said Com-
missary Department; And Whereas, I have been re-
quested by Maj. J. L. Locke, Chief Commissary, to with-
draw said license, it is
Ordered, That the said license issued as aforesaid to
said Andrew Dunn of said county of Monroe, authoriz-
ing him to distill in said county, twenty thousand gallons
of whiskey for said Commissary Department, being
license No. 1, issued on the 26th day of December, 1862,
be, and the same is, hereby revoked and annulled ; And it
is further Ordered, That the sheriff or his deputy of said
county do serve personally upon the said Andrew Dunn
a certified copy of this order, and that he return to this
Department this original order with this entry of such
service thereon.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive-
Department, the day and
year first above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sect'y. Ex. Dept.
538 Confederate Records
To His Excellency Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia :
We, the undersigned Commissioners, appointed under
an Act of the General Assembly of Georgia, entitled, "An
Act to alter the Great Seal of the State of Georgia," to
prepare, in co-operation with the Secretary of State, a
new Great Seal for the State of Georgia, and to make all
necessary preparations and arrangements to bring the
same as agreed on into use, beg leave to
REPORT:
That they have performed the duty with which they
were charged by said Act, and have deposited the new
Great Seal, agreed on and prepared by them, in the office
of the Secretary of State, of which the following is a de-
scription, to-wit : The face of the Seal measures two
inches in diameter, and has on it the following device, to-
wit : — three pillars, supporting an arch, with the words
and figures *' Constitution 1861" engraved within the
same, emblematic of the Constitution supported by the
three Departments of Government, viz., the Legislative,
Judicial and Executive; the pillars are enwreathed with
a scroll, and on that hanging round the first pillar the
word "Wisdom" is engraved; on that hanging on the
second pillar, the word "Justice" is engraved; and on
that portion of the scroll hanging round the third pillar,
the word "Moderation" is engraved. The motto: "State
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 539"
of Georgia, 1776": which they respectfully submit to
your Excellency, this November 12th, 1863.
S. S. Stafford,
G. N. Lester,
B. H. BiGHAM,
Commissioners.
N. C. Barnett,
Secretary of State.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia, November 12, 1863.
The Commissioners above named, with the Secretary
of State, having this day deposited the new Great Seal of
the State in the office of the Secretary of State, as agreed
upon and prepared by them, in compliance with the
statute of 14th December, 1861: It is hereby
Ordered, That said new Great Seal be adopted and
used, on and after this day, as the Great Seal of the State
of Georgia ; And it is further
Ordered, That the Report of the Commissioners, with
this order, be entered upon the Minutes of this Depart-
ment.
Joseph E. Brown.
And it is further Ordered, That the old Great Seal
be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State for
preservation and future inspection.
Joseph E. Brown.
540 Confederate Kecords
The following message was transmitted to the General
Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Mjlledgeville, Georgia,
November 16th, 1863.
To the General Assembly:
Complaints are reaching me from different parts of
the State that there are large numbers of distilleries now
constantly running in violation of law, consuming corn
that is absolutely necessary to sustain the lives of help-
less women and children.
The law as it now stands, provides that a distillery
running in violation of the statute may be abated as a
public nuisance by the ordinary process of law. Experi-
ence has shown, however, that this provision is wholly
inadequate to suppress the evil. If proceedings are com-
menced before a justice of the peace to abate the distillery
as a nuisance, and the justices rule that it is such and
pass an order to abate it, the party may carry the case
by certiorari to the Superior Court, and after one or more
continuances, if the ruling is against him, then he may
carry it to the Supreme Court and thus delay the final
judgment for a year or two, within which time he can
make enough whiskey to pay all the expense of the litiga-
tion and have almost a fortune as clear profits.
This mischief calls for a speedy remedy, for which
the people can look only to their Representatives. In
my opinion there is but one way to stop it effectually, and
that is to destroy, by the use of military force, every still
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 541
that is run in violation of law. I therefore recommend
the passage of an Act making it the duty of the Governor
when he has satisfactory evidence that any still has heen
run contrary to law, to order out such military force as
may be necessary, and to seize the still and use the metal
of which it is made for military purposes, or sell it to the
Confederate States for military use, and apply the pro-
ceeds of the sale to the support of indigent soldiers ' fam-
ilies.
This power of military seizure and confiscation will
afford an effectual remedy, and, in my judgment, no
other will arrest the evil.
While whiskey is thirty or forty dollars per gallon in
the market, and corn can be purchased at four times the
present prices, unprincipled and avaricious men will con-
tinue to evade the law or to set it at open defiance as long
as they are pennitted to retain possession of their still.
The exigencies demand a prompt remedy, and I am satis-
fied none more tardy than that recommended will answer
the purpose.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following Special Message was transmitted to
the General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
M,ILLEDGEVrLLE, GeORGIA,
November 20th, 1863.
To the General Assembly:
Justice to the citizens of Georgia, and to the great
cause in which we are struggling, requires that I invite
542 Confederate Records
your attention to a matter which I consider of vital im-
portance and urge uj)on you to Uike .such action as will
lead to the ap])lication of the proper remedy for an exist-
ing evil. For the last eighteen months I have repeatedly
stated that, in my honest opinion, our greatest dilliculty
will he in maintaining our sui)ply of provisions. If we
can do this, which is in our power with God's blessing, if
not abused, we have nothing to fear from the ])ower or
armies of the enemy. Deei)ly impressed with the impor-
tance of this subject, I consider the waste of the neces-
saries of life as liighly culpable, and any action of the
government which causes such waste as unfortunate and
unwise.
p]ntertaining these views, I am obliged to conclude
that the tithing system adopted by the Congress of the
Confederate States was an unfortunate error, which can
only be retrieved by an entire and early change of policy.
I think it safe to estimate that at least one-third of
the amount of tithe of tax in kind of this State, will be
wasted and lost on account of the want of storeroom and
the management and carelessness of the government
agents who, unfortunately, are seldom practical planters,
but are, in very many cases, young and inexperienced
men who have but little practical knowledge of the busi-
ness in which they are engaged. — The result is that large
quantities of shelled corn are thrown together in heaps
and left to must and spoil, or to be wasted by hogs and
other stock on account of the insufficiency of the store-
rooms to protect it. Fodder or hay in bales is hauled
to the common place of deposit, and is there thrown out
without cover and permitted to take the rain as it falls,
and is soon rotten. Potatoes and other like productions.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 543
•collected in places remote from the army, are almost an
entire loss. Much of the meat, if collected at the time
fixed by law, will be thrown together in heaps before it is
well cured, and will be tainted and spoiled.
It is not reasonable to suppose that all the govern-
ment agents, appointed as they are, will look after and
take care of the government stores with the same care
and diligence exercised by planters and producers in
looking after their individual property Again, if every
agent were as faithful as he would be in the management
of his own affairs, it is not possible, in many cases, for
them to procure storehouses in which they can safely
keep such large quantities of provisions as must be col-
lected in many counties of this State. And it is also
worthy of consideration that, in a large number of coun-
ties in the State, the storehouses are so far from rail-
road transportation that it is worth nearly half the tax
in kind to haul it to the road, when, in these very coun-
ties there is not, on account of the absence of so much of
our productive labor in the military field, a sufficient sup-
ply of provisions to sustain the lives of the people. The
consequence is, the government must pay a very large
amount of money for hauling the tithe out of the county,
and the State must then appropriate money out of her
treasury and purchase com elsewhere, and pay a large
amount to haul it back to the same place to sustain the
lives of soldiers' families.
This system is not only working badly and causing the
waste of a large quantity of provisions greatly needed
by our people, but it has, so far as I am able to learn,
given general dissatisfaction.
544 Confederate Records
The people are perfectly willing to pay in the cur-
rency of the country any amount of taxes which the nec-
essities of the government may require, till we are
through this struggle. But they are not willing to pay
a tax in kind which is very burdensome to them to de-
liver, and which, after all their toil, they often have the
mortification to see wasted without benefit to the gov-
ernment or any one else.
In the present condition of the country, it seems to
me that there is but one course left for the government
to adopt which will do justice to all, sustain our cause,
and be sustained by the people ; and that is to repeal the
tithe law, or go into the market, purchase its supplies at
market value, and impose a tax, payable in currency,
sufficient to absorb all that portion of the currency which
it can not induce the people to fund, and which is in re-
dundancy of healthy circulation. This would not only be
the best regulator of prices, but it would relieve the agri-
cultural class of the unjust and unequal burdens which
are imposed upon them under the impressment acts as
now executed, and cause the burden of sustaining the
government to fall alike upon all classes of our peo])le.
I therefore recommend the passage of a joint resolu-
tion by this General Assembly, requesting our Senators
and Kepresentatives in Congress to use all their influence
and do all in their power to procure the speedy repeal of
the law which provides for the imposition and collection
of a tax in kind, and to procure such modifications of the
impressment act as will compel the government to pay
the market value as just compensation for property im-
pressed by it. And to urge the passage of such laws as
will require the tax in future to be collected in currency^
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 545
and will absorb any redundancy of the currency caused
by the payment of just compensation for property pur-
chased by the government.
I am quite sure the people of Georgia are willing to
bear their just and full share of the burdens of the war,
and to pay any tax necessary to sustain the credit of the
Confederacy.
They are well aware that it is infinitely better to pay
their debts in the present currency than to avoid taxa-
tion now and have to pay in gold or its equivalent after
the war is over. This remark applies with as much force
to the maintenance of State credit as of Confederate
credit. I think I may safely say that there is not a mem-
ber of the Senate or House of Representatives who, in the
management of his own private business, will borrow the
present currency and agree to pay back dollar for dollar
in gold after the war is over. I will say further that
there is not a member of either house, who has a single
sensible constituent, who will make any such contract.
How then can we justify our conduct if we do for the
State that which no one of us would do for ourselves,
and which no prudent citizen of the State will do in the
management of his own private affairs? If we refuse
to assess a tax sufficient to raise the sums we appro-
priate, we are guilty, it seems to me, of this inexcusable
folly, as we must then borrow for the State the present
currency, and bind the people of the State to pay the
amount we borrow in gold after the war is over. I am
sure that nine-tenths of the thinking men of the State will
agree that it is far better to meet our expenditures by
taxation, to be paid in the currency, than to accumulate
546 Confederate Records
a State debt at present rates to be paid hereafter in gold
or its equivalent.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 23d, 1863.
State of Georgia, |
Baldwin County. j
Articles of agreement made and entered into this
twenty-third day of November eighteen hundred and
sixty three, between Messrs. Seago, Palmer & Co., of
Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, the individual mem-
bers of said firm are A. K. Seago, L. D. Palmer, S. D.
Niles and L. L. Abbott, of the first part, and Joseph E.
Brown, Governor of Georgia, in his official capacity as
Governor of said State of Georgia, and not individually,
of the second part :
Witnesseih: That for the consideration hereinafter
mentioned, that said party of the first part covenant and
agree with the said party of the second part, to make, at
Saltville, Virginia, five hundred bushels of salt — 50 lbs.
to the bushel — per day, Sabbaths excepted, and such
other days as may be set apart for thanksgiving or humil-
iation and prayer by authority of the State government
of Virginia, or by the Confederate government, and ex-
cept also when the said party of the first part may be
prevented by the public enemy from hauling wood or
salt, or both, by R. R. train to or from the salt works on
both the railroads leading to and from the works be-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 547
tween Georgia and the works, or when they may be pre-
vented from making that quantity of salt per day for
want of salt water being furnished them, or the breaking
the engine hereinafter mentioned, or from some other
unavoidable accident, for said State of Georgia. — The
said party of the first part agree to ship said salt to
Atlanta, Georgia, as fast as made, if possible, consigned
to the Commissary General of the State, and to super-
intend the shipping thereof free of charge.
When the salt arrives at Atlanta it is to be equally
divided between the said parties of the first and second
part, each party having one-half and each party to fur-
nish one-half the sacks at Saltville, and to pay one-half
of the cost of transportation of the salt from Saltville to
Atlanta.
The said party of the first part agrees to commence
making the salt under the contract by the 16th day of
January, 1864, and to continue during the present war
between the United States and the Confederate States.
In consideration that the said party of the first part
covenants and agrees to make the quantity of salt per
day as aforesaid, at Saltville — to have it all shipped to
Atlanta as aforesaid, and to receive but one-half of it
there, said party of the second part covenants and agrees
to furnish the engine "Texas" and train of nine box
cars, and a few platform cars now at Saltville belonging
to the W. & A. Eoad, to the party of the first part, to be
used by them in hauling wood and salt and necessary sup-
plies to carry on the works to and from the salt works
without other compensation for the use of said rolling
stock; the said party of the first part to make all ordi-
548 CONFEDERATK RiCCORDS
iiarv repairs ncodiMl upon said rolling stock at their own
expense, and to deliver the same in a reasonably good
condition to the sjiid W. & A. K. Road when the said
party of the first i)art shall cease to use it for the pur-
})Oses aforesaid, or when this contract shall be fulfilled:
ProvUh'd, the said rolling stock shall not be taken, cut or
destroyed by the public enemy so that it can not be re-
turned— or shall be destroyed by an unavoidable collis-
sion or other accident without blame upon the said party
of the first part.
Whereas, heretofore a contract was entered into be-
tween Dr. J. W. Lewis, as agent of this State, and Messrs.
Stewart, Buchanan & Co., of Smythe county, Virginia,
by which the said Stewart, Buchanan & Co. agreed to
supply to this State, at Saltville, Va., a quantity of salt
water sufficient to make five hundred bushels of salt per
day for a certain period of time, at fifty cents per bushel
of salt made therefrom :
And Whereas, M. S. Temple & Co. have since been
making salt from said supply of salt water for this State,
under a contract with the State, and have notified the
Governor of this State of their desire to discontinue the
further manufacture of salt under their contract for the
State: Now, the said party of the first part, in consider-
ation that they are to receive said supply of salt water
from Stewart, Buchanan & Co. to make salt under their
contract, agree to pay to said party of the second part for
said supply of salt water, at the rate of fifty cents in
Confederate States Treasury Notes, per bushel of salt
made by them therefrom until such time as the said party
of the first part shall make a satisfactory revision of the
said contract between the State of Georgia and Stewart,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 549
Buchanan & Co. for salt water; from which time the said
party of the first part assumes the payment to Stuart,
Buchanan & Co. for the said supply of salt water to the
extent of said contract with them. The said party of the
first part further agrees that in any reversion of the said
contract between this State and Stewart, Buchanan & Co.
for said supply of salt water which the said party of the
first part may hereafter make, it is to be distinctly stipu-
lated that the right to said supply of salt water shall be
given to any other party to make salt for this State which
may be selected, contracted with, or appointed by the said
party of the second part without impairing in the least
the State's rights under subsisting contract with Stuart,
Buchanan & Co. for said supply of salt water in case,
from any cause, the said party of the first part shall fail
to carry out the contract in good faith. It is also fur-
ther agreed, by and between both of the said parties to
this contract, that the said party of the second part may
appoint and keep an agent on the part of this State at
Saltville, who shall have the right, at all times, to exam-
ine, view and inspect the works, salt houses, and all other
matters and things pertaining to the manufacture of salt
for the State of Georgia under this contract, and pertain-
ing to the measuring and shipment thereof ; and it is fur-
ther agreed that in case the said party of the first part
shall, at any time, fail to carry out this contract in good
faith, the right is hereby reserved to the said party of
the second part to annul and rescind this contract in all
respects, except so far as the same may at such time have
been performed or executed, on giving ten days' notice of
such intention to annul the same.
The ]iarty of the first jiart is to procure the written
consent of Stewart, Buchanan & Co. that they be sub-
550 Confederate Records
stituted for and permitted to make the State's salt in
place of M. S. Temple & Co., and that if they cease to be
the State's agent to make salt, any other responsible
person or persons employed by the State shall have the
right, under the original contract between the State and
Stewart, Biiclianan & Co., so that none of the State's
rights shall be affected by the change of the agents, who
are selected from time to time, to carry out the State's
contract with said Stewart, Buchanan & Co.
Signed and sealed the day and year above written.
Attest :
J. B. Campbell,
Sec. Ex. Dept.
Leroy Sutton.
(Signed) Seago, Palmer & Co. (Seal.)
(Signed) Joseph E. Brown, (Seal.)
Governor of Georgia.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 25th, 1863.
To the General Assembly:
It becomes my pleasant duty to communicate to you
the fact that I have received at this office a number of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 551
the old battle flags of distinguished Georgia Regiments,
and several flags taken from the enemy by the intrepid-
ity and valor of our Georgia troops, and to ask you to
order such disposition to be made of them as will best
perpetuate the memory of the glorious deeds which have
been performed under them upon the battle field, and will
do appropriate honor to the gallant men who have par-
ticipated in the brilliant achievements which will trans-
mit their names to posterity as the benefactors of their
countrymen and the bravest defenders of their country's
rights.
Each battle flag has attached to it a statement show-
ing the engagements with the enemy through which it
has been carried ; and each captured flag a statement of
the regiment or brigade by which it was taken from the
enemy. I recommend the appointment of a committee to
receive these flags and report to the General Assembly
the disposition proper to be made of them. As a Geor-
gian, I am proud of the valor displayed by her sons when
they have met the enemy in deadly conflict, and it will
afford me great pleasure, upon all appropriate occasions,
to unite with the General Assembly in doing honor alike
■to the memory of her immortal dead and to the names of
her living heroes.
Appended hereto is a statement giving the numbers
of the Georgia regiments whose battle flags are returned,
and of the regiments and brigades which have sent in
flags of the enemy captured by them.
Joseph E. Brown.
552 Confederate Kecords
Battle Flag of 4tli Georgia Regiment.
Battle Flag of the 14tli Georgia Regiment.
Battle Flag of the 2()th Georgia Regiment.
Battle Flag of the 26th Georgia Regiment.
Battle Flag of the 12th Georgia Battalion.
Federal Battery Flag captured with the guns of the
enemy at the hattle of Chancellorsville, by the 4th Geor-
gia Regiment.
Two Battery Flags, captured at the battle of Gettys-
burg by Gen. Doles' Georgia Brigade.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit :
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 28th, 1863.
To the General Assembly:
I herewith communicate copies of a letter received
from Maj. Locke, the chief commissary of the Confeder-
ate govermnent in this State, in reference to the difficul-
ties which he encounters in having manufactured the whis-
key which the statute authorizes that government to have
made in this State.
For the accommodation of the Confederate authori-
ties, I recommend such change in the law as will remove
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 553
the restriction complained of, to the extent that the dis-
tiller who has already been licensed to make whiskey for
the government shall not be prohibited from distilling
corn furnished to him by the government, nor shall he
be required to know where the government purchased the
corn. I also recommend that such distillers for the gov-
ernment be permitted to use rye, barley or shorts pur-
chased within twenty miles of a railroad or navigable
stream.
Joseph E. Brown.
[Enclosure.]
• Office Chief Commissary,
Savannah, Nov. 25th, 1863.
To His Excellency Governor Joseph E. Brown,
Milledgeville.
Sir : It is known to your Excellency that under Acts
of the last Legislature, the Confederate Government was
authorized to make contracts for the distillation in this
State of one million gallons whiskey for the use of the
troops. A few contracts have been made for this pur-
pose, and of these nearly all, with one exception, that of
Messrs. High, Lewis & Co., of Atlanta, have proved abor-
tive. The quantity distilled by Col. Parr, on his contract
with Maj. Allen, is quite insignificant.
Mr. Andrew Dunn, of Forsyth, after distilling a trifle
more than 3,100 gallons, has lost his distillery by fire ; and
your Excellency has withdrawn his license already, at
my request. Of the 80,000 gallons attributed to High,
Lewis & Co., they have not yet furnished more than about
554 Confederate Records
one-third, as our receipts and issues show. At the pres-
ent moment, our sole reliance is upon them. Meanwhile
imexjiected difficulties of the greatest magnitude have
interposed themselves — such as the price of labor, fuel,
its transportation, hops and other material. The great-
est obstacle, however, is found in the prohibition against
taking their corn and small grains, consisting of rye,
shorts and ship stuff, from any point within 20 miles of
any railroad or navigable stream. It is extremely desir-
able that this restriction should be removed; and I pro-
pose that a bill be presented to the legislature withdraw-
ing it. I therefore respectfully invoke the aid and coun-
tenance of your Excellency in favor of the introduction
of a bill in behalf of the Confederate Government embody-
ing this feature.
I have the honor to remain,
your Excellency's most obedient servant,
J. L. Locke,
Major and Chief Commissary.
ExECUTrsTE Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 30th, 1863.
Dr. Geo. D. Phillips, Sup. W. & A. R. R.
Dear Sir : It having been represented to me that on
account of the great difficulty in procuring teams with
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 555
which to haul wood for delivery along the line of road
from places where contractors are able to procure it, the
supply is about to run out, which event would be followed
by very serious consequences in embarrassing the con-
veyance of supplies to Genl. Bragg 's army, and also to
destitute portions of our own population.
To meet this emergency, you will direct the detail of
soldiers, and also any other labor that is now or may be
at your command for that purpose, to cut as much wood
as may be necessary, from any timbered lands which may
lie contiguous to the line of road, except groves, shade
trees, and also rail and board timber.
For the purpose of compensation to the owners, you
will cause all the . wood cut to be carefully piled and
measured, and tender to the owner, or cause the same to
be done, one dollar per cord for all the wood so taken
from his land, and if the owner is not content with the
same, let the road choose some disinterested part}' and
he another, who shall fix the value, on oath, and if they
disagree, then to call in a third as umpire, and the
amount so ascertained by them shall be the value paid
by the road. You will pursue this course only so long
as the emergency lasts, or until a supply is procured suf-
ficient to enable you to get a start with the contractors,
so as to keep the requisite supply on hand.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following special message was transmitted to the
General Assembly, to-wit:
55G Confederate Records
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
December 2d, 1863.
To the General Assembly:
As the Western & Atlantic Railroad is justly relied
upon by the people of this State as a source of consider-
able revenue, it becomes my duty to call the attention of
the General Assembly to the present heavy losses sus-
tained by the State in the transportation of freights for
the Confederate Government. The rates now allowed by
the government are the same that were agreed upon at
the Augusta convention, when all the supplies used by
the Road were worth in the market less than half their
present market value, which rates are much less than
half the prices charged to citizens of this State. I have
therefore notified the proper officer that, in future, the
Road will charge one hundred per cent, upon the rates
now ])aid for the transportation of Confederate freight.
"With the heavy increase of expenses, it will not be possi-
ble to make the Road a source of much revenue and
charge less. I trust my action in this regard will meet
the approval of the General Assembly.
It became absolutely necessary that we import some
springs for cars and other necessary material for repairs.
Since the General Assembly has convened, part of these
have arrived at a Confederate port, and the cost to the
Road will be over twenty-five times the old prices.
It is proper that I mention the additional fact that
the amounts now charged by the Confederate officers for
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 557
losses upon the Road amount to very heavy sums. These
officers load their own cars at one end of the Road and
frequently check out their own freights at the other end
and charge the Road with such losses as they may choose
to report. Under these circumstances, if a Confederate
Quartermaster should be dishonest, he might appropriate
to his use large amounts of freight and charge it to the
Road as lost on the way.
It may be said that the authorities of the Road should
see that they are not imposed upon in this way. In the
present state of things, this is often impossible. Two or
three freight trains arrive together, and the army needs
the supplies and officers are sent with detachments of men
to unload all at one time. Each checks out for himself
and makes such report as he thinks proper, and the offi-
cers of the Road can get no other account than the one
rendered by the officers in charge of these detachments.
What they choose to report as lost is charged up against
the Road and witMield upon settlement of freight account.
Again, it frequently happens that the loaded trains
have to lie over for a time before the Confederate officers
are ready to receive the freights. While thus detained,
they are often entered by bands of straggling soldiers
and valuable articles taken from them, which the Road
is required to pay for. Our freight cars have again and
again been cut to pieces by the troops being transported
in them over the Road, which often leaves freight in them
exposed, after all possible energy has been exercised in
making repairs. This causes much loss, not only of pub-
lic but of private freights, for which the Road is held
liable.
558 Confederate Records
To relieve the Road from these heavy losses, I pro-
pose that the Confederate officers be permitted to load
and unload their own cars, under the inspection of officers
of the Road, at the place of shipment, and that the gov-
ernment be permitted to send a guard upon each freight
train, free of charge for transporting the guards, and
that the Road shall not be liable for any losses which
occur after the freights are placed upon the cars. I
should be happy to know that the course which I propose
to adopt in the above mentioned particulars meet the
approval of the General Assembly.
I again beg to call your attention to the imperative
necessity which exists for a change of the law which
authorizes an increase of fifty per cent, only ilpon the
salaries and pay of officers and employees of the Road
over the rates which existed when they were paid upon
the gold basis. The officers and employees can not live
at these rates, and I shall be unable to work the Road
much longer if I am not permitted to increase their pay.
They have to perform great labor and take heavy respon-
sibilities, and I think it right that the freights be in-
creased, and that they be paid reasonable compensation.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit :
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 559
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
December 4th, 1863.
To the General Assembly:
The report of the Commissary-General of this State
has been delayed on account of difficulties in getting in
report from the salt agent in the different parts of the
State, as that department has been charged with the
receipt and distribution of salt among the soldiers' fam-
ilies.
I now have the pleasure to transmit copies* of both his
military and salt report. These reports show that their
author has been faithful and prompt in the discharge of
his duties, and they also afford much interesting infor-
mation.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Mii.ledge\^l,le, Georgia,
December 5th, 1863.
Whereas, I have been notified that, by order of Sur-
geon-General S. P. Moore, C. S. A., all [contracts] en-
tered into by W. H. Prioleau, Surgical and Medical Pur-
veyor, on the part of the Medical Department of the Con-
federate Government, and Messrs. Shone and Crawford
♦Reports not found.
560 Confederate Records
for the manufacture of alcoliol aud whiskey, have been
cancelled; therefore it is
Ordered, That license No. 7, issued by me on the 21st
day of Januaiy, 18G3, to said Shone and Crawford, au-
thorizing them to distill thirteen thousand gallons of
whiskey for said department of the Confederate Govern-
ment, near the city of Macon, in Bibb county in this State,
be, and the same is, hereby revoked; and also, that license
No. 8, issued by me on the said 21st day of January, 1863,
to the said Shone and Crawford to distill for said medical
department two thousand gallons of alcohol, near the city
of Macon in said county of Bibb, be, and the same is,
hereby revoked; and it is further
Ordered, That said Shone and Crawford, or one of
them, or the person having charge of their distillery near
the city of Macon, be ser\^ed personally with a copy of
this order by the sheriff, or his deputy, of said county of
Bibb, and that this original order be returned to this de-
partment with entry of such service thereon.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Department, this the 5th
day of December, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 5o1
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 5tli, 1863.
Whereas, It has been officially represented to me that
it is confidently believed that the license issued on the
11th day of March, 18G3, to William G. Smith authoriz-
ing him to distill, in Campbell county, in this State, for
medicinal, chemical and mechanical purposes, two thous-
and gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county for said purposes, has been abused and perverted
from the uses intended by the act of the General Assem-
bly of this State, by authority of which it was issued;
therefore it is
Ordered, That said license issued as aforesaid, being
license No. 3, be, and the same is hereby revoked and de-
clared, from this date forward, to be of no effect and
void; and it is further
Ordered, That the sheriff, or his deputy, of said
county of Campbell, do serve personally upon said Wil-
liam G. Smith, or upon such person as shall have his
distillery in charge, a certified copy of this order, and
that he return to this department this original order with
his entry of such service thereon.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Department, this 5th day
of December, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
3y the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
562 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, GEORGIA,
December 5tli, 1863.
Whereas, It has been officially recomin ended to me by
four of the Justices of the Inferior Court of the county
of Carroll, in this State, to revoke the license issued by
me on the 9th day of May, 1863, authorizing John B.
Bailey to distill in said county twelve hundred gallons
of Tvhiskey for the use of the people of said county for
medicinal, chemical and mechanical jDurposes, for the
reason that said Bailey had, up to the 17th of November
last, distilled and delivered only about one-fourth the
said quantity of whiskey, and because of the scarcity of
corn in said county ; therefore it is
Ordered, That said license, being license No. 36, issued
as aforesaid, be, and the same is, hereby revoked, and
become null and void from the time of the service of a
copy of this order upon the said John B. Bailey; and it
is further ordered, that a certified copy hereof, be served
personally upon said Bailey by the sheriff, or his deputy,
of said county; and that this original order be returned
to this department with entrj- of such service thereon.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Department, this 5th day
of December, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 563
Tlie following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit :
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, GeORGIA,
December ISth, 1863.
To the House of Representatives :
I feel it my duty to refuse my assent to the bill which
originated in the House, entitled, "An Act to authorize
the taxpayers of the State to pay their State and county
tax in Confederate Treasury Notes, and for other pur-
poses."
The bill declares that the "taxpayers of this State
may pay their State and county taxes in the Treasury
Notes of the Confederate States, and the Tax Collectors
of the several counties are hereby authorized and re-
quired to receive said notes, when tendered, in payment
of taxes." To this there is no objection; but it gives the
taxpayers no privilege which they do not already enjoy,
as the State has received Confederate Treasury Notes
for all taxes and other public dues from the time the first
note was tendered to her collectors till the present day.
I presume, however, that the exception which follows
the language above quoted is the main objection of the
bill. It is in the following words: "Except such per-
sons as may, after this Act shall have gone into effect,
refuse to receive Confederate Treasury Notes in pay-
ment of any claim due them in their individual capacity.
5G-1 Confederate Records
or as a corporation, or agents, or who shall refuse to
receive Confederate Treasury Notes in pajmient for pro-
duce or merchandise, in which case the tax due on such
claim, or produce, or merchandise, shall be payable in
specie; provided, this exception shall not apply to pro-
missory notes payable in specie, and so expressed on the
face."
The Constitution of the Confederate States declares
that no State shall **make any thing but gold and silver
coin a tender in payment of debts," or pass any **law
impairing the obligation of contracts."
The passage of this bill is a legislative attempt to do
indirectly what the Constitution declares shall not be
done ; make Confederate Treasury Notes a tender in pay-
ment of debts. In the present state of the currency, it is
a heavy penalty for the State to compel one of her citi-
zens to pay his tax in specie, when others pay in Confed-
erate Treasury Notes. This bill then proposes to com-
pel creditors to receive Confederate Treasury Notes as
a legal tender in payment of debts under a heavy penalty
for refusal. If the State has no right to make any thing
but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts,
has she a right to impose penalties upon creditors for
refusing to receive any thing else in papnentf If so, all
that is necessary is to declare what else shall be a legal
tender, and make the penalty heavy enough, and she
compels her citizens to receive it as a tender in payment
of debts due them. Again, no State shall pass any law
impairing the obligation of contracts. A purchased a
horse of B three years since, which was worth one hun-
dred dollars in gold and gave his note for one hundred
dollars, due one month after date. AVhen due, he refused
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 565
to make payment. He now comes to B when one dollar
in gold is worth twenty dollars in currency, and when
the horse, which he purchased for one hundred dollars,
will bring fifteen hundred dollars in the market, and pro-
poses to pay B one hundred dollars in Confederate Treas-
ury Notes and the interest for the note. B refuses to
take it, because the contract was made upon the gold basis
and its obligation is for the payment of gold or its equiv-
alent. The Legislature compels B to receive the money
or sumbit to a severe penalty. Does not this impair the
obligation of the contract, and is it just!
But aside from Constitutional objections, this bill
ought not to become a law, as it can benefit no one but a
class of debtors who received gold value for the notes
which they have given to their creditors, and who now
wish to pay off their debts with the present currency,
when they, in many cases, would not take ten times as
much currency for the property they received as they
expect to pay to the creditor in discharge of the debt. I
have noticed that this is the class of individuals who are
the most bitter in their denunciation of those who refuse
to receive Confederate Treasury Notes in payment of
old debts. All other persons can see the injustice of such
a tender; but the debtor, who got the amount mentioned
in the face of the note in gold or its equivalent, can sel-
dom see it. Wliat reason is there why a promissory note,
given for property upon the gold basis, should not be
estimated at its value in Confederate notes as well as a
barrel of flour or a pound of bacon? And who takes
Confederate Treasury Notes for flour or bacon at par"?
A barrel of flour, in ordinary times, is worth five dollars
in gold, and a pound of bacon ten cents. A barrel of
566 Confederate Records
flonr is now wortli, in Confederate Treasury Notes, $80,
and a ])ound of bacon $2.50. If a barrel of flour is now
worth $80 in Confederate Treasury Notes, how is it that
a five dollar note given for a barrel of flour on the gold
basis is now worth only five dollars in Confederate Treas-
ury Notes? And why compel the holder of the note, if
he refuses to receive five dollars in treasury notes for it,
to pay his taxes in gold, which will cost him twenty for
one, and permit the owner of the flour to sell it for $80
and impose no penalty on him ?
Why not say he, too, shall pay his taxes in specie if
he refuses to receive the Confederate notes as gold; in
other words, if he refuses to take five dollars in treasury
notes for his barrel of flour, which is the ordinary gold
value? Upon what principle of equity is it that a barrel
of flour is worth sixteen times as much Confederate cur-
rency as a note given for a barrel of flour upon the gold
basis is worth?
This bill proposes to inflict the same penalty upon
him who refuses to receive Confederate Treasury Notes
for produce or merchandise, as it does upon him who
refuses to receive it in pajTuent of debts given for prop-
erty on the specie basis. But it does not say what price
persons may charge in Confederate Notes for produce
or merchandise. If they price produce or merchandise
worth five dollars at eighty dollars, and receive payment
in Confederate notes when tendered, they escape the pen-
alty. Then why not permit the owner of the promissory
note to price his note at its value in the currency, and
punish him only when he refuses to receive its value in
Confederate notes when tendered?
State- Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 567
Again, the Act excepts from the penalty those who
refuse to take Confederate Treasury Notes in payment
for ''promissory notes payable in specie, and so ex-
pressed upon the face." Many persons have borrowed
gold and given notes for it who have not expressed in
the face of the notes they are payable in specie. If two
notes of equal amount are given for gold lent, and one
says upon its face payable in specie, and the other simply
says for value received, and the holders refuse to take
Confederate notes in payment, I confess my inability to
see the justice of compelling one to pay his tax in specie,
while the other is permitted to pay in treasury notes,
because his note chanced to have on its face the expres-
sion ' ' payable in specie. ' ' Nor do I see the equity of the
diiference in any case where the note is given for specie
value, whether expressed in the face of the note payable
in specie or not.
But it may be said there are principles of public policy
which over-ride private interest, and that the public
safety requires that the currency be sustained and treated
as gold in all individual payments. Public policy and
justice require that the currency be received at its mar-
ket value. No more, no less. And in this connection it
should not be forgotten that the Confederate Congress
does not estimate it as equivalent to gold, but draws a
clear distinction by compelling the holders of gold to give
in and pay Confederate tax upon the value of the gold
in Confederate Treasury Notes, and the Confederate col-
lectors have estimated the difference at eight and ten for
one. We need not attempt to shut our eyes to a fact well
known to every intelligent man, woman and child in the
Confederacy, and to our enemies, and which is acknowl-
3(.)8 Confederate Records
edged by the Confederate Congress, that the Confeder-
ate currency is greatly depreciated and that Confederate
Treasury Notes are not worth par in specie. It wouhl be
"wiser to acknowledge, by our legislative action, what all
our constituents know, and to use all Constitutional and
proper means by taxation and otherwise to improve the
currency, than to attempt to sustain its value by com-
])e]ling one class of citizens to receive it as gold, and per-
mitting all otliers to treat it as of but little value.
If this bill had exce])ted all notes given for specie
value prior to the depreciation of the currency, there
might have been some justice in its passage.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 30th, 1863.
Whereas, on the 23d day of March, 1863, at the in-
stance of the Justices of the Inferior Court of Meriwether
county, I issued a license, being license No. 20, to Rhodom
M. Brooks of said county, authorizing him to distill one
hundred and fifty gallons of alcohol for the use of the
people of said county for medicinal, chemical and mechan-
ical purposes: And Whereas, the said Justices now re-
quest me to revoke said license, therefore it is
Ordered, That said license issued as aforesaid, to said
Rhodom M. Brooks be, and the same is, hereby revoked,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 56^
and that a copy of this order be served personally upon
said Brooks by the sheriff, or his deputy, of said county
of Meriwether, and that this original order be returned
to this department with entry of such service thereon.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Office, this 30th day of
December, 1863.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
December 30th, 1863.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Warren county, license No. 61, issued to William Battle
on the 6tli day of June, 1863, for the distillation of six-
teen hundred gallons of whiskey for the use of the people
of said county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said
revocation ordered to be served upon said Battle by the
sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. PI. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
570 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
January 5th, 18G4.
By order of the Governor, and at the instance of
W. H. Prioleau, Surgeon and Medical Purveyor, as agent
of the Medical Department of the Confederate States, the
license issued to A. J. Simmons, on the 21st day of Jan-
uary, 1863, to distill fifteen thousand gallons of whiskey
in the county of Monroe, in this State, for the use of the
Confederate Government, was this day revoked, and a
copy of said revocation ordered to be served upon said
Simmons by the sheriff of Monroe county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
January 5th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and at the
instance of "W. H. Prioleau, Surgeon and Medical Pur-
veyor, as agent of the Confederate States for the Medical
Department thereof, the license issued to W. T. Maynard
and J. B. Maynard on the 3d day of Februar>% 1863, to
distill 15,000 gallons of whiskey, in the county of Monroe
in this State, for the use of the Confederate Government,
was this day revoked, and a copy of which revocation
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 571
ordered to be served upon the said W. T. and J. B. May-
nard by the sheriti of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
January 28th, 1864.
Whereas, satisfactory e\'idence has been submitted
to this department that B. Bernstien of Bibb county, in
this State, has been examined by Wm. F. Holt, Surgeon
of the 22d Senatorial District, and found unfit for mili-
tary duty on account of ''organic disease of the heart,"
It is therefore Ordered, That the said B. Bernstien be
permitted to visit Richmond, Virginia, with his family,
with a view of going to Europe, provided no member of
his family be subject to do military duty.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MlL,LEDGE\aLLE, GeORGIA,
January 30th, 1864.
By the order of His Excellency the Governor, and in
compliance with the recommendation of the authorities
of Macon county, license No. 106, issued to John C. Rodg-
572 CoNFKDKHAri: Rkcukds
ers on tlio 14tli day of XovciiiIht ISd."?, for the dislillji-
tion of one luindrcMl and lifty lcjiJIo""^ <>i* alcohol; also
at the same time license No. 107 issued to said Rodg-
ers to distill eleven liundred and fifty cjallons of whiskey
for the use of the people of said county, was this day
revoked, a copy of wliich revocation was ordered to be
served upon the said John C. Rodgers by the sheriff of
said county of Macon, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
IT. H. Waters,
SecV. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 8th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Sumter county, license No. 59, issued to Thomas E.
Smith, W. A. Bell and Charles W. Coker, on the 6tli
day of June, 1863, for the distillation of two hundred gal-
lons of alcohol for the use of the people of said county,
was this day revoked, a copy of which revocation was
ordered to be served upon the said Thomas E. Smith,
W. A. Bell and Charles W. Coker, or either of them by
the sheriff of said county of Sumter, or his dei)uty.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 573
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 8th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance vpith the recommendation of the authorities of
Sumter county, license No. 37, issued to William Mize on
the 9th day of May, 1863, for the distillation of one thou-
sand gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revocation
was ordered to be served upon the said William Mize by
the sheriff of said county of Sumter, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executfve Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 13th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Thomas county,
license No. 91, issued to Thomas B. Little of said county,
on the 19th day of September, 1863, for the distillation of
seven hundred and fifty gallons of whiskey, also license
No. 92, issued at the same time, authorizing said Little
to distill two hundred and fifty gallons of alcohol for the
574 Confederate Records
use of the people of said county, were this day revoked, a
copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon
the said Thomas B. Little by the sheriff of said county
of Thomas, or liis deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
February 15th, 1864.
To George Harriss, of the firm of
Harriss & Howell,
Wilmington, N. C.
Reposing special trust and confidence in your capacity
and integrity, I hereby commission you as agent of the
State of Georgia, to act for her in Wilmington in receiv-
ing and storing, and under my instructions, exporting cot-
ton for said State and receiving, storing and forwarding
supplies for soldiers' clothing, blankets, military equip-
ments, etc., imported for said State. This commission to
continue in force till you are notified by me of its revoca-
tion.
Given under my hand and
Seal of the Executive De-
partment at Milledgeville,
the day and date above
written.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 575
ExECUTrvrE Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 17th, 1864.
It is agreed by and between Joseph E. Brown as Gov-
ernor of Georgia, and not as an individual, and on behalf
of this State, and W. P. Howard, of Bartow county, that
the amount of damage done by the State Troops, under
order from Gen'l. Wayne, to the property of said How-
ard, in cutting and taking off timber, trees and shrubs
from his land, and in constructing fortifications thereon
at or near Etowah Bridge in said county, may be assessed
and fixed by a special jury of said county in a case made
before the Superior Court thereof at the next March term
of said court; and that the State shall be represented by
the Solicitor General of that Judicial District, and the
said Howard by himself as counsel ; and the State will pay
such amount of damages as may be thus assessed.
(Signed) Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
(Signed) W. P. Howard.
ExECUTFVE Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 17th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
570 Confederate Records
Upson county, license No. 7, IssucmI to Daniel Denliam on
the nth day of March, 1863, for the distillation of two
thousand gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of
said county, was this day revoked, and a copy of which
revocation was ordered to be served ui)on the said Daniel
Denham by the sheriff of said county of Upson, or his
deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
PI. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
February 17th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and at the
instance of the agent of the Medical Department of the
Confederate States, the license issued to John A. Chap-
man & Co., of Marion county, on the twenty-eighth day
of October, 18G3, authorizing him to distill ten thousand
gallons of whiskey for the use of the Confederate Gov-
ernment, was this day revoked, and a copy of which revo-
cation ordered to be served upon the said John A. Chap-
man «S: Co. by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 577
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 24th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Lowndes county, license No. 79, issued to Mitchell S. Grif-
fin on the 27th of July, 1863, for the distillation of ten
hundred and thirty-six gallons of whiskey for the use of
the people of said county, was this day revoked, a copy
of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the
said Griffin by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 24th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Lowndes county, license No. 100, issued to Mitchell S.
Griffin of Lowndes county, on the 17th day of October,
1863, authorizing him to distill one hundred gallons of
alcohol for the use of the people of said county, was this
578 Confederate Records
(lay revoked, and a copy of whieli revocation was ordered
to he served upon the said Mitchell S. Griffin by the
sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
February 24th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Lowndes county, license No. 99, issued to Mitchell S.
Griffin of said county, on the 17th day of October, 1863,
authorizing him to distill one thousand gallons of whis-
key for the use of the people of said county, was this day
revoked, and a copy of which revocation was ordered to
be served upon the said Mitchell S. Griffin by the sheriff
of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 579
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 26tb, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Quitman county, license No. 52, issued to Joel Daws of
said county on the 21st day of May, 1863, authorizing
him to distill sixty gallons of alcohol for the use of the
people of said county of Putnam, was this day revoked,
a copy of which revocation was ordered to be sei'ved upon
the said Joel Daws by the sheritf of said county, or his
deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
ExECUTFv^E Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
February 26th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Putnam county, license No. 51, issued to Joel Daws of
said county, on the 21st day of May, 1863, authorizing
him to distill nine hundred gallons of whiskey for the use
of the people of said county of Putnam, was this day
580 Confederate Records
revoked, a copy of which revocation was ordered to be
served upon the said Joel Daws by the sheriff of said
county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. AVaters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MILLEDGE^^LLE, GeORGIA,
February 29th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Troup county,
license No. 73, issued to Robert M. Young of said county,
on the 11th day of July, 1863, authorizing him to distill
two thousand gallons of whiskey for the use of the people
of said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which
revocation was ordered to be served upon the said Robt.
M. Young by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledge\t[lle, Georgia,
February 29th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Troup county,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 581
license No. 74, issued to Robert M, Young of said county,
on the 11th day of July, 1863, authorizing him to distill
three hundred and forty gallons of alcohol for the use of
the people of said county, was this day revoked; a copy
of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the
said Robert M. Young by the sheriff of said county, or
his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 1st, 1864.
This certifies that I have this day chartered the Steam-
ers "Little Ada," "Florrie," ''Little Hattie," ''Lillian"
and one other, now being built, from the Importing and
Exporting Company of Georgia, to be used for the State
in exporting cotton and other productions and commodi-
ties and importing supplies for the State; and I have
appointed Col. C. A. L. Lamar, the Agent of the State of
Georgia, to take charge and conduct said importation and
exportation for the State. He will be authorized agent
of the State to load said vessels and obtain clearances
from any custom houses in the Confederacy, and to re-
ceive for the State inward cargoes.
Joseph E. Brown.
582 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 3d, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Brooks county,
license No. 8, issued to George R. Frazer, of said county,
on the 12th day of March, 1863, authorizing him to distill
five hundred gallons of whiskey for the use of the people
of said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which
revocation was ordered to be served upon the said George
R. P^razer by the sheriff of Brooks county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 3d, 1864
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Taliaferro
county, license No. 40, issued to Thomas S. Irby, of said
county, on the 11th day of May, 1863, authorizing him to
distill seven hundred gallons of whiskey for the use of
the people of said county, was this day revoked, a copy
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 583
of which revocation was ordered to be served upon the
said Thomas S. Irby by the sheriff of Taliaferro county,
or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 4th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Taylor county, license No. 25, issued to Thomas Amerson
of said county, on the 8th day of April, 1863, authorizing
him to distill four thousand gallons of whiskey for the
use of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a
copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon
the said Thomas Amerson by the sheriff of said county,
or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
584 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, GeORGIA,
March 4th, 18G4.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Taylor county, license No. 26, issued to William Turner
of said county, on the 8th day of April, 1863, authorizing
him to distill four hundred gallons of alcohol for the use
of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a
copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon
the said William Turner by the sheriff of said county of
Taylor, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
ExECUTi\Ti Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, GeORGIA,
March 4th, 1864.
By the order of His Excellency the Governor, and in
compliance with the recommendation of the authorities
of Talbot county, license No. 24, issued to F. M. Veasey
of said county on the 24th day of March, 1863, authoriz-
ing him to distill twelve hundred gallons of whiskey for
the use of the people of said county, was this day revoked.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 585
a copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon
the said F. M. Veasey by the sheriff of said county, or
his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 4th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Houston county, license No. 10, issued to Jefferson G.
Way of said county, on the 20th day of March, 1863,
authorizing him to distill fifteen hundred gallons of whis-
key for the use of the people of said county, was this day
revoked, a copy of which revocation was ordered to be
served upon the said Jefferson G. Way by the sheriff of
said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 5th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
586 Confederate Records
Washinj^ton county, license No. 78, issued to Nathan AV.
Ilainos of said county, authorizing liim to distill three
hundred gallons of alcohol for the use of the people of
said county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revo-
cation was ordered to he served u])on the said Nathan
AV. Haines by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 5th, 1864.
By order of His Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
"Washington county, license No. 77, issued to Nathan W.
Haines of said county, on the 16th day of July, 1863,
authorizing him to distill fifteen hundred gallons of whis-
key for the use of the people of said county, was this day
revoked, a copy of which revocation was ordered to be
served upon said Nathan W. Haines by the sheriff of
said countj^, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 587
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 10th, 1864.
In compliance with the Proclamation of His Excel-
lency, the Governor, of the 27th of February, the Gen-
eral Assembly convened this day, March 10th, 18G4, at
the Capitol in Milledgeville, in Extra Session.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 10th, 1864.
To the Senate and House of Representatives :
The patriotic zeal exhibited by you at your late ses-
sion, for the promotion of the interest and protection of
the liberties of the country, and the personal kindness
and official courtesy which I received at your hands, and
for which I renew my thanks, have satisfied me that lay-
ing aside all past party names, issues and strifes, your
object as legislators is to discharge faithfully your offi-
cial duties, and to sacrifice all private interests and per-
sonal preferences, to the public good. In view of these
considerations, I feel that I can rely upon your counsels
as a tower of strength in time of darkness and gloom.
588 Confederate Records
I have, therefore, convened you that I may have the bene-
lit of your advice and assistance, at this critical junc-
ture in our State and Confederate affairs.
Transportation of Corn to Indigent Soldiers' Families.
Since your adjournment, experience has shown that
it is not possible without assistance from the State, which
will require further legislation, for the agents of the
counties where there is great scarcity of provisions, to
secure transportation for the corn purchased in south-
western and middle Georgia, to the places where it is
needed. To meet this difficulty, I respectfully recom-
mend the passage of a law, authorizing the Quartermas-
ter-General of this State, or such other officer as the Gov-
ernor may from time to time designate, under the order
of the Governor, to take possession of and control any of
the railroads in the State, with their rolling stock or any
other available conveyance, and require that corn or
other provisions, for the needy or for the county agents
for soldiers' families be transported in preference to all
other articles or things, except the troops, and the sup-
plies necessary for the support of the armies of the Con-
federate States, and that the Act provide for the pay-
ment of just compensation for the use of such means of
trans]iortation, while in the possession of the authorized
officers of this State, the compensation to be paid out of
the money already appropriated as a relief fund by the
agents or persons at whose request the transportation
may be furnished.
Experience has also proved that the counties of
northeastern Georgia most remote from the railroad can
not obtain sufficient means of transportation to carry the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 589
corn from the railroad to the place of consumption. The
scarcity of teams is owing to the fact that their horses
have been taken for cavalry service, and their oxen have
been impressed for beef for the army. Finding that
there was likely to be much suffering in that section for
bread for soldiers' families, I ordered the energetic
Quartermaster-General of the State to purchase teams
and wagons by drafts upon the military fund and aid
those most destitute, and most remote from the railroad
in the transportation of the corn. If this action is ap-
proved by the Legislature, and I trust it will be, the teams
now about ready for use can be employed in this service
for a portion of the year. If not approved, they will at
any time command more in the market than they cost the
State, if not needed for military uses.
Relief Fund for Soldiers Families.
I am satisfied that the indigent families of soldiers,
in manj^ of the counties of this State, are not receiving
the benefits to which they are entitled, on account of the
neglect or mismanagement of the inferior courts. Six
millions of dollars have been appropriated for this pur-
pose for the present year, which, if properly applied, is'
sufficient to prevent any actual suffering. Complaints
come up constantly that adequate provisions are not
made for the needy. In many cases, I have no doubt,
these cases are well founded. As evidence of the neglect
of parts of the courts, it may be proper to state that great
as the destitution is among those entitled to the fund, the
amount due for the last quarter of last year has not in
some cases been applied for. Some courts have not yet
sent in their reports of the number entitled for the pres-
590 Confederate Records
ont year, so as to oiiablo nie to have tlio calculation made
and the amount due each county ascertained, while many
of the counties have made no application for any part of
the fund ai)in'()priated for this year.
While the Governor has i)Ower to require the courts
to make reports of the disposition of the fund, in cases
where he suspects it is being improperly applied, and to
withhold payments to the courts in such cases, he has no
])Ower to comi)el the courts to do their duty, nor can he
take the fund from them and appoint any other person
or agent to distribute it among those for whom it was
intended. If the courts fail to act, the law makes no
other provision for the distribution of the fund. Unless
some better plan is adopted, I am satisfied the objects of
the Legislature will be very imperfectly carried out in
many of the counties, and the needy will not receive the
benefits of the liberal ])rovision made for them by the
appropriation. As it may be necessary to provide for
the appointment of active reliable agents in the counties
to assist the courts, or to take charge of the fund in case
of neglect or mismanagement by them, T respectfully sug-
gest that provision should be made for commissioning all
such as officers of this State, so as to protect them against
conscription. It will be impossible to relieve the needy,
if our most valuable county agents are taken from the
discharge of their important duties by the enrolling offi-
cers of the Confederacy.
Provision should also be made for the removal from
office of all Justices of tlie Inferior Courts who neglect or
refuse to discharge their duties promptly and faithfully.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 591
Cotton Planting.
Having on former occasions brought the question of
farther restriction of cotton planting to the attention of
the General Assembly, I feel a delicacy in again recur-
ring to that subject. The present prices of provisions,
and the great importance of securing a continued supply
of the necessaries of life, are my excuses for again earn-
estly recommending that the law be so changed as to make
it highly penal for any person to plant or cultivate in
cotton more than one-quarter of an acre to the hand, till
the end of the war.
This additional restraint is not necessary to control
the conduct of the more liberal and patriotic portion of
our people, but there are those who for the purpose of
making a little more money will plant the last seed al-
lowed by law, without stopping to enquire whether they
thereby endanger the liberties of the people and the in-
dependence of the Confederacy.
To control the conduct of this class of persons, and to
the extent of our ability to provide against the possible
contingency of a failure of supplies in the future, I feel
it to be an imperative duty, again, to urge upon your
consideration the importance of the legislation above
recommended.
I Illegal, Distillation,
I beg leave again to call the attention of the General
Assembly to the illegal distillation of grain into spirituous
liquors. So great are the profits realized by those engaged
in this business that the law is evaded in every way that
592 Confederate Records
ingenuity can devise, and I am satisfied that evil can not
be etfectually suppressed without farther and more strin-
gent legislation. Some of the Judges have ruled that
the Act passed at your last session does not give tliem
authority to draw and compel the attendance of a jury
out of the regular term time of the court to try tlie ques-
tion of nuisance, while some public officers have shown no
disposition to act for fear of incurring the ill-will of per-
sons of wealth and influence who are engaged in the daily
violation of the law.
Distillers in some ])arts of the State are paying ten
dollars per bushel for corn to convert into whiskey, while
soldiers' families and other persons are suffering for
bread.
I renew the expression of my firm conviction that the
evil can only be effectually suppressed by the seizure of
the stills. We now need copper for the use of the State
Road, and for military uses, and I earnestly request that
an Act be passed authorizing the Governor to impress all
the stills in the State which he has reasonable grounds to
suspect have been used in violation of the law, and con-
vert them into such material for the Road, and imple-
ments of war, as the State may need; and that he be
authorized to use all the military force necessary to ac-
complish the object; and that provision be made for pay-
ing the owner just compensation for such stills when
seized. I also recommend that provision be made for
annulling the commission of any civil or military officer
of this State who fails to exercise vigilance, and to dis-
charge his duty faithfully in the execution of the law
against illegal distillation.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 593
Impressment of Prov'isions.
Since your last session experience has proven that
from distrust of the currency or from other cause, many
planters have refused to sell corn, or other provisions,
not necessary for their own use, to State or county agents
for the market price when offered, while soldiers' fami-
lies have been suffering for provisions.
I recommend the enactment of a law authorizing State
officers, under the direction of the Governor, to make im-
pressments of provisions in all such cases, and providing
for the payment of just compensation to the owners of
the property impressed.
Slaves Escaping to the Enemy.
The official reports of Federal officers are said to show
that the enemy now has 50,000 of our slaves employed
against us. If these 50,000 able-bodied negroes had been
carried into the interior by their owners, when the enemy
approached the locality where they were employed, and
put to work clearing land and making provisions, we
should today have been 50,000 stronger and the enemy
that much weaker, making a difference of 100,000 in the
present relative strength of the parties to the struggle.
When a negro man worth $1,000 upon the gold basis es-
capes to the enemy that sum of the aggregate wealth of
the State, upon which she should receive taxes is lost, one
laborer who should be employed in the production of pro-
visions is also lost, while one laborer, or one more armed
man, is added to the strength of the enemy.
It is therefore unjustifiable and unpatriotic for the
owner to keep his negroes within such distance of the
594 Confederate Records
enemies' lines as to make it easy for them to escape. This
should not be permitted, and to prevent it in future such
laws should be enacted as may be necessary to compel
their removal by the owner in such case or to provide for
their forfeiture to the State.
No man has a right to use his own property so as to
weaken our strength, diminish our provision supply, and
add recruits to the army of the enemy.
Desertion of Our Cause by Removals Within the
Enemy's Line.
I am informed that a number of persons in the por-
tion of our State adjoining to East Tennessee have lately
removed with their families within the lines of the enemy,
and carried with them their movable property. Those
persons have never been loyal to the cause of the South,
and they now avail themselves of the earliest oppor-
tunity to unite with the enemies of their State.
I recommend the enactment of a law providing for
the confiscation of the property of all such persons, and
that all such property be sold and the proceeds of the
sale applied to the payment of damages done to loyal
citizens of the same section, whose property has been
destroyed by raids of the enemy or by armed bands of
Tories.
I am also informed that some disloyal persons in that
section have deserted from our armies, or avoiding ser-
vice have left their families behind and gone over to the
enemy, and are now under arms against us. I am happy
to learn that the number of such persons is very small.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 595
I recommend the confiscation of the property of this class
of persons also, and in case they have left families be-
hind that are a charge to the county, that no part of the
relief fund be allowed them, but that they be carried to
the enemy's lines and turned over to those in whose cause
their husbands now serve.
I also recommend the enactment of such laws as shall
forever disfranchise and decitizemze all persons of both
■classes, should they attempt to return to this State.
The Currency.
The late action of the Congress of the Confederate
States upon the subject of the currency has rendered
further legislation necessary in this State upon that
question. It can not be denied that this Act has seri-
ously embarrassed the financial system of this State, and
has shaken the confidence of our people in either the jus-
tice of the late Congress or its competency to manage our
financial affairs. Probably the history of the past fur-
nishes few more striking instances of unsound policy
•combined with bad faith.
The Government issues its Treasury note for $100,
and binds itself two years after a treaty of peace, be-
tween the Confederate States and the United States, to
pay the bearer that sum; and stipulates upon the face of
the note that it is fundable in Confederate States stocks
or bonds, and receivable in payment of all public dues
except export duties. The Congress while the war is still
progressing, passes a statute that this bill shall be funded
in about forty days or one-third of it shall be repudiated,
and that a tax of ten per cent, a month shall be paid for
590 Confederate Records
it after tliat time hy the holder, and it shall no lon^ijer be
receivable in payment oi" jniblic dues, and if it is not
funded by the first of January next, the whole debt is
repudiated. Did the holder take the note, with any such
expectation? Was this the contract, and is this the way
the Government is to keep its faith? If we get rid of the
old issues in this way what guarantj'^ do we give for better
faith, in the redemption of the next issues? Again, many
of the notes have expressed promise on their face, that
they shall be funded in eig]if per cent, bonds. When?
The plain import is, and so understood by all at the time
of their issue, that it may be done at any time before the
day fixed on the face of the note for its payment. With
what semblance of good faith then, does the Government
before that time, compel the holder to receive a four per
cent, bond, or lose the whole debt? And what better is
this than repudiation? AMien was it ever before at-
tempted by any government to compel the funding of
almost the entire paper currency of a country amounting
to seven or eight hundred millions of dollars in forty
days? This is certainly a new chapter in financeering.
The country expected the imposition of a heavy tax^
and all patriotic citizens were expected to pay it cheer-
fully at any reasonable sacrifice; but repudiation and
bad faith were not ex])ected, and the authors of it can not
be held guiltless.
The expiring Congress took the precaution to discuss
this measure in secret session, so tliat the individual act
of the representative could not reach his constituents, and
none could be annoyed during its consideration by the
murmurs of public disapprobation being echoed back into
the Legislative Hall. And to make assurance doubly
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 597
sure, they fixed the day for the assembling of their suc-
cessors at a time too late to remedy the evil, or afford
adequate redress for the wrong.
The secret sessions of Congress are becoming a blight-
ing curse to the country. They are used as a convenient
mode of covering up from the people such acts or expres-
sions of their representatives as will not bear investiga-
tion in the light of day. Almost every act of usurpation
of power, or of bad faith, has been conceived, brought
forth and nurtured, in secret session. If I mistake not
the British Parliament never discussed a single measure
in secret session during the whole period of the Crimean
War. But if it is necessary to discuss a few important
military measures, such as may relate to the movement
of armies, etc., in secret session, it does not follow that
discussion of questions pertaining to the currency, the
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the like,
should all be conducted in secret session.
The people should require all such measures to be
discussed with open doors, and the press should have the
liberty of reporting and freely criticising the acts of our
public servants. In this way the reflection of the popular
will back upon the representative, would generally cause
the defeat of such unsound measures as those which are
now fastened upon the country in defiance of the will of
the people.
But dismissing the past and looking to the future, the
inquiry presented for our consideration is, how shall the
State authorities act in the management of the finances
of the State? As the Confederate States Treasury Notes
constitute the currency of the country, the State has been
598 Confederate Records
olilic^od to receive and pay tliem out; and she must con-
tinue to do so as long as tiiey remain the only circulating
medium. 'Die present Legislature has very wisely adoi)ted
the i)oiicy in the ]n-esent depreciated condition of the
currency, of collecting by taxation a sufficient sum in cur-
rency to ]iay the current ap]iro]u-iations of the State Gov-
ernment; instead of adding them to the debt of the State
to be i)aid in future ui)on the gold basis. If the State
issues her own bonds and puts them upon the market, or
if she issues her own Treasury notes redeemable at a
future day in her bonds, she adds the amount so issued
to her permanent indebtedness and defeats the policy of
paying as she goes, as her own bonds or notes would then
be out and could not be redeemed with the Confederate
notes when received into her Treasury.
If the State receives in payment of taxes the present
Confederate Treasury Notes, they will be reduced in
amount one-third by Act of Congress after first of April
next, and the State receiving them at par pays a Con-
federate tax of 331/5 per cent, upon all monies that pass
through her Treasury. This, of course, cannot be sub-
mitted to.
The repudiation policy of Congress seems therefore
to have left us but one alternative, and that is to receive
and pay out only such issues of Confederate notes as
under the Acts of Congress pass at par, without the de-
duction of 33% or any other per cent. But as we are
obliged to have funds before the time when the new issues
of Confederate notes can go into circulation, the question
presented is how shall we supjily the Treasurj^ in the
meantime? In my judgment the proper plan will be to
issue State Treasury Notes, payable on the 25th day of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 599
December next, at the Treasury, and in each of the more
important cities of this State in Confederate Treasury
Notes of such issue as may be made after first Aj^ril
next to be used as circulating medium. This enables the
State to anticipate the new issues, and use them in ad-
vance of their circulation by Confederate authority. The
new Georgia Treasury Notes of this issue would be just
as good as the new issue of Confederate notes, because
payable in them, and would be as current in payment of
debts. The Act should provide that all taxes hereafter
due the State for this year, shall be payable in the Con-
federate Treasury Notes of the new issue, and that they
shall be deposited in the treasury when collected, to re-
deem the State notes payable in them. The Act should
also provide that the State notes shall be returned and
the Confederate notes received in place of them within
three months after they are due, or that the State will
no longer be liable for their payment. This would pre-
vent holders from laying them away and refusing to bring
them in for payment when due, according to the terms of
the contract. As the State tax is not due till next fall,
there will be an abundant supply of the new Confederate
notes in circulation by that time to obviate all difficulty in
obtaining them by our people to pay the tax.
I recommend the passage of a joint resolution author-
izing the Governor to have funded in the six per cent,
bonds, provided for by the Act of Congress, all Confed-
erate notes which may remain in the Treasury, or may
be in the hands of any of the financial agents of the State,
after the first day of April next, and to sell and dispose
of such bonds at their market value in currency which
can be made available in payments to be made by the
1)00 Confederate Records
Treasury-, and to credit the Treasurer with any losses
that may accrue by reason of the failure of the bonds to
bring par in the market.
Orphans' Estates.
On account of the present depreciated value of the
Confederate securities, I recommend the repeal of the
law which authorizes executors, administrators and trus-
tees to invest the funds of those whom they represent in
these securities. As the law stands it enables unscrupu-
lous fiduciary agents to perpetrate frauds upon innocent
orphans, and other helpless persons represented by them ;
and in effect, compels orphans and those represented by
trustees to invest their whole estates in government bonds
which no other class is required to do.
Furloughs Refused.
On the 27th of February, when I issued my proclama-
tion calling you into extra session, I telegraphed the
Secretary of War and asked that furloughs be granted
to members in military service to attend the session, and
received a reply stating that it had "been concluded not
to grant furloughs to attend the session," that '* officers
so situated are entitled to resign and may so elect."
I regret this determination of the Confederate Gov-
ernment, as it places our gallant officers, who have been
elected by the people to represent them, and to whom as
well as their predecessors similarly situated, furloughs
were never before denied in a position where it costs
them their commissions to attempt to discharge their
duties as representatives of the people.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 601
The New Militia Organization and Conscription.
Since your adjournment in December, the Adjutant
and Inspector-General, under my direction, has done all
in his power to press forward the organization of the
Militia of the State, in conformity to the Act passed for
that purpose; and I have the pleasure to state that the
enrollments are generally made, except in a few localities
where proximity to the enemy has prevented it, and the
organizations will soon be completed.
At this stage in our proceedings, we are met with for-
midable obstacles thrown in our way by the late Act of
Congress which subjects those between 17 and 50 to en-
rollment as conscripts, for Confederate service. This
Act of Congress proj^oses to take from the State, as was
done on a former occasion, her entire military force who
belong to the active list, and to leave her without a force
in the different counties sufficient to execute her laws or
suppress servile insurrection.
Our Supreme Court has ruled that the Confederate
Government has the power to raise armies by conscrip-
tion, but it has not decided that it also has the power to
enroll the whole population of the State, who remain at
home, so to place the whole people under the military
control of the Confederate Government and thereby take
from the States all command over their own citizens,
to execute their own laws, and place the internal police
regulations of the States in the hands of the President.
It is one thing to "raise armies," and another and quite
a different thing to put the whole population at home
under military law, and compel every man to obtain a
602 Confederate Records
military detail upon such terms as the central government
may dictate, and to carry a military pass in his pocket
while he cultivates his I'arm, or attends to his other neces-
sary avocations at home.
Neither a i)lanter nor an overseer engaged upon the
farm, nor a hlacksmith making agricultural implements,
nor. a miller grinding for the people at home, belongs
to or constitutes any part of the armies of the Con-
federacy; and there is not the shadow of Constitu-
tional power vested in the Confederate Government for
conscribing and putting these classes and others engaged
in home pursuits under military rule, while they remain
at home to discharge these duties. If conscription were
Constitutional as a means of raising armies by the Con-
federate Government, it could not be Constitutional to
conscribe those not actually needed, and to be employed
in the army; and the Constitutional power to ''raise
armies" could never carry with it the power in Congress
to conscribe the whole people who are not needed for the
armies but are left at home because more useful there,
and place them under military government and compel
them to get military details to plough in their fields, shoe
their farm horses, or go to mill.
Conscription carried to this extent is the essence of
military despotism — placing all civil rights in a state of
subordination to militarj^ power and putting the personal
freedom of each individual in civil life at the will of the
chief of the militaiy power. But it may be said that con-
scription may act upon one class as legally as another,
and that all classes are equally subject to it. This is un-
doubtedly true. If the government has a right to con-
scribe at all, it has a right to conscribe persons of all
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown 603
classes till it has raised enough to supply its annies. But
it has no right to go farther and conscribe all who are by
its own consent to remain at home to make supi)lies. If
it considers supplies necessary, somebody must make
them; and those who do it being no part of the army,
should be exempt from conscription and the annoyance
of military dictation while engaged in civil, and not mili-
tar}' pursuits.
If all between 17 and 50 are to be enrolled and placed
in constant military service, we must conquer the enemy
while we are consuming our present crop of provisions,
or we are ruined, as it will be impossible for the old men
over 50 and the boys under 17 to make supplies enough
to feed our armies and people another j'car. I think
every practical man in the Confederacy who knows any-
thing about our agricultural interests and resources will
readily admit this.
If, on the other hand, it is not the intention to put
those between 17 and 18, and between 45 and 50, into
service, as soldiers, but leave them at home to produce
supplies, and occasionally to do police and other duties
within the State, which properly belong to the Militia of
a State; or in other words, if it is the intention to simply
take the control of them from the State so as to deprive
her of all power and leave her without sufficient force to
execute her own laws or suppress servile insurrection,
and place the whole militia of the State, not needed for
constant service, in the Confederate armies under the
control of the President, while engaged in their civil pur-
suits, the Act is unconstitutional and oppressive, and
ought not to be executed.
()04 Confederate Records
If the Act is executed in this State, it deprives her of
lier whole active Militia, as Congress has so shaped it as
to include the identical persons embraced in the Act
passed at your late session, and to transfer the control
of them all from the State to the Confederate Govern-
ment.
The State has already enrolled tliese persons under
tlie solemn Act of her Legislature, for her own defence,
and it is a question for you to determine whether the
necessities of the State, her sovereignty and dignity and
justice to those who are to be affected bj^ the Act, do not
forbid that she should permit her organization to be
broken up and her means of self preservation to be taken
out of her hands. If this is done, what will be our condi-
tion? I prefer to answer by adopting the language of
the present able and patriotic Governor of Virginia: **A
sovereign State without a soldier, and without the dignity
of strength — stripped of all her men, and with only the
form and pageantry of power — would, indeed, be nothing
more than a wretched dependency, to which I should
grieve to see our proud old Commonwealth reduced."
I may be reminded that the enemy has three times as
many white men, able to bear arms, as we have, and that
it is necessary to take all between the ages above men-
tioned, or we cannot keep as many men in the field as
he does.
If the result depended upon our ability to do this, we
must necessarily fail. But, fortunately for us, this is not
the case, "\\niile they have the advantage in numbers, we
have other advantages which, if properly improved, they
could never overcome. We are the invaded party, in the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown GOG
right, struggling for all we have, and for all we expect
our posterity to inherit. This gives us great moral ad-
vantage over a more powerful enemy who, as the invad-
ers, are in the wrong, and are fighting for conquest and
power. We have the inner and shorter lines of defense,
while they have the much longer and more difTicult ones.
For instance, if we desire to reinforce Dalton from Wil-
mington, Charleston, Savannah and Mobile, or to rein-
force either of these points from Dalton, we can do so by
throwing troops rapidly over a short line from one point
to the other. If the enemy wishes to reinforce Charleston
or Chattanooga from Washington or New Orleans, he
must throw his troops a long distance around, almost
upon the circumference of a circle, while we meet them
with our reinforcements by throwing them across the
diameter of a semi-circle. This difference in our favor
is as great as four to one, and enables us, if our troops
are properly handled, to repel their assaults with little
more than one-fourth their number.
In consideration of these and numerous advantages
which an invaded people, united and determined to be
free, always has, it is not wise policy for us to undertake
to keep in the field as large a number as the enemy has.
It is the duty of those in authority, in a country en-
gaged in war, which calls for all the resources at com-
mand, to consider well what proportion of the whole
population can safely be kept under arms. In our pres-
ent condition, surrounded by the enemy and our ports
blockaded, so that we can place but little dependence upon
foreign supplies, we are obliged to keep a sufficient num-
ber of men in the agricultural fields to make supplies for
606 Confederate Records
our troops iiiuk'r arms and tliclr fainilios at lioinc, or we
must ultimately fail.
Tlie ])olicv which would compel all our men to go to
the military field, and leave our farms uncultivated and
our workshops vacant, would be the most fatal and unwise
that could be adopted. In that case, the enemy need only
avoid battle, and continue the war till we consume the
su])i)lies now on hand, and we would be completely in
their power.
There is a certain proportion of a people in our condi-
tion who can remain under arms and the balance of tiie
population at home can support them. So long as that
proportion has not been reached, more may safely be
taken; but when it is reached, every man taken from the
field of production and placed as a consumer in the mili-
tary field, makes us that much weaker; and if we go far
beyond the proportion, failure and ruin are inevitable, as
the army must soon disband, when it can no longer be
supplied with the necessaries of life. There is reason to
fear that those in authority have not made safe calcula-
tions upon this point, and that they do not fully appre-
ciate the incalculable importance of the agricultural in-
terests in this struggle.
We are able to keep constantly under arms two hun-
dred thousand effective men, and to support and main-
tain that force by our own resources and productions for
twenty years to come. No power nor State can ever be
conquered so long as it can maintain that number of good
troops. If the enemy should bring a million against us,
let us remember that there is such a thing as whipping
the fight without fighting it, and avoiding pitched battles
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 607
and unnecessary collisions; let us give this vast force
time to melt away under the heat of summer and the
snows of winter; as did Xerxes' army in Greece and
Napoleon's in Russia, and the enemy's resources and
strength will exhaust when so prodigally used, so much
more rapidly than ours, when properly economized. In
properly economizing our strength and husbanding our
resources, lie our best hope of success.
Instead of making constant new drafts upon the agri-
cultural and mechanical labor of the country, for recruits
for the army to swell our numbers beyond our present
muster rolls, which must prove our ruin, if our provisions
fail, I respectfully submit that it would be wiser to put
the troops into the army and leave men enough at home
to support them. In other words, compel the thousands
of young officers in gold lace and brass buttons, who are
constantly seen crowding our railroads and hotels, many
of whom can seldom be found at their posts; and the
thousands of straggling soldiers who are absent without
leave or, by the favoritism of officers, whose names are
on the pay rolls, and who are not producers at home, to
remain at their places in the army. This is justice alike
to the country, to the taxpayer, to the gallant officers who
stand firmly at the post of duty, and the gallant soldiers
who seldom or never get furloughs, but are always in
the thickest of the fight. When they are enduring and
suffering so much, why should the favorites of power and
those of their comrades who seek to avoid duty and dan-
ger, be countenanced or tolerated at home, while their
names stand upon the muster rolls?
If all who are able for duty, and who are nominally in
service drawing pay from the Government, are compelled
608 Confederate Records
to do thoir duty faithfully, thero will be no need of com-
pelling men over 45 to leave their homes, or of disband-
ing the State militia to place more men under the Presi-
dent's control.
Conflict With the Confederate Government.
But it may be said that an attempt to maintain the
rights of the State will produce conflict with the Con-
federate Government. 1 am aware that those who, from
motives not necessary to be here mentioned, are ever
ready to raise the cry of conflict, and to criticise and con-
demn the action of Georgia in every case where her con-
stituted authorities protest against the encroachments of
the central power and seek to maintain her dignity and
sovereignty as a State, and the Constitutional rights and
liberties of her people.
Those who are unfriendly to State sovereignty and
desire to consolidate all power in the hands of the Con-
federate Government, hoping to promote their undertak-
ing by operating upon the fears of the timid after each
new aggression upon the constitutional rights of the
States, till the newspaper presses with the cry of conflict,
and warn the people to beware of those who seek to main-
tain their constitutional rights as agitators or partisans
who may embarrass the Confederate Government in the
prosecution of the war.
Let not the people be deceived by this false clamor.
It is the same cry of conflict which the Lincoln govern-
ment raised against all who defended the rights of the
Southern States against its tyranny. It is the cry which
the usurpers of power have ever raised against those who
State Papebs of Governor Jos. E. Brown 609
rebuke their encroachments and refuse to yield to their
aggressions.
When did Georgia embal-rass the Confederate Gov-
ernment in any matter pertaining to the vigorous prose-
cution of the war? When did she fail to furnish more
than her full quota of troops when she was called upon as
a State by the proper Confederate authority! And when
did her gallant sons ever quail before the enemy, or fail
nobly to illustrate her character upon the battle field?
She can not only repel the attacks of her enemies on
the field of deadly conflict, but she can as proudly repel
the assaults of those who, ready to bend the knee to power
for i:)osition and patronage, set themselves up to criticise
her conduct, and she can confidently challenge them to
point to a single instance in which she has failed to fill a
requisition for troops made upon her through the regular
constitutional channel. To the very last requisition made
she responded with over double the number required.
She stands ready at all times to do her whole duty to
the cause and to the Confederacy, but while she does this,
she will never cease to require that all her constitutional
rights be respected and the liberties of her people pre-
served. While she deprecates all conflict with the Con-
federate Government, if to require these be conflict, the
conflict will never end till the object is attained.
*'For Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeath 'd by bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft is ever won."
will be emblazoned in letters of living light upon her
proud banners, until State sovereignty and constitutional
()10 Confederate Records
liberty, as well as Confodorato independence, are firmly
established.
Suspension of the Habeas Corpus.
I cannot withhold the expression of the deep mortifi-
cation I feel at the late action of Congress in attempting
to suspend the ])rivilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and
to confer upon the President powers expressly denied to
him by the Constitution of the Confederate States. Under
pretext of a necessity which our whole people know does
not exist in this case, what ever may have been the
motives, our Congress wnth the assent and at the request
of the Executive, has struck a fell blow at the liberties
of the people of these States.
The Constitution of the Confederate States declares
that ''The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall
not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or
invasion the public safety may require it." The power
to suspend the habeas corpus at all is derived, not from
express and direct delegation, but from implication only,
and an implication can never be raised in opposition to
an express restriction. In case of any conflict between
the two, an implied power must always yield to express
restrictions upon its exercise. The power to suspend the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus derived by impli-
cation must therefore be always limited by the express
declaration in the Constitution that:
''The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrants shall
issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affir-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown GH
mation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the pcrsoyis or things to be seized," and the
further declaration that '*no person shall be deprived of
life, liberty or property without due process of law,"
And that
*'In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy
the right of a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury
of the State or district where the crime shall have been
committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the wit-
nesses against him ; to have compulsory process for ob-
taining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance
of counsel for his defense."
Thus it is an express guaranty of the Constitution that
the "persons" of the people shall be secure, and "no
ivarrants shall issue," but upon probable cause, supported
by oath or affirmation," particularly describing "the
persons to be seized"; that "no person shall be deprived
of liberty without due process of law" and that in "all
criminal prosecutions" the accused shall enjoy the right
of a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury."
The Constitution also defines the powers of the Ex-
ecutive, which are limited to those delegated among which
there is no one authorizing him to issue warrants or order
arrests of persons not in actual military service; or to sit
as a judge in any case, to try any person for a criminal
offense, or to appoint any court or tribunal to do it, not
provided for in the Constitution as part of the judiciary.
The power to issue ivarrants and try persons under crimi-
nal accusations are judicial powers, which belong under
612 Confederate Records
till' ("onstitution, exclusively to the judiciary and not to
the Execut'uc. His power to order arrests as Com-
mander-in-Chief is strictly a military power, and is con-
fined to the arrests of persons subject to military power,
as to the arrest of i)ersons in the army or na\'y of the
Confederate States ; or in the militia, when in the actual
service of the Confederate States; and does not extend
to any persons in civil life, unless they be followers of
the camp or within the lines of the army. This is clear
from that provision of the Constitution which declares
that,
**No person shall be held to answer for a capital or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual
service in time of war or public danger." But even
here the power of the President as Commander-in-Chief
is not absolute, as his powers and duties in ordering ar-
rests of persons in the land or naval forces, or in the
militia when in actual service, are clearly defined by the
rules and articles of war prescribed by Congress. Any
warrant issued by the President, or any arrest made by
him, or under his order, of any person in civil life and
not subject to military command, is illegal and in plain
violation of the Constitution; as it is impossible for Con-
gress by implication, to confer upon the President the
right to exercise powers of arrest, expressly forbidden
to him by the Constitution. Any effort on the part of
Congress to do this, is but an attempt to revive the
odious practice of ordering political arrests, or issuing
letters de cachet by royal prerogative, so long since re-
nounced by our English ancestors; and the denial of the
right of the Constitutional judiciary to investigate such
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 613
cases, and the provision for creating a court appointed
by the Executive and changeable at his will, to take jur-
isdiction of the same, are in violation of the great prin-
ciples of the Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, the Ha-
beas Corpus Act, and the Constitution of the Confeder-
ate States upon which both English and American lib-
erty rest; and are but an attempt to revive the odious
Star Chamber court of England, which in the hands of
wicked kings was used for tyrannical purposes by the
crown until it was finally abolished by Act of Parliament,
of 16th Charles the first, which went into operation on
the first of August, 1641. This Act has ever since been
regarded as one of the great bulwarks of English liberty ;
and it was passed by the English Parliament to secure
our English ancestors against the very same character of
arbitrary arrests which the late Act of Congress is in-
tended to authorize the President to make; I append a
copy of it to this message, with the same italics and small
capital letters, which are used in the printed copy in
the book from which it is taken. It will be seen that
the court of * 'Star-Chamber," which was the instrument
in the hands of the English king, for investigating his
illegal arrests and carrying out his arbitrary decrees,
was much more respectable, on account of the character,
learning and ability of its members, than the Confederate
Star-Chamber or court of ''proper officers," which the
x\ct of Congress, gives the President power to apjDoint
to investigate his illegal arrests.
I am aware of no instance in which the British king-
has ordered the arrest of any person in civil life, in any
other manner than by judicial warrant, issued by the
established courts of the realm; or in which he has sus-
pended, or attempted to suspend the privilege of the writ
G14 Confederate Records
of habeas corpus, since the Bill of Rights and Act of
settlement passed in lG8i). To attempt this in 1864 would
cost the present reigning Queen no less price than her
crown.
The only suspension of the privilege of the writ of
habeas corpus known to our Constitution, and compatible
with the i)rovisions already stated, goes to the simple
extent of preventing the release under it of persons
whose arrests have been ordered under Constitutional
warrants from judicial authority. To this extent the
Constitution allows the suspension in case of rebellion
or invasion, in order that the accused may be certainly
and safely held for trial ; but Congress has no right under
pretext of exercising this power to authorize the Presi-
dent to make illegal arrests prohibited by the Constitu-
tion; and when Congress has attempted to confer such
powers on the President, if he should order such illegal
arrests, it would be the imperative duty of the judges,
who have solemnly sworn to support the Constitution, to
disregard such unconstitutional legislation and grant re-
lief to persons so illegallj^ imprisoned; and it would be
the duty of the Legislative and Executive departments
of the States to sustain and protect the judiciary in the
discharge of this obligation.
By an examination of the Act of Congress, now under
consideration, it will be seen that it is not an Act to sus-
pend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in case of
warrants issued by judicial authority; but the main pur-
pose of the Act seems to be to authorize the President to
issue warrants supported neither by oath nor affirmation
and to make arrests of persons not in military service,
upon charges of a nature proper for investigation in the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 615
judicial tribunals only, and to prevent the courts from
inquiring into such arrests, or granting relief against
such illegal usurpations of power, which are in direct
palpable violation of the Constitution.
The Act enumerates more than twenty different causes
of arrest, most of which are cognizable and tryable only
in the judicial tribunals established by the Constitution;
and for which no warrants can legally issue for the ar-
rest of persons in civil life by any power except the ju-
diciary ; and then only upon probable cause supported by
oath or affirmation, particularly describing the persons
to be seized; such as "treason" ''treasonable efforts or
combinations to subvert the Government of the Confeder-
ate States," "conspiracies to overthrow the Govern-
ment," or "conspiracies to resist the lawful authority
of the Confederate States," giving the enemy "aid and
comfort," "attempts to incite servile insurrection," "the
burning of bridges," "railroad" or "telegraph lines,"
"harboring deserters," and "other offences against the
laws of the Confederate States," etc., etc., And as if to
place the usurpation of power beyond doubt or cavil, the
act expressly declares that the "suspension shall apply
only to persons, arrested or detained by the President,
the Secretary of War, or the General officer commanding
the Trans Mississippi Military Dej)artment, by authority
and under control of the President/' in the cases enum-
erated in the Act, most of which are exclusively of judi-
cial cognizance, and in which cases the President has not
the shadow of Constitutional authority to issue ivarrants
or order arrests, but is actually prohibited by the Consti-
tution from doing so.
616 Confederate Records
This then is not an Act to suspend the privilege of tlie
writ of habeas corpus, in the manner authorized by im-
plication by the Constitution ; but it is an Act to authorize
the President to make illegal and wiconstitutional ar-
rests, in cases whicli the Constitution gives to the judic-
iary, and denies to the Executive; and to ]n*ohil)it all
judicial interference for the relief of the citizen, when
tyrannized over by illegal arrest, under letters de cachet
issued by Executive authority.
Instead of the legality of the arrest being examined
in the judicial tril)unals appointed by the Constitution, it
is to be examined in the Confederate Star Chamber ; that
is, by .officers appointed by the President. Why say the
''President shall cause proper officers to investigate"
the legality of the arrests ordered by him? Why not
permit the Judges, whose Constitutional right and duty
it is to do it?
We are witnessing with too much indifference assump-
tions of power by the Confederate Government which in
ordinary times would arouse the whole country to indig-
nant rebuke and stern resistance. History teaches us
that submission to one encroachment upon Constitutional
liberty is always followed by another; and we should not
forget that important rights, yielded to those in power,
without rebuke or protest, are never recovered by the
people without revolution.
If this Act is acquiesced in, the President, the Secre-
tary of War, and the commander of the Trans Mississippi
department under the control of the President, each has
the power conferred by Congress, to imprison whomso-
ever he chooses; and it is only necessary to allege that
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown G17
it is done on account of "treasonable efforts" or of "con-
spiracies to resist the lawful authority of the Confeder-
ate States," or for "giving aid and comfort to the
enemy," or other of the causes of arrest enumerated in
the statute, and have a subaltern to file his affidavit ac-
cordingly, after the arrest if the writ of habeas corpus is
sued out, and no court dare inquire into the cause of the
imprisonment. The Statute makes the President, and
not the courts, the judge of the sufficiency of the cause for
his own acts. Either of you, or any other citizen of Geor-
gia may at any moment (as Mr. Vallandingham was in
Ohio) be dragged from your homes at midnight by armed
force, and imprisoned at the will of the President, upon
the pretext that you have been guilty of some offence of
the character above named, and no court known to our
judiciary can inquire into the wrong or grant relief.
When such bold strides towards military despotism
and absolute authority are taken by those in whom we
have confided, and who have been placed in high official
position to guard and protect Constitutional and personal
liberty, it is the duty of every patriotic citizen to sound
the alarm, and of the State Legislatures to say in thunder
tones to those who assume to govern us by absolute power,
that there is a point beyond which freemen will not per-
mit encroachments to go.
The Legislatures of the respective States are looked
to as the guardians of the rights of those whom they rep-
resent, and it is their duty to meet such dangerous enact-
ments upon the liberties of the people promptly, and
express their unqualified condemnation ; and to instruct
their Senators and request their Eepresentatives to re-
peal this most monstrous Act, or resign a trust which by
618 Confederate Records
perinittinji: it to remain on the statute books they abuse,
to tlie injury of those who have honored them witli their
confidence in this trying period of our liistory. I ear-
nestly recoinnicnd that the I^egishiture of this State take
prompt action ui)on tliis subject, and stamj) the Act with
the seal of their indignant rebuke.
Can the President no longer trust the judiciary with
the exercise of the legitimate powers conferred upon it
by the Constitution and laws? In v>'hat instance have the
grave and dignitied Judges proved disloyal or untrue to
our cause? "When have they embarrassed the Govern-
ment by turning loose traitors, skulkers or spies ? Have
they not in every instance given the Government the
benefit of their doubts in sustaining its action, though
they might thereby seem to encroach upon the rights of
the States, and for a time deny substantial justice to the
people? Then why this implied censure upon them?
What justification exists now^ for this most monstrous
deed, which did not exist during the first or second year
of the war, unless it be found in the fact that those in
power have found the people ready to submit to every
encroachment, rather than make an issue with the Gov-
ernment, while we are at war with the enemy ; and have
on that account been emboldened to take the step which
is intended to make the President as absolute in his
power of arrest and imprisonment as the Czar of all the
Eussias? What reception would the members of Con-
gress from the different States have met in 1861, and
they returned to their constituents and informed them
that they had suspended the habeas corpus and given the
President the ])Ower to imprison the people of these
States with no restraint upon his sovereign will? Why
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 619
is liberty less sacred now than it was in 1861? And what
will we have gained when we have achieved our independ-
ence of the Northern States, if in our efforts to do so,
we have permitted our form of government to be sub-
verted, and have lost Constitutional liberty at home?
The hope of the country now rests in the new Con-
gress soon to assemble. They must maintain our liber-
ties against encroachment and wipe this and all such
stains from the statute books, or the Sun of Liberty will
soon set in darkness and blood.
Let the constituted authorities of each State send up
to their Representatives, when they assemble in Con-
gress, an unqualified demand for prompt redress; or a
return of the commissions which they hold from their
respective States.
The Causes of the War, How Conducted, and Who
Responsible.
Cruel, bloody, desolating war is still waged against
us by our relentless enemies, who, disregarding the laws
of nations and the rules of civilized warfare, whenever
either interferes with their fanatical objects or their in-
terest, have in numerous instances been guilty of worse
than savage cruelty.
They have done all in their power to burn our cities
when unable by their skill and valor to occupy them ; and
to turn innocent women and children who may have es-
caped death by the shells thrown among them without
previous notice, into the streets destitute of homes, food
and clothing.
620 Confederate Records
They have devastated our country wherever their un-
hallowed feet have trod our soil, l)uriiin<^ and destroying
factories, mills, ai»-ricultural implements, and other valu-
able property.
They have cruelly treated our sons while in captivity,
and in violation of a cartel agreed upon, have refused
to exchange them with us for their own soldiers, unless
we would consent, against the laws of nations, to ex-
change our slaves as ])elligerents, when induced or forced
by them to take up arms against us.
They have done all in their power to incite our slaves
to insurrection and murder, and when unable to seduce
them from their loyalty, have, when they occupied our
country, compelled them to engage in war against us.
They have robbed us of our negro women and chil-
dren who were comfortable, contented and happy with
their owners, and under pretext of extraordinary })lii-
lanthropy, have in the name of liberty congregated thou-
sands of them together in places where they could have
neither the comforts nor the necessaries of life, there
neglected and despised, to die of pestilence and hunger.
In numerous instances their brutal soldiers have vio-
lated the persons of our innocent and helpless women;
and have desecrated the graves of our ancestors, and
polluted and defiled the altars which we have dedicated
to tlie worship of the Living God.
In addition to these and other enormities, hundreds
of thousands of valuable lives both North and South have
been sacrificed, causing the shriek of the mother, the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 621
wail of the widow, and tlie cry of the orphan, to ascend
to Heaven, from almost every hearthstone in all the
broad land once known as the United States.
Such is but a faint picture of the devastations, cruelty,
and bloodshed, which have marked this struggle.
War in its most mitigated form, when conducted ac-
cording to the rules established by the most enlightened
and civilized nations, is a terrible scourge, and can not
exist without the most enormous guilt resting upon the
heads of those who have, without just cause, brought it
upon the innocent and helpless people who are its unfor-
tunate victims. Guilt may rest in unequal degrees in a
struggle like this upon both parties, but both can not be
innocent. Where then rests this crushing load of guilt?
While I trust I shall be able to show that it rests not
upon the people nor rulers of the South, I do not claim
that it rested at the commencement of the struggle upon
the whole people of the North.
There was a large and intelligent and patriotic por-
tion of the people of the Northern States, led by such
men as Pierce, Douglas, Vallandingham, Bright, Voor-
hies, Pugh, Seymour, Wood, and many other honored
names, who did all in their power to rebuke and stay the
wicked reckless fanaticism which precipitated the two sec-
tions into this terrible conflict. With such men as these
in power, we might have lived together in the Union per-
petually.
In addition to the strength of the Democratic party in
the North, there were a large number of persons whose
education had brought them into sympathy with the so-
(!i'_* Confederate Records
called Republican, or in otlier words the old federal con-
solidation party, who would never have followed the
wicked leaders of that ])arty who used the slavery ques-
tion as an hobby upon which to ride into power, and who
today stand before heaven and earth guilty of shedding
the l)lood of hundreds of thousands, and destroying the
brightest hopes of posterity, had they known the true
objects of their leaders, and the results which must follow
the triunii)h of their policy at the ballot box.
The moral guilt of this war rested then in its incip-
ieney neither upon the people of the South, nor upon the
Democratic party of the North, or upon that part of the
Republican party who were deluded and deceived. But
it rested upon the heads of the wicked leaders of the Re-
l)ublican party, who had refused to be bound by the com-
pacts of the Constitution made by our common ancestry.
These men, when in power in the respective States of the
North, arrayed themselves in open hostility against an
important pro\nsion of the Constitution, for the security
of clearly expressed and unquestionable rights of the
people of the Southern States.
Many of the more fanatical of them denounced the
Constitution because of its protection of the property of
the slaveholder, as a "covenant with death and a league
with Hell," and refusing to l)e bound by it, declared that
a "higher law" was the rule of their conduct, and ap-
pealed to the Bible as that "higher law." But when the
precepts of God in favor of slavery were found in both
the Old and the New Testament, they repudiated the
Bible and its Divine Author, and declared for an anti-
Slavery Bible and an anti-Slavery God.
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown 623
The abolition party having, when in power in tlicir
respective States, set at naught that part of the Constitu-
tion which guarantees protection to the rights and prop-
erty of the Southern people, and having by fraud and
misrepresentation obtained possession of the federal
government, the Southern people in self-defence were
compelled to leave the Union in which their rights were
no longer respected. Having destroyed the Union by
their wicked acts and their bad faith, these leaders rallied
a majority of the people of the North to their support
with a promise to restore it again by force. Monstrous
paradox! that a Union which was formed by a compact
between sovereign States, being eminently a creature of
consent, is to be upheld hy force. But monstrous as it
is, the war springs ostensibly from this source — this is
its origin, its soul and its life, so far as a shadow of pre-
text for it can be found. In their mad effort to restore
by force a Union which they have destroyed, and to save
themselves from the just vengeance which awaited them
for their crimes, the abolition leaders in power have
lighted up the continent with a blaze of war, which has
destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of prop-
erty, and hundreds of thousands of valuable lives, and
loaded posterity with a debt which must cause wretched-
ness and poverty for generations to come. And all for
what? That fanaticism might triumph over Constitu-
tional liberty, as achieved by the great men of 1776, and
that ambitious men might have place and power. In
their efforts to destroy our liberties, the people of the
North if successful would inevitably lose their own, by
overturning as they are now attempting to do, the great
principles of Republicanism upon which Constitutional
624 Confederate Records
liberty rests. Tlie Government in tlie hands of the aboli-
tion administration is ijow a despotism as absolute as
that of Russia.
UnotTendin^ citizens are seized in their beds at night
by armed force and dragged to dungeons and incarcerated
at the will of the tyrant, because they have dared to speak
for Constitutional liberty and to protest against military
despotism.
The Habeas Corpus, that great bulwark of liberty,
without which no people can be secure in their lives, per-
sons or property, which cost the English several bloody
wars, and which was finally wrung from the crown by the
sturdy Barons and the people at the point of the bayonet;
which has ever been the boast of every American patriot,
and which I pray God may never, under the pretext of
military necessity be yielded to encroachments by the peo-
ple of the South, has been trampled under foot by the
Government at Washington, which imprisons at its pleas-
ure whomsoever it will.
The freedom of the ballot box has also been destroyed,
and the elections have been carried by the overaweing in-
fluence of military' force.
Under pretext of keeping men enough in the field to
subdue the South, President Lincoln takes care to keep
enough to hold the North in subjection also — to imprison
or exile those who attempt to sustain their ancient rights,
liberties and usages, and to drive from the ballot box
those who are not subservient to his will, or enough of
them to enable his party to carry the elections. Can an
intelligent Northern conservative man contemplate this
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 625
state of things without exclaiming, whither are we drift-
ing? What will we gain by the subjugation of the South,
if in our attempt to do it we must lose our own liberties,
and visit upon ourselves and our posterity the chains of
military despotism?
How long a people once free will submit to the des-
potism of such a government the future must develop.
One thing is certain, while those who now rule remain in
power in Washington the people of the Sovereign States
of America can never adjust their difficulties. But war,
bloodshed, devastation, and increased indebtedness, must
be the inevitable result. There must be a change of ad-
ministration, and more moderate councils prevail in the
Northern States before we can ever have peace. While
subjugation, abolition and confiscation are the terms of-
fered by the Federal Government, the Southern people
will resist as long as the patriotic voice of woman can
stimulate a guerilla band, or a single armed soldier to
deeds of daring in defence of liberty and home.
I have said the South is not the guilty party in this
dreadful carnage, and I think it not inappropriate that
the reasons should be oft repeated at the bar of an intelli-
gent public opinion, that our own people and the world
should have "line upon line" and "precept upon pre-
cept," "here a little and there a little," "in season and
out of season," as some may suppose, to show the true
nature of this contest — the principles involved — the ob-
jects of the war on our side, as well as that of the enemy,
that all right-minded men everywhere may see and un-
derstand, that this contest is not of our seeking, and that
we have had no wish or desire to injure those who war
against us, except so far as has been necessary for the
626 Confederate Records
protection and preservation of ourselves. Our sole object
from the beginning has been to defend, maintain and
preserve our ancient usages, customs, liberties, and insti-
tutions, as achieved and established by our ancestors in
the Kevolntiuii of 177().
That Revolution was undertaken to establish two great
rights — State Sovereignty and self-government. Upon
these the Declaration of Independence was predicated,
and they were the Corner Stone upon which the Constitu-
tion rested. The denial of these two great principles cost
to Great Britain her American Colonies which had so
long been her pride. And the denial of them by the Gov-
ernment at Washington if persisted in, must cost the
people of the United States the liberties of themselves
and their posterity. These are the pillars u])on which
the Temple of Constitutional Liberty stands, and if the
Northern people in their mad effort to destroy the sov-
ereignty of the Southern States and take from our peo-
ple the rights of self-government, should be able, with the
strength of an ancient Sampson, to lay hold upon the pil-
lars and overturn the edij&ce, they must necessarily be
crushed beneath its ruins, as the destruction of State
Sovereignty and the right of self-government in the
Southern States by the agency of the Federal Govern-
ment necessarily involves the like destruction in the
Northern States, as no people can maintain these rights
for themselves who will shed the blood of their neighbors
to destroy them in others. It is impossible for half of
the States of a Confederacy, if they assist the central gov-
ernment to destroy the rights and liberties of the other
half, to maintain their own rights and liberties against
the central power after it has crushed their Co-States.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown G27
The two i^roat trutlis announced by Mr. Jefferson in
the Declaration of Independence and concurred in l)y all
the ^reat men in the Revolution were, 1st, **That Gov-
ernments derive their just powers from the consent of
the Governed." 2nd, ''That these United Colonies are,
and of a right ought to be, free and independent States."
We arc not to understand by the first great truth
that, each indi\ddual member of the aggregate mass com-
posing the State must give his consent before he can ])e
justly governed; or that the consent of each, or a par-
ticular class of individuals in a State is necessary. By
the "governed" is evidently here meant communities
and bodies of men capable of organizing and maintain-
ing government. The "consent of the governed," re-
fers to the aggregate will of the community or State in
its organized form, and expressed through its legitimate
and properly constituted organs.
In elaborating this great truth Mr. Jefferson in the
Declaration of Independence says, that governments are
instituted among men to secure certain "inalienable
rights" — that "among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness;" that whenever any form of
government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to insti-
tute a new government laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such form as
to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and
happiness.
According to this great fundamental principle the
Sovereign States of America, North and South, can only
be governed by their own consent, and whenever the gov-
628 Confederate Records
ernnient to wliich they liavo liivcn tlicir consent becomes
destructive of tlie fj^reat ends I'or whidi it was formed,
they have a ])erfect ri^dit to abolisli it, by withdraw-
ini",- their consent from it, as the Colonies did from the
British Government, and to form a new Government,
with its foundations laid on sucli principles, and its
powers organized in sucli form as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their safety and happiness." Upon
the apjilication to the present controversy of this great
principle, to which the Northern States are as firmly
committed as the Southern States, Georgia can proudly
challenge New York to trial before the bar of enlightened
public opinion, and impartial history must write the ver-
dict in her favor, and trium]thantly vindicate her action
in the course she has pursued.
Not only all the sovereign States of America have
heretofore recognized this great truth, but it has been
recognized by the able and enlightened Emperor of the
French who owes his present elevation to the "consent
of the governed. ' '
He was called to the Presidency by the free suffrage
or consent of the French people, and when he assumed
the im])erial title he again submitted the question to the
"governed" at the ballot box, and they gave their "con-
sent."
At the recent treaty of peace with the Emperor of
Austria he ceded an Austrian Province to France, and
Napoleon refused to "govern it," till the people at the
ballot box gave "their consent" that he should do so.
The Northern States of America are today, through
the agency of the despotism at Washington, waging a
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 629
bloody war upon the Southern States, to crush out this
great American principle, announced, and maintained in
a seven years' war, by our common ancestry, after it has
won the approbation of the ablest and most enlightened
Sovereign of Europe.
In discussing this great principle, I can but remark,
how strange is the contrast between the conduct of the
Emperor Napoleon and that of President Lincoln. Na-
poleon refuses to govern a province till a majority of
the people at the ballot box has given their consent.
Lincoln, after having done all in his power to destroy
the freedom and purity of the ballot, announces in his
late proclamation, his determination to govern the
sovereign States of the South by force, and to recognize
and maintain as the Government of these States, not
those who at the ballot box can obtain the ''consent of
the governed," or of a majority of the people, but those
who can obtain the consent of one-tenth of the people of
the State. Knowing that he can never govern these
States with "the consent of the governed," he tramples
the Declaration of Independence under his feet and pro-
claims to the world that he will govern these States, not
by the "consent of the governed," but by military jDOwer,
so soon as he can find one-tenth of the governed humili-
ated enough to give their consent.
But the world must be struck by the absurdity of the
pretext upon which he bases this extraordinary preten-
sion. He says, in substance, the Constitution requires
him to guarantee to each State a republican form of Gov-
ernment. And for the purpose of carrying out this pro-
vision of the Constitution he proclaims that so soon as
one-tenth of the people of the seceded States shall be
630 Confederate Records
fouiul abject enough to tnkc an oatli to support liis
unconstitutional acts, and at the same time support the
Constitution and sliall do this monstrous deed, he will
permit them to organize a State Government and will
recognize them as the Government of the State and their
officers as the regularly Constituted authorities of the
State. These he will aid in ])utting down, driving out,
exjjelling and exterminating, the other nine-tenths, if
they do not likewise take the prescribed oath.
One-tenth of the people of a State put up, and aided
by military force to rule, to govern or exterminate nine-
tenths! And this to be done under the guise or pro-
fessed object of guaranteeing republicanism! What
would Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams,
Hancock, or even Hamilton, have said to this kind of
republicanism? What say the conservative Northern
statesman of the present day, if permitted to speak?
Does such a Government as this derive its powers from
the ''consent of the governed?" Is this their under-
standing of the republican Government, which the United
States is to guarantee to each State? If so, what guar-
anty have they for the freedom of their posterity? If
the Government at Washington guarantees such repub-
licanism as this to Georgia, in 1864, what may be her
guaranty to Ohio and other Western States in 1874?
The absurdity of such a position on Constitu-
tional principles or views, is too glaring for comment.
When such terms are offered to them, well may the peo-
ple of these States be nerved to defend their rights and
liberties at every hazard, under every privation, and to
the last extremity.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 6.31
But I must notice the other great truth, promulgated
in the Dechiration of Independence — "that these United
Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and inde-
pendent States."
George the Third denied this great truth in 1776 and
sent his armies into Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia
to crush out its advocates, and maintain over the people
a Government which did not derive its powers from the
"consent of the governed." President Lincoln, in 1861,
has made war upon the same States and their Confeder-
ates, to crush out the same doctrine by armed force.
Yet he has none of the apparent justification before the
world that the British King had. The colonies had been
planted, nurtured and governed by Great Britian. As
States they had never been independent and never
claimed to be. This claim was set up for the first time,
in the Declaration of Independence. Under these cir-
cumstances there was some reason why the British Crown
should resist it. But the great truth proclaimed was
more powerful than the armies and navy of Great
Britain.
On the 4th of July, 1776, our fathers made this decla-
ration of the freedom and independence of the States.
The revolution was fought upon this declaration, and on
the 3d day of September 1783, in the treaty of peace,
"His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United
States, to-wit: New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay,
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary-
land, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia, to be free, sovereign and independent States,
that he treats with them as such," etc.
632 Confederate Records
On and after that day Geogia stood before the world
clad in all the habiliments and possessed of all the at-
tributes of sovereignty. Wlien did Georgia lose this sov-
ereignty? Was it by virtue of her previous compact
with her sister States? Certainly not.
The Articles of Confederation l)etweeu the Colonies,
during the struggle, set forth the objects to be attained
and the nature of the bond between the parties to it, and
the separate sovereignty of each of the States a party to
it, was expressly reserved. Was it when she with
the other States formed the Constitution in 1787!
Clearly not. The Constitution was a compact between
the thirteen States, each of which had been recognized
separately by name, bj^ the British King, as a free, sov-
ereign and independent State.
The objects and purposes for which the Federal Gov-
ernment was formed were distinctly specified and were all
set forth in the compact. The Government created by
it was limited in its powers by the grant, with an express
reservation of all powers not delegated. The great at-
tribute of separate State Sovereignty was not delegated.
In this particular there was no change from the Articles
of Confederation, sovereignty was still reserved and
abided with the States respectively. This more "per-
fect Union" was based upon the assumption that it was
for the best interest of all the States to enter into it, with
the additional grant of powers and guarantees — each
State being bound as a sovereign to perform and dis-
charge to the others all the new obligations of the com-
pact. It was so submitted to the people of the States
respectively and so acceded to by them. The States did
not part with their separate sovereignty by the adoption
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 633
of the Constitution. In that instrument all the powers
delegated are specifically mentioned. Sovereignty, the
greatest of all political powers, the source from which all
others emanate, is not amongst those mentioned. It could
not have been parted with except by grant either express-
ed or clearly implied. The most degrading act a State can
do is to lay down or surrender her sovereignty. Indeed it
cannot be done except by deed or grant. The surrender
is not to be found in the Constitution amongst the ex-
pressly granted powers. It cannot be amongst those
granted by implication for by the terms of the compact
none are granted by imp)lication except such as are inci-
dental to or necessary and proper to execute those that
are expressly granted. The incident can never be greater
than the object — and if nothing in the powers expressly
granted amounts to sovereignty, that which is the great-
est of all powers, cannot follow or be carried after a lesser
one, as an incident by implication — and then to put the
matter at rest forever, it is expressly declared that the
powers not delegated are reserved to the States respec-
tively or to the people. Sovereignty the great source of
all power, therefore was left with the States by compact,
left where King George left it, and left where it has ever
since remained, and will remain forever if the people of
the States are true to themselves and true to the great
principles which their forefathers achieved at such cost
of blood and treasure in the war of 177C.
The Constitution was only the written contract of
bond between the sovereign States in which the cove-
nants are all plainly expressed, and each State as a sov-
ereign pledged its faith to its sister States to observe
and keep these covenants. So long as each did this, all
were bound by the compact. But it is a rule well known
634 Confederate Records
and universally recognized in savage as in civilized life
— as well understood and as generally acquiesced in
between sovereign States, as between private individ-
uals, that when one party to a contract refuses to be
bound by it and to conform to its requirements, the other
party is released from further compliance.
Without entering into an argument to show the man-
ner in which the Northern States have perverted the con-
tract, and warped its terms to suit their own interest in
the enactment and enforcement of tariff laws for the
protection of their industry at the expense of the South,
and in the enactment of internal improvement laws,
coast navigation laws, fishery laws, etc., which were in-
tended to enrich them at the expense of the people of
the South, I need cite but a single instance of open,
avowed, self-confessed and even boasted violation of the
compact by Northern States to prove that the Southern
States were released and discharged from further obli-
gation to the Northern States by every known rule of
law, morality, of comity.
One of the express covenants in the written bond to
which the Northern States subscribed and without which,
as is clearly seen by reference to the debates in the
Convention which formed the Constitution, the South-
ern States never would have agreed to or formed the
compact, was in these words:
**No person held to service or labor in one State,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in
consequence of any Imv or regulation therein, be dis-
charged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor
may be due."
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 635
Massachusetts and other abolition States, utterly re-
pudiated, annulled and set at naught this provision of
the Constitution, and refused either to execute it or to
permit the constituted authorities of the United States
to carry it out within their limits.
This shameful violation by Massachusetts of her
plighted faith to Georgia, and this refusal to be bound
by the parts of the Constitution which she regarded bur-
densome to her and unacceptable to her people, released
Georgia according to every principle of international
law, from further compliance on her part. In other
words the Constitution was the bond of Union between
jGeorgia and Massachusetts, and when Massachusetts
refused longer to be bound by the Constitution, she
thereby dissolved the Union between her and Georgia.
It is truthfully said in the Declaration of Independ-
ence, that "experience hath shown that mankind are
disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are ac-
customed." So it was with Georgia and her Southern
sisters in this case. Though Massachusetts and other
Northern States, by their faithless acts and repudiation
of the compact, had dissolved the Union existing be-
tween the States, the Southern States did not declare
the dissolution, hoping that a returning sense of justice,
on the part of the Northern States might cause them
again to observe their Constitutional obligations. So
far from this being the case, they construed our forbear-
ance into a consciousness of our weakness and inability
to protect ourselves and they organized a great sectional
party whose political creed was founded in injustice to
636 Confederate Records
the South and wlioso ])iil)li(' declarations and acts sus-
tained the action of Massacliusetts and the other faithless
States.
This party, whose creed was avowed hostility to the
rights of the South, triumphed in the election for Presi-
dent in 1860. The election of a Federal Executive by
a sectional party ui)on a ])latform of avowed hostility
to the Constitutional rights of the South, to carry out in
the Federal administration, the doctrines of Massachu-
setts and other faithless States, left no further ground
for hope that the rights of the South would longer be
respected by the Northern States, which had not only
the Executive, but a majority of the Congress.
The people of the Southern States, each sovereign
State acting for itself, then met in Convention and in the
most solemn manner known to our form of Government,
resumed the exercise of the powers which they had dele-
gated to the common agent, now faithless to the trust
reposed in it.
The right of Georgia as a member of the original
compact, to do this, is too clear for successful denial.
And the right of Alabama, and the other States which
had been admitted into the Union since the adoption of
the Constitution, is equally incontrovertible, as each new
State came into the Union as a sovereign, upon an equal
footing in all respects whatever, with the original parties
to the compact.
The Confederate States can therefore, with confi-
dence, submit their acts to the judgment of mankind,
while with a clear conscience they appeal to a just God to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 637
maintain them in their course. They were ever true to
the compact of the Union, so long as they remained mem-
bers of it — their obligations under it were ever fully per-
formed, and no breach of it was ever laid at their door,
or truly charged against them. In exercising this un-
doubted right to withdraw from the Union, when the
covenant had been broken by the Northern States, they
sought no war — no strife. They simply withdrew from
further connection with self-confessed, faithless Confed-
erates. They offered no injury to them — threatened
none — proposed none — intended none. If their previous
Union with the Southern States had been advantageous
to them, and our withdrawal affected their interests in-
juriously, they ought to have been truer to their obliga-
tions. They had no just cause to complain of us, the
breach of the compact was by themselves — the vital cord
of the Union was severed by their own hands.
After the withdrawal of the Confederate States from
the Union, if those whose gross dereliction of duty had
caused it had reconsidered their own acts and offered
new assurances for better faith in future, the question
would have been fairly and justly put to the seceded
States in their sovereign capacity to determine whether,
in view of their past and future interest and safety,
they should renew the Union with them or not, and upon
what terms and guarantees; and if they had found it to
be to their interest to do so, upon any terms that might
have been agreed upon, on the principle assumed at the
beginning, that it was for the best interests of all the
States to be bound by some compact of Union with a
Central Government of limited powers, each State faith-
fully performing its obligations, they would doubtless
have consented to it. But if they had found it to their
638 CV)Nfki)i:hatk Kkcokds
interest not to do it, they would not and oug^ht not to
liave done it. For tlie first law of Nature as ai)j)li('al)le
to States and communities, as to individuals, is self-pro-
tection and self-preservation.
Possibly a new (joverumcnt nii^ht have been formed
at that time, u]ion the basis of the Germanic Confedera-
tion, with a ij:uaranty of the complete sovereignty of all
the separate States, and with a central agent or Govern-
ment of more limited i)owers than the old one, which
would have been as useful for defence against foreign
aggression and much less dangerous to the sovereignty
and the existence of the States than the old one, when in
the hands of abolition leaders, had proved itself to be.
The length of the time for which the Germanic Con-
federation has existed, has proved that its strength lies
in what might have been considered its weakness — the
separate sovereignty of the individual members and the
very limited powers of the Central Government.
In taking the step which they were forced to do, the
Southern States were careful not to i)rovoke a conflict of
arms or any serious misunderstanding with the States
that adhered to the Government at Washington, as long
as it was possible to avoid it. Commissioners were sent
to Washington to settle and adjust all matters relating
to their past connection or joint interests and obligations,
justly, honorably and peaceably. Our Commissioners
were not received — they were denied the privilege of an
audience — they were not heard. But they were indirectly
trifled with, lied to and misled by duplicity as infamous
as that practiced by Phillip of Spain towards the peace
Commissioners sent by Elizabeth of England. They were
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 639
detained and deceived, with private assurances of a pros-
pect of a peaceful settlement, while the most extensive
preparations were being made for war and subjugation.
When they discovered this they withdrew and the Gov-
ernment at Washington continued its vigorous prepara-
tions to reinforce its garrisons and hold possession of
our forts and to send armies to invade our territory.
Having completed his preparations for war, and re-
fused to hear any propositions for a peaceful adjustment
of our difficulties, President Lincoln issued his procla-
mation declaring Georgia and the other seceded States to
be in rebellion, and sent forth his armies of invasion.
In rebellion against whom or what? As sovereign
States have no common arbiter to whose decision they
can appeal, when they are unable to settle their differen-
ces amicably, they often resort to the sword as an arbiter;
and as sovereignty is always in dignity the equal of sov-
ereignty, and a sovereign can know no superior to which
allegiance is due, one sovereign may be at war with an-
other, but one can never be in rebellion against another.
To say that the sovereign State of Georgia is in re-
bellion against the sovereign State of Rhode Island is as
much an absurdity as it would be to say that the sover-
eign State of Russia was in rebellion against the sover-
eign State of Great Britian in their late war. They
were at war with each other, but neither was in rebellion
against the other, nor indeed could be, for neither owed
any allegiance to the other.
Nor could one of the sovereign States be in rebellion
against the Government of the United States. That Gov-
640 Confederate Records
eminent was the creature of the States, by wliidi it was
created; and tliey liad tlie sniiic i)owor to destroy it ;it
pleasure, whicli they had to make it. It was tlieir cDni-
mon agent witli limited ])owers; and the States by which
the agency was created had the undoubted right when it
abused these powers, to withdraw them. Suppose by
mutual consent nil the States in the Union had met in
Convention, each in its seperate sovereignty capacity,
and had withdrawn all the delegated powers from the
Federal Government, and all the States had refused
to send Senators or Representatives to Congress, or to
elect a President; will any sane man question this right oi"
deny that such action of the States would have destroyed
the Federal Government? If so the Federal Government
was the creature of the States and could only exist at
their pleasure. It lived and breathed only by their con-
sent. If all the parties to tlie compact had the right, by
mutual consent, to resume the i)owers delegated to them
by the common agent, why had not part of them the right
to do so, when the others violated the compact — refused
to be bound longer by its obligations, and thereby released
their co-partners? The very fact that the States — by
which it was formed, could at any time by mutual consent
disband and destroy the Federal Government, shows that
it had no original inherent sovereignty or jurisdiction.
As the creature of the States it had only such powers and
jurisdictions as they gave it, and it held what it had at
their pleasure. If, therefore, a State withdrew from the
Confederacy without just cause, it was a question for the
other sovereign States to consider what should be their
future relations towards it ; but it was a question of which
the Federal Government had not the shadow of jurisdic-
tion. So long as Georgia remained in the Union, if her
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown G41
citizens had refused to obey such laws of Congress as it
liad Constitutional jurisdiction to pass, they might have
been in rebellion against the Federal Government, because
they resisted the authority over them which Georgia
had delegated to that Government and which with her
consent it still possessed. But if Georgia for just cause,
of which she was the judge, chose to withdraw from the
Union and resume the attributes of sovereignty which
she had delegated to the United States Government, her
citizens could no longer be subject to the laws of the
Union, and no longer guilty as rebels if they did not
obey them.
It could be as justly said that the principal, who has
delegated certain limited powers to his agent in the tran-
saction of his business, which he has afterwards with-
drawn on account of their abuse by the agent, is in re-
bellion against the agent; or that of the master is in
rebellion against his servant; or landlord against his
tenant; because he has withdrawn certain privileges for
a time allowed them; as that Georgia is in rebellion
against her former agent, the Government of the United
States.
These I understand to be the great fundamental doc-
trines of our republican form of Government so ably ex-
pounded in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798
and 1799, which have ever since been a text book of the
true republican party of the United States. Departure
from these principles has destroyed the Federal Govern-
ment and been the prolific cause of all our woes. Out of
this departure has sprung the doctrine of loyalty and dis-
loyalty of the States to the Federal Government, from
which comes, ostensibly, this war against us, which is it-
642 Confederate Records
self at war with tlie first })riiu'i]iles of American Constitu-
tional liberty. It involves the interests, the future safety
and welfare of those States now deemed loyal, as well as
those pronounced disloyal. It is the doctrine of absolu-
ti(^ii re\dved in its worst form. It strikes down the essen-
tial principles of self-government ever held so sacred in
our past history, and to which all the States were indebted
for their unparallelled career, in growth, prosperity, and
greatness, so long as these principles were adhered to
and maintained inviolate.
If carried out and established, its end can be nothing
but centralism and despotism. It and its fatal corol-
lary— the policy of forcing sovereign States to the dis-
cliarge of their assumed Constitutional obligations, were
foreshadowed by President Lincoln in his inaugural
address.
Now at the time of the delivery of that inaugural
address it was well known to him that the faithless
States above alluded to, and to whose votes in the elec-
toral college he was indebted for his election, had for
years been in open, avowed and determined violation of
their Constitutional obligations. This he well knew, and
he also knew that the seceded States had withdrawn
from the Union because of this breach of faith on the
part of the abolition States, and other anticipated vio-
lations, more dangerous, threatened from the same cjuar-
ter. Yet without a word of rebuke, censure or remon-
strance with them for their most flagrant disloyalty to
the Constitution and their disregard of their most sacred
obligations under it, he then threatened, and now wages
war against us on the ground of our didoyaliy, in seek-
ing new safeguards for our security when the old ones
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 643
failed. And the people of those very States, whose dis-
loyal hands have severed the ties of the Union — breaking
one of the essential parts of the compact, have been, and
are, his most furious myrmidons in this most wicked and
unjust crusade against us, with a view to compel the
people of these so outraged States to return to the dis-
charge of their Constitutional obligations ! It may be
gravely doubted if the history of the world can furnish
an instance of greater perfidy or more shameful wrong.
But while the war is thus waged, professedly under
the paradoxical pretext of restoring the Union that was
a creature of consent, by force, and of upholding the
Constitution by coercing sovereign States, yet its real
objects, as appears more obviously every day, are by no
means so paradoxical. The Union under the Constitu-
tion as it was, each and every State being bound faith-
fully to perform and discharge its duties and obligations,
and the Central Government confining itself within the
sphere of its limited powers, is what the authors, projec-
tors and controllers of this war never wanted and never
intended, and do not now intend, to maintain.
Whatever differences of ojiinion may have existed at
the commencement among our own people, as to the policy
of secession, or the objects of the Federal Government all
doubt has been dispelled by the abolition Proclamation
of President Lincoln, and his subsequent action. Mad-
dened by abolition fanaticism, and deadly hate for the
white race of the South, he wages war not for the resto-
ration of the Union — not for the support of the Consti-
tution— but for the abolition of slavery and the subju-
gation and, as he doubtless desires, ultimate extermina-
tion, of the Anglo-Norman race in the Southern States.
644 Confederate Records
Dearly beloved by him as are the African race, his acts
are promjiteci less by love of them than by Puritanic hate
for the Cavliers, the Ihii^uonots, and Scotch-Irish whose
blood courses freely through the veins of the white popu-
lation of the South. But federal bayonets can never
reverse the laws of God, which must be done, before the
negro can be made the o(]u:il of the white man of the
South. The freedom sought for them by the abolition
party, if achieved, would result in their return to bar-
barism, and their ultimate extermination from the soil,
where most of them were born and were comfortable and
contented under the guardian care of the white race be-
fore this wicked crusade commenced.
What have been the abolition achievements of the ad-
ministration? The most that has been claimed by them
is that they have taken from their owners and set free,
100,000 negroes. What has this cost the white race of
the North and South? More than half a million of white
men slain or wrecked in health beyond the hope of re-
covery, and an expenditure of not perhaps less than four
thousand millions of dollars. What will it cost at this
rate to liberate nearly 4,000,000 more of slaves? North-
ern accounts of the sickness, suffering and death which
have under Northern treatment, carried off so large a
proportion of those set free, ought to convince the most
fanatical of the cruel injury they are inflicting upon the
poor helpless African.
The real objects of the war aimed at from the begin-
ning, were and are not so much the deliverance of the
African from bondage as the repudiation of the great
American doctrine of self-government; the subjugation
of the people of these States, and the confiscation of their
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 645
property. To carry out their fell purpose by misleading
some simple-minded folks, within their own limits, as well
as ours perhaps, they passed in the House of Representa-
tives of the Federal Congress a short time since, the
famous resolution :
"That as our country and the very existence of the
best Government ever instituted by man is imperilled by
the most causeless and wicked rebellion, that the only
hope of saving the country and preserving the Govern-
ment is by the power of the sword, we are for the most
vigorous prosecution of the war until the Constitution
and laws shall be enforced and obeyed in all parts of the
United States ; and to that end we oppose any armistice,
or intervention, or mediation, or proposition for peace
from any quarter, so long as there shall be found a rebel
in arms against the Government ; and we ignore all party
names, lines and issues, and recognize but two parties
to this war — patriots and traitors."
Were solemn mockery, perfidious baseness, unmiti-
gated hypocrisy, and malignant barbarity ever more con-
spicuously combined and presented for the just condem-
nation of a right thinking world, than there are in this
resolution, passed by the abolition majority in the Lin-
coln Congress? Think of the members from Massachu-
setts and Vermont, voting for the most vigorous prose-
cution of the war, imtil the Constitution and laws shall
be enforced and obeyed in all parts of the United States.
Think of the Acts of the Legislature of Massachusetts,
passed in 1843 and 1855, still standing upon her statute
books, setting at defiance the Constitution and laws. What
would become of these States'? And what would become
of their members themselves, who have upheld and sus-
()4() Confederate Recouds
taiiiod tliese violations of the Constitution and laws,
which is the chief reason wliy they now hold their seats
by the votes of their constituents, if the war should be
so waged? How long wouhl it be before they would
ground their arms of rebellion against the provision of
the Constitution which they have set at nought, and give
it their loyal sui)port? What would become of their
President and his cabinet, and all who from the begin-
ning of the war and before that time, have been tramp-
ling the Constitution under their feet? Were the war
waged as they thus declare it to be their purpose to
wage it, they would be the first victims of the sword were
it first turned as it ought to be, against the first offen-
ders. This they know full well. Obedience to the Con-
stitution is the last thing they want or intend. Hence
the mockery, baseness and hypocrisy of such a declara-
tion of purpose. On their part it is a war of most wan-
ton and savage aggression on ours it is a war in defence
of inalienable rights, in defence of everything for which
freemen should live, and for which freemen may well be
willing to die.
The inestimable rights of self-government and State
sovereignty for which their fathers and our fathers bled
and suffered together in the struggle with England for
Independence, are the same for which we are now en-
gaged in the most unnatural and sanguinary struggle
with them. Those rights are as dear to the people of
these States as they were to those who achieved them;
and on account of the great cost of the achievement, they
are now more preciously cherished by those to whom
they were bequeathed, and will never be surrendered or
abandoned at less sacrifice.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 647
If no proposition for peace or armistice is to be re-
ceived or entertained, so long as we hold arms in our
hands to defend ourselves, our homes, our hearthstones,
our altars, and our birthright, against such ruthless and
worse than vandal invaders, be it so! We deem it due,
however, to ourselves, to the civilized world, and to
those who shall come after us ; to put upon record, what
we are fighting for ; and to let all know who may now or
hereafter feel an interest in knowing the real nature of
this conflict; that the heavy responsibility of such suffer-
ing, desolation and carnage, may rest where it rightfully
belongs.
It is believed that many of the people of the Northern
States labor under the impression that no propositions
for peaceful adjustment have ever been made by us.
President Lincoln, in his letter to the ''Unconditional
Union" meeting at Springfield last summer, stated in
substance, that no proposition for a peaceful adjustment
of the matters in strife had ever been made to him by
those who were in control of the military forces of the
Confederate States ; but if any should be made, he would
-entertain and give it his consideration.
This was doubtless said to make the impression, on
the minds of those not well informed, that the responsi-
bility of the war was with us. This declaration of
President Lincoln stands in striking contrast, with that
above quoted, from the republican members of the House
of Representatives.
"When this statement was made by President Lincoln
it was well known to him that our commissioners, sent
648 Confederate Records
to .sL'ttlc the whole matter \u dispute peaeeal)!}', were re-
fused a hearing ! They were not even permitted to pre-
sent their terms!
This dechiration was also made soon after it was well
knowTi, througliout the Confederate States at least, that
a distinguished son of this State, who is a high function-
ary of the Government at Richmond, had consented as
military commissioner, to bear a communication in writ-
ing from President Davis, the Commander-in-Chief of
our armies, to President Lincoln himself, with authority
to confer upon matters therein set forth. The Commis-
sioner sent from the head of our armies was not granted
an audience, nor was the communication he bore received.
That communication, as was afterwards known, related
to divers matters connected with the general conduct of
the war. Its nature, however, or to what it referred.
President Lincoln did not know, when he refused to re-
ceive it. But from what is now known of it, if he had
received it, and had heard what terms might have been
proposed for the general conduct of the war, it is reason-
able to conclude that the discussion of these and kindred
topics might have led to some more definite ideas of the
aims and objects of the war on both sides, from which
the initiative of peaceful adjustment might have sprung,
unless his real purpose be, as it is believed to be, nothing
short of the conquest and subjugation of these States.
His announcement that no offer of terms of adjustment
had ever been made to him, is believed to be an artful
pretext on his part to cover and hide from the people
over whom he is assuming such absolute sway, his deep
designs ; first against our liberties and then against theirs.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 649
How Peace Should be Sought.
In view of these difficulties it may be asked, when
and how is this war to terminate? It is impossible to
say when it may terminate, but it is easy to say how it
will end. We do not seek to conquer the Northern people,
and if we are true to ourselves they can never conquer us.
We do not seek to take from them the right of self-govern-
ment, or to govern them without their consent. And
they have not force enough to govern us without our con-
sent, or to deqrive us of the right to govern ourselves.
The blood of hundreds of thousands may yet be spilt, and
the war will not still be terminated by force of arms.
Negotiation will finally terminate it. The pen of the
statesman, more potent than the sword of the warrior,
must do what the latter has failed to do.
But I may be asked how negotiations are to commence,
when President Lincoln refuses to receive Commissioners
sent by us and his Congress resolves to hear no proposi-
tion for peace? I reply that, in my opinion, it is our
duty to keep it always before the Northern people, and
the civilized world, that we are ready to negotiate for
peace whenever the people and Government of the North-
ern States are prepared to recognize the great funda-
mental principles of the Declaration of Independence,
maintained by our common ancestry — the right of all
self-government and the sovereignty of the States. In
my judgment it is the duty of our Government, after
each important victory achieved by our gallant and glo-
rious armies on the battle field, to make a distinct propo-
sition to the Northern Government for peace upon these
terms. By doing this, if the proposition is declined by
1)50 Confederate Records
tliem, we will hold llieiii up constantly in the wroni; he-
fore their own people and the judgment of mankind. If
tliey refuse to receive the Commissioners wlio hear the
proposition, ])uh]ish it in the newspapers, and let the
conduct of their rulers he known to their own people; and
there is reasonahle ground to hope that the time "may
not be far distant when a returning sense of justice and
a desire for self-protection against despotism at home
will ])rompt the peo])le of the Northern States to hurl
from power those who deny the fundamental principle
upon which their own liberties rest, and who can never
be satiated with human blood. Let us stand on no deli-
cate point of etiquette or diplomatic ceremony. If the
proposition is rejected a dozen times, let us tender it
again after the next victory — that the world may be reas-
sured, from month to month, that we are not responsible
for the continuance of this devastation and carnage.
Let it be repeated again and again to the Northern
people, that all we ask is that they recognize the great
principle upon which their own Government rests, — the
sovereiguty of the States; and let our own people hold
our own Government to a strict account for every en-
croachment upon this vital principle.
Herein lies the simple solution of all these troubles.
If there be any doubt, or any question of doubt, as to
the sovereign will of any one of all the States of this
Confederacy, or of any border State whose institutions
are similar to ours, not in the Confederacy, upon the sub-
ject of their ]iresent or future alliance, let all armed
force be withdrawn, and let that sovereign will be fairly
expressed at the ballot box by the legal voters of the State,
and let all parties abide by the decision.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 651
Let each State have, and freely exercise, the riglit to
determine its own destiny in its own way. This is all that
we have been struggling for from the beginning. It is a
principle that secures "rights, inestimable to freemen,
and formidable to tyrants only."
'Let both Governments adopt this mode of settlement,
which was bequeathed to them by the great men of the
Revolution, and which has since been adopted by the Em-
peror Napoleon as the only just mode for the Government
of the States, or even provinces ; and the ballot box will
soon achieve what the sword cannot accomplish — restore
peace to the country and uphold the great doctrines of
State sovereignty and Constitutional liberty.
If it is a question of strife, whether Kentucky or
Maryland, or any other State, shall cast her lot with the
United States, or the Confederate States, there is no mode
of settling it so justly, with so little cost and with so
much satisfaction to her own people, as to withdraw all
military force from her limits and leave the decision, not
to the sword, but to the ballot box. If she should decide
for herself to abolish slavery and go with the North, the
Confederate Government can have no just cause for com-
plaint, for that Government had its origin in tlie great
doctrine that all its just "powers are derived from the
consent of the governed," and we have no right to insist
on Governing a sovereign State, against her will. But if
she should decide to retain her institutions and go with
the South, as we doubt not she will, when the question is
fairly submitted to her people at the polls, the Lincoln
Government must acquiesce, or it must repudiate and
trample upon the very essential principles on which it
was founded and which were carried out in practice by
652 CONFEDERATK ReCORDS
the falliers ol' (lie licpuhlic. Tor llic lirst half ceutury
ot" ils existeiK'O.
A\'li;it Soiitliurii men can object to this mode of settle-
ment? It is all that Soiitli Carolina, Virginia or Georgia
claimed when she sececkMl fioni the Union. It is all that
either has at any time claimed, and all that either can
ever justly claim. And what friend of Southern Inde-
pendence fears tlie result? What has the abolition Gov-
ernment done, to cause the people of any Southern State
to desire to reverse her decision, and return ingloriously
to its embrace. Are we afraid the people of any seceded
State will desire to place the State back in the abolition
Union under the Lincoln despotism, after it has devas-
tated their fields, laid waste their country, burned their
cities, slaughtered their sons and degraded their daugh-
ters? There is no reason for such fear.
But I may be told that Mr. Lincoln has repudiated
this principle in advance, and that it is idle again to ten-
der a settlement u])on these terms. This is no reason
why we should withhold the repeated renewal of the
proposition. Let it be made again and again, till the
mass of the Northern people understand it, and Mr. Lin-
coln cannot continue to stand before them and the world,
stained with the blood of their sons, their husbands, and
their fathers, and insist, when a proposition so fair is
constantly tendered, that thousands of new victims shall
still continue to bleed, to gratify his abolition fanaticism,
satisfy his revenge and serve his ambition to govern these
States, upon the decision of one-tenth of the people in his
favor, against the other nine-tenths. Let the Northern
and Southern mind be brought to contemplate this sub-
ject in all its magnitude ; and while there may be extreme
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 653
men on tlie Northern side, satisfied with nothin<^ less than
the subjugation of the South, and the confiscation of our
property, and like extremists on the Southern side, whose
morbid sensibilities are shocked at the mention of negotia-
tion, or the renewal of an offer by us for a settlement
i7pon any terms; I cannot doubt that the cool-headed,
thinking men on both sides of the line, who are devoted
to the great principles of self-government and State sov-
ereignty, including the scar-covered veterans of the
Army, will finally settle down upon this as the true solu-
tion of the great problem, which now embarrasses so
many millions of people and will find the higher truth
between the two extremes.
If, upon the sober second thought, the public senti-
ment North, sustains the policy of Mr. Lincoln when he
proposes, by the power of the sword, to place the great
doctrines of the Declaration of Independence and the Con-
stitution of his country under his feet, and proclaims his
purpose to govern these States by Military power, when
he shall have obtained the consent of one-tenth of the gov-
erned; how can the same public sentiment condemn him,
if at the head of his vast armies he shall proclaim him-
self Emperor of the whole country, and submit the
question to the vote of the Northern people, and when
he has obtained, as he could easily do, the vote of one-
tenth in his favor, he shall insist on his right to govern
them, as their legitimate sovereign? If he is right in
principle in the one case, he would unquestionably be
right in the other. If he may rightfully continue the
war against the South to sustain the one, why may he
not as rightfully turn his armies against the North to
establish the other?
654 0»1NFKDKRATK RECORDS
l^iit the timid amoii.i;" us may say, how are we to meet
and repel his armies, if ]\lr. Lincoln shall continue to
reject these terms, and shall he sustained by the senti-
ment of the North, as he claims not only, the right to
govern us, but he claims the right to take from us all
that we have.
The answer is ])lain. Let every man do his duty;
and let us as a people place our trust in God, and we
shall certainly rei)el his assaults and achieve our Inde-
])endence, and if true to ourselves and to posterity, we
shall maintain our Constitutional liberty also. The
achievement of our Independence is a great object; but
not greater than the preservation of Constitutional lib-
erty.
The good man cannot read the late proclamation of
Mr. Lincoln without being struck with resemblance
between it and a similar one issued several thousand
years ago, by Ben-hadad, King of Syria. That wicked
King denied in others the right of self-government and
vaunting himself in numbers, and putting his trust in
chariots and horses, he invaded Israel, and beseiged Sa-
maria with an overwhelming force. When the King of
Israel, with a small band, resisted his entrance into the
city, the Syrian King sent liim this message: "Thou
shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives,
and thy children; yet I will send my servants unto thee
tomorrow, about this time, and they shall search thy
house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be,
that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put
in their hands and take it away." The King of Israel
consulted the Elders, after receiving this arrogant mes-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 655
sage and replied: "This thing I may not do." Ben-
hadad, enraged at this reply, and confident of his
strength, sent back and said :
"The Gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of
Samaria shall suffice, for handfuls, for all the people
that follow me." The King of Israel answered and
said: "Tell him, let not him that girdeth on his har-
ness, boast himself as he that putteth it off."
The result was that the small band of Israelites,
giiided by Jehovah, attacked the Syrian armies and
routed them with great slaughter; and upon a second
trial of strength, the Syrian armies were destroyed and
their King made captive.
When Mr. Lincoln, following the example of this
wicked King, and relying upon his chariots and his horse-
men, and his vast armies to sustain a cause equally
unjust, proclaims to us that all we have is his, and that
he will send his servants, whose numbers are overwhelm-
ing, with arms in their hands to take it, and threatens
vengeance if we resist; let us — "Tell him, let not him
that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that
putteth it off." The race is not to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong. God is the judge, he putteth down
one and setteth up another."
Not doubting the justice of our cause, let us stand in
our allotted places, and in the name of Him who rules
the hosts of Heaven, and the armies of Earth, let us
continue to strike, for Liberty and Independence, and
our efforts will ultimately be crowned with triumphant
success.
Joseph E. Brown.
656 CONFEDEBATE RECORDS
*ACT OF SIXTEENTH CHARLES I, CHAPTER 10.
THIS WENT INTO OPERATION 1st August, 1641.
An Act for regulating the privy council, and for tak-
ing away the Court commonly called the Star-Chamber.
Whereas, by the Great Charter ynany times confirmed
in parlia^nent, it is enacted, That no freeman shall be
taketi or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold or lib-
erties, or free custoins, or be outlawed, or exiled, or other-
wise destroyed; and that the King mil not pass upon him,
or condemn him, but by lawful judg?nent of his peers, or
by the law of the land.
(2.) And by another statute made in the fifth year
of the reign of King Edward, it is enacted, that no man
shall be attached by any accusation, nor forejudged of
life, or limb, nor his lands, tenemerits, goods nor chattels
seized into the King's hands, against the form of the
GREAT CHARTER and the LAW OF THE LAND;
(3.) And by another statute made in the five and
twentieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the
Third, it is accorded, assented, and established, that none
shall be taken by petition, or suggestion made to the
King, or to his council, unless it be by indictment or 'pre-
sentment of good and laivfid people of the same neighbor-
hood, where such deeds be done, in due manner, or
by process made by writ original at the common laiv; and
that none be put out of his franchise, or freehold, unless
he be duly brought in to answer, and forejudged of the
same by the course of the law: And if anything be done
against the same, it shall be redressed, and holden for
none.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 657
(4.) And by another statute made in the eigth and
twentieth year of the reign of the same King Edward
the Third, it is, amongst other things, enacted, That no
nian, of what estate or condition soever he be, shall be
put out of his lands and tenements^ nor taken, nor im-
prisonedf nor disinherited , without being brought in to
answer by DUE PROCESS OF LAW.
(5.) And by another statute made in the two and
fortieth year of the reign of the said King Edward the
Third, it is enacted. That no man be put to answer with-
out presentment before justice or matter of record, or
by due process and ivrit original, according to the OLD
LAW of the land : And if anything be done to the con-
trary, it shall be twid in law and holden for error.
(6.) And by another statute in the sixth and thirtieth
year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third,
it is amongst other things, Enacted, That all pleas, which
shall be pleaded in any courts, before any of the King's
justices, or in his other places or before any of his other
ministers, or in the courts and places of any other lords
within this realm, shall be entered and enrolled in Latin.
(7.) And whereas by the statute made in the third
year of King Henry the Seventh, power is given to the
Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer of England, for the time
being, and the keeper of the King's Privy seal, or two of
them, calling unto them a bishop, and a temporal lord of
the King's most honorable council, and the two chief
justices of the King's bench, and common pleas for the
time being, or other two justices in their absence, to pro-
ceed as in that Act is expressed for the punishment of
some particular offences therein mentioned.
658 Confederate Records
(8.) And by the statute made in the one and twen-
tieth year of King Henry the Eighth, the president of
the council associated to join with the Lord Chancellor,
and other judges in the said statute of the third of Henry
the Seventh mentioned.
(9.) But the said judges have not kept themselves
to the points limited by the said statute, but have under-
taken to punish where no law doth warrant, and to make
decrees for things, having no such authority, and to inflict
heavier punishments, than by any law is warranted.
2. And forasmuch as all matters examinable or de-
terminable before the said judges or in the court com-
monly called the star-chaniher, may have their proper
remedy and redress, and their due punishment and cor-
rection by the common law of the land, and in the ordi-
nary course of justice elsewhere. {'!) And forasmuch
as the reasons and motives, inducing the erection and
continuance of that court do now cease. (3.) And the
proceedings, censures, and decrees of that court, have by
experience been found to be an intolerable burthen to
the subject, and the means to introduce an arbitrary
power and government. (4) And forasmuch as the
council table hath of late times assumed unto itself, a
power to intermeddle in civil and matters only of private
interest between party and party; and have ADVEN-
TURED to determine of the estates and liberties of the
subjects, contrary to the LAWS of the LAND and the
Rights and Privileges of the subject, by which great and
manifold mischiefs and inconveniences have arisen and
happened, and much uncertainty, by means of such pro-
ceedings, hath been conceived concerning men's rights
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown G59
and estates; for settling whereof and Preventing the like
in time to come.
3. Be it ordained and Enacted by the authority of
this present parliament, That the said court commonly
called the star-chamber, and all jurisdictions, power and
authority, belonging unto, or exercised in the same court,
or by any of the judges, officers, or ministers thereof, be
from the first day of August, in the year of our Lord
God one thousand six hundred and forty-one, CLEARLY
and ABSOLUTELY dissolved, taken away, and deter-
mined. (2) And that from the said first day of August
neither the lord chancellor or keeper of the Great seal of
England, the lord treasurer of England, the keeper of
the King's Privy seal, or president of the council, nor
any bishop, temporal lord, privy counsellor or judge, or
justice whatsoever, shall have any power or authority
to hear, examine or determine any matter or thing what-
soever, in said court, commonly called the Star-Cham-
ber, or to make, pronounce, or deliver any judgment, sen-
tence, order or decree; or to any judicial or ministerial
act in the said court. (3) And that all and every Act
and Acts of parliament, and all and every article, clause,
and sentence in them, and every one of them, by which
any jurisdiction, power or authority, is given, limited or
appointed unto the said court, commonly called the Star-
Chamber, or unto all, or any of the judges, officers, or
ministers thereof, or for any proceedings to be liad or
made in question, examined or determined there, shall
for so much as concerneth the said court of Star-Cham-
ber, and the power and authority thereby given unto it,
be from the first day of August REPEALED and ABSO-
LUTELY REVOKED and mmle void.
660 Confederate Records
4. And it is likewise Enacted, That the like jurisdic-
tion now used and exercised in the court, before the pres-
ident and council in the marches of Wales: (2) And
also in the court, before the president and council estab-
lished in the northern ports; (3) And also in the court
commonly called the court of the duchy of Lancaster, held
before the chamber and council of that court; (4) And
also in the court of Exchequer of the county palatine of
Chester, held before the Chamberlain and council of that
court; (5) The like jurisdiction being exercised there,
shall, from the said first day of August one thousand six
hundred and forty-one, be also REPEALED, and ABSO-
LUTELY REVOKED; and made VOID; any law, pre-
scription, custom or usage, or the said statute made in
the third year of King Henry the Seventh, or the statute
made in the one and twentieth of Henry the Eighth, or
any Act or Acts of parliament heretofore had or made,
to the co}i.frary thereof, in any wise notwithstanding. (6)
AND THAT FROM HENCEFORTH NO court, council
or PLACE OF JUDICATURE, SHALL BE ERECTED,
ORDAINED, CONSTITUTED or APPOINTED
AVITHIN THIS REALM OF England, OR DOMINION
OF IVales, WHICH SHALL HAVE, USE, OR EXER-
CISE THE SAME, OR THE LIKE JURISDICTION,
AS IS OR HATH BEEN USED, PRACTISED OR
EXERCISED IN THE SAID COURT OF Star-Cham-
be r.
5. Be it likewise declared, and Enacted by the au-
thority of this present parliament, That neither his
MAJESTY, NOR his PRR^^ COUNCIL, HAVE or
OUGHT TO HAVE, any jurisdiction, 'power or author-
ity, by English bill, petition, articles, libels, or any other
ARBITRARY WAY WHATSOEVER, to examine or to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 661
draw into question, determine or dispose of the lands,
tenements, hereditaments, goods or chattels of any of the
subject of this kingdom; hut that the same ought to he
tried, and determined in the ordinary courts of justice
and by the ordinary course of law.
6. And be it further provided and enacted, That if
any lord chancellor or keeper of the Great seal of Eng-
land; lord treasurer, keeper of the king's privy seal,
president of the council, bishop, temporal lord, privy
counsellor, judge or justice tvhatsoever shall offend, or
do anything contrary to the purport, true intent, and
meaning of this law, then he or they for such offence
forfeit the sum of FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS of law-
ful money of England, unto any party grieved, his execu-
tors or administrators, who shall really prosecute for
the same, and first obtain judgment thereupon to be re-
covered in any Court of record at Westminster, by action
of debt, bill, plaint, or information, wherein no essoigTi,
protection, wager of law, aid prayer, privilege, injunc-
tion or order of restraint, shall he in any wise prayed,
granted or allowed, nor any more than one imparlance.
(2) And if any person, against whom, any such judg-
ment or recovery shall be had as aforesaid, shall, after
such judgment or recovery, offend again, in the same,
then he or they for such offence shall forfeit the sum of
ONE THOUSAND POUNDS of lawful money of Eng-
land, unto any party grieved his executors or adminis-
trators, who shall realh' prosecute for the same, and first
obtain judgment thereupon, to be recovered in any court
of record at Westminster by action of debt, bill, plaint,
or information, in which no essoign, protection, wager of
law, aid prayer, privilege, injunction or order of re-
straint, shall be IN ANY WISE prayed, granted or al-
002 Confederate Records
lowed; nor any more lliaii (»iu' imparlance. (.'») And if
any person, against whom any such second judgment or
recovery shall he had as aforesaid, shall after such judg-
ment of recovery offrnd, <i(/(ini in the same kind, and
shall be therefore duly convicted by indictment, informa-
tion or any other lawful way or means, that sucli person
so convicted shall he from thenceforth DISABLED, and
become, ])y virtue of this Act INCAPABLE, ipso fa<;to,
to hear liis and their said offices respectively. (4) And
shall be likewise disabled to make any gift, grant, con-
veyance, or other disposition, of any of his lands, tene-
ments, hereditaments, goods or chattels; or to make any
benefit of any gifts, conveyance or legacy, to his own use.
7. And every person so offending, shall likewise profit
and lose to the party grieved, by anything done, con-
trary to the true intent and meaning of this law, his
trible damages, which he shall sustain and put unto, by
means or occasion of any such Act, or thing done; the
same to be recovered in any of his Majesty's courts of
record at Westminster, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or
information, wherein no essoign, protection, wager of
law, aid prayer, privilege, injunction, or order of re-
straint, shall be IN ANY WISE prayed, granted or al-
lowed, nor any more than one imparlance.
8. And be it also provided and enacted. That if any
person shall hereafter be committed, restrained of his
libert}', or suffer imiirisonment, by order or decree of
any such court of STAR-CHAMBER, or other court
aforesaid, now, or at any time hereafter, having, or pre-
tending to have, the same, or like jurisdiction, power or
authority, to commit or imprison as aforesaid; (2) Or
by the command or warrant of the king's Majesty, his
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 663
heirs and successors in their own person; or by tlie com-
mand or warrant of the council-hoard; or of any of the
lords, or others of his Majesty's privy council; (3)
That in every such case, every person so committed, re-
strained of his liberty, or suffering imprisonment, upon
demands or motion made by his counsel or other em-
ployed by him for that purpose, unto the Judges of the
court of King's bench, or common pleas, in open court,
shall, without delay, upon any pretence whatsoever, for
the ordinary fees usually paid for the same, have forth-
with granted unto him a writ of habeas corpus, to be
directed generally unto all and every sheriff, gaoler, min-
ister, officer, or other person, in whose custody the per-
son committed or restrained, shall be. (4) And the
sheriffs, gaoler, minister, officer, or other person, in
whose custody the person so committed or restrained
shall be, shall, at the return of the said writ and accord-
ing to the command thereof, upon due and convenient
notice thereof, given unto him, at the charge of the party
who requireth or prosecuteth such writ, and upon secu-
rity by his oivn bond given, to pay the charge of carry-
ing back the prisoner, if he shall be remanded by the
court, to which he shall be brought ; as in like cases hath
been used; such charges of bringing up, and carrying
back the prisoner, to be always ordered by the court, if
an}' difference shall arise thereabout; bring or cause to
be brought, the body of the said party so committed or
restrained, unto and before the Judges or justices of the
said court, from whence the same writ shall issue, in open
court. (5) And shall then likewise certify the true
cause of such, his detainer, or imprisonment, and there-
upon the court, within three court days after such term,
made and delivered in open court, shall proceed to exam-
G()4 Confederate Records
ine and ddermine, whether the cause of such commit-
ment, api)earing u])on the said return, be just and legal
or not, and shall thereupon do what to JUSTICE SHALL
APPERTAIN, either by (hllnriug, hallbuj, or rcmand-
ing the prisoner. ((5) And if anything shall be other-
wise wilfully done, or omitted to be done by any judge,
justice, ollicer or other person afore-mentioned, contrary
to the directions and true meaning hereof, then such per-
sons so olTending shall forfeit to the party grieved, his
trihle damages to be recovered by such means, and in
such manner as is formerly in this Act, limited and ap-
pointed, for the like penalty to be sued for and recovered.
9. Provided always, and be it enacted. That this Act
and the several clauses therein contained shall be taken
and expounded to extend only to the court of STAR-
CHAMBER; (2) And to the said court— holden be-
fore the president and council in the marches of Wales;
(3) And before the president and council in the North-
ern ports; (4) And also to the court commonly called
the court of the duchy of Lancaster holden before the
chancellor and council of that court; (5) And also, in
the court of Exchequer, of the county palatine of Ches-
ter, held before the chamberlain and council of the court;
(6) And to all courts of like jurisdiction to he hereafter
erected, ordained, constituted, or appointed, as aforesaid;
and to the warrants and directions of the council-hoard,
and to the commitments, restraints and imprisonments
of any person or persons, made, commanded or awarded
by the king's Majesty, his heirs or successors, in their
own person, or by the lords, and others of the privy coun-
cil, and every one of them.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 665
And lastly, provided and be it enacted, That no per-
son or persons shall be sued, impleaded, molested or
troubled, for any offence against this present Act, unless
the party supposed to have so offended, shall be sued, or
impleaded for the same, within Uvo years, at the most,
after such time, wherein the said offence shall be com-
mitted.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 12th, 1864.
By order of his Excellency the Governor, and in com-
pliance with the recommendation of the authorities of
Wilkes county, license No. 9, issued to John Wortham
of said county, on the 12th of March, 1863, authorizing
him to distill one thousand gallons of whiskey for the use
of the people of said county, was this day revoked, a
copy of which revocation was ordered to be served upon
said John Wortham by the sheriff of said county, or his
deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sect'y Ex. Dept.
666 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 14th 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Fulton county,
license No. 3, granted to High and Lewis of said county,
on the 5th of January 1863, authorizing them to distill
57,000 gallons of whiskey for the Confederate Govern-
ment, was this day revoked, a copy of which revocation
was ordered to be served upon said High and Lewis by
the Sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
B}' the Governor,
H. H. AVaters,
Sect'y Ex. Dept.
The following message was sent to the General As-
sembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 15th, 1864.
To the General Assembly :
I am informed, since you assembled, that I can make
a contract with a house abroad for the delivery of a
large supply of Cotton Cards, upon short notice, which
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 667
must be paid for in Sterling Exchange, and which might
be imported by the State to supply the wants of her
people.
I therefore recommend the appropriation of one mil-
lion of dollars, or such part of that sum as it may be
necessary to use, and ask that I be permitted to invest
it in cotton and run it out through the blockade to create
a fund in England sufficient to pay for the Cards, and
that I be authorized to import them and sell them to
the people at such price as will cover actual cost and
expenses. This would enable me, in a few months, if we
have ordinary success in making the importations, to
supply the demand of our people for this indispensable
article.
The (*ard Factory at this place is now turning out
over one hundred pairs per day, but this is whollj^ inade-
quate to supply the demand. The State can make
enough, I trust, during the year to supply the needy
soldiers' families who look to her as their natural guar-
dian in the absence of their husbands and fathers in
service, but we cannot make enough to suj)ply all our
people.
Under the arrangement proposed, I trust the demand
could soon be met at reasonable prices, and as the money,
when received, for the Cards, from the people, would be
paid back into the Treasury, the appropriation would be
in the nature of a loan, soon to be returned, and would
add nothing to the debt of the State.
Joseph E. Brown.
668 Confederate Kecords
Executive Department,
MILLEDGE\^LLE, GeORGIA,
March 17th, 1864.
To Generals Commanding Departments, and Custom-
House Officers in Confederate States:
The Georgia Relief and Hospital Association, of Au-
gusta, Georgia, was organized and now acts under State
laws and solely for the benefit of soldiers in service or
wounded and disabled soldiers. The General Assembly
of this State, at its late annual session, appropriated
a large sum of money to be used and disbursed by said
Association; and the Association was authorized by Act
of the Legislature of the State to import articles needed
by the Association for its legitimate purposes; therefore
I request that said Association, through its officers or
agents, be permitted to export one hundred bales of cot-
ton, for the purpose of importing supplies for the use
of the Association, which is a State institution, recog-
nized and supported by State authority and State appro-
priation.
Given under my hand and the seal of the Executive
Department the day and the year above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sect'y Ex.Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 669
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 18th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Fayette county,
license No. 15, issued to Franklin Handsome on the 23d
day of March, 1863, authorizing him to distill 1,300 gal-
lons of whiskey for the use of the people of said county,
was this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation or-
dered to be served upon said Franklin Handsome by the
sheriff, or his deputy, of said county.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sect'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
March 18th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Randolph
county, license No. 45, issued to Thos. J. Guimarin of
said county, on the 16th May, 1863, authorizing him to
distill 1,500 gallons of whiskey for the use of the people
of said county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said
670 Confederate Eecords
revocation ordered to be served upon the said Tbos. J.
Guimarin by the sheriff, or his deputy, of said county.
Joseph E. Browx.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sect'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 18th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Butts county,
license No. 11, issued to G. W. Thornton of said county,
on the 21st of March, 1863, authorizing him to distill 500
gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said revo-
cation ordered to be served upon the said G. W.
Thornton by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sect'y. Ex. Dept.
The following special message was transmitted to the
House of Representatives, to-wit:
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 671
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 18th, 1864.
To the House of Representatives ;
In compliance with your Eesolution, I herewith trans-
mit a *letter of the Adjutant and Inspector-General upon
the subject of the exemption of the ministers of the
Methodist Episcopal Church from military service, to-
gether with the orders issued by him upon that subject.
I also transmit *copies of letters addressed by Col.
M,. C. Fulton, my Aide-de-Camp, by my direction, to per-
sons who have submitted inquiries whether local minis-
ters of that church are exempt under the statute.
While the language of the statute does not embrace
ordained local ministers not in charge of a church or
synagogue, I was of opinion they came within the spirit
of the Act, as many of them spend a considerable portion
of the time in ministerial service, and I therefore so con-
strued the statute as to exempt them.
It will be seen by the letter of General Wajme that
his order to Col. Pottle was never submitted to me for
approval, as I was absent at the time it was issued. I will
add, that I never heard of this order till complaint was
made to me about it on the night of the 15th instant ; and
on the next morning I directed the Adjutant and In-
spector-General to issue the general order, of which I
* Not found.
672 Confederate Records
enclose a copy — whicli had been done before I had any
notice of your resolutions, which were passed the day
after the order had issued.
So far from having any intention to place a construc-
tion upon the statute which would subject the ministers
known as circuit preachers and elders and elders of the
Methodist Church to military duty, I had, on all occa-
sions, when the subject was mentioned to me, stated that
they were exempt.
And I may here state, that I have constantly ex-
pressed my opposition to the passage of any Act by Con-
gress, or the State Legislature, which subjects the or-
dained ministers of any religious denomination to mili-
tary service. Their avocations are of peace, and not of
war, and I think that no legislator should forget the com-
mand, ''touch not mine anointed."
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Senate,
to-wit :
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 19th, 1864.
To the Senate.
In response to your resolution, I state that I have
received from the Confederate Government no official, or
other information, of the passage of the law in reference
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 673
to the exemption of State officers, and have no knowledge
of the passage of such a law other than that derived by
our people generally from the statements contained in
the newspapers, and have therefore sent no certificate to
the government about the officers.
So soon as I am invited by the government to specify
the officers exempt, I will act promptly in the matter.
The Supreme Court of this State having held that the
Confederate Government has no Constitutional power to
conscribe the officers of the State, I trust it may not be
attempted. If it is, I shall do all in my power to prevent
it, and to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution
over the unauthorized orders of any and all military
officers.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the General
Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 19th, 1864.
To the General Assembly:
In my message at the commencement of this present
session, I submitted to you the question whether the State
shall turn over all her active militia between 17 and 50
years of age to the Confederate Government, under the
late Act of Congress, and thus leave herself without suf-
ficient force to execute her own laws and suppress servile
()74 Confederate Records
insurrection, if attempted. I think I also showed that it
will be imjwssible for our people to make a support for
the army and the women and childron at home for another
year if this is not done.
Since your meeting, we are informed by the news-
papers that orders have been issued for the enrollment
of all these men into Confederate service, and that they
be sent to camp of instruction, so that each must take his
chance to get a detail from Richmond before he will be
permitted to cultivate his farm or attend to any other
business at home. The time will soon have arrived when,
under the new Conscription Act, as published, all who
had not enrolled for service within the State are subject
to be enrolled and sent wherever the President chooses to
direct.
These men have been legally enrolled, under an Act
of this General Assembly, for the service of the State.
In his letter to me of 29th May, 1862, the President admits
the right of the State to call forth her own militia, to
execute her own laws, suppress insurrection and repel
invasion, and to govern all her militia not in the actual
service of the Confederacy.
The Constitution also, by clear implication, authorizes
the State to keep troops, in time of war, so long as she is
invaded.
The right of the State therefore, to enroll into her own
service any of her militia not in the actual service of the
Confederacy is too clear to be questioned, and is indeed
admitted.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 675
While there can be no question about the right of the
State to keep all she has mustered into her service, she
has the power to turn them over to the Confederacy, and
should do so if she can in that way better promote our
cause by strengthening the army, without failing to make
the supplies of provision necessary to prevent it from
disbanding.
This is one of the most important measures upon
which you were convened, and the country has a right to
expect that you will not adjourn without taking action
upon it. Tiie sovereignty, and probably the existence, of
the State is involved, while justice to those now enrolled
into State service who are claimed for Confederate ser-
vice requires that they know as soon as possible what dis-
position is to be made of them. Your action can settle
this question either way, and avoid all conflict or collis-
ion. Having submitted the question to your decision, I
am prepared to abide your action when taken, whether
in conformity to my own views of sound policy or not.
I am also informed that no final action has yet been
taken upon the question of the suspension of the writ of
habeas corpus, nor upon the important resolutions which
have passed the House on the subject of the terms upon
which peace should be sought, which lay down the great
principles upon which we entered into this struggle, and
insist that it is the duty of the President after each signal
victory of our arms, to tender peace upon these principles
upon which we stood when we seceded from the Union.
No formal action having been taken upon these great
questions, and you having notified me that the General
Assembly is about to adjourn, I hereby notify you that
67G Confederate Records
unless these questions can be acted upon today before
your adjournment, I feel it my duty to require, as I here-
by do, that the General Assembly convene in extra ses-
sion, at the Capitol in this city, on Monday the 21st in-
stant, at 10 o'clock A. M.
As I should deeply regret to have to detain members
now anxious to return home, nothing but a sense of duty
could prompt me to take this course ; and as each of these
measures can be disposed of by resolution, I trust you
may yet be able to act upon them today.
Assuring you of my wish to act in concert and har-
mony with you when in my power, I beg to renew my
thanks for your official courtesy and personal kindness
during the session.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 19th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Mitchell county,
license No. 64, issued to John T. Dickinson of said county,
on the 19th of June, 1863, authorizing him to distill 800
gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said revoca-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 677
tion ordered to be served upon the said John T. Dickin-
son by the sheriff of said countj^, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
March 19th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Mitchell county,
license No. 65, issued to John T. Dickinson of said county,
on the 19th of June, 1863, authorizing him to distill 200
gallons of alcohol for the use of the people of said county,
was this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation or-
dered to be served upon the said John T. Dickinson by
the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 19th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Crawford county,
678 Confederate Records
license No. 12, issued to Solomon R. Johnson of said
county, authorizing him to distill 1,200 gallons of whis-
key for the use of the people of said county of Crawford,
was this day revoked, (said license bearing date 29th of
March, 1863,) and a copy of which revocation was ordered
to be served upon the said S. R. Johnson by the sheriff of
said county, or his dei^uty.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 19th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Crawford county,
license No. 13, issued to Joseph Marshall of said county
on the 29th of March, 1863, authorizing him to distill 100
gallons of alcohol for the use of the people of said county,
was this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation was
ordered to be served upon the said Joseph Marshall by
the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 679
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 23d, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Montgomery-
county, license No. 84, issued to A. T. McLeod of said
county on the 20th of August, 1863, authorizing him to
distill 250 gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of
said county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said
revocation ordered to be served upon the said A. T.
McLeod by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
April 1st, 1864.
It is hereby ordered that John Davison be, and he is
hereby, appointed the agent of the State of Georgia in
the city of Augusta to fund the State Treasury Notes
which are payable in Confederate Treasury Notes for the
State, and to attend to such other business connected
with the purchase of cotton for the State and the impor-
680 Confederate Records
tation of supplies as may, from time to time, be ordered
under his commission.
Given under my hand and
Seal of the Executive De-
partment the day and year
above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
. Milledgeville, Georgia,
April 1st, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Randolph county,
license No. 46, issued to John Roe of said county, on the
16th of May, 1863, authorizing him to distill 200 gallons
of alcohol for the use of the people of said county, was
this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation ordered
to be served upon the said John Roe by the sheriff of
said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
April 2d, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Meriwether county,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 681
license No. 19, issued to Rufus Johnson of said county on
the 23d of March, 1863, authorizing him to distill 1,600
gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said revoca-
tion ordered to be served upon the said Rufus Johnson by
the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
April 2d, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Johnson county,
license No. 113, issued to Ephriam Hightower of said
county on the 7th of December, 1863, authorizing him to
distill 600 gallons of whiskey for the use of the people
of said county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said
revocation ordered to be served upon the said Ephriam
Hightower by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
682 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
April 4th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of DeKalb county,
license No. 67, issued to Jas. W. Brown of said county, on
the 12tli of June, 1863, authorizing him to distill 1,500
gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said revoca-
tion ordered to be served upon the said Jas. AV. Brown
by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
April 6th, 1864.
I hereby appoint and commission A. A. Beall, of the
city of Augusta, the agent of the State of Georgia for the
purchase and storing of cotton for the State, to be ex-
ported to purchase articles for importation necessary for
the support and clothing of Georgia troops now in mili-
tarv service.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 683
He will obey all orders in reference to the shipment
of cotton which he may receive from time to time, and I
certify to the enrolling officers that I consider Mr. Beall
necessary for this purpose, and chnm his exemption
from conscription, under the late Act of CJongress.
Given under my hand and
seal of the Executive De-
partment, the day and
year above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 9th, 1864.
To the People of Georgia:
As a vast number of letters are being received at this
department inquiring what civil and military officers of
this State are exempt from Confederate conscription,
which makes the labor of answering each burdensome, I
adopt this mode of giving a general reply. The Congress
of the Confederate States prior to the session of the Gen-
eral Assembly last winter, had, by Act, left it to the legis-
latures of the respective States to say what State officers
should be exempt from conscription, and our Legislature
passed the following joint resolution, which was approved
14th of December, 1863 :
''Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of
Georgia, in response to the law of the Confederate Con-
gress inviting the several States to specify what State
^84 Confederate Records
officers shall be exempt from conscription, tliat nil civil
and military olTiccrs of this State shall be so exempt."
The late Act of Congress, known as the Militar}- Act,
exempts the members of the State legislatures and such
other State officers as the Governors of the respective
States may certify to be necessary for the proper admin-
istration of the State governments.
In conformity to the resolution of the General Assem-
bly, I have certified to the President that I claim as
exempt all civil and military officers of this State. This
embraces the judges of the Supreme Court of this State,
and their clerk and deputy clerk, reporter and deputy
rejiorter; all judges of the Superior Courts, and one clerk
and deputy clerk in each county, with one sheriff, one
deputy sheriff, and one jailor for each county, with an
additional deputy in each county embracing the larger
cities, if the sheriff will file his affidavit that the services
of such second deputy are actually necessary to enable
him to discharge the duties of his office faithfully and
promptly; the Justices of the Inferior Court of each
county, with their clerk and deputy clerk; the Ordinary,
his deputy clerk; all Justices of the Peace and all lawful
Constables; all Tax Collectors, Receivers of Tax Returns,
County Treasurers, County Surveyors and Coroners ; all
Mayors of cities and Aldermen or Councilmen who are
made by the Act of Incorporation ex officio Justices of
the Peace or State officers; all financial agents appointed
by the Governor to aid in carrying into execution the laws
of this State for the exportation of cotton and the impor-
tation of clothing and other supplies for Georgia soldiers
in service, and the importation of cotton cards and arti-
cles necessan^ for the State Road; the judge, clerk and
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 685
sheriff of each city court, and all officers and necessary
employees of the State Road; one notary public for each
county, if appointed, as the statute requires, prior to this
date; all State House officers and the secretaries and
clerks employed in each department. The staff officers of
the Governor, including- the Adjutant and Inspector-Gen-
eral and his assistants; the Aides-de-Camp; the Quarter-
master and Commissary-General and their necessary as-
sistants; the officers and cadets of the Georgia Military
Institute, who, together, are made by law, the Engineer
Corps of this State; the Chief of Ordnance, and the super-
intendent of employees of the State armory under him;
and all commissioned officers of the newly organized mili-
tia of this State, including the Surgeons appointed under
the Act. The military officers as well as the civil are
protected from the date of their election. The militia
officers under the old organization are protected by the
law till their commissions are suspended, which takes
place in each senatorial district so soon as the Governor
issues his order to that effect, which is to be done in ten
days after the new organization in the district is com-
pleted. The officers and guards of the penitentiary;
the officers and employees of the cotton caj-d factory in
Milledgeville.
If I have omitted any officer whom the law makes it
my duty to protect, the fact will be made public when the
omission is discovered.
As some of the enrolling officers in this State, from
ignorance of their duty or disregard of the orders of their
superiors, assume to command the officers of the State,
and to sit in judgment upon the legality of their commis-
sions, all of the above mentioned officers are hereby noti-
6S6 Confederate Records
fiod that the enrolliiii!: officers liave no jurisdiction over
tlieiii, and they will obey no orders from any Con-
federate officer. If they are seized by force and carried
from their homes, they will at once notify me of the fact.
Upon the demand of the enrolling officer, it will be
the duty of each State officer to exhibit his commission
if he has it with him, if not, to get and exhibit it in a
reasonable time. In case of deputy sheriffs, deputy
clerks, jailors and constables, the law provides that the
order of appointment, by the person or court having the
power of appointment, shall constitute the commission.
The enrolling officers have no jurisdiction to try the
legality of a commission issued from this department, or
from the court or person in whom the law vests the
power to g'ive commissions. In case any doubt arises as
to the legality of a commission held by any person, or
the enrolling officer has reason to suspect that it is a
forgery, or that the holder is ])racticing any other impo-
sition, such enrolling officer is respectfully invited to for-
ward a statement of the facts to me at this place, and 1
will inform him promptly whether the person claiming to
be an officer is such in fact, and will afford him everj'-
facility in my power to arrest any person who may have
escaped under such false pretext. If the enrolling offi-
cers will adopt this course, there will be no reason for con-
flict or misunderstanding.
In case of deputy sheriffs and deputy clerks of the
several counties, the law does not limit the principal
sheriff or clerk to a single deputy, but authorizes him to
appoint "deputies."
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 687
As I am satisfied, however, that one deputy is quite
sufficient in any county, unless it may be in the office of
sheriff in the larger cities, and that some of the counties
may not need a deputy at all, I have thought that I carry
out in its spirit, if not in its letter, the resolution of the
legislature, when I refuse to protect more than one deputy
for each clerk and sheriff in each county, except in case
of the sheriffs of the counties embracing the larger cities,
upon their oaths, that a second deputy is necessary, as
above provided.
I regret to learn that able-bodied young men have, in
some cases, been elected to inferior, county, district or
militia offices, to the exclusion of old men competent to
fill the places; but as the Constitution and laws give me
no control over the decisions of the people in such cases,
and no right to interfere with them in the exercise of the
elective franchise, I have no discretion, but am obliged to
commission those who are legally elected, and, under the
general rule of law, am obliged to extend to them the same
protection which is afforded to other commissioned offi-
cers. I know of individual cases where I regret this nec-
essity, imposed by a general rule of law, and would give
the office to older men over whom they have succeeded,
and send them to the army, if I could do so in the legal
discharge of my duty. But I must yield to the choice of
those who have the right to make this selection.
Joseph E. Brown.
688 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 11th, 1864.
I have this day appointed, and hereby commission,
William T. W. Napier, of the county of Baldwin, agent
of the State of Georgia to assist in the transportation of
cotton from the interior to the coast, under the late Acts
of the Legislature for the exportation of cotton and the
importation of supplies, and to do such service connected
with the Quartermaster's department of the State as he
may, from time to time, be ordered to perform.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Executive
Department, the day and
year above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 13th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authoriites of Glascock county,
license No. 68, issued to J. C. A. Wilcher and John D.
Seals of said county on the 12th of June, 1863, author-
izing them to distill 500 gallons of whiskey for the use of
the people of said county, was this day revoked, and a
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 689
copy of said revocation ordered to be served upon the
said J. C. A. Wilcher and John D. Seals by the sheriff
of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 20th, 1864.
To the Enrolling Officer of Chatham County :
You are hereby notified that Edward C. Hough is
hereby selected as Notary Public, to be exempt for
Chatham county from conscription, under my late proc-
lamation. He will not therefore be disturbed.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, this 30th of
April, 1864.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgevilke, Georgia,
April 20th, 1864.
Since the date of my proclamation specifying the dif-
ferent classes of oflScers of this State exempt from con-
090 Confederate Records
scription. my attention has been called to the fact that I
omitted the Attorney and Solicitors-General and the Mas-
ters in Chancery, and I now make known that the Attor-
ney-General and all Solicitors-General of this State, and
all Masters in Chancery, who have been legally appointed
under the 4112th Section of the Code, prior to this date,
are claimed by me as exempt from enrollment as con-
scripts.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 23d, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in com])liance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Elbert county,
license No. 56, issued to Willis Craft of said county on
the 30th of May, 1863, authorizing him to distill 600 gal-
lons of whiskey for the use of the people of said county,
was this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation
ordered to be served upon the said Willis Craft by the
sheriff of Elbert county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 691
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
April 23d, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Elbert county,
license No. 57 ; issued to Asa S. Bone of said county, on
the 30th of May, 1863, authorizing him to distill 100
gallons of alcohol for the use of the people of said county,
was this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation
ordered to be served upon the said Asa S. Bone by the
sheriff of Elbert county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 3d, 1864.
By the order of his Excellency tlie Governor, and in
compliance with the recommendation of the authorities
of Cherokee county, license No. 110, issued to W. M.
Hurlick on the 20th of November, 1863, authorizing him
to distill 700 gallons of whiskey for the use of the peo-
ple of said county, was this day revoked, and a copy of
692 Confederate Records
said revocation ordered to be served upon said W. M.
JIurlick by the sheriff of Clierokee county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Hhown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
May 6th, 18G4.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Chatham coun-
ty, license No. 90, issued to Richard J. Nunn of said
county, authorizing him to distill (in Jones county) ten
thousand gallons of alcohol for the use of the people of
Chatham county, was this day revoked, and a copy of
said revocation ordered to be served upon the said Rich-
ard J. Xunn by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Browx.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y Ex. Dept.
STATE OF GEORGIA,
COUNTY OF BALDWIN.
This instrument executed and entered into this 7th
day of May, A. D. 1864, between his Excellency Joseph
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown (393
E. Brown, Governor of Georgia, of tlie one part, and
Albert E. Cox and Benjamin H. Bigham, under name of
Bigliam & Cox, of the other i)art, AVitnessetli : That
the said Bigham and Cox agree and covenant to furnish
his Excellency the Governor as much salt as 1,000 bush-
els i)er month for six months of the year 1864, delivered
in Augusta or Atlanta, Georgia, to the order of his
Excellency or the Commissary-General of the State ; and
in the event of delivery at Atlanta, the State to pay
freight from Augusta to that place — upon condition that
His Excellency grant to said Bigham & Cox the priv-
ilege of using such means of transportation as they may
be able to control, at their own cost and charges, for the
transportation of all salt they may make on their works
in Virginia to Georgia by authority of the State of Geor-
gia and as agents of the State; and also that they be
protected in the use and occupation of their furnaces at
Saltville, Virginia, and of such property as they may
possess themselves of lawfully and engage or use for
the purpose of successfully working the same: and upon
further condition that his Excellency grant to said par-
ties of the second part such special facilities and priv-
ileges of transportation for corn, cotton yarns, meat,
peas, cotton goods, sacks and other supplies as may be
necessary for the successful progress of their works in
Virginia as he or the officers of the State may be enabled
from time to time to grant without detriment to the pub-
lic service. In all cases, whether upon special facilities
and assistance furnished by the State, or under arrange-
ments made by Bigham & Cox, authorizing such needful
shipments to be made by them by State authority and as
State agents.
694 Confederate Records
It is fnrtlicr stii)iiIato(], that tlic casualties of war and
delays arising: out of the same, shall he aUowed to said
Bip:ham &. Cox should any (juestion of compliance with
the foregoin^}: aj^reenient come up — and that the occu-
jiancy of said works, or destruction thereof, or of any
l)art thereof, or of intermediate railroads, or any part
thereof, by the enemy, shall be deemed and held to exon-
erate said Bisrham t^' Cox from the above obligation
during such time as such occu])ancy may continue, and
for a reasonable time thereafter. Also that the occu-
pancy of the works, or of any of the intermediate rail-
roads by authority of the Confederate Government, or by
any other authority having power to do so, and exclusion
of Bigham & Cox therefrom for the purpose of their busi-
ness, shall likewise operate, whilst it continues, to exon-
erate them from the foregoing agreement.
This agreement, under the terms herein specified, to
continue during the present war, the said Bigham &
Cox being bound for every month in the year, except
December, January, February and March, except in cases
above specified, and unless the enemy should so occupy
the countr>^ in the vicinity of the salt works or line of
transportation as to render it inexpedient or imprudent
to continue working; and in consideration of this discre-
tion given to Bigham & Cox, it is hereby distinctly stipu-
lated that there shall, in no case, be any forfeiture upon
the State for failure to perform either of the above con-
ditions, save only the exoneration of Bigham & Cox from
their obligations herein expressed.
For the salt thus to be furnished to the State, his
Excellency will pay to said Bigham & Cox ten dollars
per bushel, and provided the actual cost of transporta-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 695
tion shall exceed that sum, then his Exeelleucy will i)ay
to said contractors the excess of the costs thereof over
that amount. The salt is to be shipped in sacks or bar-
rels, and the State to pay the cost of the same. (In dup-
licate.)
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
BiGHAM & Cox.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 7th, 1864.
This certifies that Stuart, Buchanan & Co., which
said firm consists of W. A. Stuart, B. K. Buchanan, Geo.
W. Palmer and Joseph Jaques, are bound by contract
to furnish from their wells at Saltville, Virginia, to the
State of Georgia, sufficient salt water to make five hun-
dred bushels of salt per day; and to the Planters Salt
Manufacturing Company of Georgia, which said com-
pany is working by sanction of the authority of the
State of Georgia for supply at cost, sufficient salt water
to keep 140 kettles of 120 gallons capacity at regular
work to their full opacity. That these contracts run
through the existing war between the Confederate States
of America and the United States of America. And I
deem the exemption of the several members of said firm
from military service necessary for the faithful execu-
tion upon their part of the said contract, and to their
696 Confederate Records
fulfilment of their contracts with Bigham & Cox, citi-
zens of Georgia, and of other contracts in which the
State is interested at Saltville, Virginia. I further cer-
tify that the object of the State in these contracts is to
furnish salt to the indigent families of soldiers engaged
in the Confederate service against the common enemy,
and therefore respectfully recommend the exemption of
the members of said firm.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
May 7th, 1864.
Albert E. Cox and Benjamin H. Bigham, citizens of
Georgia, are hereby recognized, designated and appoint-
ed as agents of the State of Georgia for the procure-
ment of salt, and as such authorized to make salt in Vir-
ginia at the salt works in Washington and Smythe coun-
ties, and transport the same to Georgia by every means
of transportation they may be able to procure.
They are directed to use diligence in the procure-
ment of transportation facilities and employment of
trains for the transportation of all supplies and of arti-
cles to exchange for supplies (including wood,) deemed
of advantage to the successful operation of their fur-
naces; and also to the end, to the utmost practicable ex-
tent, that all the salt made by Bigham & Cox and by the
Planters Salt Manufacturing Company of Georgia, of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 697
which B. H. Bigham is President and A. E. Cox, General
Superintendent, shall be transported to Georgia.
They, and each of them, are hereby authorized to
procure and control such transportation as agents of
Georgia.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
May 9th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, license No. 25, issued to
P. W. Center on the 22d April, 1863, authorizing him to
distill ten thousand gallons of whiskey for the use of the
Confederate Government (near Fairburn) was this day
revoked, and a copy of said revocation ordered to be
served upon the said P. W. Center by the proper officer.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 10th, 1864.
To the Enrolling Officers of Fulton county:
A. W. Jones of said county is tlie financial agent and
keeps large deposits for the State of Georgia much of
698 Confederate Records
his time at the agency of the C. R. R. & Banking Co., in
Atlanta ; as such agent his services are valuable to the
State, and I hereby certify that I claim him as a State
agent, as exempt from conscription for Confederate ser-
vice.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, this 10th of
May, 1864.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 10th, 1864.
To the Clerk of the Superior Court and the Sheriff of the
County of Henry:
Whereas, on his plea of guilty, Charles Walker was,
at the late April term of the Superior Court held in and
for said county, convicted of a "misdemeanor" in caus-
ing grain to be distilled illegally in said county, and was
then and there therefor sentenced by Hon. John J. Floyd,
the Judge presiding at said court, to pay a fine of
five hundred dollars and the costs of the j^rosecution,
being the smallest amount which could be imposed as a
fine under the statute; And Whereas, a petition has
been presented to me, signed by most of the county
officers of said county of Henry, most of the grand
jurors who made the presentment, and by many of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 699
the most respectable citizens of the county, stating that
Mr. Walker committed the crime to the commission
of which lie plead guilty, under the following cir-
cumstances, viz: he had a daughter very low with
typhoid fever. His family physician recommended him
to procure some good whiskey for her, and that it would
greatly assist her in her recovery. Mr. Walker told the
physician that he had in his house some of the county
whiskey, but the physician replied that that was not
good and advised him not to administer it to his daugh-
ter. He then took some rye and went to a distiller and
bartered or obtained some good whiskey for his rye, for
the purposes aforesaid. Mr. Walker states that he did
not know that he was committing any crime in obtain-
ing the whiskey as he did, and had no intention of doing
so. The Solicitor-General who prosecuted the case, in a
written statement in which he says he thinks a remission
of the fine imposed on Mr. Walker would not be amiss,
corroborates the foregoing statement of facts and adds
that Mr. Walker is one of the best citizens of Henry
county and stands deservedly high with his neighbors —
that he was guilty of violating the law without any inten-
tion to commit a crime." Under these circumstances, I
am asked to remit the said fine of five hundred dollars,
and, believing that Mr. Walker did not intend to do an
act which he knew would be in violation of a statute of
the State, and that the precedent of remitting a fine im-
posed for a violation of the statute to prevent illegal dis-
tilling, under the above circumstances alone, will work
no harm to the county and will not be expected to be fol-
lowed in different cases which may arise in future, it is
Ordered, That the above fine of five hundred dollars, im-
posed as aforesaid upon the said Charles Walker, be, and
700 Confederate Records
the same is hereby remitted on his payment of all costs
in the case.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, the day and
year first above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
See'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 12th, 1864.
It is hereby ordered, that Ira R. Foster be, and he is
hereby, appointed to audit the claims of the officers and
privates of the 4th Georgia Brigade for the time they
were in the service of the State, that they may be paid
as provided by Act of the Legislature, assented to 7tli of
December, 1863.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, the day and
year first above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 701
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 12th, 1864.
I hereby constitute, appoint and commission A. P.
Bearing, of the county of Clarke, a financial agent for
the State of Georgia under the Acts of the Legislature
relative to the exportation of cotton and the importa-
tion of supplies, and for the purchase of cotton in his
section of the State. And I certify that he is claimed
by me as exempt from conscription, and direct that no
Confederate enrolling officer molest him, and that he
obey no orders from anj^ one but the Governor of this
State while so employed.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, the day and
year above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
milledgeville, georgia,
May 13th, 1864.
I hereby constitute and commission Aaron F. Nun-
nally, the bearer, a financial agent for the State of Geor-
gia, under the Acts of the Legislature relative to the ex-
portation of cotton and the importation of supplies, who
will obey orders and contract under special instructions
702 Confederate Records
from me only, so that lie can involve the State in no in-
debtedness without the ratification of his Acts by the
Governor. And I certify that as a special agent of the
State, I claim him as exempt from conscription, and he
will not be molested by any Confederate enrolling officer.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, the day and
year above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 17th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with
the recommendation of the authorities of Spalding coun-
ty, license No. 31, issued on the 25th day of April, 1863,
to Wm. B. Cunningham for the distillation of five hun-
dred gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county, was this day revoked, a copy of which revoca-
tion was ordered to be served upon the said Wm. B. Cun-
ningham by the sheriff of said county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 703
A PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 18th, 1864.
I hereby require all commissioned officers of the mili-
tia of this State, including district aides-de-camp, to re-
port immediately to Maj.-Genl. H. C. Wayne, at Atlanta,
to receive further orders, and to aid during the present
emergency in driving back the enemy from the soil of this
State.
Neglect to obey these orders promptly will be visited
by appropriate penalties. All ci\dl officers, except those
of the State House, the Penitentiar}^, the State Road, the
Judges of the Superior and Inferior Courts, Ordinaries
and Solicitor-General and Clerks and Sheriffs of Courts
actually in session, are also requested to report to Genl,
Wayne with the least possible delay.
As notice of the existence of the order, each news-
paper in the State is requested to give one insertion.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
May 21st, 1864.
I am informed that some of the civil officers of this
State embraced in my proclamation of 18th inst., do not
xmderstand that they are ordered to the field, but only
704 Confederate Kecords
requested to go. As many of them are protected from
conscription by their official positions, they should not
hesitate a moment, in a great emergency like the present,
to fly to arms to repel the enemy. I have no power to
order them as civil officers, but 1 have as part of the
militia, and, to prevent any misunderstanding, I issue
this additional proclamation, and I hereby order all civil
officers of this State under 50 years of age, except those
mentioned in my former proclamation, and Tax Collec-
tors and Receivers, to report immediately to Maj.-Gen'l.
H. C. Wayne, at Atlanta. While Clerks of Courts and
Sheriffs are not ordered, their deputies are. It is pre-
sumed that those who do not claim to be civil officers
now, will not set up the claim in future to avoid con-
scription. Militia officers, who haye been elected but not
yet commissioned, will report at Atlanta immediately,
where they can receive commissions.
No exemptions will be granted to any of the militia
or civil officers mentioned. If any disobey the order,
they will do it at their peril, and would do well to be
satisfied that their excuse will stand the test on trial be-
fore a court martial. They should hasten to the front,
and none should remain at home submitting excuses by
letter to this department. Such letters can not receive
replies, and will not excuse from trial by court martial.
It is hoped that the service will not be long, but the
response must be prompt or the penalties may be very
disagreeable. No officer must remain at home a day
after he is advised of the call. Georgia expects every
man to do his duty.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 705
Each daily paper in the State will give this one inser-
tion in lirst issue, as notice to officers.
J. E. B.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
June 6th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, license No. 11, issued to
L. J. Parr, on the 25th of March, 1863, for the distilla-
tion of 21,000 gallons of whiskey for the use of the Con-
federate Government, was this day revoked, and a copy
of said revocation ordered to be served upon the said
L. J. Parr by the sheriff of Screven county, or his deputy.
Joseph E, Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y- Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVn^LE, GeORGIA,
June 6th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, license No. 4, issued to
J. J. Vaughan on the 14th day of January, 1863, author-
izing his to distill 3,300 gallons of whiskey in Fulton
county for the use of the Confederate Government, was
this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation ordered
706 Confederate Records
to be served upon the said J. J. Vaughan by the sheriff
of Fulton county, or his deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
II. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
June 18th, 1864.
To the Sheriff, or his lawful Deputy, of Franklin County:
Whereas, at the April term 1863, of the Superior
Court of said county, William Bell was convicted of a
''misdemeanor" for illegal distillation of grain, and was
then and there therefor sentenced by the court to be im-
prisoned twelve months in the common jail of said county
and to pay a fine of two thousand dollars and the costs
of prosecution; And Whereas, the said Bell has served
out said term of imprisonment, and having failed to pay
his said fine and costs, is still held in jail under said sen-
tence; And Whereas, three of the Justices of the Infe-
rior Court of said county, viz. : James S. Lattner, M.
McDaniel and W. G. Oliver, certify to me that said Bell
is perfectly insolvent, and ask me to release him from
said imprisonment; therefore it is
Ordered, That the said William Bell be immediately,
on sight hereof, released from said imprisonment, and
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 707
that the said fine and costs be, and the same are, hereby
remitted.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department this the 18th
day of June, 1864.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
To the People of Georgia:
Headquarters,
Atlanta, Georgia,
June 24th, 1864.
I am informed by the old men in different parts of
the State, that there are occasional instances of militia
and civil officers who have failed to report at Atlanta, as
directed by orders contained in my proclamation on that
subject. The fourteenth Section of the Act of 14th of
December, 1863, to reorganize the militia, declares, ''That
any militiaman ordered into active service, whether
by order of the Governor or upon requisition from the
President of the Confederate States, who shall fail or
refuse, after due notice, to e^iter said service, or being
therein, shall leave the service without permission, shall
be liable to be tried and punished as a deserter, and sub-
ject to all the pains and penalties imposed upon desert-
ers in the Rules and Articles of War for the Govern-
ment of the Army of the Confederate States."
rOCEATE RbOOKS
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. ha. not pa^-ed. Th exigency requires
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 709
every man at the front able to bear arms who can possibly
leave home; and I again invite all such, including the
large class of able-bodied men who have Confederate de-
tails in the various departments, many of whom it is be-
lieved can be sjjared for a short period without detriment
to the service, to rally to the defence of the State till the
emergency is passed.
Joseph E. Brown.
All railroads in the State will transport prisoners with
guard, not exceeding two persons, on their way to Atlanta,
and each daily paper in the State is requested to give this
one insertion and charge accordingly.
J. E. B.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
July 2d, 1864.
By order of the Governor, and in compliance with the
recommendation of the authorities of Haralson county,
license No. 130, issued to Goodrich Driver and Lewis
Price, on the 27th of April, 1864, for the distillation of
300 gallons of whiskey for the use of the people of said
county, was this day revoked, and a copy of said revoca-
tion ordered to be served upon the said Goodrich Driver
and Lewis Price by the sheriff of said county, or his
deputy.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y. Ex. Dept.
710 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
July 7th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, license No. 16, issued to
Hennan F. Burghard on the 9th of July, 1863, for the
distlHation of 1,000 gallons of alcohol for the use of the
medical department of the Confederate Government, was
this day revoked, and a copy of said revocation ordered
to be served upon the said Herman F. Burghard.
Joseph E. Brown.
By the Governor,
H. H. Waters,
Sec'y- Ex. Dept.
PROCLAMATION.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
July 9th, 1864.
To the Reserved Militia of Georgia:
A late correspondence with the President of the Con-
federate States satisfies my mind that Georgia is to be
left to her own resources to supply the reinforcements
to Gen. Johnston's army, which are indispensable to the
protection of Atlanta and to prevent the State from being
overrun by the overwhelming numbers now under com-
mand of the Federal General upon our soil. The officers,
State Papers of Governoe Jos. E. Brown 711
civil and military, who constitute, in a great degree, the
remaining active militia force left to the State by the
different Acts of Conscription, have already been called
out and have rendered effective service, while they, as
well as the two regiments of the State Line, have distin-
guished themselves by cool courage and intrepid valor
when attacked by the enemy. But there is need of fur-
ther reinforcements, as will be seen by the accompanying
letter of Gen'l. Johnston; and while a very large propor-
tion of the gallant and chivalrous sons of Georgia are on
distant fields defending the soil of other States, it be-
comes my duty to call forth every man in the State able
to bear arms, as fast as they can be armed, to aid in the
defence of our homes, our altars and the graves of our
ancestors.
I am fully aware of the importance of the growing
crop of the State, and have delayed this call as long as
the exigencies will possibly permit, to enable the people
to do the labor necessary to secure the crop. In the
southern portion of the State, it is believed this will be
accomplished by the time this proclamation can be gen-
erally published, while ten days or two weeks longer will
enable those in the northern half of the State to do most
of their labor necessary to make the crop.
1, therefore, by virtue of the authority in me vested
by the laws of this State, do hereby order into active mil-
itary service all that part of the reserve militia of this
State, between the ages of 50 and 55 years, and all be-
tween the ages of sixteen and seventeen years who reside
south of a line running east and west across the territory
of the State, passing through the city of Macon, to report
to General G. W. Smith at Atlanta, with the least possible
712 Confederate Records
delay ; and I further order that all persons between said
ages siibject to militia duty who reside north of said line,
report to Gen. Smith, each leaving his home on the 20th
of this month and repairing to Atlanta by the nearest and
speediest route.
I also order all free white male persons in this State,
between the ages of seventeen and fifty years, who are
exempt from Confederate conscription and are not abso-
lutely unable to do militia duty, which disability must be
shown by the certificate of a surgeon properly appointed
under the laws of this State, to report with the militia of
their respective counties, as they are subject to State
militia duty. And I further require all free white male
persons, between said ages, in this State not in actual
mUiiary service of the Confederacy, except as herein
exempted, to report also, as I can not suppose the Presi-
dent will claim as exempt from militia duty in this great
emergency, the large number of able-bodied young men
who have Confederate details to attend to various indus-
trial avocations and pursuits in which they have no mili-
tary service to perform. It can not surely be the inten-
tion of the Confederate Government to place a large num-
ber of young men able to do service in the organization
to keep them out of the bullet department. Hence I claim
their aid in the field till this emergency is passed, and
direct, in case of their refusal to report when others
embraced in the call respond, that their neighbors who
are going to camp arrest them and compel them to go.
The time allowed enables those of them who are planters
to lay by their crops, or to approximate so near to com-
pletion, that serious injury can not grow out of their
absence, while little damage will be done by the temporary
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 713
absence from their places of Confederate tax assessors,
collectors, tanners, mechanics, secret service men, etc.,
etc., as their business must cease entirely if the enemy
overruns the State. All who respond to this call are
required to arrest and carry with them all deserters with-
in their power, at the time they start to camp.
The following persons are not embraced in this call:
All commissioned officers of the Confederate States on
detached or local service, all State officers and others
exempt from militia duty by the Act to reorganize the
militia, and the Act amendatory of that Act.
All persons in the employment of the Confederate
States in the cities of Savannah, Augusta, Macon, Colum-
bus, Griffin, Atlanta and Athens, who belong to regularly
organized military companies, who drill frequently and
are held for the local defence of the place against raids,
etc.
All officers and employees of any railroad compam^ in
this State who are regularly and constantly employed in
the service of said road at the date of this call. All tele-
graphic operators and employees of the express company.
All persons employed in any cotton or woolen factory
or paper mill in this State who have details from the
State or Confederate Government, on condition that they
keep themselves organized as military companies pre-
pared to do all in their power to defend the factory in
case of attack. The mayor of each of the cities above
named, and such policemen and firemen as he will cer-
tify to be indispensably necessary to the protection of
the city. All practicing physicians, not exceeding three
714 Confederate Records
in a county, to l)e selected by the Inferior Court in case
there are more, and all such millers as the court will cer-
tify are actually necessary at home. Two agents of the
relief fund, selected by the court of each county. All
postmasters in cities, with their necessary clerks, and one
postmaster in each county town, and all mail carriers
constantly engaged in that business. All State House
officers and their necessary clerks. The officers and
guards of the penitentiary-, and the officers and employees
of the State armory and card factory, who are rec^uired
to drill twice a week as a military company for the de-
fence of the Capitol. All persons who remain in counties
in the rear of the enemy's lines; all who reside north of
the Blue Ridge, with the people of the counties of Kabun,
Habersham, White, Lumpkin, Gilmer, Pickens and Daw-
son, on account of the great scarcity of provisions and
the distance they have to haul them, to preserve the lives
of the inhabitants of those counties.
As the law of this State declares every man subject to
militia duty, who refuses to respond to this order, to be
a deserter and liable to be tried and punished as such, all
Aides-de-Camp at home, and all Justices of the Inferior
Court, Sheriffs, Clerks, Ordinaries and Tax Collectors
and Receivers of Tax Returns of the State, who are by
statute declared exempt from militia duty, are hereby
required to travel through their respective counties con-
stantly and, if necessary, arrest and send forward all
persons subject who neglect or refuse to report.
In case any of those officers neglect this duty and re-
fuse themselves to report and aid in repelling the enemy,
it is hoped all who are in service will remember them in
future and place more faithful public servants in posi-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 715
tions of responsibility. However weighty the reasons
each man might be able to give for remaining at home,
there are more important reasons why he should hasten
to the front if he is able to travel.
Georgians, you must reinforce General Johnston's
army and aid in driving back the enemy, or he will drive
you back to the Atlantic, burn your cities and public build-
ings, destroy your property, and devastate the fair fields
of your noble State.
If the Confederate Government will not send the large
Cavalry force (now engaged in raiding and repelling
raids) to destroy the long line of Railroad over which
Gen'l. Sherman brings his supplies from Nashville, and
thus compel him to retreat with the loss of most of his
army, the people of Georgia, who have already been
drawn upon more heavily in proportion to population
than those of any other State in the Confederacy, must,
at all hazards and at any sacrifice, rush to the front and
aid the great commander at the head of our glorious self-
sacrificing army, to drive him from the soil of the Em-
pire State.
I beg you, fellow citizens, to reflect upon the magni-
tude of the issue.
If Gen. Johnston's army is destroyed the Gulf States
are thrown open to the enemy and we are ruined. If
Gen. Sherman's army is cut off the west is thrown open
to us to the Ohio Eiver, and all raids into Mississippi,
Georgia and Alabama will at once cease. If every citi-
zen of Georgia will do his duty, and the President will
permit Kentucky to rest free from raids for a time, and
716 Confederate Records
will send ^forc:?!!! and Forrest to operate U])on the rail-
road line of communication, nearly three hundred miles
in Sherman's rear, which i)asses over many bridges,
through a country destitute of supplies, the grand army
of invasion can be destroyed, and not only our own State,
but the Confederacy delivered from disaster by the tri-
umphant success of our arms.
Joseph E. Brown.
Headquarters Georgia Militia,
Atlanta, Georgia,
July 21st, 1864.
To the Militia of Georgia:
In accordance with the request of General Hood for
the purpose of arming the militia in Macon and sending
them forward ready for service, thereby avoiding the
confusion of having large bodies of unarmed men sent
into Atlanta while it is besieged, these headquarters will
be moved to Macon.
All troops who have already arrived in Atlanta, and
all who come in on the West Point Eoad, and all above
Jonesboro, will report to General Smith in Atlanta as
heretofore directed. All others will report to Gen'l. H.
C. Wayne in Macon, where they will be thrown into camp
till they are armed before they are sent to Gen'l. Smith.
All troops on the Georgia Railroad will go by way of
Augusta to Macon and report to Gen'l. Wayne.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 717
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
July 27th, 1864.
In accordance with an Act, assented to December 14th,
1863, entitled, *'An Act to cancel certain portions of the
Georgia Treasury Notes lately issued by issuing Treas-
ury Certificates of Deposit, and for other purposes," the
Treasurer and Comptroller-General appeared before me
this day and exhibited seventy thousand dollars of Geor-
gia Treasury Notes jjayable in specie or eight per cent,
bonds, six months after a Treaty of Peace, etc., etc., and
also ninety thousand dollars in Georgia Treasury Notes,
payable in specie or six per cent, bonds, six months after
the ratification of a Treaty of Peace between the govern-
ment of the United States and the Confederate States of
America — all of said notes having been redeemed and
cancelled by the issue of Georgia Treasury Certificates
of deposit, as required by said Act, in sums of $5,000,
$10,000 and $20,000. I hereby certify that the said one
hundred and sixty thousand dollars of Georgia Treasury
Notes thus redeemed and cancelled, were this day burned
in my presence as required by the above recited Act.
Joseph E. Brown.
PROCLAMATION.
It is represented to me that a considerable number of
persons in this State claimed to be aliens refuse to take
up arms and go to Atlanta for the defence of the State.
718 CUN FEDERATE RrCORDS
In a great emergency like tlit' i)resont, I consider it tlie
duty of all who claim protection of i)erson and ])roperty
to defend the State which nifords them such protection.
1, therefore, hereby proclaim and make known that all
aliens in this State who refuse to volunteer for her de-
fence are required to leave the State within ten days from
this date, and no more to return on pain of being dealt
with as the laws and usages of nations justify in such
cases.
Passports will be granted to all such aliens on applica-
tion to the Adjutant and Inspector-General of this State,
upon the certificate of a Judge of the Superior Court
that he has examined the evidence in such cases and find
such person to be an alien.
Given under my hand the
Great Seal of the State,
this28thdayofJuly, 1864.
Joseph E. Brown.
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
July 28th, 1864.
To the Aides-de-Camp and other Officers:
I am informed that the Inferior Courts of some of
the counties have abused the privilege of exemption to
millers, which was allowed by my proclamation, and have
certified for exempting the owners of mills who have not
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 719
been employed regularly as millers previous to my call.
The exemption applies only to those who are and were, at
the time of the call, actually employed as millers, and not
to owners of mills who were not so employed. As it can
be known at headquarters who are the actual millers only
by the certificates of the courts, some may have obtained
from the Adjutant and Inspector-General's office exemp-
tions as millers who are only the owners of mills. All
such exemptions are hereby revoked, and all such per-
sons will be sent forward to the front immediately. All
civil and military officers of the State will enforce strictly
and rigidly the orders contained in my proclamation, and
will send forward under arrest, when necessary, all who
are embraced in it and refuse to report, notwithstanding
any order of any Confederate officer or any other person.
The orders of Confederate officers interfering with the
execution of the militia laws of the State and attempting
to protect from active service their favorites in civil pur-
suits, when the State is in imminent peril and needs the
services of all able to bear arms in front of the enemy,
can neither be respected nor obeyed by State officers. It
State officers are met by armed resistance, which they
can not overcome, when in discharge of their duty, in
attempting to carry to the front skulkers who are unwill-
ing to defend their own homes and property, they will
report the facts instantly and troops will be sent to en-
force the execution of the laws of the State, and to com-
pel all such men to discharge their part of the duty and
meet their part of the danger. Upon the application of
the chief officer in charge of the collection of the tithe
tax of the State, which is necessary to the support of the
army, and upon a similar application of the Confederate
720 Confederate Records
Ordinance officer, I have exempted from my call the agents
certified by them to be constantly employed and indispen-
sably necessary to the efficient management of their re-
spective departments. The same rule will be applied, on
application of the proper officer, to each of the other de-
partments of the Confederate Government in the State.
While it is my fixed purpose to execute the laws of the
State, and to compel all favorites of power or of persons
in position who have details as a shield from danger, while
spending their time in the management of their ordinary
business to obey the laws and aid in repelling the enemy,
it is not my intention to cripple or throw obstacles in the
way of the Confederate Government in providing all nec-
essary support for the army. It is a fact known to the
whole country, that numbers of able-bodied men have
been kept out of military service by the details and ap-
pointments of Confederate officers. The decision of a
distinguished judicial officer of this State sustains the
jurisdiction of the State over all such when not in the
actiml military service of the Confederate States. This
jurisdiction will be enforced at whatever cost may be nec-
essary to sustain the sovereignty and dignity of the State,
and compel such persons to do their duty in her defence.
As Georgia seems to be left to her own resources for
the reinforcement of General Hood's army, which is nec-
essary to prevent lier territory from being overrun by the
enemy, she can not now waive her just jurisdiction over
her militia who are at home engaged in the ordinary pur-
suits of life, on account of any details or exceptions which
may have been granted by Confederate authority. She
will never assent to the doctrine that the Confederate
Government has any Constitutional right or power to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 721
divest her of jurisdiction over her whole miUtia by mus-
tering her whole people into service and detaching them
to remain at home engaged in the common avocations of
life. The Confederate Government may rightfully com-
mand that part of her citizens who are in the actual mili-
tary service of the Confederacy, and none others. When
her territory is invaded by a powerful foe which calls for
the exercise of all the manhood of the State to protect
her very existence, she will not allow any other power to
interfere and prevent her from sending her own militia
to the battle field for her own security.
All persons claiming to be employed by the Confed-
erate Government as farmers, tanners, blacksmiths, shoe-
makers, tax assessors and collectors, secret service men
remaining at home, etc., must show their exemptions from
these headquarters, which will be given when actually
necessary upon the application of the heads of their re-
spective departments, showing that they are constantly
employed and indispensably necessary; and on failure to
exhibit such exemptions they will be arrested and sent to
General Smith, as directed by my former proclamation.
Any State officer failing or refusing to carry out these
instructions promptly will be held to rigid accountabil-
ity, as the exigency requires that every able-bodied man
in the State whose services are not indispensably neces-
sary in some other department, shall rush to the front
without a moments delay.
Joseph E. Brown.
722 Confederate Records
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
July 30th, 18G4.
To the Citizens of Macon
The enemy is now in sight of your houses. We lack
force. I appeal to every man, citizen or refugee, who has
a gnn of any kind, or can get one, to report at the Court-
house, with the least possible delay, that you may be
thrown into companies and aid in the defence of the city.
A prompt response is expected from every patriot.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
August 6th, 1864.
To Messrs. Stith P. My rick, Xatha)i Haicldns, Samuel E.
Whitaker and Nathan McGehee —
Gentlemen : It is necessary that we have at least
500 negro men to fortify the approaches to Milledgeville
to protect the Capitol against raids. These negroes must
be raised immediately.
You, as agents of the State, are therefore hereby
authorized to proceed to impress from the people of Bald-
win county said negroes, with such intrenching tools,
axes, etc., as may be needed. You will also require each
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 723
owner to feed his own negroes while engaged. You will
not take more than two-thirds of the hands each owner
may have. You will employ such overseers as may, in
your judgment, be needed, and all who are selected by
you are hereby exempt from my call to report at Macon,
till this work is done.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
August 15th, 1864.
The order in reference to Lieut. Jones of Burke county
is hereby revoked so far as it orders him immediately to
the front, and so far as it may be construed to reflect
upon his official Acts.
Believing that he has misunderstood the instructions
and orders, it is remarked that he is not to respect cer-
tificates of disability given by District Surgeons since the
date of my call, as all after that date are to go before the
Board now at Macon. Certificates given by District Sur-
geons prior to that time only [protect] the holder when
expressed upon the face that they are permanently dis-
charged for permanent disability. The Aide and other
officers, are required to send all others to Macon to be
examined by the Board, unless it be in such cases of pat-
ent disability that all agree that they are not liable. If
it is a disputed point among their neighbors whether they
are so or not, thev will be sent off for examination, or if
724 Confederate Records
the Aide is not clearly satisfied that such is the case.
Lieutenant Jones will send up all not exempted under
the rule.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
August 19th, 1864.
As numerous applications are made to this office by
persons now in the Division of the Militia under com-
mand of Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, for furloughs, details and
discharges, I take this method of stating to all concerned
that the Division has been placed under the command of
General J. B. Hood till such time as I may choose to re-
sume the command, or till I shall order it disbanded when
I am satisfied the emergency has passed.
As it is important that there be no divided counsels at.
Atlanta, when so much depends upon the result, I deem
it proper that General Hood, while in command of the
militia, shall have the entire control. So soon, therefore,
as the men are armed and sent to Atlanta, I yield the sole
command to General Hood till I shall think proper to
resume it, as above stated, and applications for furlough,
detail or discharge, must be made to him through the reg-
ular military channels. None of them will be acted upon
by me. The hospitals of the militia are also under the
direction and control of the officers in charge of that de-
partment under General Hood, and the State has no con-
trol over them.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 725
During the time that General Hood commands the mil-
itia, they are absolutely under his control for the de-
fence of Atlanta as the Georgians in Virginia are under
the control of General Lee. The only difference is in the
term of service. Those in Virginia are in for the war,
while the militia are in for the emergency, to be judged
by the Governor, and they disbanded or withdrawn by his
order.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
August 19th, 1864.
To the Justices of the Inferior Courts and Aides-de-
Camp :
I am informed that the policemen in some of the coun-
ties who have been detailed under orders from these head-
quarters, upon the application of the Inferior Courts to
act as a police force for their respective counties, are
neglecting their duties and giving their attention exclu-
sively to their own private affairs. This can not be tol-
erated. The details were not granted to them as a mat-
ter of personal favor, but as a matter of public interest.
They are required to give their whole time to the bus-
iness of traveling the country from plantation to planta-
tion, under such regulations as the courts may prescribe,
and in seeing that the negroes on all plantations left
without overseers are kept in subjection and property
protected.
726 Confederate Records
This duty is expected to be performed as promptly
and faithfully as they would perform the duty of soldiers
at the front. No policeman is expected to give any more
of his time to his own plantation than he does to the plan-
tation of like size of each other person in the section of
the county to which he may be assigned by the court.
It is also hereby made the duty of the policemen in
each county, to arrest and send to General Smith at At-
lanta, each and every man remaining at home who is
embraced in my call upon the militia to go to the front.
In each case of neglect to perform his duty under the
rules laid down, the court and the Aides-de-Camp are
charged and required to arrest such delinquent policeman
and send him immediately to Ma j. -Gen. G. W. Smith, at
Atlanta, that he may be compelled to do duty at the front.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
August 22d, 1864.
The exemplification of the record sent me by Col. 0.
P. Anthony in the habeas corpus case before the Inferior
Court of Clay county, G. S. Mandeville vs. 0. P. Anthony,
having been decided by the court in favor of Col. Anthony
and the writ dismissed, which ruling of the court holds
that persons having details as agriculturists from the
Confederate Government are liable to do State militia
service, and is in conformity to the ruling of Judges
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 727
Lochrane and Hook of the Superior Courts. I therefore
hereby order Col. 0. P. Anthony to send the said Mande-
ville immediately forward to Maj.-Gen. G. W. Smith, at
Atlanta, that he may render the service required of him
as one of the militia of the State of Georgia.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
September 1st, 1864.
Whereas it is represented to me that the sureties of
certain persons, who are under bonds to attend the Supe-
rior Court of Washington county for violations of the
penal laws of Georgia, are unwilling for such persons to
enter the military service under my late call on the mili-
tia, fearing that their bonds may be forfeited in the ab-
sence of the principals, I, therefore, hereby request the
Judge of the Superior Courts of said circuit not to per-
mit the bond of any one in military service to be forfeited
in his absence.
In case of the death of the principals the bonds die
with them. The sureties will therefore incur no risk in
letting them go into service. In no case should any bond
be forfeited while the obligor is in the military service of
the State or Confederate States.
Joseph E. Brown.
728 Confederate Records
Executive Department.
milledgeville, georgia,
September 5th, 1864.
I hereby withdraw C. W. Allen, of Co. K. 6th Regi-
ment Georgia Militia, as first organized at Atlanta, and
Thomas J. Akins, of Co. I., same regiment, from the com-
mand of Maj.-Gen'l. G. W. Smith, and direct them to join
Captain Talbot's Company of mounted scouts for the
war.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
September 26th, 1864.
Col. Jared I. Whitaker,
C ommissary-G eneral.
Colonel : Information reaches me from various parts
of the State that the families of our gallant soldiers are
again in great need of salt, and some of them must soon
suffer if their necessities are not relieved. While those
who are their natural protectors are required to leave
them and confront the enemy on the battle field, those who
remain at home, and especially those in authority, must
do all in their power to relieve their wants and prevent
distress for the necessaries of life. Considering the State
as the natural guardian of the helpless families of absent
soldiers, I have, as its Executive, done all in my power to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 729
contribute to their comfort. Notwithstanding the means
of bringing salt from the works in Virginia into the State
have been greatly curtailed during the present year, I
have, nevertheless, succeeded in bringing in from there,
and in procuring from other sources since the last distri-
bution to soldiers' families was made through you, about
thirty thousand bushels, as appears from your report to
me, and which quantity is now in store ready for distri-
bution. Although this will not be enough to supply all,
it will, if distributed, relieve a great many, and the others
can have assistance when more can be procured.
My intention is, so soon as it can be had, to make a
distribution of one-half bushel of twenty-five joounds to
the family of each officer and soldier in State or Confed-
erate service from Georgia. You will, therefore, give
notice immediately to the Justices of the Inferior Courts
of the respective counties of the State, in all cases where
it can be done, that they are required, without delay, to
ascertain and report to you the name of each soldier's
widow; each soldier's wife; each widow having a son or
sons in such service; each other family dependent upon
the labor of a soldier in such service for support; and
the family of each disabled soldier who has been dis-
charged from such service on account of wounds or other
disability, in their respective counties. In making up
such reports or lists no distinction should be made be-
tween those coming properly within the above named
classes, whether they are permanent residents of the
county or are refugees or exiles from other counties of
the State ; but if they would have been entitled to receive
State salt in the county from which they came, they should
be returned as entitled in the county where they may be
found.
730 Confederate Records
But in all eases of indii^ent soldiers' families found in
the county, who have come in there from other counties
which have drawn the fund appropriated for relief of
indigent soldiers' families for them, the court, in making
out their return to you, as above required, should desig-
nate all such refugee or exiled families, stating from what
county each came. TVliere this is done, the six dollars
for each half bushel of salt sold to each of such refugee
or exiled indigent soldier's family will be paid out of the
relief fund apportioned to the county from which the
family came, and not out of the fund of the county in
which the family may be found when the report is made.
So soon as the Justices of each county shall have made
their report and have sent you six dollars for each fam-
ily reported as entitled, you will furnish them one-half
bushel of salt of twenty-five pounds for each soldier's
family so reported in the county ; and the aggregate quan-
tity going to each county you will ship, at the expense of
the county, to such railroad depot in the State, not in pos-
session of or in imminent danger of being taken by the
enemy, which the respective courts may designate — or, if
so requested by the Justices, you may deliver the salt
from the State's store house to such agent or carrier as
they may authorize to receive and convey it to the county
to which it belongs.
On account of the great increase in the cost of every-
thing used in the manufacture of salt, including the in-
creased cost and difficulties of transportation, and from
the further fact that the bushel of fifty pounds at the
works will lose several pounds by drippage and other
waste, before it reaches the consumer, the half bushel of
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 731
twenty-five pounds can not be delivered to the consumer
for a less sum than that above mentioned.
When I caused the first distribution of salt to soldiers'
families to be made, I adopted the rule of deducting from
the half bushel the usual wastage from the place of manu-
facture to place of delivery; but I found that there was
much complaint that the courts in distributing did not
always give each family an equal quantity.
I think it best, therefore, to fix the price at such sum
as will enable the State to lose the wastage, and deliver to
each family the full half bushel of twenty-five pounds.
This plan was tried last year and was found to secure
equality. As most of the drippage and wastage will have
occurred before the salt leaves the store house, you will
carefully weigh, before shipping it to each county, so that
you can detect any unfairness, should any be attempted
in any county.
The court may pay you for the salt out of the relief
fund of the county; (except for that to refugee or exiled
families in the county, which will be paid for out of the
fund apportioned to the county which drew the fund for
such families, as above stated) and they will deliver to
each family, which is entitled to relief under the Act
known as the "Act for the relief of indigent soldiers'
families," one-half bushel of twenty-five pounds as part
of the relief due each; and they will sell to each family
of a soldier inhabiting the county not entitled to relief
under said Act, one-half bushel of twenty-five pounds for
six dollars and the actual cost of freight from the place
of shipment to the place of delivery. Each court will be
required to return the empty sacks to you before another
distribution will be made to the county.
732 Confederate Records
As you have heretofore done, you will supply each
county in the order in which it makes its report to you
and pays the money. As all may probably not be sup-
plied at once, out of the quantity now on hand, but may
have to wait until more can be procured by the State,
and as I am unwilling to discriminate among the coun-
ties, I know of no fairer way that can be made practicable
than the rule, ''first come, first served," hence I adopt it.
The reports can soon be made, if the courts in the
respective counties will, at an early day, call to their
assistance citizens of known integrity and energy of each
militia district in the county.
That the people may have notice of this order, and
may hold the Justices of the Inferior Court responsible in
case of neglect of duty in this regard, you will publish it
and send a copy immediately to the Clerk of the Supe-
rior Court in each county with a request that he post it
up in a conspicuous place on the court-house door, or
other most public place in the county.
Tendering you my thanks for the prompt and efficient
manner in which you have constantly discharged the
duties of your responsible position,
I am, very respectfully, etc.,
Joseph E. Brown.
PROCLAMATION.
In conformity to a resolution of the General Assem-
bly of this State, passed on the application of the Cotton
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 733
Spinner's Association, C. G. Baylor, having been ap-
pointed Commissioner to Europe to promote the objects
of said Association, and having obtained passports and
left the Confederacy, and information having lately
reached me that instead of crossing the Atlantic on the
business of said Association he has gone to New York and
united with the enemies of our country; I, therefore,
hereby revoke his said appointment and proclaim and
make known that the commission held by said Baylor is
annulled and declared void and of no effect.
And I order that copies of this Proclamation be sent
to such of the European powers as might be deceived by
him by the use of said commission.
Given under my hand and
the Great Seal of this
State, at the Capitol in
Milledgeville this 26th of
October, 1864.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following annual message of His Excellency the
Governor, was this day transmitted to both branches of
the General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 3d, 1864.
Senators and Representatives :
The period of your annual meeting in General Assem-
bly having arrived, it affords me great pleasure to wel-
734 Confederate Records
come you to the Capitol, and to assure you of my earnest
desire to unite with you harmoniously and cordially in
all practical measures which may promote the general
welfare and redound to the glory and honor of our be-
loved State.
We are passing through a trying ordeal, having
staked upon the issues of war all that can be valuable or
dear to a people. If we are subjugated we lose home,
property, liberty, reputation, and all so far as this
world is concerned, that makes life desirable or its bur-
dens tolerable.
Our enemies have repudiated and trampled under
foot the great principles of Constitutional liberty and
have attempted to rear, upon the ruins of our republican
institutions, a consolidated empire, under the popular
name of a union of the States. AVe have taken up arms
to resist this and to maintain republicanism in its purity,
with the sovereignty of the States and the personal
rights and liberties of the people. No people ever ac-
cepted the alternative of war in a nobler cause, or ex-
hibited to the world a more sublime spectacle of moral
grandeur and heroic valor. Our gallant armies have
won for these States a name which will stand upon a
bright page in history, when the pyramids have decayed,
and marble monuments have crumbled into dust. It
should be the pleasure of the patriot and the pride of
the hero to contribute his property, his energies, and if
need be, his life, for the success of so noble a cause.
Upon our success depends the last hope of republican
institutions and civil liberty, with Constitutional guaran-
tees. He who would prove recreant to so sacred a cause,
or from a desire of personal aggrandizement or the grati-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 735
fication of personal ambition, would trample under his
feet and sacrifice these great principles which underlie
the very foundations of our federative system, and upon
the success of which the happiness of unborn millions
depends, deserves an eternity of infamy with the ever-
lasting execrations of mankind upon his head.
As a band of patriots let us unite all our energies
and exert all our influence for the success of our glorious
cause, and for the maintenance in their original purity
of the great principles of civil and religious liberty, which
form the very pillars upon which the temple of our re-
publicanism rests.
Confederate Relations.
The war is still waged against the people of the
Confederate States, by the Government of the United
States, with a vindictiveness and cruelty which has few
parallels in history. For nearly four years we have met
the mighty assaults of Federal armies and have repulsed
and driven them back on many a hard-fought field. We
have lost important points, but none which we cannot
temporarily surrender to the enemy and, with good man-
agement, finally succeed. Atlanta was probably the
most vital point to our success that has been won by the
superior numbers of the enemy. Its fall was a severe
blow, and for a time caused great despondency among
our people. I am happy to see, however, that they are
fast recovering from depression, and confidence is being
restored.
At the time of General Sherman's march from Dalton
to Atlanta, we had a large force west of the Mississippi
736 Confederate Records
of as gallant troops as ever faced the enemy, which had
been almost in a state of inactivity, since our splendid
victories in Louisiana last Spring had driven the enemy,
except a few garrisons, from that department. Major-
General Early is said to have a force of 20,000 men, of
the very best of the army in Virginia, with which he drove
the Federal General out of the valley of that State, and
pressed forward into Maryland and Pennsylvania and
remained there till his presence provoked those and ad-
joining States to organize a force sufficient to drive him
back and to threaten Richmond in the rear. General
Forrest, with a large Cavalry force, was operating in
North Mississippi, repelling raids from a country that
had been overrun till there was but little property for
the enemy to destroy, and General Morgan was raiding
in Kentucky. While our forces were thus scattered from
Pennsylvania to Texas, Gen. Sherman, strengthened by
a concentration of the enemy's forces from different de-
partments, was steadily pressing forward to Atlanta, the
very heart and railroad center of the Confederacy, with
a force sufficient, by reason of its superior numbers, to
continually flank and drive back the gallant Army of
Tennessee. During this whole campaign, Gen. Sher-
man's base of supplies at Nashville and Louisville was
hundreds of miles in his rear, and he was dependent for
transportation upon a railroad constructed through an
exceeding rough country, with bridges, culverts and
curves along its entire line. In this condition, more than
three hundred miles from the border of Kentucky, in the
midst of an enemy's country, he was permitted to go for-
ward, without serious interruption in his rear, and to
accomplish his grand design.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Browx 737
Georgians, whose homes have been overrun, property
destroyed and fields laid waste, have naturally enquired,
as doubtless the future historians will, why part of the
large unemployed force west of the Mississippi were
not brought to aid the Army of Tennessee during the
summer months? And why, when the enemy were driven
from the valley of Virginia, the key points were not
garrisoned and held by part of Early's force, and the
balance sent to Georgia, instead of the whole being sent
upon the campaign into Maryland and Pennsylvania,
which only served to stir up and unite Northern senti-
ment against us and to enable the Federal Government
to raise an additional force sufficient to drive back the
expedition with disaster to our arms. If this whole force
could be spared from Richmond to invade Pennsylvania,
might not part of it have held the valley of Virginia and
the balance been sent to Georgia? And could not For-
rest, even at the expense of temporary loss in Mississippi,
have been sent to destroy the railroads in the rear and
stop the supplies of the Federal army? If we had
adopted the rule by which most great Generals in such
emergencies succeeded, of the evacuation for the time of
all points not absolutely vital, and the rapid and vigorous
concentration of every soldier in the Confederacy not
necessary to hold Richmond and probably one or two
other key points, and had hastened the whole to Atlanta
and to Sherman's rear and hurled them upon him in his
exposed and critical condition, the repulse and rout, if
not the destruction or capture, of his army could scarcely
have been doubtful. And as his army was the only de-
fence provided by the Federal Government for the Wes-
tern States, such a consummation would not only have
relieved Georgia, Tennessee, North Alabama and North
73S CONFEDKRATF. TJeCORDS
Mississippi from the presence of the enemy, ])nt it would
have thrown open the "green fields" of Kentucky which
have been more than once promised to our troops, and
would i)robably have oj^ened the way for an early peace.
The powers that be, determined upon a different line of
])o]i('y. The world knows the results, and we must acqui-
esce. But the misfortunes following the misguided judg-
ment of our rulers must not have the effect of relaxing
our zeal or chilling our love for the cause.
AVe may, as we have a right to do, differ among our-
selves as to the wisdom of a certain line of policy, and
of certain acts of the Confederate administration; and
some of us may deplore its errors and mismanagement,
while others may attempt to justify all its mistakes and
defend all its errors, and may be ready in advance to
approve everything it may do, and still we may all, as
one man, remain true to our sacred cause and be pre-
pared, if necessary, to expend our last dollar and shed
our last drop of blood in its defense.
"While I am satisfied a large majority of the people of
this State disapprove many of the acts and much of the
policy of the Confederate administration, I am of opinion
there are but a very small number of the people who are
disloyal to the cause, or who would consent to close the
war without the achievement of the great ends for which
we took up arms — the independence of the Confederate
States and the vindications and establishment of the sov-
ereignty of the several States,
Confederate, independence with centralized power
without State sovereignty and Constitutional and relig-
ious liberty, would be very little better than subjugation,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 739
as it matters little who our master is, if we are to iiave
one. We should therefore keep constantly in view the
great principles upon which we entered into this unequal
contest, and should rebuke every encroachment made u))on
them by our own Government, while we resist, with arms
in our hands, like assaults made upon them by our ene-
mies. While our gallant troops in the field are sacrificing
the comforts of home, property, health and even life
itself, and are enduring all the ])rivations, hardships, ])er-
ils and dangers of the service, they should never once lose
sight of the great principles of equality, liberty, and
Constitutional republicanism, for which they unfurled
freedom's banners in the face of the enemy. Nor should
they ever consent to lay down their arms till these prin-
ciples are recognized by our foe and faithfully carried
out in practice by our own Government. In other words
we should never be content till we have established upon
a firm basis the good old republican institutions of our
fathers in all their purity, and should never under any
circumstances, consent to accept in their places strong
centralized Government with military despotism. I do
not see how it can be denied by any candid man that we
have, in practice, made fearful strides since the war be-
gan, towards a centralized government witli unlimited
powers.
The constant tendencies of the war seem to have
been to the subordination of the civil authorities and
laws to the military, and the concentration of the su-
preme power in the hands of the Commander-in-Chief
of the armies. The longer the war lasts, the greater the
tendency to this result, and the less probability at its
termination of a return to the Constitutional forms and
740 C"i)Ni"i:i)i:i{ATi: Kkcukds
Te^nihlican simplicity wliirli existed at its commence-
ment.
But it may be asked, when is this bloody struggle to
terminate? No human forecast can so far penetrate the
future as to give a satisfactory reply to this question.
The Northern States have resources and men enough to
enable them to continue the war for years to come, and
we have sufficient power of resistance and endurance to
enable us to continue to baffle all their schemes of subju-
gation. The sword can never make peace between the
two contending parties. When this is done, it will be
by negotiation. The prospect seems to indicate tliat the
war may probably last till both sections are exhausted,
before the passions of the people will subside, and rea-
son so far resume her sway as to prepare the people
of both countries for negotiation as the only means of
adjustment which can terminate tlie bloody strife. This
may not take place till we have accumulated a debt on
both sides greater than we or our posterity can ever pay
— till hundreds of thousands more men have been slain,
and millions of women and children have been reduced
to widowhood, orphanage and poverty — till our taxes
have become so burdensome that endurance is no longer
possible — till the civil laws cease to be respected, and
highway robbery and murder are the daily business of
predatory bands, and till the Federal and Confederate
Governments have usurped and exercise all the powers
claimed by the most absolute despots, each pleading in
extenuation of its usurpations the necessity growing
out of the like usurpations by the other.
There is reason to fear that President Lincoln, if
re-elected, and President Davis, whose passions are in-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 741
flamed against each other, may never be able to agree
upon terms for the commencement of negotiations, and
that the war must continue to rage in all its fury till
there is a change of administration, unless the people of
both countries, in their aggregate capacity as sovereign
States, bring their powerful influence to bear, requiring
both Governments to stop the war and leave the question
to be settled upon the principles of 1776, as laid down
in the Georgia resolutions, passed at your late session.
These resolutions, in substance, propose that the
treaty making powers in both Governments agree to
stop the war, and leave each or any one of the sovereign
States, by a convention of its own people, fairly chosen
by the legal and duly qualified voters, to determine for
itself whether it will unite its destinies with the one or
the other Confederacy.
There may be doubts whether Missouri, Kentucky,
or Maryland wish to remain component parts of the
Government of the United States, or to unite with the
Confederate States. If either one of those States shall
refuse to unite with us w^e have no just right to demand
such union, as we have neither the right to coerce a sov-
ereign State not to govern her without her consent.
And, if we had the right, we certainly have not the power,
as we can only govern a State without her consent by
subjugation, and we have no power to subjugate any
one of those States, with the whole power of the United
States at her back, prepared to defend her against our
attacks.
"VVe should stand ready therefore at all times, to set-
tle the difficulty by a reference of the question of future
74"J Confederate Records
alliance, to the States whose positions may be doubtful
for determination by them in their sovereign capacity.
Our Congress, in its manifesto, has virtually indorsed
the great principles of the Georgia Resolutions, and the
President has said in his messages that he desires peace
upon the principles to defend which we entered into the
struggle. I am not aware, however, of any direct ten-
der of adjustment, upon these principles having been
recently made by the treaty making power of our Gov-
ernment to the same power in the Federal Government.
I regret that the wish of Georgia, as expressed through
her Legislature has not been respected in this particu-
lar. Such a direct tender made through the commis-
sioners by President Davis to President Lincoln would
place the question fairly and properly before the States
and the people of the North for discussion and action.
Had it been done months since it could not have failed
to have had a powerful influence upon the Presidential
election in the North, which may have much to do with
the future course and conduct of the war.
It may be said however, that the proposition to settle
our difficulties upon these terms made by President Da-
vis to President Lincoln would be a letting down of the
dignity of our Government, and might be construed as
an evidence of conscious weakness on our part. I con-
fess my inability to see how the direct tender of settle-
ment upon these great and correct principles by the
treaty making power in our Government, to the like
power in the United States Government, could compro-
mit the dignity of our Government, any more than an
indirect tender of the same proposition through the ir-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 74.3
regular clinimel of an Executive message or a Congres-
sional manifesto.
There is certainly more true dignity in a direct,
open and manly tender through the constituted channel.
Bu,t nice questions of official etiquette and false notions
of personal dignity should be laid aside when they inter-
vene to prevent action upon which the blood of thou-
sands and the happiness of millions may depend.
The Democratic party of the North, which is the
only party there claiming to maintain State right prin-
ciples, and which has great strength and power, what-
ever may be its fortunes in the coming election, has de-
clared in favor of a suspension of hostilities, and a Con-
vention of all the States as the best means of adjustment.
And I see no good reason why the treaty making power
in our Government should not tender this proposition
to the Government of the United States. There can cer-
tainly be nothing like humiliation or degradation in a
proposition to leave the settlement of a question which
the General Governments, which are the creatures of the
States, cannot agree upon, to their creators — the sover-
eign States themselves.
However much the idea may be ridiculed to preju-
dice the popular mind by the enemies of State sover-
eignty the Convention if called would no doubt be one
of the most able and dignified assemblages that ever
met upon the continent. In so trying an emergency, in-
volving issues of such immense magnitude, the States
would doubtless select their wisest, ablest and best men
to represent them, men whose passions have been sub-
dued bv age and reflection and who are alike distin-
744 Confederate Records
guished for love of justice, balance of mind and dignity
of character. Such a Convention, composed of the
greatest and best men of the country, of mature age and
large experience, with the scenes of blood, carnage and
desolation through which we have passed, fresh in their
recollection, and the present and prospective condition
of the country well known to them, could hardly be ex-
pected to decide in favor of a continuation of the war,
with all its blighting effects upon both the North and
the South, or to adjourn without submitting a plan of
settlement honorable and just to the people of both
Confederacies, and to all the States.
All questions of boundary, and inland navigation,
and all treaties of amity, commerce and alliance, and all
agreements necessary to preserve in future the just bal-
ance of power upon the continent, could be properly
shaped in such a Convention and proposed to the treaty
making powers as the result of its deliberations. Or it
might be agreed in advance by the treaty making powers
that the Convention settle the whole question and that
its action be final and conclusive when submitted back
to the people of the several States and ratified by them
respectively.
In that event it must of course be understood that
each State would enter the Convention as a separate,
independent sovereign — the equal of every other State, —
and that the action of the body as in case of the Conven-
tions which formed the Constitutions of the United States
and of the Confederate States would only be binding
upon each State, when submitted back to and freely rati-
fied by the people thereof in their sovereign capacity.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 745
The propriety of submitting the question by the
treaty-making powers to a Convention of the sovereign
States is the more obvious, in view of the want of power
in the Presidents and Senators of the two Governments
to make a treaty of peace without the consent of the
sovereign States to be affected by it. No permanent
treaty of peace can be made which does not contain an
article fixing the boundaries of the two Governments,
when the whole country is inhabited as ours is, and one
or the other Governments must exercise immediate jur-
isdiction over the inhabitants of each State and each
county. In other words, we can have no treaty of peace
that does not define the States, or parts of States, that
are to be embraced in each Government. And this can
only be done by the consent of the States themselves.
The action of separate States is therefore an indispen-
sable preliminary to the validity of any treaty of peace
that can be made. This action may, by agreement of the
treaty-making powers, take place prior or subsequent
to the treaty, but in either case the effect is the same,
as the validity of the treaty is dependent upon the ac-
tion of separate States.
Suppose, for instance, it is agreed by the treaty-
making powers that the State of Ohio shall become part
of the Confederate States, when an overwhelming ma-
jority of her people in Convention called by the proper
State authority, decide by solemn ordinance to remain
with the United States. Or suppose that it is agreed
by the treaty-making powers that Kentucky shall remain
part of the United States, when two-thirds of her peo-
ple decide to go with the Confederate States. Will any-
one contend that the treaty-making power has the right
746 Confederate Records
thus to dispose of States, and assign them their future
positions without their consent? And will anybody say
that a treaty of peace can be made without defining the
Government with which Ohio or Kentucky shall be asso-
ciated in future?
Suppose again, that the treaty-making powers in fix-
ing the boundaries of the two Confederacies should agree
to a division of Virginia, that the territory embraced in
the pretended new State formed of a part of Virginia,
shall become part of the United States, and that the
balance shall go with the Confederate States. Will any
Southern man contend that she can thus be dismembered
and part of her territory ceded by the President and
Senate to the Government of the United States without
her consent? He who so contends denies the very fun-
damental principles upon which the Government of the
Confederate States was organized. What would the old
Virginians of the Jeffersonian School say to this sort
of State sovereignty? What would W^ashington, Jef-
ferson, Madison, Monroe, Henry, Lee, Mason, Randolph,
and other statesmen of their day have said, if they had
been told that the Constitution of the United States con-
ferred upon the treaty-making power the right to cede
one-half the territory of Virginia to a foreign State,
without consulting her or obtaining her consent?
If President Davis and the Senate have the power to
cede part of Virginia to the United States in fixing the
boundaries of the two Confederacies without her consent,
they have as much power to cede the whole State to
Great Britain or France for commercial advantages.
Or to cede Georgia to the United States, in consideration
that the other States shall be recognized and the war
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 747
cease. Such a proposition is too preposterous for se-
rious argument.
He who claims such power for the President and
Senate would not only degrade the States to the position
of provinces, but would clothe the treaty-making power
of the Confederacy with imperial dignity greater than
the most enlightened monarchs of the present day as-
sume to themselves. It has been claimed as one of the
prerogatives of sovereigns that they could cede to each
other their provinces at will. But in the late treaty
between the Emperors of France and Austria, the for-
mer refused to accept a province ceded by the latter and
incorporate it into his Empire and govern it till the
question was submitted to the people of the province and
they gave their consent.
It is certainly too clear to be successfully questioned
that the Governments of the two Confederacies have no
power to make the treaty of peace and fix the boundaries
of the two countries, which, situated as we are, is a neces-
sary part of the treaty, without the concurrence and con-
sent of the individual States to be affected by it. If this
cannot be done without the consent of the States, where
is the objection to a Convention of the States to settle in
advance the necessary preliminaries to which their con-
sent is indispensable before the treaty can be valid and
binding? In the Convention it could be agreed which
States would go with the North and which with the
South, and the ratification of the action of the Conven-
tion by the treaty-making powers, and by the people of
the several States to be affected by it, when of a char-
acter to require their separate action, would fix the
748 CONFEDEKATK Kp:CORDS
future statiis of the different States, and the proper
boundaries of the two Confederacies.
AVhile I am satisfied that separate State action may,
and most probably will, be a necessary preliminary to a
treaty of peace, I do not wish to be misunderstood upon
this point. The sovereign States of the Confederacy
each seceded from the old Union. This they had a per-
fect right to do. And each is as sovereign in the present
Confederacy as she was in the old and has the same
right, under the like circumstances, which she then exer-
cised. But when these States seceded and formed the
present Confederacy, and entered into the present defen-
sive war together, they at least, by strong implication,
pledged themselves to stand by and aid each other against
the common enemy till the end of the struggle. Thus
situated, I deny that any one of the States can honorably
withdraw from the contest, without the consent of her
sister States, and make a separate treaty of peace with
the enemy.
The people of the States can meet in Convention and
abolish the Confederate Government whenever its usur-
pations and abuses of power have reached a point where
the sovereignty of the States and the rights and liberties
of the people are no longer secure under it. The people
of the Northern Government have a right to do the same
by a like Convention, and to establish a new Government
in place of the present tyranny by which they are con-
trolled-
If the people of the two Confederacies have this
power, which will not, I presume, be denied by anyone
professing the State Right's doctrine of 1776, why may
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 749
they not meet together in Convention and agree ujjon
the boundaries and treaties necessarily growing out of
a separation which is already an accomplished fact?
I am well aware that the advocates of strong central
power, both in the United States and the Confederate
States, including many of the office holders of both Gov-
ernments, and the place hunters and large Government
contractors who have made millions of dollars out of
the Government without once exposing their persons to
danger in battle, and the secret spies in the employment
of the Governments who are sujjported out of the large
secret service funds at the command of the two Presi-
dents, to do their bidding, and such officials as wear gold
lace in cities and drive fine horses and carriages, sup-
ported out of the public crib, while all around them is
misery and want; and the large provost and passi)ort
corps, scattered among our country villages and upon
our Railroads, jealous of the prerogatives of the central
power, and anxious to maintain and extend them, are
ready by their actions to deny that the States have any-
thing left but the name, or that they can have any agency
in negotiating a treaty of peace, or that they can meet
in Convention to consider of this subject without being
guilty as ''traitorous States." Those minions of power
protected from the dangers of the battle field, never fail
to impugn the motives and question the loyalty of every
one who denies the legality of any act of the Government,
or questions the wisdom of any part of its policy.
They very cordially adopt the maxim ' ' the King can do
no wrong." Of course all such are loud and clamorous
in their denunciations of those who advocate a Conven-
tion of States to agree upon the terms of separation and
750 Confederate Records
stop the effusion of blood. If the war should cease they
must sink to their natural level, for then "Othello's oc-
cupation's gone." But the advocates of free Govern-
ment may safely appeal from all such to the sober sound
judgment of the great mass of the American people,
North and Soutli, who bear the heavy burdens of the
war, without the offices or patronage of either Govern-
ment, whose sons have been conscribed and torn from
them and slaughtered, many of whose homes have been
destroyed, and their farms and cities laid waste, who
are daily robbed of their property by impressment agents
or other Government officials, without paying them any-
thing for it, who bear the burdens of the enormous taxa-
tion necessary to carry on the war, and support all the
large classes above mentioned in extravagant indulgen-
ces, and whose posterity and property must pay the im-
mense public debt which is constantly augmented. And
the appeal may be made with still greater force to the
gallant soldier in the storms of winter and in the weary
march, while amid the perils that surround them his
thoughts recur to the sufferings of loved ones at home;
as well as to all true Christians in both countries. Shall
this bloodshed, carnage and desolation continue, to
gratify the ambition and obstinancy of those in power!
Or shall the people of both countries demand of their
rulers that the war shall ceage, and as it is impossible
that the people of the two sections can again live to-
gether in harmony, that a Convention of all the States
be held to agree upon terms of separation, and upon the
treaties necessary to the happiness and pro.sperity of
neighboring Governments at peace with each other.
We may be told that the Northern Government will
not agree to such a Convention. I readilv admit that
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 751
neither the Lincoln Government nor our own will proba-
bly agree to it, till a stronger pressure of the people is
brought to bear upon both, and that the advocates of this
policy in the North cannot control it so long as our
presses and officials. State and Confederate, denounce
the movement and thereby put weapons in the hands
of the Government at Washington with which to crush
out this growing sentiment in the North, and more es-
pecially in the North-western States. But I think recent
developments have shown that this doctrine will soon
bear down everything before it in the North, if met by
demonstrations of approval in the South. Stop the war
and call a Convention of the States to negotiate, and the
people of the North, who are as tired of it as we are will
agree to a proper adjustment upon the terms above indi-
cated sooner than resume hostilities.
In the meantime, till proper arrangements can be
made to adjust our difficulties and stop the effusion of
blood by negotiation, it is the duty of every man in the
Confederacy to do everything possible in his power to
strengthen and sustain the gallant and glorious armies
of the States and the Confederacy. Every man able
to bear arms who can be spared from home should be
sent to the front, either in the armies of the Confederacy
or as part of the Militia of the States, and everything-
possible be done to provide for the wants and comfort
of our troops in the field and their loved ones at home.
To enable us to conduct negotiations successfully, we
must renew our efforts to strengthen our armies and
maintain our cause with ability and energy in the field,^
cost what it may in blood or treasure. We must not,
however, expect the troops to do all by hard fighting,
bloodshed and the sacrifice of life. The statesman and
752 CONFEDEBATE RECORDS
the people at home have an important part to act, as
well as the General and the troops in the field in termi-
nating the struggle. If the troops falter and fail to do
their part in the hour of battle, the statesman is ready
to cast censure upon them. If the statesman neglects his
part in conducting wise negotiations to stop the war,
the troops have greater cause to censure and condemn
him, as he has no right to trifle with their lives, and
<X)ntinue to expose them in battle, if the object can be
attained by negotiation without the shedding of blood.
In a crisis like the present, statesmanship is even more
important thaan Generalship. Generals can never stop
a war, though it may last twenty years, till one has
been able to conquer the other. Statesmen terminate
"Wars by negotiation.
Blockade Running.
After the appropriation made by the General As-
sembly for the exportation of cotton and the importa-
tion of such supplies of clothing for troops, cotton cards,
^tc, as the State might need, I sent Col. Wm. Schley, of
Augusta, to England to purchase an interest in a
Steamer. Finding that he was not successful by reason
of the non-compliance of the other party in getting the
vessel for half interest, in which I had contracted at
$185,000 in Confederate States 8 per cent, bonds, I made
a contract with the Exporting and Importing Company
of which Col. C. A. L. Lamar was agent, for the charter
•of three vessels, with the privilege of adding two others
which the company expected to have ready in a few
months.
This contract I considered advantageous to the State,
-and if left free to carry it out I could have exported
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 753
-cotton enough to have purchased all the supplies the
State might need, and could have imported them upon
reasonable terms.
At this point I was interrupted by the interposition
of the Secretary of the Treasury, who under the order of
the President, refused to permit any vessel to clear un-
less she carried out one-half the cargo for the Confed-
erate Government upon terms which were below that
the State was to pay for the use of the vessels. This
restriction was placed upon the vessels of the State as
it was said, by authority vested in the President by
Act of Congress of 6th Feby. 1864, which prohibits the
exportation of cotton, etc., except under such uniform
regulations as shall be made by the President of the
Confederate States. This construction could not be
sustained however, upon any known rule, as the 5th
Section of the Act declares explicitly; "that nothing in
this Act shall be construed to prohibit the Confederate
States or ani/ of them from exporting any of the articles
herein enumerated on their own account." This provi-
sion in the Act therefore leaves the States as free to ex-
port on their own account, either upon vessels owned or
chartered by them, as they were before that Act was
passed. But as the proviso in the Act had been vir-
tually repealed by an Executive order, I, in common with
the Governors of Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina,
(the Governor of South Carolina concurring as shown
by his letter) appealed to Congress to take up the ques-
tion and make such provisions as would enable the State
to exercise their just rights. After mature considera-
tion, Congress passed a bill for that purpose which the
President vetoed. Congress then, as I am informed by
754 Confederate Records
one of the Representatives of this State, passed a reso-
lution unanimously in the House, and with almost una-
nimity in the Senate, declaring in substance that the
States should be permitted to export and import without
interruption upon vessels chartered by them prior to
the date of the resolution, which would have left the
vessels chartered by this State free. This resolution
was passed near the close of the session, and the Presi-
dent refused, as the member informs me, either to sign
it or to return it, that Congress might be permitted to
vote to overrule his vetoe. Thus by the order of the
Executive alone, notwithstanding the action of Congress
and the provision of the 5th Section of the Act above
referred to, the States were prohibited from exporting
cotton and importing blankets and clothing for their
troops, and other necessary supplies, unless they would
conform to such rules as the President thought proper
to prescribe. These rules I could not conform to under
the provisions of the contract made with the Exporting^
and Importing Company without heavy loss to the State.
As I was thus prohibited, by Act of the Confederate
Government from carrying out the contract, I could not
insist upon the exclusive use and control of the vessels.
Finding the exportations of the State forbidden by the
Lincoln Blockade, and placed under a partial blockade
by our own Executive, I encountered great embarrass-
ment in carrying out the instructions of the Legislature
in this particular. If the company were compelled to
submit to the terms prescribed by the President, and
give up one-half the storage room of the Steamers char-
tered by the State, to the Confederacy, they were unwill-
ing to divide the remaining half allowed them by the
President with the State. By allowing the company to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Browx 755
use the name of the State in their business, which under
the circumstances I felt justified in doing, and by under-
taking to aid them when necessary in the transportation
of cotton to the coast, I was enabled to get them, after
submitting to the terms imposed by the Confederate
Government, to carry out occasional lots for the State
upon the vessels owned by them. I have also, through
the agency of Col. A. Wilbur, exported some upon small
vessels from the coast of this State. I have given one-
half to the vessels for carrying out the other. Owing
to the difficulties in getting letters from the other side,
I have not yet received statements of the sales with the
net amount of gold on deposit to the credit of the State
in England. Should the sale bills and accounts current
be received prior to your adjournment, I will immedi-
ately lay them before the General Assembly.
About three hundred bales of cotton were shipped
upon the Little Ada, (a steamer chartered by the State)
upon the coast of South Carolina. This vessel, after
she had been loaded with State cotton, was detained in
port between two and three months by order of the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, supported, as I am informed,
by a military order from the office of the Adjutant-Gen-
eral in Richmond, to the commandant of the Post, not
to permit her to clear. Thus this State vessel was
doubly blockaded and threatened, by Confederate guns
in the harbor and by Federal guns outside, if she at-
tempted to go to sea with State cotton to pay for blan-
kets to be imported for Georgia troops in service who
liave great need of them.
A complete statement of the amount expended by the
State for the purchase of cotton, with the quantity pur-
756 Confederate Records
chased under the appropriations, and the average cost
per pound, together with the number of bales exported
on account of the State, and the number now in store,
with account of expenditures for storage, freight, insur-
ance, lighterage, bagging, rope, compressing, etc., will
be laid before the finance committee during the session.
They are not transmitted herewith because reports of the
agents with accounts current have not all been received.
I have purchased and had stored on one of the Islands,
30,000 pairs of cotton cards and 30,000 soldiers' blankets.
I have also made contracts for soldiers' clothing, enough,
I trust, with what are on hand, to carry the troops
through the winter without suffering. Part of our goods
were lost a few days since near Charleston with the
Florie, but I hope soon to be able to import the balance.
I have lately been informed by Mr. Trenholm, the
present liberal minded, practical Secretary of the Treas-
ury, that vessels owned by the State will be permitted to
clear without interruption by the Confederate Govern-
ment. Were the question an original one, I cannot doubt
that Mr. Trenholm, with the Act of Congress before
him, would decide that a vessel chartered by a State has
the same right to a clearance, as no substantial distinc-
tion can be drawn between the right of a State to export
upon a vessel owned, and one chartered by her, which is
a temporary ownership. Nor can I suppose that this
financial officer would willingly throw obstacles in the
way of the States in making all the importations in
their power. Take the case of Georgia as an instance.
Her sons are in the field. They need blankets, shoes,
clothing and other necessaries. The Confederate Gov-
ernment is often unable to furnish these, and they suffer
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 757
for them. The State, by her Legislature, says her sons
shall not suffer, and if the Confederate Government can-
not supply these necessary articles, she will. She ap-
propriates money for that purpose and directs part of
her surplus productions exported to pay for these arti-
cles, which she directs to be imported. She charters her
vessels, purchases cotton with her own money and places
it on board, to be carried abroad at her own risk and
expense, to purchase that she may import, at her own risk
and cost, the articles necessary to the comfort of her own
gallant sons who are under arms for her defense. She
asks not a dollar from the Confederate Government, and
even offers to pay export and import duties, (which the
Confederacy has no right to demand) on all she sends
out and brings in. At this point she is met with a refusal
to permit her vessels to clear, unless she will submit to
such onerous terms as the Confederate Executive may
choose to dictate. Can this action be sustained under
any law of Congress, or upon any principle of enlight-
ened or sound policy? Is it not a palpable assumption
of power, and an utter disregard of every principle of
State Eights and State Sovereignty?
I trust Congress, when it again assembles, acting
upon principles of enlightened statesmanship, will not
only remove these obstacles by enactments too plain and
stringent to be disregarded, but that they will invite and
encourage the several States, free of hindrance or duty,
to import all the army supplies and articles of absolute
necessity, which the means at their command may enable
them to do.
Should this expectation be disappointed, I am satis-
fled it would be sound policy on the part of this State to
758 Confederate Records
purchase several vessels and to import upon them such
supplies as may be needed by our troops, and for State
use. The State should also export a sufficient quantity
of cotton, to place gold enough upon the other side to
enable her to again equip the State Road at the end of
the war. In common with other Southern Roads, its iron
will be much worn, and its rolling stock nearly run down,
and if some forecast is not exercised, the State will not
have the means at her command to put it in running
order. This may be provided for in the manner above
indicated with but little cost.
If the Legislature will appropriate $2,000,000 in cur-
rency and authorize me to purchase vessels and cotton,
and to draw upon the cotton on the other side when nec-
essary to pay for them, or to purchase more cotton for
shipment, if the blockade does not become more stringent,
with the State's usual good luck when her affairs are well
managed, I am firmly impressed with the belief that I can
put gold enough to her credit in Europe in one year to re-
pair the Road within six months after a treaty of peace, or
to pay a large proportion of the appropriations of the
current year. To accomplish this the State must not be
interrupted by Confederate interference. The exchange
which the cotton, exported this year under all the embar-
rassments of a double blockade, places to the credit of the
State, with the cotton now in store, is worth nearly double
the whole sum expended by the State in the purchase of
the cotton.
Our Financial Condition.
As will be seen by the reports of the Treasurer and
Comptroller-General, the public debt of Georgia, inde-
pendent of the appropriations of the past year, for the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 759
payment of which a sufficient tax has been assessed, and
of the change bills issued which are payable in Confeder-
ate States Treasury Notes, amounts to $14,474,270. Of
this the bonded debt is $6,086,250, of which $216,000 l)e-
ing part due is drawing no interest. The remaining debt
consists of $6,993,000 in Treasury notes, and $1,395,000
in Treasury Certificates of Deposit. These notes and
certificates bear no interest and the State will not be
called on to redeem them in specie or bonds till six months
after a treaty of peace.
Of the above $2,670,750 is the old bonded debt which
existed at the commencement of the war, incurred chiefly
on account of the construction of the Western & Atlantic
Eailroad, which is the property of the State, and for
stock in the Atlantic and Gulf Road.
To meet her liabilities the State has public property
consisting of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, bank
stock, and railroad stock, valued before the depreciation
of the currency at $8,840,124,68. And her whole taxable
property worth over $700,000,000 upon a specie basis.
The debt to be paid in Confederate Treasury Notes is
$1,411,442 of change bills, and $8,095,000 payable m new
issue of Confederate Treasury Notes 25th December next,
which by the terms of the contract are to be presented
for payment by 25th March next, or the State is not bound
to redeem them, but they are to be receivable in pajnnent
of public dues at any future time.
To redeem these notes and the undrawn appropria-
tions of the past year, there is now in the Treasury $2,-
146,087, and a balance still due on the tax digest about
7G0 Confederate Records
sufficient to cover the whole amount. But as some of the
counties whose digests have been returned have since
been thrown within the enemy's hues, it may not be pos-
sible if the enemy is not driven back, to collect a sufficient
sum within the time to pay all these notes when pre-
sented.
In that event I respectfully recommend that provision
be made for the issue and sale of seven per cent, bonds
running" 20 years with semi-annual coupons to raise the
Confederate currency necessary to pay the debt, which
it is believed would command a high premium, or that
new State notes be issued upon the same terms as the
notes to be redeemed payable in new issue of Confederate
notes one year after date, which could be exchanged it is
believed for Confederate Notes with which to make the
paj^ment. This would enable the State to pay the debt
of the Confederate notes as soon as the taxes can be col-
lected.
I also recommend that the appropriations of the pres-
ent fiscal year be provided for by the issue of similar
notes payable in Confederate Treasury Notes, so as to
enable the State to pay the appropriations out of the
taxes of each year when collected, and that sufficient tax
be assessed to meet all the appropriations made. As the
money must be used during the year, and the taxes of
each year are paid during the latter part of the year, it
becomes necessary to issue these notes to meet the de-
mands of the Treasury till the taxes can be collected.
As I stated in a former message no prudent man will
now give his note for property at the present rates pay-
able in specie after the war; nor will he borrow the pres-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 7G1
ent currency if he is obliged to use it and give his note for
it at par payable in lawful money after the war, but he
will sell property, even if it exposes him to much incon-
venience, and raise the currency which he is obliged to
use. If no member of the General Assembly, and no pru-
dent constituent of any member, will raise currency for
his own uses and give for it his obligation for specie after
the war, no legislator should do it for the State, which is
composed of the members and their constituents. If it
becomes necessary to sell some portion of our property
to raise the currency necessary to meet the demands
upon the Treasury we should do it without hesitation,
rather than incur an enormous debt in currency to be paid
out of our property and that of our posterity in future
at specie rates. In imposing the necessary taxes the law
should make provision for the exemption of the property
of the poor who can not sell property to pay a heavy tax
and live, and should place the burden mainly upon the
wealth of the State, where it can be borne without causing
suffering or want. As the poor have generally paid their
part of the cost of this war in military service, exposure,
fatigue and blood, the rich, who have been in a much
greater degree exempt from these, should meet the money
demands of the Government.
Western & Atlantic Railroad.
As will be seen by the report of the Superintendent
of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, the net earnings of
the road have been $1,117,522.48 for the fiscal year.
In addition to this about half a million dollars have
been made to this date, by the use of the rolling stock
since the road was given up to the enemy, by the purchase
7G2 Confederate Records
of cotton mostly in localities threatened by the enemy,
which was carried to points of greater safety and sold
for a profit. The sales had not been made nor had that
sum been realized at the date of the Superintendent's re-
port. Part of the cotton now stored will soon be sold, and
the money paid into the Treasury and accounted for in
the next report of the Superintendent.
When we had rolling stock which could be spared
from Government transportation I thought this a legiti-
mate business. When the road was taken possession of
by the enemy and our engines and cars sent to the interior
of the State, I found it necessary to keep the most of the
employees of the road with the stock, that we might have
them at command in case we recovered the road. As
they were generally dependent upon their wages for the
support of their families, it was necessary to keep them
upon such pay as would accomplish this object.
The loss of our engines and cars has been heavy.
The raid under General Sherman destroyed at Gordon
and near Griswoldville seventeen passenger cars and
thirty freight cars, and seriously injured four engines.
At the evacuation of Atlanta, three of our engines and
eighteen cars, which were in the employment of the Gov-
ernment transporting ordnance and commissary stores
were destroyed by order of Gen. Hood, to prevent their
falling into the hands of the enemy. The families of
part of the employees who have been driven out without
shelter have been permitted to occupy a portion of the
freight cars. The balance of the rolling stock, when not
engaged carrying cotton, has been used on other roads
to carry government freights for the supply of the army.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 763
The Confederate Government owes the road, as will
be seen by the Superintendent's report, the sum of $975,-
774,60. I have made every effort in my power to collect
this, but have not been successful. I trust the Govern-
ment will not much longer delay payment, which has been
withheld, from time to time, under various pretexts.
Tax on Banks.
As the Act of the last regular session imposed a tax
upon both the assets and capital stock of the different
banks of this State, which amounts to a double tax, and
as these corporations have not the advantages over the
other pursuits in the State which they had before the
war, on account of the suspension of their regular busi-
ness which has been absorbed by the Confederate Treas-
ury, and as they exchanged large amounts of their own
bills with the Government at the commencement of the
war for its notes as an accommodation, which have
greatly depreciated in their hands, I doubted whether it
was the intention of the legislature to make this discrimi-
nation against them. I therefore directed the Comp-
troller-General to suspend the collection of the tax upon
their capital stock and collect only upon their assets till
your pleasure shall be known.
Tax on Cotton.
As the law now stands, cotton in the hands of all per-
sons other than producers, is taxable ; but the cotton held
by the producer in his gin house from year to year as
investment pays no tax. I can see no just reason for
this discrimination. If the planter sells his cotton and
invests the proceeds in bonds or other property, they are
764 Confederate Records
taxable, as are almost every other species of property;
but if lie considers tlie cotton a better investment than
currency, bonds or other property, and holds it from
year to year, it is exempt in his hands from taxation,
while all other things of like value are taxed. If A pur-
chases cotton which he holds as investment, and B raises
cotton which he holds from year to year for the same
purpose, I confess my inability to see any just reason
why the one should pay tax and the other be exempt.
Inequ.vlity or Tax Returns.
I call your special attention to that part of the report
of the Comptroller-General which points out the inequal-
ity of the tax returns from the different counties under
the present law, and respectfully recommend the passage
of the bill suggested by him, or one of like character, to
remedy this evil and prevent future inequality and in-
justice between the people of the different counties.
Each should bear its just part of the public burdens,
which is not, and will not be, the case under the present
law.
Military Appropriation.
As our State is invaded by a powerful enemy and it
is impossible to foresee the exigencies which may arise
within the ensuing year to require the use of our military
force, or the extremities to which we may be driven, I
recommend the appropriation of ten millions of dollars
as a military fund for the political year.
Relief of Soldiers' Families.
I recommend the appropriation of six millions of
dollars as a fund for the relief of indigent soldiers'
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 765
families and sick and wounded soldiers, and indigent
exiles.
While hundreds and thousands of our patriotic fellow
citizens who are poor and without means to support
their families in their absence, are standing as a bulwark
between the enemy and the safety and property of the
whole people whose homes have not been overrun, it is
the imperative duty of the people at home to see that
their families do not suffer for the necessaries of life.
I have constantly advocated this policy, and feel the im-
portance of it the more as the sufferings consequent upon
the scarcity of provisions are increased in the State.
The wealth and property of the State must be taxed to
any extent necessary to prevent suffering among the
families of our brave defenders. They have freely shed
their blood in their country's service, and those who
have money must be compelled to part with as much of
it as may be required to cheer the hearts of the widows
and orphans of the slain, and the distressed families of
those still upon the field. Let our soldiers know that
their loved ones at home are provided for, and you stimu-
late them to greater exertions and nerve them to nobler
deeds.
The law should be so amended as to make it the duty
of the Inferior Courts of the respective counties to make
quarterly reports to the Comptroller-General of the dis-
bursement of the funds received by them, with a state-
ment of the names of the indigent persons to whom the
fund is distributed and the amount received by each. It
is believed that the courts are not held by the present
law to sufficient accountability.
766 Confederate Records
The law should provide for the prompt dismissal of
the courts from the trust, and the appointment of other
agents to disburse the fund, when they fail to make legal
and satisfactory returns, or to discharge any other of the
duties imposed upon them by the statute.
Provision should also be made to enable the courts
of counties containing refugees to draw enough of the
funds of counties behind the enemy's lines to aiford re-
lief to such refugees when entitled, without the certificate
of the court of the county of their former residence, upon
other satisfactory evidence when the certificate of the
court cannot be obtained.
Clothing Fukd.
I recommend the appropriation of two millions of
dollars as a clothing fund to be used for the supply of
clothing to Georgia troops in service when they cannot
get what is necessary to their comfort from the Confed-
erate Government. A\^ile it is the duty of that Govern-
ment to supply all its troops with comfortable clothing,
if it fails to discharge that duty, from inability or other-
wise, Georgia should see that her sons do not suffer by
such neglect. This fund should be used for the purchase
of the necessary supply, either in the Confederacy or in
foreign markets, as circumstances may show the one or
the other to be the most practical with the least cost.
Purchase of Provisions.
The conscript law having been extended to fifty years
of age, embraces much the greater portion of the planters
of this State. Most of these men who make surplus sup-
plies of provisions have received details from military
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Browx 767
service on condition that tliey sell to the Confederate
Government all their surplus at schedule prices, which
are now far below market value as to afford not even the
appearance of just compensation. In this way the Con-
federate Government prohibits the citizens of Georgia
from selling their surplus productions to their own State,
when the State needs these ])roductions and is ready to
pay just compensation for them. This makes it exceed-
ingly difficult for the Quartermasters and Commissaries
of the State to procure the supplies absolutely necessary
for the State troops, indigent exiles, and others sup-
ported by the State. Under the order of Confederate
officers that detailed men should sell only to Confederate
agents, the officers of the State during the past summer
were driven out of her own markets and were obliged to
go to our sister State, Alabama, and purchase corn and
import it at a very heavy expense to the Treasury to save
the suffering poor from starvation.
For a more detailed statement of the difficulties grow-
ing out of this prohibition you are respectfully referred
to the official reports of the Quartermaster-General and
the Commissary-General.
Some of the other States have enacted laws which
authorize the State officers to impress, when in the hands
of producers, such supplies as are needed for State use.
This, in my opinion, is the only mode of obviating the
difficulty. Such a law should make ample provision to
secure just compensation to the owners whose property
may be taken. A Confederate regulation cannot be de-
fended upon any principle of reason or justice which
drives a State out of her own markets for the purchase
of her necessary supplies.
768 Confederate Eecoeds
The Exiles Driven Out By the Enemy.
Your attention is invited to the deplorable condition
of the unfortunate exiles, who have been driven from
their homes in Atlanta, and other i^arts of the State, by
the savage cruelty of the enemy. The inlmmanity of the
treatment to which these unfortunate sufferers have been
subjected, has probabl}^ no parallel in modern warfare,
and but few in the history of the world. Thousands of
helpless women and children, many of them widows and
orphans of brave men, who have sacrificed their lives in
the defence of the liberties of their country, have been
driven from their homes, with but little of their clothing
and furniture, and thrown out and exposed upon the
ground to all sorts of weather, without food, house or
shelter.
I have had the best means in my power provided for
their protection, and have ordered j^rovisions issued to
those who were entirely destitute. As I had no special
appropriation for this purpose, I have used the Military
fund, or so much of it as could be spared, not doubting
that my course would meet your approval. Tents have
been furnished to such as could not get shelter, and I
have directed that log cabins be constructed, at a suita-
ble locality, by the Quartermaster-General, who has taken
great interest in their behalf, for their comfort during
the winter. The Quartermaster and Commissary-Gen-
eral have done all in their power, with the means at their
command, to mitigate the sufferings of this most unfor-
tunate class of our fellow citizens. I recommend that
proper provision be made by law, to supply those who are
destitute with shelter, and the necessaries of life, till
they can provide for themselves.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 769
Georgia Hospital and Relief Association.
Your attention is invited to the Annual Report of the
Board of Superintendents of the Georgia Hospital and
Relief Association. This Association is composed of
gentlemen of the highest character who have labored
faithfully and successfully to alleviate the suffering of
our sick and wounded soldiers. Their efforts merit the
thanks of our whole people. It is doubted whether any
other association with the same amount of means at com-
mand has accomplished as much good.
I respectfully recommend an appropriation of $500,-
000 to be expended by the association as heretofore, dur-
ing the ensuing year.
School Fund.
As our schools can not be conducted with success, till
we have a change in the condition of the country, I recom-
mend that the school fund, for the future, be applied to
the support of the widows and orphans of our soldiers,
till we can again revive our educational interests, with
reasonable prospects of the accomplishment of good, by
the distribution of the fund among the counties, for edu-
cational purposes.
Deserters and Stragglers From the Army.
It is a fact that requires no effort at concealment since
the late announcement of the President, in his speech at
Macon, that our annies have been weakened to an alarm-
ing extent by desertion and straggling. The success of
our cause, and the safety of our people, require prompt
770 Confederate Records
action to remedy this evil. Many of these men have
fought galhmtly, and have left their commands, under
circumstances the most trying, to which human nature
can he exposed. As our armies have retreated and left
large sections of country in possession of the enemy, they
have found their homes and their families thrown behind
the enemy's lines, where the latter are subject, not only
to insult and injury, but to great suffering for the neces-
saries of life. Under these circumstances, their sym-
Ijathy and care, for their families, triumphed over their
patriotism and sense of duty, and in an unfortunate hour
they yielded to their feelings, laid down their arms and
abandoned their colors.
A strong appeal should be made to these men to return
to their companies, and a free pardon should be extended
to each one who will do so. This is already offered to
them by Gen. Beauregard, and Gen. Hood, and I have
reason to believe would be granted by the General in com-
mand of each of the Militar}- Departments. All who re-
fuse to accept the pardon, and return, should be arrested,
and sent forward with the least possible delay.
The civil officers of the State, in their respective coun-
ties, with the aid of the Military officers, when at home,
and the patrol of each county, is believed to be the most
effective, for the arrest and return of deserters and strag-
glers, if placed by the laws of the respective States, under
proper legal obligations, to act in this capacity. These
officers, by the Constitution of the country" and laws of
the States, and of the Confederate States, are exempt
from Confederate conscription, and should be required,
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 771
in consideration of the exemption extended to them, to
keep all deserters and stragglers out of their counties,
when not overrun by the enemy.
To compel the civil officers to act, as many of them
are not inclined to do so, I recommend the passage of a
law, authorizing the Governor to turn over the civil offi-
cers of any county, or any portion of them, to conscrip-
tion, when they refuse to act or to obey orders, for the
apprehension of stragglers and deserters, from the State
or Confederate service, and if they can not be turned over
to conscription from age or otherwise, that tliey be sub-
ject to Militia duty, and to trial by court martial, for neg-
lect of duty or refusal to obey orders. And that all nec-
essary penal sanctions be added, to compel the discharge
of this duty. Proper provision should be made, by the
Confederate authorities, to receive the deserters at con-
venient points, not too remote from any part of the State,
and to pay jail fees and other necessary expenses
promptly. The want of proper regulations, in this par-
ticular, deters many civil officers, who would be willing
to act, from making arrests, as they have not money to
spare, to pay the expenses, and do not know to whom or
where they should deliver the persons arrested.
While it is the duty of the States to make provision
to compel deserters and persons absent without leave, to
return to their commands, an imperative obligation rests
upon them to make such provision for the families of the
needy as will secure them from want of the necessaries
of life, in the absence of their husbands and fathers.
Whatever tax upon the wealth of each State, may be
necessary for this purpose, should be assessed by legis-
772 Confederate Records
lators without hesitation, and paid by property holders
without complaint.
Robber Bands of Deserters and Straggling Cavalry.
It is a lamentable fact that bands of deserters from
our armies, and small bodies of cavalry belonging to the
Confederate service, are constantly robbing and plunder-
ing our people of their stock, provisions and other prop-
erty. This is generally done by these robber bands under
the pretext of exercising the power of impressment, in
the name of the Government or of some General, who
not only knows nothing of their conduct but disapproves
and condemns it. They go armed and take what they
please by intimidation and force, having regard to neither
age, sex nor condition. They are not amenable to any
civil process as there is not generally sufficient force at
home to arrest them, and they pass on and can not in
future be identified. If arrested and committed to prison
they will aid each other to escape by force if necessary.
They are lawless banditti and should be so treated.
I, therefore, recommend the passage of an Act declar-
ing all such outlaws, and authorizing any citizen, or asso-
ciation of citizens, whom they may attempt to rob, to
shoot them down or slay them in any other way in their
power, and to band together and follow them when they
have committed a robbery in any neighborhood and slay
them wherever found. This is the only protection left
our people at home against the depredations of these in-
corrigible thieves.
State Papers of Governor Jos. PI Brown 773
Bank of the Quartermaster and Commissary-General.
The gentlemen who fill these positions have labored
incessantly and faithfully to serve the State and promote
the public interest. I feel quite sure no two better offi-
cers fill similar places in any State in the Confederacy.
The Code only gives them the rank of Lieutenant-Col-
onel and allows the Governor no discretion in raising
their rank no matter how deserving they may be of pro-
motion. As I know of no other State which has failed to
give higher rank to officers in these positions, I respect-
fully recommend as an Act of justice that their rank be
raised to that of Brigadier-General.
Georgia Military Institute.
Upon the advance of the enemy, in the direction of
Marietta, I directed the Superintendent, Professors com-
manding, and cadets of the Georgia Military Institute, to
report to the Military commanders for orders, and to aid
in the defence of Atlanta, or such other points as they
might be assigned to. The order was obeyed with
promptness and cheerfulness, and they were, for a time,
placed at the bridge at West Point, then at a position
on the river in front of Atlanta, and finally in the trenches.
In every position, they acted with coolness and courage
and won the respect and confidence of their commanders.
Finallj^, when it became necessary to place troops at Mil-
ledgeville, for the defence of the Capitol, against the
raids of the enemy, I ordered them to this place, where
they are covered with tents, engaged in study part of
each day, and the balance of the time attending to their
duties as a battalion of troops. I have ordered them sup-
774 Confederate Records
plied with provisions by the Commissary, while engaged
in this service, and it will be necessary to pay the profes-
sors out of the Military fund, or to make a special appro-
priation for that purpose.
State Line.
The two Regiments of the State Line have greatly
distinguished themselves, for cool courage and intrepid
valor upon the battle field, and have rendered important
service in the defence of the State. The ranks of these
gallant Regiments have been decimated, and they are now
greatly reduced. In the short period from the time they
reported to General Johnston at the front, till the fall of
Atlanta, they lost upon the battle field nearly 500 men,
many of them as gallant as any who have bled in free-
dom's cause. For a more detailed account of their ser-
vices and losses, you are referred to the able report of
the Adjutant and Inspector-General of the State.
The Militia.
The report of the Adjutant and Inspector-General
will afford all necessary information, connected with the
organization of the Militia, which would have been a
most thorough and efficient one, but for the interruption
growing out of the Conscript Acts since their organiza-
tion, and would have enabled the State to bring into the
field, for her own defence, when Atlanta was threatened,
a force of some 30,000 men, after making all reasonable
allowance for disability, etc.
Notwithstanding the difficulties with which the State
authorities have had to contend, about 10,000 of the re-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 775
serve Militia were armed and sent to the front, to aid in
the defence of Atlanta, and other important points in
the State. No troops in the service discharged their
duty more nobly and faithfully. They received the com-
mendation of General Johnston, General Hood, and their
immediate commander, Major-General Smith, for their
gallantry and good conduct upon the battle field. When
Atlanta fell they held the post of honor, constituting the
rear guard, which brought off the reserve artillery of
General Hood's army. After they had been ordered back
to Grififin they were furloughed for 30 days, and have
again assembled under their gallant leader, and are in the
right place nobly defending the soil of their State.
In the Constitution of the Confederate States each
State has reserved the right to keep troops in time of
War, when actually invaded as Georgia now is. Our
fathers who formed the Constitution of the United States,
from which we have taken this provision of our present
Constitution, foresaw that no State could part with this
right without an unconditional surrender of her sover-
eignty, which they were careful to provide against. The
right of the Confederate States, if we admit the power of
conscription, and of the State to raise troops, is mutual
and concurrent. Each, in that case, has the same right
in war when the State is invaded, to enlist troops
into its service, and neither has the right to take
them out of the custody of the other, when regularly re-
ceived into its military service. This does not of course
admit the right of the Confederate Government to enroll
or interfere, with the officers, or necessary agents, of the
State government.
77(> Confederate Records
As the present organization of reserve Militia is the
only remaining force left to the State, she should, under
no circumstances, turn them over to the unlimited con-
trol of the Confederate Government, or any other power.
But she should retain the control over them that she may
send them to the field, when the Military exigencies re-
quire it, and withdraw them at proper intervals, when
her agricultural, and other material interests, impera-
tively demand it.
I turned over the organization first to General John-
ston, then to General Hood, and now to General Beaure-
gard, giving each the absolute command and control of
the force, reserving only the right to withdraw it from
their command, when, in m}" judgment, the safety of the
State no longer required it in the field. This right will,
of course, be exercised with due caution, after free con-
ference with the commanding General, as was the case
when I granted the thirty days' furlough, after the fall of
Atlanta. This enabled the troops to save a very impor-
tant crop of the State, much of which would otherwise
have been lost, and caused no embarrassment to General
Hood, in the execution of his plans.
Convention or Governors.
I transmit, herewith, a copy of Resolutions, adopted
by the Governors of Virginia, North Carolina, South Car-
olina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, convened in
Augusta, on Monday, the 17th of October last, and re-
spectfully recommend the enactment of such laws as are
necessary to carry these resolutions into practical effect,
so far as they contemplate action by the Legislatures of
the respective States. I also request the exercise of your
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 777
Legislative influence to induce Congress to carry out
such portions of the recommendations as are addressed
to that body. It is proper, in this connection, for me to
remark, that I do not wish to be understood by either of
said resolutions, that I advocate the policy, in the pres-
ent condition of our affairs, of arming our slaves. I do,
however, advocate the use of them as teamsters, cooks,
hospital servants, and in every other menial capacity, in
which their services can be made useful, or in which they
can relieve freemen from such pursuits that they may
take up arms.
Conclusion.
In conclusion I earnestly invoke the blessings of Al-
mighty God upon your deliberations, and humbly pray
that He will endow you with wisdom from above, and will
guide and direct all your councils, till they result in the
adoption of measures, and the enactment of laws which,
while they strengthen our forces, and give victory to our
arms, will lead to wise and just negotiations, which may
stop the war, with all its horrors, and secure the inde-
pendence of the Confederacy, with the rights and the
sovereignty of the States unimpaired, thereby enabling
us to maintain, to the latest generation, the inestimable
blessings of civil and religious liberty, protected by ade-
quate Constitutional guarantees.
Joseph E. Brown.
The Meeting of the Go\t:rnors.
At a meeting of the Governors of the States of Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala-
bama, and Mississippi, held in Augusta, Ga., on Monday
778 Confederate Records
the 17th inst., Gov. Wm. Smith presiding, after a full,
free and harmonious consultation and interchange of
council, the following, among other views, were ex-
pressed :
Resolved, That there is nothing in the jiresent aspect
of public affairs to cause any abatement of our zeal in
the prosecution of the war to the accomplishment of a
peace, based on the independence of the Confederate
States. And to give encouragement to our brave soldiers
in the field, and to strengthen the Confederate authorities
in the pursuit of this desirable end, we will use our best
exertions to increase the effective force of our armies.
Resolved, That the interests of each of our States are
identical in the present struggle for self-government, and
wisdom and true patriotism dictate that the military
forces of each should aid the others against invasion and
subjugation, and for this purpose we will recommend to
our several legislatures to repeal all such laws as pro-
hibit the executives from sending their forces beyond
their respective limits, in order that they may render
temporary service wherever most urgently required.
Resolved, That whilst it is our purpose to use every
exertion to increase the strength and efficiency of our
State and Confederate forces, we respectfully and earn-
estly request that the Confederate authorities will send
to the field every able-bodied man without exception, in
any of its various departments whose place can be filled
by either disabled officers and soldiers, senior reserves or
negroes, and dispense with the use of all provost and post
guard, except in important cities, or localities where the
presence of large bodies of troops make them necessary.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 779
and with all passport agents upon railroads not in the
immediate vicinity of the armies, as we consider these
agents an unnecessary annoyance to good citizens and of
no possible benefit to the country.
Resolved, That we recommend our respective legisla-
tures to pass stringent laws for the arrest and return to
their commands of all deserters and stragglers from the
Confederate armies or State troops, and that it be made
the special duty, under appropriate penalties, of all civil
and military officers to arrest and deliver to the proper
authorities all such delinquents.
And Whereas, the public enemy having proclaimed
the freedom of our slaves, are forcing into their armies
the able-bodied portion thereof, the more effectually to
wage their cruel and bloody war against us, therefore
be it
Resolved, That it is the true policy and obvious duty
of all slave owners timely to remove their slaves from
the line of the enemy's approach, and especially those
able to bear arms ; and when they shall fail to do so that
it be made the duty of the proper authorities to enforce
the performance of this duty, and to give such owners all
necessary assistance as far as practicable.
Resolved, That the course of the enemy in appro-
priating our slaves who happen to fall in their hands to
purposes of war seems to justify a change of policy on
our part; and whilst owners of slaves, under the circum-
stances, should freely yield them to their country, we
recommend to our authorities, under proper regulations,
to appropriate such part of them to the public service as
may be required.
780 Confederate Records
Resolved, That the States have the right to export
such productions and to import such supplies as may be
necessary for State use, or for the comfort or support of
their troops in service, upon any vessel or vessels owned
or chartered by them; and that we request Congress at
its next session to pass laws removing all restrictions
which have been imposed by Confederate authority upon
such exports or imports by the State.
And lastly, we deem it not inappropriate to declare
our firm and unalterable purpose, as we believe it to be
that of our fellow citizens, to maintain our right of self-
government, to establish our independence, and to up-
hold the rights and sovereignty of the States or to perish
in the attempt.
Resolved, That the chairman be requested to send a
copy of these resolutions to His Excellency President
Davis, and also one each to the President of the Senate
and Speaker of the House of Representatives to be laid
before the respective bodies.
Executive Department,
MlLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 7th, 1864.
This certifies that Rev. L. Pierce of this State, is a
gentleman of the highest possible character, known to be
loyal to the Confederacy and the cause of the South. He
travels exclusively in the discharge of his ministerial
duties. I request that no passport officer or agent molest
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 781
him, but that he be permitted to pass where he pleases in
the Confederacy.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, the day and
year above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following Special Message was transmitted to
the General Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 10th, 1864.
To the General Assembly:
I respectfully call your attention to the fact that a
very considerable class of able-bodied men in this State
who should do military service are now under bond for
various violations of the Penal Code, and are held by
some of the Inferior Courts, in habeas corpi^s cases, to be
exempt on that account from State military service.
Under this ruling it is only necessary for a person
who does not wish to enter the service to commit an
"assault and battery," or any other act declared penal,
and give bond and security for his appearance at court,
and so manage as to get the case continued from time to
time, and he has a permanent exemption from service.
782 Confederate Records
This I think an evil which calls for legislation. No
man should be excused by law from his part of the ser-
vice necessary to defend the State, because he has vio-
lated the laws of the State.
I respectfully recommend that a law or resolution be
passed declaring that all such are subject to military
duty, and releasing their sureties on their bonds from lia-
bility during the time the}' are in actual service.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 11th, 1864.
It is hereby Ordered, That Wellington Stevenson, of
the city of Augusta, be, and he is hereby appointed and
commissioned, an agent of the State of Georgia to im-
port medicines for the use of the State troops and the
exiles now supported by the State; and that he enter
upon the duties of his said position without delay.
While so engaged, I claim him as exempt from con-
scription, and release him from military duty.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, the day and
year above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papees of Governor Jos. E. Brown 783
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 14th, 1864.
Permission is granted to Mr. W. R. Ultez, of Wil-
mington, N. C, as the agent of the Georgia Relief and
Hospital Association, and solely for that use and benefit
of said Association, to ship abroad sixty bales of cotton.
Given under my hand and
seal of the Executive De-
partment, the day and
year above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 14th, 1864.
By order of the Governor, license No. 155, issued to
Stephen W. Pearce, of Worth county, 13th January, 1864,
for tbe distillation of whiskey is this day revoked.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit:
784 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 17th, 1864.
To the House of Representatives:
In response to your call, I state that I have, by respon-
sible agents, purchased since your last session 8,194 bales
of upland cotton, and 383 bales of sea island. Of this
number, 4,048 bales of upland and 383 of sea island have
been purchased under the authority of the Acts passed
by the General Assembly, for exportation, to pay for cot-
ton cards, soldiers* clothing, blankets, etc., etc. — the up-
land at an average original cost of 80"% cents per pound
— the sea island at an average of $2.97 per pound. I
have exported l,614i/2 bales. Of this 58 bales were cap-
tured by the blockading fleet, and 1,5561/. have gone
through safely. This was all shipped out one-half for
the other, except 2821/4 bales, which were shipped at 40
sterling per ton. After payment of freight this places
to the credit of the State in Europe about 850 bales,
worth in the present currency over $5,000,000, or $3,000,-
000 in round numbers more than the whole cost of the
cotton purchased, including the sea island. Of the re-
mainder of the 4,048 bales, 282i/> bales were sold to the
Confederate Government at cost, for the privilege of
shipping out 2821/. bales on the terms above mentioned,
and 297 bales have been loaned to that Government,
which it has not yet repaid — 46 bales have been burnt —
only 9 bales were a loss to the State — and the State still
has in store waiting on opportunity to ship 1,808 bales
upland cotton, and 383 bales of sea island. In other
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 785
words, the State has shipped out much less than half the
quantity purchased, and that shipped out safely to Europe
is now worth in currency $3,000,000 more than she gave
for the whole quantity purchased.
I have now in Nassau 30,000 excellent soldiers' blan-
kets, and expect soon to have 5,000 suits of soldiers' cloth-
ing, 18,000 yards of cloth for soldiers' clothing, and 5,000
pairs of good army shoes, which, by the terms of the con-
tracts, are to be delivered by the first of next month. I
have also purchased and had stored at Nassau 30,000
pairs of cotton cards. Of these 5,100 pairs were lost with
the steamer Florie, and 5,100 landed safely at Wilming-
ton and are expected here soon by express, and 19,800
pairs remain on the island, to be shipped by the earliest
opportunity.
The balance of the cotton first above mentioned, to-
wit: 4,146 bales of upland, have been purchased on ac-
count of the W. & A. Railroad, at an average cost of 83i/2
cents per pound. This, with the exception of 31 bales,
now stored at Butler, has been shipped to Savannah and
Augusta for sale; the agents have sold 2,463 bales for a
net profit of $433,512.38. Part of this was sold to an
agent of the Confederate Government, who is still in
our debt $200,000 of the money, but promises to pay soon.
Twenty-one bales were burnt while in transit on the
Central Railroad, and the balance of 1,662 are still on
hand unsold. This has been held on account of a recent
decline in the markets of Augusta and Savannah. The
cotton now on hand has been purchased at a higher price
than the cotton first purchased and sold, and the margin
for profits will not be so great as on that already sold.
786 Confederate Records
I think it safe, liowever, to estimate tliat the cotton pur-
chased and transported to this date will pay into the
Treasury of the Road a net profit of $600,000. This has
been made by the use of the rolling stock of the Road not
engaged in Government transportation, in about three
months.
As these transactions have not been fully closed and
the accounts made up, it is not possible to give all the
items in detail. This will be done carefully and accu-
rately in the next report of the Superintendent of the
Road.
I am not able to refer to any statute which gave me
express authority to make these purchases and sales for
the Road. When you were last in session, no such state
of things was anticipated as now exists. Since then, the
enemy have taken charge of the Road, and we have been
driven from it.
The agents and employees moved back with the roll-
ing stock. If we disbanded and dismissed them, it would
not be possible to supply their places and work the road
if we should recover it from the enemy, and it was neces-
sary that the machinists and carpenters be kept at work
for the repair of the engines and cars. It requires a
large sum of money every month to support these agents
and employees with their families. The Confederate
Government, for which most of the work of the year has
been done prior to the loss of the Road, owes us nearly
a million of dollars, and we can not collect enough to pay
the wages of the employees. I had rolling stock idle. If
I leased it out at the usual rates, the incomes from it
State Papers of Goverxor Jos. E. Brown- 787
would be comparatively small, and, owing to the usual
failure of those who hire rolling stock to keep it in order,
would soon be run down.
I had no right to take money out of the Treasury of
the State to make the purchases necessary to start this
business, but I was unwilling that it should fail on that
account, and I ordered the cotton necessary for that
purpose purchased on a credit of twenty days. If this
had been lost by fire or otherwise, and the business had
failed, I should have been personally liable to pay for
the cotton about $200,000. I was satisfied, however, that
it would not fail, and I took the risk and responsibility
necessary to get it under way.
I trust the Legislature is satisfied with the result. If
not, I will cheerfully take the whole matter upon my own
responsibility, and pay the State double the usual rates
for the use of the engines and cars, and pay all expenses
of every character. If my action is approved, I will be
glad to know the fact, that I may continue the business
for the benefit of the State, as I can make a fine profit to
the Treasury during the ensuing year. I see no good
objection to this business, as it is, in my opinion, a fair,
legitimate traffic.
I have recently furnished to the Grovernor of North
Carolina, a train to remove cotton belonging to that State
from Southwestern Georgia to Augusta, and trains to
Confederate Agents to remove Confederate cotton, at the
usual rate for the use of rolling stock. I also furnish
a train occasionally to the agent of the Exporting and
Importing Company to carry their cotton to the coast
788 Confederate Records
for exportation, at the same rates, as they have aided the
State to export cotton on their vessels.
The reports of the agents of cotton purchased for the
State are already in the hands of the Finance Committee.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was this day transmitted to
the House of Representatives, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeOBGIA,
November 17th, 1864.
To the House of Representatives -.
In compliance with the request contained in your reso-
lution, I herewith transmit the names of aides-de-camp
appointed by me under the 20th Section of the Act to
reorganize the militia of the State, who do not belong to
the different departments and have no command in the
field.
Of these, several are over the age of conscription or
otherwise exempt from military duty. Col. Schley is in
Europe as an agent of the State, and Colonels Wilbur
and Lamar are the active agents of the State in the ex-
portation of cotton and importation of supplies.
Colonel Lee and Captains Hendrix, Wright, McAdo
and Paxton were appointed with a view to their employ-
ment in the field, visiting the Georgia Regiments in the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 789
army to get up the information necessary to complete the
Roll of Honor directed by law. The active movements of
the armies since the appointment, and the employment of
these officers at Camp Rescue while the militia were sent
there to be forwarded to Atlanta, and their attendance
since upon a Court of Inquiry, has delayed action.
Since the militia have been ordered out, the business
and correspondence in my office have increased till I have
been obliged to employ two and sometimes four aides in
addition to the usual force, or it could not be kept up.
Again it was found impossible for one aide-de-camp
in each Senatorial District of three counties, to do all the
duties required in sending forward the militia to the
front. One aide was really needed in each large county,
and I find it necessary to appoint the above number.
They have been almost constantly under orders, and will
be necessary so long as the present service continues.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit:
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
November 17th, 1864.
To the House of Representatives :
I herewith transmit the report of the Superintendent
of the Card Factory, which will, I trust furnish all the
790 Confederate Records
information required by the House in its resolution of
inquiry upon that subject.
It may be proper in this connection that I should re-
mark that five thousand tanned sheep skins and a quan-
tity of tacks have been ordered from England for the use
of the factory, which have not yet been heard from. If
these should be lost in the attempt to run the blockade,
it will materially diminish the amount of profits reported
by the Superintendent.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledge\t:lle, Georgia,
November 17th, 1864.
To the General Assembly:
I have received, what I consider reliable information,
that the enemy has burnt and laid waste a large part of
Atlanta, and of several other towns in upper Georgia,
and has destroyed the State Road back to Allatoona, and
burnt the Railroad Bridge over the Chattahoochee River
and is now advancing in heavy force in the direction of
Macon, and probably of this city, laying waste the coun-
try and towns in the line of his march.
The emergency requires prompt, energetic action. If
the whole manhood of the State will rally to the front,
we can check his march, and capture or destroy his force.
Tliere are now in the State, large numbers of men not
under arms in either State or Confederate service. The
class of State officers not subject to Militia duty, such as
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 791
Judges, Justices of the Inferior Courts, Sheriffs, etc.,
will amount to a fine Regiment.
There are numerous others, with Confederate details,
not connected with the present active operations of the
front, probably amounting to several Regiments. All
these, and every other person in the State, able to bear
arms, no matter what his position may be, should rally to
the standard in the field, till the emergency is passed.
The present Militia laws are not adequate to the occa-
sion, and I respectfully ask the passage of a law, with
the least possible delay, authorizing the Governor, to
make a levy en masse, of the whole male population, in-
cluding every man able to do Military duty, during the
emergency and to accept for such length of time as may
be agreed upon, the services of any companies, battal-
ions, regiments, brigades or divisions, of volunteers,
which may tender their services, with any number of men
which he may consider effective. Plenary power should
be given to compel all to report who fail or refuse to do
so.
I respectfully suggest that the appropriation bill be
taken up, and passed without delay, and that a Military
bill, of the character indicated, be also passed and that
the Governor and Legislature then adjourn to the front,
to aid in the struggle, till the enemy is repulsed, and to
meet again if we should live, at such place as the Gov-
ernor may designate.
Joseph E. Brown.
792 Confederate Records
The following message was prepared by His Excel-
lency Gov. Joseph E. Brown, to be sent to the General
Assembly, but while it was being copied for the two
Houses they adjourned on account of the near approach
of the enemy, before the message was received by them.
As Congress probably now has the question before them,
and as it is, in the opinion of the Governor, important
that the people and presses of the country should speak
out boldly to their representatives before the fatal step
is taken by them, he has directed the publication of the
message, with a view to call special attention to the sub-
ject.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 17th, 1864.
The following Special Message was transmitted to the
General Assembly:
To the General Assembly:
I feel it my duty to call your special attention to that
part of the late message of the President of the Confed-
erate States which relates to exemptions from conscrip-
tion.
The President declares, that "no pursuit nor position
should relieve any one who is able to do active duty from
enrollment in the army, unless his functions or service
are more useful to the defence of his country in another
sphere." But he says, "it is manifest that this can not
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 793
be the case with entire classes." He tlien enumerates
several classes, such as telegraph operators, professors,
teachers, editors, millers, shoe makers, tanners, black-
smiths, physicians, etc., who should not be exempt as
classes, and adds, ''and the numerous other classes men-
tioned in the laws," who he says, "can not, in the nature
of things, be either necessary in their several professions
nor distributed throughout the country in such propor-
tions, that only the exact numbers required are found in
each locality." Nor, says he, ''can it be everywhere
impossible to replace those within the conscript age, by
men older and less capable of active field service." He
then says, "A discretion should be vested in the Military
Authorities, (which can only mean in him as the head of
these authorities,) so that a sufficient number of those
essential to the public service, might be detailed to con-
tinue the exercise of their pursuits or professions, but
the exemption from service of the entire classes should
be ivJiolly abandoned."
This is very comprehensive language. If such a law
were enacted by Congress and acquiesced in by the States
and people, it would not only give the President absolute
control over all persons of the classes enumerated by him
in his message, but of what he terms the "numerous other
classes mentioned in the laws."
Who are these other classes mentioned in the laws of
whom the President seeks to get the absolute and unlim-
ited control, without startling the country by the designa-
tion of them in this message ? One of these classes ' ' men-
tioned in the laws," is the members and officers of the
several State Legislatures." Other classes mentioned in
the laws are Judges of the State Courts, Sheriffs, Clerks,
7!)4 Confederate Records
(Ordinaries or Jiulu^os of Probate, etc. Another class
mcutiout'd in the laws, is "Ministers of Religion," au-
thorized to preach according to the rules of their churches.
The President denies that these could be more useful as
classes **in another sphere" than in the military field,
and says, they can not in the nature of things, be either
nccessarif in their several professions nor distributed
throughout the country- in such proportion that only the
exact mimbers required are found in each locality. He
therefore demands that Congress leave it to his ** discre-
tion" to say who of them shall be detailed to continue in
the exercise of their pursuits or professions. With the
declaration in advance, tliat their exemption as ''entire
classes" should be ** wholly abandoned."
Aside from Constitutional objections, what would be
the effect of vesting in the President the absolute power
over all classes of people in these States, which he now
demands at the hands of Congress ?
Xo man could cultivate his fields to produce corn,
wheat, or any other of the necessaries of life, or run his
factory to make clothing, or work his blacksmith shop,
mill, tannery, carpenter shop, machine shop, or follow
other industrial pursuits without the consent of, and a
detail from the President.
Xo man can then publish a newspaper without the con-
sent of the President, and a detail for that purpose.
This would at once destroy all independence in the press,
and abridge its freedom, which the Constitution of the
Confederate States expressly declares Congress shall
make "no law" to do. If each editor must have a detail
from the President, which would be revocable at the will
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 705
of the President, to publish his paper, what freedom or
independence of the press can in future exist? No bold,
high-toned man, would be willing to accept a detail for
this purpose, as it would be an acknowledgement in ad-
vance that his press shall be the tool of the President
will its freedom abridged and its existence dependent
upon the President's will. As this law would give the
President the power to say how many editors he will tol-
erate, it would leave it to his "discretion" what sort of
editors he will have, and what principles they shall ad-
vocate. Thus the public press of the country, whicji,
whatever may be its errors and abuses, is, next to the
Christian religion, the greatest promoter of civilization,
and when loft free and untrammelled is the strongest
bulwark of Constitutional Government, and the most
powerful advocate of civil and religious liberty, is to be
prostrated at the feet of the president and prostituted
to the base end of overthrowing Constitutional liberty
and establishing despotism. Where did liberty ever ex-
ist with the freedom of the press abridged and its exis-
tence dependent upon the will of a single individual?
The President not only demands of Congress the
passage of a law giving him the power in future to muzzle
the press and preventing it from exposing the errors of
his administration or the corruption of his officials, but
he demands that the State Governments be placed abso-
lutely under his control, and that it be left to his "dis-
cretion" how many members and officers may attend
each session of the Legislature, and what shall be the
ages of the members, and, if he chooses, what shall be
their political sentiments. It is also to be left to his
"discretion" how many Judges of the Superior, Inferior,
79G Confederate Records
or other Courts, each State may have, and what shall be
their ages. How many Sheriffs, Clerks, Tax Collectors,
Justices of the Peace, etc., he will tolerate in each State.
Each of these classes of State Officers is one or the other
"numerous classes mentioned in the laws," who he de-
clares are to be distrihuted according to his discretion,
throughout the country in such projjortions that only the
exact numbers required are found in each locality; those
within conscript age are to be replaced by "older men"
less capable of active field service, and in the selection
of those with whom they are to be replaced, regard might
be had to those who would be "less capable" of opposi-
tion to the President's will.
But this, intolerable as it seems to be, is not the
worst feature in the demand. The President asks that
Congress place the "Ministers of Religion" under his
absolute control, with a declaration accompanying the
demand, that they are not to be exempt as a class, but
only such of tliem as he, in his "discretion" may deem a
sufficient number to be detailed to continue to exercise
their pursuits or professions/' that only the exact num-
bers required may be found in each locality."
There is no mistaking the purpose, they are one of the
classes "mentioned in the laws." In other words, they
are a class who are mentioned in the exemption laws, and
are now exempted as a class.
Give the President this power, and the Minister of
Religion can no longer exercise the high functions of his
calling under the commission he has received from Hea-
ven without a detail from the President. This would
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown 797
give the President the power, in his discretion, to deter-
mine not only how many may be necessary, but to select
the localities where they will be tolerated, and to pre-
scribe, if he should think proper, the denomination to
which they shall belong. This would place the freedom
of religion as absolutely under his control as the freedom
of the press and the Government of the States.
The provision of the Constitution which declares that
Congress shall have power to raise and support armies,
must be construed in connection with that other provision
that "Congress shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the
press."
Taking these two provisions together, I do not see
how any candid man can say that Congress has the power,
under the pretext of raising and supporting armies, to
place the free exercise of religion and the freedom of
the press at the "discretion" of the President. Nor can
it be denied that the freedom of both are dependent upon
his will, when the law permits no one to publish a paper
or to preach the Gospel without a detail from him. AVhat
possible connection does the preaching of the Gospel in
the City of Milledgeville, or any other place, have with
raising and supporting armies? And why is it necessary
that the preacher of the Gospel should, by Act of Con-
gress, be mustered into the Military Service of the Con-
federate States, and put under the control of the Presi-
dent, to be detailed back, in the "discretion" of the
President, to preach? Is this the "free exercise of re-
ligion?"
798 Confederate Records
Is not the freedom of the press abridged wlien a
newspaper can only be published with the consent of the
President, and is not the independence and dignity of
the legislator lost when he is compelled to enter the
Legislative Hall with a detail in his pocket, subject to
be ordered out of it at any moment when it suits the
interest or caprice of the President? Is this State Sov-
ereignty, freedom of the press and free religion?
\yhen Congress enact such a law it converts the re-
publicanism of the Confederate States into the despotism
of Turkey, makes the President a Dictator and pros-
trates the liberties of the country, the independence of
the press and the religious privileges of the people, at
his feet. Even the Lincoln Government, despotic as it is,
has not dared to attempt any such encroachments upon
the liberties of the people of the United States.
I wish, in advance, to enter my solemn protest against
this monstrous proposition, which, if adopted by Con-
gress, will not only endanger the success of our cause by
brenking the spirits of our people, which may precipitate
counter revolution, but may, and I fear will, engender
a strong feeling for reconstruction with the odious Gov-
ernment of the North as the only means of escape from
a worse despotism. I therefore earnestly recommend
the passage of a joint Resolution by this General Assem-
bly instructing our Senators and requesting our Repre-
sentatives in Congress to vote against, and use all poss-
ible influence, to prevent the passage of any such law.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 799
Executive Depahtment,
Milledgevtlle, Georgia^
November 18th, 1864.
To M. B. Peters, of Augusta, Ga. :
You are hereby appointed and commissioned agent
of the State of Georgia to receive all such goods, including
soldiers' clothing, blankets, cotton cards, etc., as the
State of Georgia may import at the city of Charleston,
S. C, and to ship and store them in safe places as they
arrive. You will give diligent attention to this business,
and report each importation promptly to the Governor.
This commission to continue in force till revoked by
the Governor.
Witness my hand and Seal of the
Executive Department, the day and
year above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
November 19th, 1864.
PROCLAMATION.
The whole people understand how imminent is the
danger that threatens the State. Our cities are being
burned, our fields laid waste, and our wives and children
800 Confederate Records
mercilessly driven from their homes by a powerful enemy.
We must strike like men for freedom, or we must submit
to subjugation.
Death is to be preferred to loss of liberty. All must
rally to the field for the present emergency, or the State
is overrun.
I, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me
by the statute of the State, hereby order a levy en masse
of the whole free white male population residing or dom-
iciled in this State between sixteen (16) and fifty-five (55)
years of age, except such as are physically unable to bear
arms, which physical defect must be plain and indisputa-
ble, or they must be sent to camp for examination, and
except those engaged in the Legislature or Judicial De-
partments of the government, which are, by the recent
Act of the Legislature, declared exempt from compulsory
service.
All others are absolutely required, and members of
the Legislature and Judges are invited, to report imme-
diately to Major-General G. W. Smith, at Macon, or
wherever else in Georgia his camp may be, for forty (40)
days' sennce under arms, unless the emergency is sooner
passed.
The statute declares that all persons hereby called
out shall be subject, after this call, to all the rules and
articles of war of the Confederate States, and on failure
to report shall be subject to the pains and penalties of the
crime of desertion.
Volunteer organizations formed into Companies, Bat-
talions, Regiments, Brigades or Divisions, will be ac-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 801
cepted for forty (40) days, if they even approximate to
the numbers in each organization which is required by
the militia laws of this State, which were in force prior
to the last Act.
All police companies formed in counties for home de-
fence, will report, leaving at home, for the time, only
those over 55 years of age; and all persons having Con-
federate details or exemptions who, by the late decision
of the Supreme Court of this State, are held to be liable
to State militia service and bound to obey the call of the
Governor.
All such refusing to report will be arrested by the
]iolice or by the aide-de-camp or other officer of this State,
and carried immediately to the front. The necessary
employees of railroads now actively engaged, and the
necessary agents of the Express Company, and telegraph
operators, from the necessity for their services in their
present positions, are excused. All ordained ministers
of religion in charge of a church or synagogue are also
excused.
All railroad companies in this State will transport all
persons applying for transportation to the front, and in
case any one refuses, its President, Superintendent,
Agents and employees will be immediately sent to the
front.
All aides-de-camp and other State officers are required
to be active and vigilant in the execution of the orders
contained in this proclamation, and all Confederate of-
ficers are respectfully invited to aid State officers in their
vicinity in sending forward all persons hereby ordered to
the front.
802 Confederate Records
The enemy has penetrated almost to the centre of
your State. If every Georgian able to bear arms would
rally around him he could never escape.
Joseph E. Brown.
PROCLAMATION.
While our noble armies are doing everything in their
power to defend our homes and property, and are entitled
to the lasting gratitude and active support of the people
of this State and of the whole Confederacy, and while the
militia have left their homes unprotected and have taken
up arms and acted with the gallantry of veterans upon
almost every battle field from Powder Springs to Gris-
woldville — it is a matter of extreme mortification to know
that a large part of our cavalrj^ force, which should hang
around and constantly annoy the enemy as he passes
through our State and cut off his foraging parties and
impede his march, have left their commands and are now
scattered in squads and in small bands over nearly half
the territory of the State, robbing and plundering the
citizens indiscriminately, and taking from the wives and
children of soldiers who are in service, discharging their
whole duty, the supplies of provisions which are their only
means of support.
These predatory bands of thieves and robbers, who
devastated the country under pretext of making impress-
ments of property for the use of the anny, are a dis-
grace to the commands to which they profess to belong,
and I am sure their conduct meets the unqualified con-
demnation and scorn of every true soldier in the army.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 803
All other means for the suppression of this indiscrim-
inate robbery having failed, the people are obliged, as far
as they have the ability, to depend upon their natural
rights of self-protection by the use of force.
I, therefore, hereby call upon the Justices of the Infe-
rior Courts, Clerks, Sheriffs, and all other persons re-
maining at home not subject to my last call, to organize
and arm themselves as best they can, and wherever a
band of these plunderers enter the county and takes the
property of any citizen b}^ force to pursue them imme-
diately and shoot them down whenever they find them,
and to report the facts, if the force is more than they can
manage, to Lieutenant-General Taylor, at Macon, who
will, while he remains in Georgia, uphold and sustain
them by force.
I am authorized by General Taylor to say that he will
give the citizens all the aid in his power to slay them when
and wherever they are found committing the outrages
above mentioned, and in plain cases, where proof of the
robbery is satisfactory and the parties can be identified,
he will order them shot as soon as they can be appre-
hended and the facts established. For this protection
the whole people of the State will owe General Taylor a
lasting debt of gratitude.
No officer or band of men is authorized to make any
impressment of private property without the exhibition
of competent authority from the War Department. Till
further notice no impressments will be legal unless the
party making them exhibits an order from Major Nor-
man W. Smith, Major-General Howell Cobb, or, in spe-
cial cases, from Major-General Wheeler, over his own
804 Confederate Records
signature, specifying the necessity and the particular
property to be taken, or an order from some General of
higher rank than any above mentioned; and then only
when there is a strict compliance with the laws of Con-
gress regulating impressments.
All who attempt to impress without an order over
the genuine signature of one of the officers above men-
tioned are robbers, and will be shot down by any one able
to do it.
Given under my hand and
the seal of the Executive
Department, this the 24th
day of November, 1864.
Joseph E. Brown.
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
November 24th, 1864.
Ira R. Foster, Quartermaster-General:
You will proceed to the militia camps to be established
at Xewnan and Athens, and see that such pro\'isions are
made for the troops which are to assemble there as will
prevent suffering as far as possible.
You will call on Lieutenant-General Taylor before
you leave and adopt his suggestions, and ask him to send
by you such orders to Confederate Quarteraiasters and
Commissaries, as will secure the supplies necessary. If
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 805
possible, have the men covered with tents or flies, as they
are fresh from their homes.
Joseph E. Brown.
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
November 25th, 1864.
It is hereby ordered, that a camp for organization of
the militia of this State be established under my procla-
mation ordering a levy en masse at Macon, one at Albany,
one at Newnan, and one at Athens, and that the militia
report to the one or the other place as they may find it
most convenient, with the least possible delay.
Colonel L. N. Wliittle will take charge of the camp at
Macon, and assign to duty under him such assistants as
he needs.
Colonel B. C. Yancey will take command of the camp
at Athens, with Colonel S. P. Thurmond as assistant, if
he can procure his aid, and such other assistants as he
needs.
Colonel William Phillips will take command of the
camp at Newnan, with Colonel W. S. Wallace as assist-
ant, and such other assistants as he needs.
And Lieutenant-Colonel Jones will take command of
the camp at Albany, with necessarj^ assistants, unless
Major-General Smith has assigned some other officer to
said command.
806 Confederate Records
In case of a change of commanders of either of said
camps, notice will be given accordingly.
The commander of each camp will call upon the Con-
federate Commissaries and Quartermasters at the place
for all necessary supplies. General Beauregard prom-
ises to issue the necessary orders to these officers.
It will be the duty of each Commandant of a camp to
organize, as rapidly as, possible, all who report, into Com-
panies, Battalions and Regiments. In all cases where
enough men report, they will be formed into a regiment;
when not enough for a regiment they will be formed into
a battalion or company. The organizations already
formed under my proclamation, in Cherokee and North-
eastern Georgia, will be maintained if they report as
organizations, but in [case] of battalions they must, when
it is practicable, unite and form a regiment.
All officers not already in commission in these organ-
izations will be elected by the men to be commanded, and
the same rule of election will apply in case of all new
organizations. Commissions will issue on the recei])t of
the returns at the Adjutant and Inspector-General's office
at Macon. In the meantime, those elected will command
as brevet officers. All cavalry organizations will report
dismounted. "\^^ien needed as cavalry in future, they
may be remounted. They are not now needed on horse.
The Commandant at camp may excuse necessary phy-
sicians, not exceeding three to a county; the three selected
by the Inferior Court wherever a selection has been made
by them. All actual millers engaged in the mills as such,
when needed at home will be excused. In extreme cases
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 807
of hardship, where it is the unanimous report of the
neighbors that humanity requires it on account of the
condition of the family, as in case of a blind or insane
wife, etc., temporary exemptions may be granted.
This power is to be exercised with great caution, as
it is subject to abuse, and a thorough organization of all
persons able to bear arms in this emergency is absolutely
necessary.
The Commandant at Athens will confer and consult
with Brig.-Genl. Rejiiolds, who is respectfullj'^ requested
to give all the aid in his power by couriers to circulate
my proclamation and these orders in Northeastern and
Cherokee Georgia, and to aid in furnishing supplies to
the militia camp.
All persons under fifty years of age who are subject
under my previous order to service in Maj.-Genl. Smith's
command of militia, and who have failed to report, will
be denied the privilege of going into the new organiza-
tion, and will be sent forward to their respective com-
mands under Genl. Smith. This will not affect the or-
ganizations which have been heretofore, under my ])roc-
lamation, been formed in upper Georgia, in the rear of
the enemy, if they now report promptly as organizations,
but will apply in all other cases. Only those not subject
to duty under Genl. Smith will be received in new organi-
zations.
Joseph E. Brown.
808 Confederate Records
(Copy.)
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
November 26th, 1864.
All officers of the Confederate service under the com-
mand of Lieut.-Genl. R. Taylor, — particularly Quarter-
masters and Commissaries — are directed to render all
possible assistance to the Qr. Master Genl. of the State
of Georgia (Col. Ira R. Foster), in the discharge of his
duties under the written letter of instructions from Gov-
ernor Brown.
By command of Lieut. Genl. Taylor,
(Signed) M. F. Bullock, Jr., A. A. G.
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
Ordered, December 5th, 1864.
That Coin. B. B. Hamilton be furnished immediately,
by the Commander of the camp of militia at Macon, with
six armed men, such as he may select, to proceed, well
armed with at least 30 rounds of ammunition, to Sumter
county to bring up under arrest such persons as are em-
braced in my late proclamation for forty days' service as
militia men.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 809
Said Hamilton will proceed to said county and arrest
all such as I have required to report under the late Act
of the Legislature, and place each person so arrested,
who has failed and refused to respond, in the common
jail of said county as a deserter, till he can be sent to
these Headquarters for trial and punishment.
All, rich and poor, will be required to submit to and
obey the law. These orders are to be executed promptly.
Joseph E. Brown,
Gov. & Comdr.-in-Chief.
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
December 5th, 1864.
Ordered,
That Col. G. W. Lee take with him two good assist-
ants and proceed up the State Road, as far as he can
safely go, and report to me the condition of the Road with
accuracy and care, and report his expenses to the Q. ]\l.
Genl., which must be as economical as the service to be
rendered will allow, and the same will be paid by the Q.
M. General. The report to be in writing, and to give a
description of the condition of each section of the Road.
Joseph E. Brown,
Gov. & Comdr.-in-Chief.
810 Confederate Records
(Copy.)
Headquarters Georgia Reserve and
Military District of Georgia,
Macon, Georgia,
December 7th, 1864.
General Orders
No. 30.
I. The following military organizations, raised under
the authority of Governor Brown and afterwards re-
ceived into the Confederate service by General J. B.
Hood, to-wit : the Regiment commanded by Col. Findlay,
the Battalions commanded by Majors Beall, Murkinson,
Graham, McCalhim and Ledford, and the Battalion lately
commanded by Lieut. Col. Glenn, of Pickens county,
(whose commission was revoked because he was reported
to Governor Brown as a deserter) under the persons who
may have been elected to command it, will be maintained
for sixty days from date on discharge of such duties as
they may be called upon to perform.
II. After the expiration of the sixty, all men between
the ages of 18 and 45, subject to conscription, will rei)ort
to the proper enrolling officer for assignment to the army
in the field — those liable either to militia duty or to serv-
ice in the Reserves will remain in the present organi-
zations.
III. All persons now in these organizations absent
without leave from the Confederate army will return
promptly to their commands with the assurance that
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 811
tlieir cases will be recommended to the most favorable
consideration of their respective commanding Generals
in view of the services rendered by them in these organi-
zations, and to carry out this object the officers under
whom they have been serving will furnish each one with
a statement of his services. After this opportunity fur-
ther indulgence to absentees will not be granted.
IV. The officers in command of these organiza-
tions are enjoined to be vigilant in the arrest of all de-
serters and absentees, and will forward them without
delay to the conscript camp at this place.
By Command of
Major-General Howell Cobb.
E. J. Hallett^ a. a. Genl.
Executive Department,
Macon, Georglv,
December 7th, 18(54.
I. The above orders of Major-General Cobb have
been submitted to my inspection, and I concur in the
order that the persons in said organizations who are
subject to my command as militiamen remain in the
same organization with those subject to his command
as Confederate Reserves till further orders, and I direct
all such organizations to report to General Cobb and
obey his orders in future, as they have heretofore obeyed
the orders of General Hood, till further directions from
these Headquarters.
812 Confederate Kecords
II, All persons in said organizations who belong to
the State line, or to the company of State Scouts, who
are now absent without leave, will report immediately
to their respective commands. Those who obey this or-
der by reporting to their commanding officers, or if they
cannot reach them, to these Headquarters, within the
next twenty days will receive a free pardon, except the
deduction of the wages for the time they have been ab-
sent, and one month's additional deduction.
III. All other persons not in said organizations who
are so absent without leave, will also report to their re-
spective commands within twenty days, and will be ex-
cused from any degrading punishment.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVlLLE, GeORGIA,
December 7th, 1864.
It is reported to me that much of the public property
belonging to the State House and the furniture which
was left in the Executive Mansion, and much of the
])ro])erty of the penitentiary, including a large lot of
leather, have been taken possession of by citizens and
negroes in and around Milledgeville.
I hereby order all persons having any of said prop-
erty to return it immediately to Wiley C. Anderson, who
is hereby appointed to receive and take charge of it.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 813:
If this order is not obeyed promptly, all houses or
places suspected of having such property concealed in
them, will be searched and the persons concealing or
keeping such property will be arrested and committed
to the common jail of the county till proper legal pro-
ceedings can be had for their punishment.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
December 9th, 1864.
Ordered, That General W. P. Howard retain posses-
sion of the Masonic building in Atlanta, and preserve
the hall and use the store rooms in it to store State
property till further orders, and that he procure wagons
and labor on the best terms in his power to collect and
store all property of value in and about Atlanta which
belongs to the State of Georgia, and all he can of the
State Road property, including iron, etc.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
December 19th, 1864.
Captain Jones, of Towns county, and Captain Chris-
topher, of Union, will report with their respective com-
814 Confederate Records
panies to Colonel Ledford, till further orders, for such
service as he may direct.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Headquarters,
Macon, Georgia,
December 19th, 1864.
General Order
No. —
I. All parts of the State, except the seacoast and
a small garrison at Dalton, being relieved from the
presence of the enemy, the Reserve Militia, who have
responded to the last call of the Governor and are now
in camps of organization, who have not been ordered to
report to Major-General Smith, are hereby furloughed
until further orders from these Headquarters.
II. The organizations completed in camp or at home
under special orders, will be maintained subject to any
future call which necessity may, in the opinion of His
Excellency, demand. In the meantime, they will, under
the direciton of the officers commanding in their respec-
tive counties, perform police and patrol duty for two
days, to-wit : Friday and Saturday in each week. They
will extend all needful protection to citizens, and special
care will be taken to guard the homes of wives and
families of soldiers who have died, or who are in service,
from depredations of thieves and marauders. They will
arrest all stragglers and deserters, and send them, if Con-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown Slo^
federates, to the nearest military post — or, if State troops,
to the Commandant of the camp at Macon.
III. They will arrest all men under fifty years of
age subject to serve with the troops under Gen. G. W.
Smith, and send such to the Commandant at Macon to
be forwarded to their command.
IV. They will, at all times, act as a county police
and arrest all suspicious persons liable to service, ex-
amine their papers, and send all such as are attempting-
to pass without proper authority, to the Commandant
of the nearest military post.
V. Officers in command of companies will report
weekly to their superior officers commanding Regiments
or Battalions and those will make monthly reports to
Headquarters.
VI. The militia in any county, who do not conform
promptly to these orders, will be held for field duty.
VII. All men in the various counties subject to the
call of his Excellency of the 19th ult, and who have
failed to report for duty, will be required to perform
such extra service in their respective counties as the
officers commanding shall deem necessary.
VIII. All armed details sent to various counties to
arrest and bring up persons refusing to respond, will
report to their respective camps with the persons ar-
rested, and will deliver them to the Commandants of
the camp, to be reported by them to the Commander-in-
Chief for proper action. They will, on their return, de-
0
d
I
814
COXFEDEBATE ReC RDr.
panies to Colonel Ledford, till fuiher c
service as he may direct.
OSK
(xve
General Order
No.—
r
4
I. All parts of tlip
a small garrison at
presence of the e
responded to
in camps of
report to M
■until furthe
•^th
II.
under
future
"';,
<• th,
»Ofi ah
TfmBurr ^hirf, ,
Mppcial Col. y '"'
to trrtjfr to th,* , '
J*
fh
^''lA
»■• !hfrrc
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 817
persons thus appointed report to this Department, at
each burning, the amount of each denomination of Notes
and Bills thus burned, which shall be entered upon the
Minutes of this Department.
Joseph E. Brown,
A PROCLAMATION.
To the Officers and> Members of the General Assembly :
In conformity to the Resolution of the General As-
sembly, passed at the close of its last Session, request-
ing the Governor to convene the Legislature at such time
and place as he may think best, to complete the necessary
legislation which was unfinished at the time of adjourn-
ment on the approach of the enemy, I hereby require
the officers and members of the General Assembly to
convene at the City Hall, in the City of Macon, at ten
o'clock, A. M., on Wednesday, the 15th day of February
next.
Given under my hand and the
Great Seal of the State, this the
25th day of January, 1865.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was this day transmitted to
the General Assembly, to-wit:
818 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
February 15tb, 18G5.
To the Senate and House of Representatives :
Since your adjournment in November, tbe army of
invasion, led by a bold and skillful General, have passed
through our State, laid waste our fields, burned many
dwelling houses, destroyed county records, applied the
torch to gin houses, cotton and other property, occupied
and desecrated the capitol, and now hold the city of
Savannah, which gives them a water base from which
they may in future operate upon the interior of the
State.
The army of Tennessee, which contained a large num-
ber of Georgia troops, and was relied on as the only bar-
rier to Sherman's advance, the removal of which left
Georgia at the mercy of the enemy, was ordered off be-
yond the Tennessee river upon a campaign which has
terminated in disaster. In the midst of these misfor-
tunes Georgia has been taunted by some of the public
journals of other States because her people did not drive
back and destroy the army of the enemy. Those who
do us this iujustice fail to state the well known fact that
of all the tenss of thousands of veteran infantry, inclu-
ding most of the vigor and manhood of the State, which
she had furnished for Confederate service, but a single
Eegiment (the Georgia Regulars) of about three hun-
dred effective men, was permitted to be upon her soil
during the march of General Sherman from her North-
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown 810
western border to the city of Savannah; and even that
gallant regiment was kept upon one of our islands most
of the time, and not i:)ermitted to unite with those who
met the enemy. Nor were the places of our absent sons
filled by troops from other States. One brigade of Con-
federate troops was sent by the President from North
Carolina, which reached Georgia after her capitol was
m the possession of the enemy.
Thus abandoned to her fate and neglected by the
Confederate authorities, the State was left to defend her-
self as best she could against a victorious army of nearly
fifty thousand of the best trained veteran troops of the
United States with only the Georgia reserves and mili-
tia, consisting of a few thousand old men and boys, while
her army of able-bodied gallant sons were held for the
defense of other States, and denied the privilege to return
and strike an honest blow for the protection of their
homes, their property, their wives and their children.
While the Confederate reserves in other States have
been but little of their time in the field of active duty,
and the militia, consisting of boys between sixteen and
seventeen, and old men between fifty and sixty, and agri-
culturists detailed by the Confederate Government, have
not in most of the States been called out at all, the Con-
federate reserves, the reserve militia, the detailed men,
the exempts from Confederate srvice and most of the
State officers, civil as well as military, have in this State
been kept in the field almost constantly for the last eight
months.
These troops of classes not ordered to go elsewhere,
were placed under the control of the Confederate Gen-
820 Confederate Records
eral commanding the department, and have participated
in every important fight from Kennesaw in this State,
to Grahamville or Honey Hill in South Carolina. The
important victory at the latter place was achieved by the
Georgia militia, the Georgia reserves, the Georgia State
line, the Forty-seventh Georgia Regiment and a very
small number of South Carolinans, all commanded by
that able and accomplished officer, Major-General G. W.
Smith, of the Georgia militia. As I have seen no Con-
federate official account of this important engagement,
which gives the credit where it is justly due, I mention
these facts as part of the history of our State.
If all the sons of Georgia under arms in other States,
of which nearly fiftj^ Regiments were in Virginia, besides
those in the Carolinas, Florida and Tennessee, had been
permitted to meet the foe upon her own soil, without
other assistance, General Sherman's army could never
have passed from her mountains to her seaboard, and
destroyed their property and their homes. He had
nearly four hundred miles to march over an enemy's
country ; he was entirely dependent upon the wagon train
which lie carried with him for a sujiply of ammunition,
without the possibility of replenishing after what he had
was consumed. Had he been resisted from the start by
a competent force, and compelled to fight, his ordnance
stores must soon have been exhausted, and he forced to
an unconditional surrender. Such another opportunity
to strike the enemy a stunning blow will not probably
occur during the war. The destruction of this army
would have re-inspired our people with hope, depressed
the spirits of our enemies, and might have prepared the
way speedily for the negotiation of an honorable peace.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 821
It could have been by the Georgia troops if permitted.
It should have been done at the expense, if necessary, of
the evacuation of Richmond and the use of General Lee's
whole army thrown rapidly into Georgia for that pur-
pose. No one would regret more than I to see that city,
which hag been so long and so nobly defended, surrender
to the enemy; but it must be admitted, since the devasta-
tion of the country beyond, that it is now only a strong
out-i)ost of little military importance, compared with the
great interior. It must also be admitted that Richmond
is rendered insecure by the successes of General Sher-
man in the interior, and the position he has gained in
the rear of that and other strongholds, which were relied
on for defense. If his unobstructed movement through
Georgia must result in the loss of Richmond, how much
better would it have been if we had given the evacuation
of Richmond for the destruction of his army.
I have felt it my duty to refer to these facts in justice
to my State, of which it may be safely said that she has
had a larger proportion of her white male population
under arms for the last eight months, in defense of our
cause, than any other State in the Confederacy. On ac-
count of the attachment of her people to the cause of
State sovereignty and Constitutional liberty, and their
remonstrances against unjustifiable usurpations of power
by the Confederate Government, Georgia has been sys-
tematically, if not wilfully, misrepresented by Govern-
ment officials and organs, who give circulation to the
most reckless and unjust comments upon the conduct of
the people of the State and her Government, without the
magninimity or common honesty to publish the facts
when laid before them, which show their statements to
be without any real foundation in fact. As an instance.
822 Confederate Records
I mention tlie fact that it lias been indnstrionsly cir-
culated that I, as Governor of the State, have kept fifteen
thousand men out of service under the Exemption Acts.
I corrected this misrepresentation by a i)ublishcd state-
ment, which showed that I had i)ut into service classes
of persons not ordered out in other States and that the
whole number of State officers in Georgia who have been
held by me under the legislation of the State to be exempt
from military service, was only 1,450, of whom a large
proportion are over military age. This correction was
passed in silence by many who had given publicity to the
groundless charge, which was intended to be injurious to
the Governor of the State, to the persons exempted by her
laws, and to the character of her people. I am satisfied,
however, that impartial history will do justice to the
Government and people of Georgia, as well as to the con-
duct and motive of her assailants, who have stripped
her of her strength and left her to the ravages of her
foreign enemies.
'&'
The Militia.
Experience has shown the necessity for amendments
in our militia laws. The laws should be so changed as
to provide for a separate organization of the old men
over fifty years of age, under officers of their own num-
ber, to be elected by them. All civil officers of the sev-
eral counties exem])t from service should be made sub-
ject to militia duty in these organizations.
When organized, the Reserve Militia of this class
should be required to do all necessary police duty in
their several counties and to arrest and turn over to
the proper authorities all deserters from State or Con-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 823
federate service, and all persons subject to State service,
who do not immediately report for duty, when required
by General Orders. On failure to discharge this duty
faithfully and efficiently, the Governor should be author-
ized to order them into the field for active duty in place
of those permitted by them to remain at home who owe
active service.
As the detail of men over fifty years of age for this
service at home, who were called out prior to the organi-
zation of part of the brigades now in the field, has re-
duced them below the proper number of a brigade, and
has left supernumerary officers, provision should be made
for a re-organization by election of the Brigades, Regi-
ments Battalions and Companies now in service, reduc-
ing the number of organizations as may be proper, and
the commissions of all not elected should be suspended
and they be required to do service. This would make
the organizations more effective. The militia under fifty
years of age, organized as above suggested, should be
known as the Active Militia.
A permanent General Court Martial should be estab-
lished for the trial of deserters and other delinquents.
This would secure the enforcement of discipline, and the
execution of a few guilty persons, would stop desertion.
The militia organization completed upon this basis should
be kept by the State during the war for the defense of
her territory, and the execution of her laws, and should
in no case, be turned over to the unlimited control of
the Confederate Government or any other power. Nor
should it be sent out of the State, unless it is for the pro-
tection of some part of our border, except in such cases
824 Confederate Records
of emerp^ency as in the opinion of the Governor make it
l)roper tliat Ooorij^ia i^ivo aid for a limited time to a
sister State.
The Confederate Constitution authorizes the State
to keep troops in time of war. This is a reserved rii^lit,
the exercise of which by the State violates no right of
the Confederate Government, and infringes upon no dele-
gated powers; nor is the exercise of a plainly reserved
right by the State a breach of faith either to the Confed-
eracy or any sister State.
Our recent sad experience has sliown the wisdom of
the reservation. But for the troops kept by the State,
the city where you are now assembled would have been
occupied, plundered and sacked by the enemy in their
late march through the interior.
The Constitution limits the State to no particular
class or age. She may keep troops composed of any
part of her citizens whom she may choose to organize.
If we admit the Constitutionality of conscription which
authorizes Congress to conscribe our citizens to raise
armies, that provision of the Constitution must be con-
strued with, and limited by the reservation in the same
instrument of the right of the State to keep troops in
time of war. This would make the jurisdiction of the
Confederate and State Governments concurrent over the
arms bearing population of the States in time of war.
It follows in that case that the Government which first
organizes and places the troops in actual service has a
right to hold them as against the other. The State acted
upon this rule in the organization of the two Regiments
of the State Line, composed of persons of all ages able
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 825
to do service who volunteered. Her right to keep these
troops has never been questioned by the Confederate
Government, nor indeed can it be.
Tliat portion of the militia organization not composed
of Confederate exempts are generally of the most useful
class of agriculturalists, whose services at home during
the more critical period of the crop, are indispensably
necessary to the production of supplies. Whenever these
men can be spared from home they should be kept in
service, if the emergency requires it. But they should
not be turned over to unlimited Confederate control to
be carried away from the State permanently, to the ruin
of her material and productive interests. So long as
they faithfully discharge their duty when -called out,
the State should keep them, giving them furloughs at
such times as are necessary to secure their crops, if it
can possibly be done. All who are absent without leave,
when ordered out by the State, should be turned over to
Confederate service for the war without regard to rank
or age. This would stimulate them to prompt obedience
to order when called. The chief difficulty in the way of
granting furloughs for limited periods when the troops
could be spared, grows out of the fact that they often
fail to respond promptly at the end of the time allowed
them.
On the 30th of August last, when the militia under the
command of Major-General" G. W. Smith, were in the
trenches around Atlanta, a very short time before the
fall of the city, the President made a requisition upon me
for them, with all others that I might be able to organize.
At the time the requisition was made these troops had
been for months in active service with the Army of Ten-
826 Confederate Records
nessee, under the command of the General who controlled
it. Tliey had participated in several engagements — had
acted with distinguished gallantry and had been about
forty days almost constantly under fire around the city.
Rations were issued to them by order of the Confederate
General in command — and he had promised that they
should be i)ayed as other troops in the Confederate ser-
vice.
These troops were composed mostly of boys between
sixteen and seventeen and old men between fifty and
fifty-five years of age, who are not subject to service by
the laws of Congress, in the army of the Confederacy.
No law of Congress makes them in any way subject to
the President's control. The statute of the State de-
clares positively that they shall not be subject to any
draft or compulsory process to fill any requisition made
by the President of the Confederate States upon the
Governor of the State. They were the last reserve force
of the State able to do service. If they were turned over
to Confederate control with no power on the part of the
State to recall them, she would be left without any ade-
quate force for the execution of her own laws.
The State had much more than filled every requisition
made upon her in common with other States for troops.
No call was made at the time upon the other States for
troops of this class; nor had the other States ordered
out and placed in service their militia of these ages.
It was quite clear that the requisition was not made
for the purpose of getting the militia into service, for
they were there at the time imder the command of Gen-
eral Hood. Looking at all these facts I could not doubt
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 827
that the President had other motives in making the call —
and that the main object was to get them out of the
control of the State, subject to his command, and to dis-
band the State organizations; and enable him to appoint
the General and Field Officers to command them. This
was more evident from the fact that he required all
within General Hood's department to report to him in
Atlanta, and all within the department of South Carolina
and Georgia to report to the commandant of that de-
partment, whose headquarters were then at Charleston.
The line dividing these two departments cuts in two,
not only General Smith's Division, but three out of the
four Brigades and a large proportion of the Regiments.
If the requisition had been obeyed the organization would
have been disbanded, and a large proportion of the mili-
tia, who were then under the fire of the enemy, defending
Atlanta, would have been ordered off to report to Gen-
eral Jones at Charleston, when no enemy was pressing
us upon the coast.
Under these circumstances I felt it my duty to refuse
to fill a requisition made by the President, without au-
thority of law, for a class of troops which I could not
turn over upon his requisition without a violation of a
positive statute of the State, who, were in service, act-
ing gallantly at the times, under officers of distinguished
merit, with a thorough organization, which must have
been disbanded by my compliance with the President's
demand and the troops scattered at a most critical period
in the defence of Atlanta.
I earnestly request the General Assembly to say, by
resolution, whether my conduct in refusing to turn over
the reserve militia, organized by the State for her own
828 Confederate Records
defence, is approved, or whether it shall yet be done,
and the State stripped of her last strength, and left
without a man to aid in the execution of her laws, and to
strike a blow in her defence when Confederate aid is
withdrawn, and the enemy devastating her fields, towns
and cities.
The Georgia Military Institute.
The number of cadets in this institution has been
considerably increased.
Upon the advance of Sherman's army the battalion
of cadets was ordered into active service. At the Oconee
bridge and other places where they met the enemy they
acted with distinguished gallantry. The State has much
reason to be proud of this gallant young corps.
I must not omit to mention with my warmest appro-
bation the conduct of the State Scouts under Captain
Talbot, who has shown himself to be a gallant, fearless
-leader.
Pruden's Artillery and the other troops of Major
Caper's Battalion, are also entitled to honorable notice.
This whole battalion under its chivalrous leader, in pres-
ence of Adjutant and Inspector-General Wayne, who ac-
companied them during the campaign from Gordon to
Savannah and thence to Augusta, discharged their duty
energetically and faithfully. The report of General
Wayne will be laid before the Military Committee of
the two Houses upon application.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 829
Military Appropriation.
I beg leave again most respectfully to invite the at-
tention of the General Assembly to that part of my late
annual message which relates to the military appropria-
tion. The sum appropriated will be wholly inadequate.
If it is not increased, I shall be under the unpleasant
necessity, so soon as it is exhausted, which will be in a
short time, of again convening you to supply the de-
ficiency. We cannot conduct the operations of war with-
out money.
Impressments.
I beg leave to call the attention of the Legislature to
the necessity for the passage of a law authorizing the
impressment of provisions in the hands of persons under
bonds to the Confederate Government, or others who
refuse to sell their surplus at market value for the use
of indigent soldiers' families, and of persons who are
left destitute by the ravages of the enemj^ or our own
cavalry, who receive aid from the State under legislation
enacted for that purpose. The cases are very rare when,
it would be necessary to resort to impressment, if the
people were left free to sell their surplus in the market;
but they are denied that privilege by the Confederate
Government, having been compelled to give bond to sell
all their surplus to its agents at schedule prices, which
are far below market value. These persons would gladly
sell to State or county agents, but they are threatened
with a revocation of their details, and with immediate
compulsion to enter the service if they do so. The State
should never submit to be driven out of her own markets
and denied the privilege of purchasing from her own
830 Confederate Records
citizens by the act of any otlicr Government or jjower.
I therefore reeoniniend the passage of a hiw autliorizing
the Justices of tlie Inferior Court of each county, with
tlie consent or order of the Governor, to impress provis-
ions in their respective counties, for soldiers' families
and indigent refugees, when, from the cause above men-
tioned, it may be necessary to enable them to procure
the supi)lies required for that purpose; and also author-
izing the Quartermaster-General and Commissary-Gen-
eral of the State to make similar impressments, with
the like order, for their respective departments.
The Act should provide, in case of such impressments,
for a fair valuation of the })roperty impressed, and for
payment of market value as just compensation to the
owner. Witliout the passage of this Act, it will be im-
possible for the State and county agents within the limits
of the State to purchase the supplies which are indis-
pensable.
The appropriation of money will avail nothing if the
Confederate agents can lock the cribs and smoke houses
of the people of the States against her i)urcliasing agents.
I have been unable under the late appropriation, to sup-
ply the demands of those in great distress, for want of
this law. If it is not passed, a great deal of suifering
will be the inevitable result.
Penitentiary.
The enemy having destroyed the work-shops, cells,
and buildings of this institution by fire, it will cost a very
heavy appropriation, probably one million of dollars, in
currency, to rebuild it. From seven years close obser-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 831
vation I am satisfied the institution does not serve the
objects for which it was created. It does not seem to
be, as its name imports, a place of penitence; it is cer-
tainly not a place of reformation, but it is rather a school
for theft, lawlessness and villiany, where those more
hardened in crime act as teachers of those who are
younger and of less experience. Honest men who, in
the heat of passion, commit crime which consign them,
under our present laws, to this den of theives, generally
come out corrupted and contaminated.
In view of the above facts, I recommend that the
Penitentiary be abolished as soon as it can legally be
done, and that other modes of punishment, such as hang-
ing, whipping, branding, etc., be substituted. The South
Carolina Code, it is believed, would furnish a safe guide
for our legislation on this subject. I know of no State
in which the criminal laws are more faithfully executed,
or in which less crime is committed.
In accordance with the request of the General As-
sembly before your late adjournment, I offered pardon
to all the convicts who were not of the worst class, who
would volunteer to enter the military service, making
the pardon conditional on the faithful discharge of their
duties as soldiers. This was accepted by nearly aH to
whom it was tendered. They organized into a company
and did good service at the Oconee river, where they
met the enemy and acted gallantly. I regret to learn,
however, that over half of them have since deserted.
These will be subject to serve out their time when they
can be arrested. There are also several life convicts now
within the walls; to keep these and such as may here-
after be sentenced for crime committed before the change
832 Confederate Records
of the mode of punishment, it will be necessary to
rebuild so far as to provide accommodations and work-
shops for the limited number. One hundred thousand
dollars in currency may be sufficient to do this.
In this connection 1 will further remark that the ex-
igencies of the times, in my opinion, require such amend-
ments in the penal Code as will make death the punish-
ment of robbery, burglary, and horse stealing. To pre-
vent our people from taking the execution of the law
into their own hands, I recommend that the law be so
changed as to authorize the Judges of the Superior
Courts to call extra sessions of their respective courts,
whenever it is, in their opinion, necessary for the speedy
trial of offenders. As many of the jails are insecure
and as robber bands rescue their companions in crime,
the present provisions for the trial of criminals are too
tardy for the vindication of public justice. Whipping
should be the punishment inflicted upon those who are
convicted of illegal traffic with slaves.
Arming The Slaves.
The administration, by its unfortunate policy of hav-
ing wasted our strength and reduced our armies, and
being unable to get freemen into the field as conscrii)ts,
and unwilling to accept them in organizations with offi-
cers of their own choice, will, it is believed, soon resort
to the policy of filling them n]i by the conscription of
slaves.
I am satisfied that we may profitably use slave labor,
so far as it can be spared from agriculture, to do menial
service in connection with the army, and thereby enable
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 833
more free white men to take up arms; but I am quite
sure any attempt to arm the slaves will be a great error.
If we expect to continue the war successfully, we are
obliged to have the labor of most of them in the produc-
tion of provisions.
But if this difficulty were surmounted, we can not rely
upon them as soldiers. They are now quietly serving
us at home, because they do not wish to go in the army,
and they fear, if they leave us, the enemy will put them
there. If we compel them to take up arms, their whole
feeling and conduct will change, and they will leave us
by thousands. A single proclamation by President Lin-
coln— that all who desert us after they are forced into
service, and go over to him, shall have their freedom,
be taken out of the army, and permitted to go into the
country in his possession, and receive wages for their
labor — would disband them by brigades. Whatever may
be our opinion of their normal condition, or their true
interest, we cannot expect them, if they remain with us,
to jierform deeds of heroic valor, when they are lighting
to continue the enslavement of their wives and children.
It is not reasonable of us to demand it of them, and we
have little cause to expect the blessings of Heaven upon
our efforts if we compel them to perform such a task.
If we are right and Providence designed them for
slavery, He did not intend that they should be a military
people. Whenever we establish the fact that they are a
military race, we destroy our whole theory that they are
unfit to be free.
But it is said we should give them their freedom in
case of their fidelity to our cause in the field; in other
H34 COXFF.DERATE TvEOORDS
words, that we should ^ive up slavery, as well as our
l)ersoiial liberty and State sovereignty, for independence,
and should set all our slaves free if they will aid us to
achieve it. If we are ready to give up slavery, I am
satisfied we can make it the consideration for a better
trade than to give it for the uncertain aid which they
might afford us in the military field. When we arm the
slaves we abandon slavery. We can never again govern
them as slaves, and make the institution profitable to
ourselves or to them, after tens of thousands of them
have been taught the use of arms, and spent years in the
indolent indulgencies of camp life.
If the General Assembly should adopt my recommen-
dation by the call of a Convention, I would suggest that
this, too, would be a subject deserving its serious consid-
eration and decided action.
It can never be admitted by the State that the Con-
federate Government has any power, directly or indi-
rectly, to abolish slavery. The provision in the Consti-
tution which, by implification, authorizes the Confeder-
ate Government to take private property for public use
only, authorizes the use of the property during the exist-
ing emergency which justifies the taking. To illustrate:
In time of war it may be necessary for the Government
to take from a citizen a business to hold commissary
stores. This it may do (if a suitable one can not be had
by contract) on payment to the owner of just compen-
sation for the use of the house. But this taking cannot
change the title of the land, and vest it in the Government.
Whenever tlie emergency has passed, the Government
can no longer legally hold the house, but it is bound to
return it to the owner. So the Government may impress
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 835
slaves to do the labor of servants, as to fortify a city, if
it cannot obtain them by contract, and it is bound to pay
the owner for just hire for the time it uses them, but
the impressment can vest no title to the slave in the
Government for a longer period than tlie emergency re-
quires the labor. It has not the shadow of right to im-
press and pay for a slave to set him free. The moment
it ceases to need his labor, the use reverts to the owner
who has the title. If we admit the right of the Govern-
ment to impress and pay for slaves to free them, we
concede its i)ower to abolish slavery, and change our
domestic institutions at its pleasure, and to tax us to
raise money for that purpose. I am not aware of the
advocacy of such a monstrous doctrine in the old Con-
gress by any one of the more rational class of Aboli-
tionists. It certainly never found an advocate in any
Southern statesman.
No slave can be liberated by the Confederate Govern-
ment without the consent of the States. No such consent
can ever be given by this State without a previous al-
teration of her Constitution. And no such alteration
can be made without a convention of her people.
Our Present and Prospective Condition.
As I feel that I should act the part of an unfaithful
sentinel upon the watch tower if I should flatter the
country with delusive hopes, candor compels me to say
that all is not well. That the people may be aroused
to the necessary effort to avert calamity, it is important
that they should know and appreciate their true condi-
tion. I tell them, therefore, that the whole body politic
SoG Confederate Kecords
is diseased, and unless active remedies are administered
speedily, that dissolution and death must be the inev-
itable result.
Our Constitution has been violated and trami)led un-
der foot; and the rights and sovereignty of the States,
which had been disregarded by the Government of the
United States, which formed with slavery the very foun-
dation of the movement that brought into being the Con-
federate Government, have been prostrated and almost
destroyed by Confederate Congressional encroachment
and executive usurpation.
The resolutions of the General Assembly of this State
protesting against these usurpations and abuses have
been unheeded and laid aside without even the courtesy
of a reply.
Direct taxes of an enormous burden have been levied
by Congress, without the census or enumeration impera-
tively required by the Constitution, which operates upon
the people of this State and other States, but have no
operation upon the people of Missouri or Kentucky, who
are represented especially with Georgia in the Congress
by which they are imposed.
Much of our most objectionable legislation is fastened
upon us by the votes of representatives who, however
patriotic and true to our cause, act without responsi-
bility to any constituency, out of the army, who can be
affected thereby, and who can neither visit with safety
nor show themselves publicly among the people whom
they profess to represent, a majority of whom have given
the strongest evidences of sj'mpathy and support to the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 837
Government of the United States, and have been con-
stantly represented in the Congress of those States.
Impressments of private property for public use,
which are often necessary and proper, have been carried
to an extent which is tyrannical and oppressive in the
extreme. Instead of purchase, as the rule, and impress-
ment, the exception, the whole property of our people
is placed under the control of impressment agents, who
refuse to pay "just compensation," as required by the
Constitution, or even half the market value, and who
pay in certificates which the Government refuses to re-
ceive in payment of public dues.
By a pretended conscription, not authorized by the
Constitution, the Government has placed our agricultur-
alists under heavy bonds to sell to it at the impressment
prices fixed by its agents, and denies to them the privi-
lege to sell the fruits of their labor in open market, or
to exchange them for other commodities which are neces-
sary to the support of themselves and their families.
The Government disregards that provision of the
Constitution which prohibits Congress from making any
appropriation of money for a longer term than two years
to support the armies of the Confederacy, and as a
means of perpetuating the war beyond the period of
tlie existence of the present Congress, without the assent
of the people in the next elections, it proposes to pledge
the tithe of the more valuable annual production of the
agricultural class of our peo])le, who are selected for the
burden, for years to come for that purpose, and to con-
tinue the pledge of the incomes of this particular class
after the termination of the war, for the payment of
838 Confederate Records
the Treasury notes issued for tlie support of the armies
during- its existence. Pew of this chiss make more than
a tithe as net profits. In the estimate of the Secretary
of tlie Treasury, in which he sets down the incomes of
this class at ahout fifty per cent., he fails to allow any
credit for the vast expense of production. He estimates
gross and not net incomes, and in this way shows the
incomes of the planter to be much greater than those
of the banker or money-holder, whose interest and divi-
dends cost none of the labor and expense of production
incurred by the planter.
Citizens who belong neither to the land nor naval
forces of the Government, or to the militia in actual ser-
vice, are arrested by provost guards and Government de-
tectives, under charges of treason or other indictable of-
fences, or disloyalty, without warrant or other processes
from the courts, and imprisoned at the pleasure of the
Government in open disregard of the Constitution, which
declares that no such person shall be held to answer for
a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a pre-
sentment or indictment of a grand jury, nor to be de-
prived of life, liberty or property, without due process
of law, and that no warrants shall issue but upon prob-
able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly
describing the persons or things to be seized.
Good and loyal citizens, who travel on railroads,
steamboats, or through towns and cities, upon lawful
business, are arrested if they fail to carry passes, while
Federal spies procure or forge passes, and travel over
our thoroughfares at their pleasure.
In many parts of the Confederacy not in possession
of the enemy, the Government has ceased to protect either
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 839
life or property, and its own soldiers, who have left the
front without discipline or control, often, united with
others professing to be in service and wearing the dress
of the soldier, are passing over the country in numerous
bands, robbing our citizens and destroying their prop-
erty.
While the old men and boys of this State, leaving im-
portant home interests to suffer, have been obliged to
take up arras to resist the enemy, thousands of young,
able-bodied men of this and other States, between eigh-
teen and forty-five years of age, are protected by Con-
federate autliority, on account of the wealth or other in-
fluence, from service in the field, and under the pretext
of some nominal emplo^Tnent for the Government, are
allowed to remain out of reach of danger, and devote
most of their time to their speculations or other individ-
ual pursuits.
Our financial affairs have been so unfortunately ad-
ministered that our currency is worth very little in the
market; and our public faith has been so frequently and
wilfully violated that it will be with great difficulty that
we can re-inspire our people with confidence in the
pledges of the Government. It is announced as the fu-
ture policy of the financial department to issue no more
Treasury notes, and to receive nothing else in payment
of public dues till the quantity is reduced to healthy circu-
lation. This would be beneficial to the holders of the
notes. As the armies are to be supported, however, at a
cost of hundreds of millions of dollars per annum, the
announcement leaves no doubt that it is to be done in a
great measure by seizing property and pa>dng for it in
certificates or bonds which will not pass as currency or
840 Confederate Kecords
in payment of taxes. This would be little better than
legalized robbery, and if practiced long by any Govern-
ment will drive the people to revolution as the only means
left for throwing off intolerable burdens.
By its effort to grasp absolute power, the Confederate
administration has greatly weakened our armies, and re-
sults have shown its utter inability, with all the power
placed in its hands, to recruit and fill them up to a num-
ber sufficient to meet the emergency.
So fatal have been the results of our wretched con-
scription policy, which, however well adapted to control
European serfs, or those raised to be slaves of power,
is so repugnant to the feelings and spirit of a free peo-
ple, that it has driven our men in despair to delinquency
and desertion, till the President has informed the coun-
try in his Macon speech, as reported, that two-thirds of
those who compose our armies are absent, most of them
without leave. If this be true, it shows a lamentable
want of patriotism and courage on the part of the people
or an unwise and injudicious policy on the part of the
administration, which imperils the very existence of the
Confederacy, and calls for prompt and energetic action
on the part of the people to compel a change of policy,
which, if longer persisted in, must result in utter ruin.
If a planter who has one hundred faithful, trust-
worthy hands upon his farm should employ an overseer
to manage it, and should visit at a critical period of the
crop, and find that two-thirds of his hands are, and for
a considerable time have been absent, and that the crop
is being lost on that account, he would doubtless decide
that the policy of the overseer was ruinous to his inter-
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 841
est and dismiss him without hesitation. The people of
this Confederacy have employed an agent to conduct for
them a war for the dearest rights of freemen, and have
placed at his command, subject to the restraints thrown
around him by the Constitutional charter, and the great
principles of personal liberty which lie at the foundation
of free Government, hundreds of thousands of as gal-
lant self-sacrificing citizen soldiers as ever took up arms
in a righteous cause. He has adopted a policy which has
ignored personal liberty and the right of citizen soldiers
to go to the fields in organizations and under officers of
their own choice, who have their respect and confidence.
The result has been, as our agent tells us, that two-thirds
of these soldiers are absent, the largest portion without
leave, at a time when their absence endangers our exis-
tence as a people. What then is the duty of the people
of these States. The answer is plain. They should com-
pel their agent to change his policy which treats free citi-
zen soldiers fighting for liberty, as serfs, and to observe
the great principle for which we took up arms, or they
should resume the military powers with which they have
clothed him, and place them in other hands where they
will be used as well for the protection of the rights and
liberties of the citizen as for the achievement of the
independence of the Confederacy. AVithout this change
of policy the armies cannot be recruited to the necessary
number, and both liberty and independence are lost to-
gether.
This ruinous policy of the administration finds no jus-
tification in the Constitution of the country. From the
organization of the Government of the United States to
the disruption of the Union, the uniform practice was
to call upon the States, when more troops than the regu-
842 Confederate. Records
lar army were needed, to furnish them organized ready
for service. This they could readily do, as all the ma-
chinery of the State Government could be brought to bear
to bring them out. Instead of enrolling officers of the
Central Government imported among them, whom they
knew not and who were not in sympathy with them, all
the militia officers and civil officers of the counties, who
are their neighbors and friends, and whom they are ac-
customed to respect and obey, could be charged with the
duty of aiding in the organization. Not only so, but they
were permitted to go under officers of their own neigh-
borhoods usually elected by them, to go with their own
neighbors and relatives as their associates and companions
in arms. This was not only the practical and successful
mode, but it was the Constitutional one. That instru-
ment declares that Congress shall have power to provide
for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in
the service of the Confederate States; reserving to the
States respectively the appointment of the officers, and
the authority of training the militia according to the
discipline prescribed by Congress.
Pending the consideration of this paragraph in the
Convention which formed the Constitution of the United
States, Mr. Madison moved to amend it by inserting after
the words, ''reserving to the States respectfully the ap-
pointment of the officers" the words ''under the rank
of General officers." This amendment if adopted would
have left the State to appoint all officers under the rank
of General, and the Federal Government to appoint the
Generals. But so jealous were the States of the power
and patronage which this would have given to the Federal
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 843
executive, that they rejected it by the vote of all the
States except two ; and reserved to the States the appoint-
ment of all the officers to command the militia, when
employed in the service of the United States. And lest
there should be a question about who is meant by the
tnilitia to be commanded by officers appointed by the
States, when employed in the service of the Confederate
States, the Constitution has solved that doubt. It says :
*'A well regulated militia being necessary to the se-
curity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and
bear arms shall not be infringed." Hence it is plain
that the word militia and the word people mean the same,
apply to the same persons, and are used as synonomous
terms. It is clear, therefore, that the States have care-
fully reserved the appointment of the officers to com-
mand their arms-bearing people, when employed in the
service of the Confederate States.
If the President had adhered to this mode of raising-
troops, as Mr. Madison, who was a prominent member
of the Convention which framed the Constitution, did
in the war of 1812, his patronage in the army would
have been small. If on the other hand, the Constitu-
tional mode were laid aside and conscription adopted
in lieu of it, giving him the appointment of all officers,
his patronage was immense.
It is said about six hundred Regiments, or enough
of organized troops to make that number, have been re-
ceived into Confederate service from all the States. Each
Regiment has ten Companies, and each Company four
Commissioned Officers, or forty Company Officers to each
Regiment, making twenty -four tliousand Company Offi-
844 Confederate Records
cers. Add to this 600 Colonels, and as many Lieut. -
Colonels, Majors, Adjutants, Quartermasters and Com-
missaries, (as the law then stood) together with all
Chaplains, Surgeons, Brigadier-Generals, Major-Gener-
als, Lieutenant-Generals; with all the Post Quartermas-
ters, Commissaries, Commandants Adjutants, Marshals,
etc., and the Conscript Act made about 30,000 officers
dependent upon the President's will for jDromotion.
Thus, in violation of the Constitution, the President was
substituted for the States, and like the King of England,
made the foundation of all honor.
To carry out this new policy of allowing the Presi-
dent to appoint the officers, it became necessary to re-
fuse longer to receive troops in organized bodies with
their officers, but each must be conscribed and sent into
service under such officers as the President might ap-
point. This separated kindred and friends and neigh-
bors, while in service. It destroyed the patriotic ardor
of our people, each of whom prior to that time, felt that
as a free man he was part of the Government, and that
it was his war. But so soon as this policy was adopted
he felt that it was the Government's war, and that he
was no longer a free man but the slave of absolute power.
This was not the freedom he set out to fight for, and
thousands of men, rather than submit to it and remain
in service, feeling that they wore the collar of power
upon their necks, have left the army without leave.
Hence the President's complaint, the cause of which has
been the necessary result of his own policy. It has mis-
taken the genius and spirit of our people, and the mate-
rial of which his armies are composed. The high-toned
spirited Southern man will revolt when you attempt to
reduce him to an automaton of power.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 845
Prior to the passage of this fatal Act, men taxed
their ingenuity to devise plans to induce the President
to receive them into service. So soon, however, as the
Act was passed, which denied them the right in future
to form their organizations, and enter into service as
willing freemen with their neighbors and friends, and
gave the President the power to seize them and appoint
their officers, the whole feeling was changed, and men
have restored to every imaginable shift to keep out of
the service.
The excuse that conscription was necessary to keep
the twelve months men in service or to fill their places,
cannot avail.
The President knew months before when the term
of these men would expire, and made no effort to or-
ganize troops to take their places. A bill was intro-
duced into the Provisional Congress by a distinguished
Georgian, but a short time before its expiration in Feb-
ruary 1862, authorizing the President to call forth the
militia to any extent necessary, by requisition upon the
States, and to call them for three years at his discretion.
This would have left the appointment of the officers with
the States, where the Constitution leaves it. The influ-
ence of the President was actively used to defeat this
bill, on the ground that he did not need the law, as he
had more troops tendered than he could accept and arm.
Early in April following, he called for the Conscript
Act on the ground of necessity, to fill up the army, and
the bill was passed, giving him the patronage and power
above mentioned. If conscription had been necessary
to keep the twelve months' men in service till their places
could be filled, that afforded no reason why the Act
S4G Confederate Records
sliould have embrnced tlie whole population of the Con-
federacy within military age. A special Act api)licable
only to the twelve months' men for a short period, till
troops could have been furnished by the States to take
their places, would have met that necessity. This, how-
ever, would not have given the President the appoint-
ment of the officers for all the troops to be organized.
ITis neglect to call upon the States for troops to fill the
])laces of the twelve months' men was made the occasion
of vesting immense power and patronage in him, and
fastening conscription with all its evils, upon the country.
The President has been as unfortunate in his gen-
eralship, planning military campaigns, as he has in his
policy of recruiting his armies. All remember his first
appearance on the field as Commander-in-Chief at the
close of the battle of First Manassas, when (if reports
are reliable) he prevented our Generals from taking ad-
vantage of the complete demoralization of the Federal
army to march upon Washington City, when it must
have fallen into our hands with little resistance. He vis-
ited the army in Middle Tennessee and divided it, send-
ing part of it to Mississip))i too late to accomplish any
good result there, and left General Bragg so weak that
he was forced to evacuate Tennessee, which, together
with Vicksburg, fell into the hands of the enemy. He
again appeared upon the field at Missionary Ridge and
divided the army when a superior force was being massed
in its front. General Longstreet's corps was sent into
East Tennessee. General Grant waited till he was out
of reach, when he fell upon the remnant of Bragg 's army
and drove it back into Georgia, opening the way for the
advance into this State, and then sent troops and drove
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 847
Longstreet out of East Tennessee, and made himself
master of that invaluable stronghold of the Confederacy.
The President's last appearance upon the field was
with General Hood's army in this State, which was fol-
lowed by the movement of that army into Tennessee.
The country knows the result. Hood has been driven out
of Tennessee with great calamity, and Georgia, which
was left completely uncovered, has been destroyed by
Sherman at his pleasure.
Instead of rapid concentration of our armies at vital
points to strike the enemy stunning blows, our policy
has been to divide and scatter our forces in the face of
superior numbers, and receive blows which have well
nigh cost our existence as a Confederacy.
Our people have endured this misrule with remark-
able forbearance and patriotism. But the time has come
when we are obliged to deal with stern realities, and to
look facts full in the face. We can no longer profit by
hugging delusions to our bosoms. Our Government is
now a military despotism whenever the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus is suspended, an object to which
the President's earnest efforts are constantly directed.
The tendency to anarchy is rapid and fearful.
The Lincoln dynasty informs us directly that recon-
struction or subjugation are the only alternative to be
presented to us.
The present policy, if persisted in, must terminate
in reconstruction either with or without subjugation. I
accuse no supporter of the measures of the administra-
848 CONFEDEBATE ReCORDS
tion of any such desi^. But entertaining the opinion
whicli 1 do of its results, if I favored reconstruction, or
subjugation, to l>otli of which I am utterly opposed, I
would give an earnest support to the President's policy,
as the surest mode of diminishing our armies, exhausting
our resources, breaking the spirits of our people, and
driving them in despair to seek refuge from a worse
tyranny, by placing themselves under the protection of
a Government which they loathe and detest, because it
has wronged and tyrannized over them, destroyed their
property, and slaughtered their sons.
These are sad trutlis which it is exceedingly unpleas-
ant to announce. But true statesmanship requires that
the ruler do the best that can be done for his people
under all circumstances by which they are at the time
surrounded. And the statesman who sees nothing but
ruin in its pursuit of a line of policy and does not warn
his countrymen against it, is unworthy the high trust
confided to his care.
But you may ask, do I despair of the justice of our
cause or of our ability to succeed. I answer em])hati-
cally. No. Bad as our policy has been and much as we
have wasted of men and means, we still have enough
of both, if i)roperly used, to continue the struggle till
we achieve our independence and re-establish in these
State«i! Constitutional liberty, which has been for the time,
so completely crushed.
To enable us to do this the Conscription Act must
be repealed, and the policy abandoned, and we must re-
turn to the Constitutional mode of raising troops by the
States. The States cannot do this successfully while
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 849
conscription is practised, and they thwarted in their
efforts by conflict and collision with Confederate officers.
In a word, the two systems cannot work together.
Our armies, compose of the militia or arms-bearing
people of the States, must be re-organized under officers
appointed by the respective States as the Constitution
directs. This would enable the States in the re-organi-
zation to put into the rank all supernumerary officers, in-
cluding the large number of Confederate enrolling offi-
cers, who without commands, are now supported and
paid by the Government, and to displace such now in
command of troops as are tyrannical and inefficient, and
fill their places with those who have shown themselves
competent, and who have the confidence of tlie troops,
to be commanded by them. The States in the re-organi-
zation of these troops could also put into service the
large number of able-bodied young men within their lim-
its, who are now at home, hold appointments under the
Confederacy which serve the purposes of protection, with-
out reciprocal benefit to the common cause. In the same
manner great numbers of absentees, deficient in neither
patriotism or gallantry, who have been driven out of
the armies by the petty tyranny of subaltern officers
appointed at Richmond to command them, could be
brought back by the States under officers of their own
choice, who would make excellent troops. Remov'e the
shackles of bondage from the limbs of our troops, and let
them feel they are again freemen fighting in freedom's
cause, and that the Government stands by and main-
tains the great principles of Constitutional liberty and
State sovereignty for which they took up arms, and they
will re-enter the field with renewed hopes, determined
to conquer an honorable peace or fill a soldier's grave.
850 Confederate Records
We must return to the oliservance of p:ood faith with
our troops — jiay tliem when their wa^es are due, and dis-
charge tliem wlien their terms expire.
We must pass no more Acts of repudiation of our
Government issues of currency. We must receive in
payment of Confederate taxes all notes, bonds or certifi-
cates which persons are compelled by the Government to
take, in payment of property taken from tliem by its
impressment officers.
We must abandon the policy of supporting the ar-
mies by impressments or forcibly seizures of property,
and must adopt the policy of purchasing what we need,
except in extreme cases which justify impressment, and
then we must pay as the Constitution requires, just
compensation for the property taken. This equalizes
the burdens by dividing the whole among the entire
number of taxpayers, in proportion to the amount of
property owned by each.
Representation without constituency must no longer
be allowed nor must laws be dictated to us by the votes
of representatives without accountability to those who
-^hare in the burdens imposed by the legislation enacted
by them.
Secret sessions of Congress, except in cases where
legislation affecting the movements of our armies, is
pending, must be abandoned and the people must know,
as they have right to know, how their representatives
act and vote upon all measures affecting their vital in-
terests, their rights and their honors.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 851
Discipline must be restored and enforced in our ar-
mies. One of the reasons given by its advocates for
the enactment of tlie conscript hiw, was that better dis-
cipline would be maintained by gi\'ing the appointment
of the officers to the President. Results have shown the
reverse to be true. Prior to the adoption of that plan the
officers selected by the troops themselves and appointed
by the States, kept the men in the field, and we triumplied
gloriously in almost every engagement with the enemy.
Since that time the officers appointed by tlie President
have neither maintained discipline nor kept the men in
the field. If the President's statement is reliable they
have only one-third of them there. And I fear the dis-
cipline of that third is loose, compared with that exhib-
ited by the Federal army in its march through this State.
The President having failed in his military adminis-
tration and brought the country to the verge of ruin by
his military policy, should be relieved of that part of his
duties by an amendment of the Constitution to provide
for the appointment of a Commander-in-Chief of the ar-
mies of the Confederacy, by the President, by and with
the consent of two-thirds of the Senate, who shall be
entirely free from the control of the President and re-
movable only by the same power by which he was ap-
pointed. This would place the best military talent of
the country in command of our armies, not in name only
but in fact, and would save us in future from the heavy
calamities which have befallen us by the capricious re-
moval of a great commander, at a most critical juncture
of an ably conducted defensive campaign.
The late Act of Congress did not, and could not, take
from the President his Constitutional power as Com-
852 Confederate Records
7nauder-m-Chief. It provides for the appointment of
a Ge-^ieral-'m-Chief. Robert E. Lee as General-m-Chief
is as subject to the orders of the President as he was
before the Act of Congress, and his appointment under
it, and the President may at any moment frustrate his
plans by orders which he is obhged to obey. Congress
cannot divest the President of this power over all the
Generals in Confederate service, including the General-
in-Chief. This power is conferred by the Constitution
and can only be taken away by an amendment of that
instrument.
These changes may be made without the evils of
revolution within revolution. The Constitution provides
for its own amendment. The remedj^ is perfectly peace-
ful. It declares that : Upon the demand of any three
States legally assembled in their several conventions, the
Congress shall summon a convention of all the States to
take into consideration such amendments to the Consti-
tution as the said States shall concur in suggesting, at
the time when said demand is made.
It is jDerfectly legitimate and proper for three States
to demand such convention whenever in the opinion ~oi
their people the public good or the common safety re-
quires it. In my opinion the best interest of the country
requires that such convention meet with as little delay
as possible, to propose such amendments to the Constitu-
tion, as will reform abuses by setting disputed points,
and effect a speedy and thorough change of policy in con-
ducting the war and filling up and sustaining our armies.
I am not afraid to trust the peo])le in convention. I
therefore recommend the call of a convention of the peo-
ple of this State for the purpose of proposing such
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 853
amendments to the Constitution as will relieve the Presi-
dent of his responsibility as Commander-in-Chief of the
armies, and will provide for the appointment of a Com-
mander-in-Chief in time of war, and to propose sucli
other amendments and do such other acts as will correct
the abuses and afford remedies for the grievances here-
inbefore stated.
I also recommend that this General Assembly appoint
commissioners to each of the other States of the Confed-
eracy, requesting them to assemble in Convention at an
early date to demand of Congress the call of a Convention
of all the States, for the purposes above specified.
The speedy adoption of this policy is, in my judg-
ment, indispensable to the achievement of our indepen-
dence, and the maintenance of the great principles of
State sovereignty and Constitutional liberty, which un-
derlie the foundations of our Federative system of Gov-
ernment— gave being to our present Confederation of
States — and are absolutely necessary to the future pros-
perity and happiness of our people. By the construction
placed upon the Constitution as it now stands, by those
who administer the Confederate Government, these great
principles have been disregarded, and the sovereignty of
the States, and rights of the people lost sight of in the
struggle for independence.
The achievement of our independence seems to be
the great and only good aimed at by those who wield
the power at Richmond. We have been told from the
halls of Congress that courts must be closed, and State
lines obliterated, if necessary, to accomplish this obiect.
Indeed, some persons in authority seem to have forgotten
854 Confederate Ivecords
that Tve are figlitinp; for anything but independence. If
so, the wliole struggle is in vain, for we had that in the
old Government, ^Yhi('h was our Government, consecrated
hy tlie hh)()(l of oui' ancestors and transmitted from sire
TO son. We were independent of all otlier powers. But
the people of the Northern State got control of that Gov-
ernment and so administered it as to imperil not our
independence but our rights. AVe then separated from
them and are fighting for our rights and our liberties;
and as a means of maintaining and securing those rights
and liberties we declared our independence. Indepen-
dence with these is worth all the sacrifices which we
have made or can make. Our rights and liberties are
not secondary to our independence, but our indepen-
dence is only necessary to protect our rights and our
liberties. Russia is independent of all the world, so is
Turkey, while the Government of each is a despotism;
and the people have only the rights of liberties which
the sovereign chooses to permit them to exercise. If
this is the sort of independence for which we are fighting
our great sacrifices have been made but to little purpose.
The recognition by foreign powers of the independence
of our rulers and of their right to govern us, without
the recognition of our rights and liberties by our rulers,
is not worth the blood of the humblest citizen. We must
gain more than this in the struggle, or we have made a
most unfortunate exchange. The further pursuit of our
present policy not only endangers our rights and our
liberties, but our independence also, by destroying the
institutions and breaking the spirits of our people. Let
us beware how we trifle with the rights, the liberties,
and the happiness of millions.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 855
I am aware that the freedom and plainness, which a
sense of duty to my countrj'^ has compelled me to exer-
cise, in discussing the measures of the administration,
and the policy of the Government, may subject my mo-
tives to misconstruction. I feel the proud consciousness,
however, that I have been actuated only by a desire to
promote the cause so dear to every patriot's heart, and
thereby secure the independence of the Confederacy, with
the civil and religious liberties and Constitutional rights
of the people, without which independence is an empty
name, and the glory and grandeur of our republican
system is departed forever. No one can be more vitally
interested than myself in the success of our cause. I
have staked life, liberty and property, and the liberties
of my posterity upon the result. The enemy have burned
my dwelling and other houses, destroyed my property,
and shed in rich profusion the blood of nearest relatives.
My destiny is linked with my country. If we succeed I
am a free man. But if by the obstinacy, weakness or
misguided judgment of our rulers, we fail, the same
common ruin awaits me which awaits my countrymen.
It is no time to conceal ideas in courtly phrase. The
night is dark, the tempest howls, the ship is lashed with
turbulent waves, the helmsman is steering to the whirl-
pool, our remonstrances are unheeded, and we must
restrain him, or the crew must sink together, submerged
in irretrievable ruin.
Joseph E. Brown.
856 Confederate Records
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeOROIA,
February 16th, 1865.
I hereby appoint and commission Cornelius P. Keeth,
of tlie county of Cherokee, in this State, an agent for the
State of Georgia to proceed to the State of Texas and
purchase wool in said State of Texas for the State of
Georgia, and bring it to the State by any practicable
mode, and to carry to Texas such articles to exchange for
it as may be most salable there, and to furnish me with
information, as soon as possible, of the prices of the dif-
ferent commodities of that State which are needed here.
Mr. Keeth, as such agent of the State, is hereby, and by
Act of Congress, exempt from all military duty while
engaged in this agency.
Witness my hand and the Great
Seal of the State, the day and year
above written.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
February 23d, 1865.
To the General Assemhly.
I have succeeded in importing about 20,000 pairs of
cotton cards without backs. I now have the backs for
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 857
about 10,000 pairs, and am having the others made. So
soou as this can be done, and the cards tacked on, they
will all be ready for distribution among the people of the
State. They can be sold for twenty-five dollars per pair
in currency.
Under an order issued to the salesman, any family
wishing them for use is now permitted to purchase one
pair at that rate, and many are applying for them. Ob-
servation already satisfies me that this is giving the
people of the interior of the State the advantage of those
more remote from the capital, and I submit the question
to the General Assembly as the representatives of the
people, to say, by resolution, how the cards shall be dis-
tributed among the people of the different counties. My
desire is that it be done upon the most equitable plan,
giving all an equal opportunity to avail themselves of the
benefit.
If the cards are sold at $25.00 per pair they must be
taken at the capital without further expense, otherwise
the price will have to be increased to cover expenses of
importation and sale. One third of the whole number
purchased in England was lost in running the blockade
with them. Two-thirds came through safely.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
February 28th, 1865.
Eldridge Barker, an agent of the Quartermaster's
Department of the State of Georgia, is exempt from mili-
858 Confederate Records
tary duty to the (.'onfedorate States, l)y Act of Congress
and by the Act of the Legishiture of this State claiming
all siu'li agents as exempt.
Said Barker is on dut}' in the city of Montgomery,
Alabama, attending to the business and interests of the
State, and I request that he remain undisturbed by en-
rolling officers.
Witness my hand and the Great
Seal of the State, the day and year
above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
February 28th, 1865.
To the House of Representatives:
In response to your call, I herewith transmit the
*reports of Af,ajor-General G. W. Smith and H. C. Wayne,
of the military operations since the 18th October last.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Senate,
to-wit:
*Not found.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 859
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 1st, 1865.
To the Senate:
To your resolution of inquiry, I respond that a Com-
pany of Artillery, known as "Pruden's Battery," and
one small Company of Infantry, were detached from the
militia under General Smith's command and used for a
time in connection with the Battalion of Cadets, as a
guard for the capital. They were called out under the
same Act of the Legislature under which the other militia
were summoned to the field, and placed under command
of Maj. F. W. Capers. Upon the approach of the enemy,
they were ordered from the Capitol to Gordon by request
of Maj. -General Cobb, and fell back thence to Oconee
bridge, which with the ferry below, was gallantly de-
fended by them in connection with Talbot's Scouts.
From the bridge, they fell back till they reached Savan-
nah and were again united with General Smith's Division.
They expect pay as other militiamen.
Talbot's Scouts are a company of mounted men de-
tached from the State line, to discharge the duty of scouts.
They are part of the State Line — are an excellent, spir-
ited company, and have distinguished themselves in the
campaign, — first under their late lamented leader Capt.
F. M. Cowan, who fell wounded by the enemy, and died
in their hospital, and since under their present gallant
leader, Capt. Talbot. It is expected that this company,
which is paid with the State line and the Artillery and
860 Confederate Records
Infantry company above mentioned, with the Cadets, will
be used in the future, when not more needed elsewhere,
as a guard for the Capital, against the raids of the
enemy.
The regiment of Troup county militia were at the
request of General Johnston, placed at the bridge at
West Point, where they have remained under the com-
mand of a Confederate officer, to whom they report.
M'aj. Glenn's squadron of mounted militia, were or-
dered out and have been on duty at Atlanta. Several
other organizations of militia, in the Cherokee country,
were called out in the rear of the enemy, at the request
of General Hood, in August. Since the enemy left At-
lanta they have been ordered to report to Major-General
Cobb, and are now reporting to that gallant officer, Brig-
adier-General AVm. T. Wofford.
All these organizations are for the time, under the
command of Confederate Generals, and are expected to
be paid by the Confederate Government. I regret how-
ever to learn that they do not receive their pay.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 1st, 1865.
To the House of Representatives :
I herewith transmit a *copy of the correspondence
between myself and the Secretary of War, growing out
*See Vol. Ill Confederate Records of Georgia.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 861
of a requisition, made by the President upon me, to turn
over to his control the reserve militia of the State.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 2d, 1865.
To the General Assembly :
I am informed, that the Government of the United
States will permit cotton to be shipped through the block-
ade, to be sold North, and the proceeds applied to the
relief of our suffering prisoners confined in their prisons.
I also learn, that other States have taken action in
this matter for the relief of their suffering sons.
None have done their duty more faithfully than the
Georgia Troops, and while we provide for the wants of
those under arms and their families, we should not for-
get those who languish in foreign confinement. I there-
fore recommend an appropriation sufficient to purchase
one thousand bales of cotton, to be shipped to New York
and sold, and the proceeds applied to their relief.
And I further recommend, that the Governor be au-
thorized to appoint proper agents to go to New York,
862 Confederate Records
and see to the sale of the cotton, and the proper applica-
tion of the fund.
(Signed) Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 2d, 1865.
I hereby x^ledge the faith of the State to carry out
such contract as may be entered into by Capt. Geo. C.
Conner with the Military Transportation Department
at Montgomery to secure the transportation of State corn
in Montgomery to Atlanta for the purpose of relieving
the extreme suffering of the citizens of Upper Georgia.
I also ask of that Department such assistance as it
may be possible for its officers to grant the Quarter-
master's Department of this State in its efforts to fur-
nish those counties that have been desolated by the
enemy.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 3d, 1865.
To the General Assembly:
At your session in November, an appropriation of
$800,000 was made to purchase and carry corn to the
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 863
destitute in the counties that have been overrun by the
enemy and in counties where the crop failed on account
of the extreme wet or dry weather. The average price
of corn in the State, may now be set down at twelve to
fifteen dollars per bushel. Add the cost of transporta-
tion, and the lowest estimate would be fifteen. The ap-
propriation will purchase at present prices, a little over
50,000 bushels. This would not more than supply the
three most needy counties in the State, if the corn could
be purchased now. In two months from this time, the
price may have been increased one-half. In my opinion
the appropriation for this purpose would be at least
two millions of dollars.
In this connection I beg leave to again remind the
General Assembly, that without the power of impress-
ment, it will be absolutely impossible for me to secure
the corn, I have made diligent efforts through agents,
and find I can not purchase enough to feed the State
teams, and support the State Line in the field. I am in-
formed by Maj. Moses, the Chief Confederate Commis-
sary for the State, that agents will be allowed to purchase
part of the surplus of bonded men, for the use of soldiers'
families. This will aid as far as that class is concerned,
but will afford no relief to the large number of persons
not soldiers' families, now suffering for bread, in the
sections of the State where all the supplies of the people
have been destroyed by the enemy. As I have already
informed the General Assembly, the appropriation of
money can not afford the necessary relief without the
power to impress the provisions in the hands of those
who will not sell their surplus for currency.
864 Confederate Records
Market value should be paid to every citizen, whose
property is impressed, but those who have a surplus and
refuse to sell at market value, while others are suffering,
should be compelled to distribute all' they can spare, at
its value in currency. I wnsh the members of the Gen-
eral Assembly and their constituents, to understand dis-
tinctly, that the appropriation of money already made,
is wholly inadequate for this purpose and that it is im-
possible for me to furnish the corn, without the power
of impressment.
If the Legislature adjourns without conferring the
authority, it will leave me powerless to relieve hundreds
of women and children from actual starvation.
I also beg leave again to revert to the fact that the
military appropriation already made is entirely insuf-
ficient. If the State pays none of the expenses of the
militia, it will take at least $3,000,000 more to support
the State Line, provide the clothing necessary for the
Georgia troops in service, and purchase and support the
wagons and teams which the Quartermaster-General
must have to enable him to do the military transporta-
tion, and haul the corn to the most destitute section.
If these appropriations and the impressment power are
withheld, it will be necessary for me again to convene
the General Assembly at an early day.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papees of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 865
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 6tli, 1865.
Special Orders.
The Battalion commanded by Lieut. Col. John B.
Beall is for the present attached to the Brigade of Brig-
adier-General H. E. McCoy, and is hereby furloughed
until further orders.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 7th, 1865.
Capt. R. L. Rodgers,
You will take charge of the wagon train ordered to
Jonesboro to haul corn for the destitute in the county
of Fulton and adjoining counties. You will receive the
corn from Capt. J. A. E. Hanks and receipt for it and
haul it to Atlanta and store it in the State store house
built by the Quartermaster-General, or in the store room
under the Masonic Hall. From this you will issue it
in such quantities as may be necessary to prevent suf-
fering, to the counties of DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb, Camp-
bell and Paulding, to such agents as the Inferior Court
shall appoint in each county, to be approved by you, till
the appointment is reported to and ratified by me or the
866 Confederate Records
Qnartermaster-General. You will take the receipt of the
county agent, who will distribute the corn to such per-
sons as the Inferior Court shall say are in actual need
and cannot procure and haul in corn for want of a team
or conveyance. Such persons as the court shall certify
to be unable to pay for the corn will receive it gratis.
All others will pay for it, on delivery, the price which
Capt. Hanks shall certify is necessary to pay cost and
transportation to Atlanta.
Each agent must be a man of as high standing and
character as any in his county, and must make a report
to you every month of the quantity of corn distributed,
the name of each person to whom distributed, and the
amount received for corn, which the agent will pay over
monthly to you, to be returned to the Quartermaster-
General. You will make a report every month of your
operations.
Energy and activity is necessary. It is also neces-
sary that you see that special care is taken of the teams.
I would suggest as suitable county agents. Col. A. J.
Hansell or Thomas H. Moore, of Cobb; Perino Brown
or Judge Green of Fulton; Mr. Edwards, the Represen-
tative of Paulding; Wnj. Flowers of DeKalb, and
Thomas H. Bullard or Jolm Carlton, who is a Repre-
sentative from Campbell. These, or men of this class,
must be selected as county agents.
You will furnish each agent with a copy of this order,
and will continue to act till the Quartermaster-General
returns and makes other arrangements.
State Papers op Governor Jos. E. Brown. 8G7
Each agent must return promptly all sacks, or the
value will be deducted from the amount of money which
would go to the county.
Joseph E. Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit:
ExEcuTi\"E Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 9th, 1865.
To the General Assembly:
While my mind has undergone no change as to the
propriety of calling a convention of the people of this
State, for the purposes specified in my message of 15th
ultimo, which I am satisfied the j^eople will require in
future, and which I fear they may imperatively demand,
at a time less favorable to calm deliberation in the selec-
tion of delegates of known patriotism and loyalty to our
cause, and when less could be accomplished by its delib-
erations, I do not pretend to call into question the integ-
rity or patriotism of the majority of the members of
the General Assembly who have refused to adopt my
suggestions upon this subject. The difference of opin-
ions is doubtless an honest one, and I am content that
the question, who is right, shall be answered by the de-
velopments of the future and the decision of the people,
whom I am willing to trust with the management of their
own affairs, and whose judgment, when pronounced, I
am prepared to abide.
868 Confederate Records
In the meantime it affords me much gratification to
find that the General Assembly concurs with me, so far
as I can judge from the action of the body, and the ex-
pression of members, upon almost every other recommen-
dation and statement contained in the message in refer-
ence to our Confederate relations. AVhile we may differ
upon the question of the expediency of holding a conven-
tion at the present time, as the best corrective for abuses
which are admitted by all to exist, it is the duty of every
patriot to do all in his power to fill up, strengthen and
sustain our galhmt armies in the field, and to provide
for the comfort of the families of our troops while in
active service.
I have repeatedly ordered the civil and military offi-
cers of this State, with the police force in each county,
to aid in the arrest and return of deserters and strag-
glers to their commands. But a short time since several
hundred were arrested and sent forward under my or-
ders in a single week. I find, however, that the civil
officers of this State, who are by the statute exempt from
military service, have responded too tardily to calls made
upon them to discharge this important duty. I there-
fore recommend the adoption of a resolution, by this
General Assembly, requiring all civil officers in this
State, created by statute, to discharge this duty faith-
fully and promptly, and withdrawing from such as fail
or refuse, all protection against Confederate or State
military service. No class of persons can do more to rid
their respective counties of deserters and stragglers than
the civil officers, and they should be required to do this
duty or to take, in the field, the places of those who by
their neglect, are permitted to avoid the discharge of
duty in this crisis of our fate.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 869
I cannot refrain, before closing this communication,
from congratulating the General Assembly, the country,
and the army, upon the reported restoration of General
Joseph E. Johnston to the command of which he was
so unwisely deprived, at a most unfortunate period.
This act of justice to him and the country has been
too long delayed, after it was demanded by the neces-
sities of the service, by the army, the Congress, and the
whole peojile. Yielding reluctantly it seems, to a de-
mand which could no longer be resisted, the President
has, as the public press informs us, again placed him at
the head of the remnant of an army which was once
raised by him from a condition of demoralization, to
a high state of efficiency. While he assumes the respon-
sibility with a devotion of a self-sacrificing patriot, under
circumstances of a most trying character, the drooping
spirits of the people are revived and their hopes reani-
mated by his return to the field. It is believed that
thousands of his old companions in arms, who are now
absent, will again rally around his standard, and cling-
ing the more closely to him on account of the injustice
which has been done him, will confront the enemy with
renewed energv and determination.
&.
Let the Conscript Act be repealed, as you have wisely
resolved that it should be ; let us return to the principles
upon which we entered the contest; and let the whole
country, with the spirit of freedom which animated them
in 1861, rally around our glorious leaders, Lee, Jolmston
and Beauregard, who should be untrammeled by Presi-
dential interference in the management of military cam-
paigns, and we shall again triumph in battle and roll
870 Confederate Records
back the dark cloud of despondency wliicli has so long
darkened our horizon and blighted our hopes.
Georgia has done her whole duty from the com-
mencement of the struggle. She has furnished more
than her quota of troops, clothed them when naked, in
Confederate service, and provided subsistence for their
families at home. Official reports show that she has
lost more men, and paid more tax than any other State
in the Confederacy. However much she may be misrep-
resented, and the motives of those who have conducted
her councils and administered her Government, may be
maligned by artful and designing politicians, both she
and her public servants may proudly point to the sac-
rifices made and the results achieved as the highest evi-
dence of loyalt}" to the cause.
I now appeal, doubtless with your concurrence, to
Georgians, at home and in the field, while they demand
the correction of abuses and maintain in sunshine and
in shade, the old landmarks of State sovereignty and
republican liberty against foes without and within, never
to permit her proud banner to trail in the dust, nor the
cause to suffer on account of their failure to strike with
heroic valor in the thickest of the fight, till freedom is
won and Constitutional liberty firmly established.
Joseph E, Brown.
The following message was transmitted to the House
of Representatives, to-wit:
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 871
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March lltli, 1865.
To the House of Represeiitatives :
I hereby return without my approval, the bill entitled
^'an Act to allow heads of families or their representa-
tives to distill certain quantities of spirituous liquors
in this State and for other purposes."
The scarcity of grain is so great and the sufferings
of the destitute in portions of the State likely to be so
extreme, that I feel unwilling to give my sanction to the
conversion of bread into spirituous liquors, except what
may be absolutely necessary for medicinal uses. And
I am satisfied that the quantity allowed by the bill is
greater than the absolute necessities of the people for
stimulants of this character demand.
I am also entirely satisfied that this bill, if it becomes
a law, will operate a virtual repeal of the whole law of the
State against illegal distillation, as it affords so conven-
ient a pretext for the evasion of the law that it is not
probable sluj conviction could be had in the courts after
its passage.
Want of time, at this late hour of the session, pre-
vents me from giving my reasons against the bill more
in detail.
I return it and respectfully ask its reconsideration
by the General Assembly.
Joseph E. Brown.
872 CONFEDEBATE RECORDS
The following message was transmitted to the Gen-
eral Assembly, to-wit :
Executive Department,
Macon, Georgia,
March 11th, 1865.
To the General Assembly :
In response to your resolution of inquiry upon the
subject of the purchase and shipment of cotton for the
State, I beg leave to refer you to my message to the
House of Representatives of 17th November last, which
will give all the information in my power at present
to furnish. Other purchases have been made since the
date of said message, but the agents have not yet re-
ported particulars to this Department, and as one of
them is in Madison, it will not be in my power to com-
municate with him and receive the information prior to
your adjournment. Full and accurate statements will
be made up and submitted to the General Assembly at
its annual session, in accordance with the usual customs
in such cases.
No cotton has been shipped through the blockade-
since your adjournment in November, nor has any been
lost since that date, in the effort to run out.
Cotton cards and blankets for the State have been
shipped upon six vessels from foreign ports for Con-
federate ports. Four of these vessels have arrived
safely and two have been lost.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos, E. Brown. 873
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 20th, 1865.
Ordered, That so soon as the railroad is completed
to Atlanta, Captain Kodgers put the State teams to haul-
ing from there to Marietta, where he will store and have
guarded, corn for the destitute counties above there,
to-wit: Paulding, Bartow, Cherokee and Milton, to the
extent that they have been eaten out by the enemy. The
corn to be delivered to the county agents in each case, as
in case of former order, and that he notify the Inferior
Court of each county that he can furnish a limited quan-
tity to aid those now absolutely destitute. The part in-
tended for Bartow he may haul to Allatoona, or as much
of it as he can get storage for.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 20th, 1865.
Ordered, That all Quartermasters of the State who
have corn in their possession in store, turn over to Cap-
tain R. L. Eodgers, on his application, such quantity from
time to time, as may be necessary to keep the State teams
under his charge constantly engaged hauling, and that
forage enough for his teams be shipped to him by Capt.
Hanks without delay, and that Capt. Hanks see in fu-
874 Confederate Records
ture tliat enough is kept on hand at the upper terminus
of the railroad for that purpose.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
March 22d, 1865.
Mr. A. Alexander, of Muscogee county, Georgia, has
been appointed agent of the State of Georgia to ship
from Nassau to Georgia, by way of the mouth of the
Chattahoochee river, on any vessel which he is satisfied
can safely enter there, all the cloth, ready-made clothing,
shoes, blankets, buttons, thread, etc., which the State
has stored at Nassau.
All persons with whom such goods are stored will
deliver them to Mr. Alexander on his application. If
he can not arrange storage at the time, he will carry out
cotton to pay the storage, and the faith of the State is
pledged for its payment, and if insisted on, a quantity
of the goods sufficient to cover the storage may be re-
tained till it is paid, but not more than enough, if sold,
to bring the storage and other incidental expenses due
on the goods.
In witness whereof I have here-
unto set my hand and the Great
Seal of the State, the day and year
above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 875
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
March 23d, 1865.
William T. Amos, of Randolph county, having re-
sponded to my call as a militiaman and having been de-
tailed for duty in the Adjutant-General's office, and hav-
ing been again ordered to report to Maj.-Genl. G. W.
Smith as soon as his health will permit, is a member of
the 1st Division Ga. Militia, in service, and is not sub-
ject to conscription while so in the service of the State.
He is now on furlough and will obey orders only from
■State officers.
Joseph E. Brown.
Executive Department,
MiLLEDGEVILLE, GeORGIA,
April 7th, 1865.
M. L. Felton, having given bond and security payable
to the Goyernor of the State for the faithful disburse-
ment of whatever moneys may be placed in his hands
to buy corn to be distributed under the 12th Section of
the Act of Nov. 18th, 1864, and to purchase meat and
other stores for the Commissary Department of this
State, to be delivered at such times during the year as
the same may be called for, is hereby detailed for twelve
months next ensuing, for the militia service of the State
of Georgia; and he is hereby appointed agent of the
876 Confederate Records
State to make such purchases of corn for distribution
among the destitute families in certain portions of the
State as contemplated in said Section of said Act; and
I do certify that said agency is necessary for the proper
execution of the laws of the State of Georgia, for the
purposes above named, and such agent is not subject to
Confederate conscription while he holds this commis-
sion and acts as such agent.
Given under my hand and the
Great Seal of the State, the day
and year first above written.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
April 13th, 1865.
D. G. Hughes, having given bond and security, pay-
able to the Governor of the State, for the faithful dis-
bursement of whatever moneys may be placed in his
hands to buy corn to be distributed under the 12th Sec-
tion of the Act of Nov. 18th, 1864, and to purchase meat
and other stores for tl^e Commissary Department of this
State, to be delivered at such times during the year as
the same may be called for, is hereby detailed for twelve
months next ensuing, for the militia service of the State
of Georgia, and he is hereby appointed agent of the
State to make such purchases of corn for distribution
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 877
among the destitute families in certain portions of the
State, as contemplated in said Section of said Act; and
I do certify that said agency is necessary for the proper
execution of the laws of the State of Georgia, for the
purposes above named, and such agent is not subject to
Confederate conscription while he holds this commission
and acts as such agent.
Given under my hand and the
Great Seal of the State, the day
and year above written.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor..
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,.
April 14th, 1865..
Contract.
It is hereby agreed between Joseph E. Brown, as
Governor of Georgia, and C. B. Munday, that said Mun-
day with Frank Hancock as assistant, shaall take charge
of the telegraph line between Milledgeville and Macon,
which is, by agreement with the company owning said
line, under the control of said Brown, and shall keep
it in good working order and send promptly over said
line all dispatches on State business of the different de-
partments, and all dispatches directed to or sent by
said Brown, free of charge. As compensation for ser-
878 Confederate Records
vices and keeping up the line, thej^ are to have all the
proceeds of the line received from business other than
the business of the Government and State departments,
as above mentioned.
Governor Brown retains the right and power to ter-
minate this contract and resume control of the line when-
■ever he thinks proper.
They are also to keep him posted on the latest army-
news.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
(Signed) C. B. Munday,
For Munday & Hancock.
PROCLAMATION.
To the Officers and Members of the General Assembly.
The magnitude of the events that have occurred since
your late adjournment and are now transpiring in our
public affairs, affecting as they do so seriously the
safety, security and welfare of the people of the State,
render it highly proper and expedient that the General
Assembly should be in session again at an early day to
consider of the existing state of things, and to provide
the best means which they in their wisdom, may be able
to devise for meeting the exigencies of the times. The
two most distinguished Generals of the Confederacy,
commanding the armies upon which we mainly relied
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 879^
for the defence and maintenance of our cause, having
been compelled by overwhelming numbers to capitulate,
it now devolves upon statesmen and patriots in the
civil department of Government to do all in their powder
to prevent anarchy, restore and preserve order, and save
what they can of liberty and civilization.
You are therefore hereby required to convene in ex-
traordinary session at the Capitol in Milledgeville on
Monday, the twenty-second day of this present month.
Given under my hand and the
Great Seal, at the Capitol of the
State this third day of May, 1865.
Joseph E. Brown,
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 5th, 1865.
I hereby appoint and commission Leopold Waitz-
felder as agent of the State of Georgia to proceed to
England and by himself, or such agent as he may ap-
point, to ask, demand, sue for and receive from Henry
Lafone of Liverpool, all moneys due to the State of
Georgia for cotton shipped to said Lafone on vessels
controlled by Col. C. A. L, Lamar as agent, or on any
other vessels, and to do all lawful acts and things neces-
880 Confederate Records
sary to the recovery of all sums of money due by said
Lafone to the State of Georgia.
Given under my hand and the
Great Seal of the State, at the Cap-
itol in Milledgeville the day and
date above mentioned.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department, '
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 5th, 1865.
I hereby appoint and commission Leopold Waitz-
felder as the agent of the State of Georgia to proceed
to Nassau and have shipped to Europe, or such other
place as in his opinion will enable him to get the best
price for them, all blankets, shoes, cloth, soldier's cloth-
ing, buttons, trimmings and all other property of the
State of Georgia stored with any one in Nassau, Ber-
muda, or other place abroad, and to sell and dispose of
said goods to the best advantage.
In case any of the State's blankets, or other goods
tave been removed from Nassau, or other place where
they were stored, by any one professing to act as an
agent of the State, said Waitzfelder will demand and
receive such blankets or other property from such
agent; or if any of them have been sold, will demand
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 881
^and receive the proceeds immediately, which said person
"is hereby ordered to pay over to him.
Said agent will first apply such part of the proceeds
.as may be necessary to pay off certain drafts on Henry
Lafone, of Liverpool, which were drawn in payment for
goods purchased of E. & L. S. Waitzfelder & Co., which
:are understood to be protested for non-acceptance, and
ihe will hold the balance subject to my order.
Given under my hand and the
Great Seal of the State, at the Cap-
itol in Milledgeville, the day and
date above written.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 5th, 1865.
Mr. L. Waitzfelder, who has this day been appointed
agent of the State of Georgia to collect from Henry La-
fone of Liverpool, England, all sums of money due the
State of Georgia on account of cotton shipped to said
Lafone, is hereby authorized, if he finds that it is not
possible to collect all that is due on account of the fail-
ing circumstances of Lafone, or on account of the claim
which he sets up against the State for the value of the
^Steamer Florrie, to make the best and most advanta-
882 Confederate Records
geous compromise in his power with him, and save alT
he can for the State, and to give such receipts and exe-
cute such papers as may be necessary for that purpose.
Given under my hand and the-
Great Seal of the State, at the Cap-
itol in Milledgeville, the day andl
year above written.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia..
Executive Department,
Milledgeville, Georgia,
May 5th, 1865.
Leopold Waitzfelder, of the city of Milledgeville and
State of Georgia, is hereby appointed the agent of said
State to proceed to England and ask, demand, sue for
and recover all money or moneys in the hands of Charles
H. Reid & Co., of the city of London, which they hold on
account of cotton shipped to them by the State of Georgia
and sold or held by them, and all sums due by them to
said State on any account whatever.
Said Waitzfelder, as agent, is authorized to appoint
an agent or agents under him, and to employ attorneys
or solicitors, if necessary to the recovery, in the name
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown 883
•of the State or of her executive, of all sums of money
due by said Charles H. Reid & Co., to said State.
In witness whereof I have here-
unto set my hand and caused the
Great Seal of said State to be af-
fixed, the day and year above writ-
ten.
Joseph E. Brown,
Governor of Georgia.
Milledgevtlle, Georgia,
May 8th, 1865.
In accordance with on Act of the General Assembly,
assented to December 14th, 1863, authorizing the Treas-
urer and Comptroller-General to cancel certain Georgia
Treasury Notes by issuing Treasury Certificates of De-
posit for the same, (the Governor being absent, and by
a joint resolution of the General Assembly, assented to
November 14th, 1864, we being authorized to witness the
burning of any Treasury Notes or change bills in the
Treasury) the Treasurer and Comptroller-General this
•day exhibited to us forty-five thousand dollars of what
are called eight per cent. Treasury Notes, and twenty-
five thousand dollars of what are called six per cent.
Treasury Notes, for which certificates of deposit have
been issued by the Treasurer in terms of the law; and
said Treasury Notes having been reported to us as can-
celled on the books of the Comptroller-General's office,
we hereby certify that the above described Treasury
884 Confederate Records
Notes amounting to seventy thousand dollars, were this
day burned by the Treasurer in our presence.
N. C. Barnett,
Secty. of State
B. B. DE Gratfenried,
J. I. C, B. C.
A. W. Callaway,
J. I. C, B. C.
On the night of the 9th of May, 1865, Governor Brown
was arrested by a detachment of Federal soldiers in the
Executive Mansion and was carried, uiider guard to
Washington City and there imprisoned, as were the Gov-
ernors of other Southern States. Prior to said arrest
Governor Brown had surrendered the State troops under
his command and had given his parole, as Commander-
in-Chief of said troops, not to conduct further hostili-
ties against the United States Government till released
from the obligation or exchanged and had received from
MajrGenl. Wilson, commanding Federal forces, the us-
ual pledge of the faith of that Government that he should
not be molested by the military authorities of the United
States while he kept the parole and obeyed the laws of
force prior to 1st January, 1861.
This surrender was made after the surrender of Gen-
eral Lee and General Johnston with their armies. It
was not pretended that Governor Brown had violated
his parole, and still the arrest was made by the military..
State Papers of Governor Jos. E, Brown. 885
These facts were brought before President Johnson, who,
after the Governor had been imprisoned nine days in
Carroll prison and had been a week on city parole, de-
cided that he was entitled to his discharge and released
him.
The President, however, refused to recognize the
State Governments which existed while the States were
under the Confederate Constitution and appointed Pro-
visional Governors for the Southern States to reorganize
the State Governments. Hon. James Johnson of Co-
lumbus, was appointed Provisional Governor of Georgia,
and on the 29th of June, 1865, Governor Brown issued
an address to the people of Georgia in which he resigned
his office into their hands. This he thought appropriate
and respectful to them, as they had four times honored
him with their suffrage for the highest office in their gift.
Below is a copy of the address.
Milledgeville^ Georgia,
June 30th, 1865.
To the People of Georgia:
I feel profoundly impressed with a sense of the obli-
gation which I am under to you for the manifestation
of your kindness and confidence which I have so often
received. At four different elections you have honored
me with your suffrage for the highest position within
your gift, and I have, to the best of my ability, repre-
sented you in the Executive office for nearly eight years.
While my duties have often been of the most laborious
and trying character, I feel the consciousness that I have
88fi Confederate Records
labored with an honest purpose to promote your best
interests. Tliat I have committed errors is not denied;
that tlioy have been intentional, your conduct has shown,
you did not believe.
During the period of my administration the country
has passed through a most trying ordeal. The great
question at issue between the North and the South, hav-
ing failed to find a peaceful solution in the forum of
reason, has been submitted for decision to the arbitra-
ment of arms, and the judgment has been against us in
the highest tribunal known among nations. The contest
has been long and bloody. Each party has learned to
respect the manhood and the chivalry of the other. But
the South has been overcome by the superior numbers and
boundless resources of the North. We have no further
power of successful resistance, and no other alternative
but to accept the result.
The Government of the United States, having refused
to recognize or tolerate the State Governments which have
existed under the Confederate Constitution during the
struggle, has ordered the arrest of the Governors of
these States. I was arrested and imprisoned, after I
had surrendered the Georgia troops and militia, and
have given my parole upon the same terms allowed to
General Lee and General Johnston, and have received
from the Major-General, to whom the parole was given,
the usual pledge of the faith of the United States that
I was not to be molested so long as I observed the
parole and obeyed the laws of force prior to 1st Jan-
uary, 1861. Upon the facts being brought before the
President of the United States, he ordered that I be
released upon my parole and permitted to return home.
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 887
I am embraced in one of the exceptions in the Presi-
dent's amnesty proclamation. I have received no par-
don, nor have I taken any oath, nor am I permitted to
resume the exercise of Executive functions. I was in
the Executive office prior to the commencement of the
war and by the Constitution of the State then in exis-
tence, it is declared that I shall hold till a successor is
chosen and qualified. I have felt it my duty to an-
nounce these facts to you, and as I can be of no further
service to my State by attempting to hold the office of
the Governor, I hereby resign it into the hands of the
people who have so long and so generously conferred it
upon me.
While taking my leave of you and retiring to private
life, I trust it may not be considered inappropriate for
me to add a few remarks upon what I consider the true
interests and the duties of the people of Georgia in the
present hour. I have lately passed through several of
the Northern States and have been in some of their lar-
gest cities I have read the newspapers closely ; have had
interviews with public officials high in authority, and
have taken pains to ascertain both the policy of the
Government and the popular sentiment of the country
on the subject of emancipation of the slaves of the South,
and I beg to assure you that there is no division of opin-
ion upon the subject of immediate abolition. It is de-
creed alike by the people and the Government. They have
the power, and they are determined to exercise it and
to overcome all obstacles which we may attempt to
throw in the way. Indeed, they treat it as an accom-
plished fact, under the proclamation of the late President,
issued as war measures necessary to the life of the Gov-
ernment.
888 Confederate Records
As matters now stand, to fight against it is to contend
against manifest destiny. Besides, slavery has been so
disturbed and the slaves so demoralized during the war
that it is a matter of great doubt whether they could ever
be kept in a state of proper subordination, and the insti-
tution made profitable in future.
Under these circumstances the question arises, what
shall we do? Nothing we can do will prevent the result,
and it is my deliberate opinion that any effort on our
part to thwart the will of the Government on this great
question will only add to our miseries and our misfor-
tunes. The statesman, like the business man, should take
a practical view of the questions as they arise, and do
for those dependent upon him the best that can be done
under all the circumstances by which they are at the
time surrounded.
Applying this rule to our present condition, and re-
membering that revolution and war often sweep away
long established usages, demolish theories and change
institutions, it is, in my judgment, best that we accept
the fate imposed upon us by the fortunes of war, and
that we give up slavery at once, by the action of the
convention, which it is supposed will assemble under
the call of the Provisional Governor appointed to re-or-
ganize the State Government ; that we organize a system
of labor as speedily as possible which will be alike just
to the late master and slave; that we return to the
Union in good faith, and do all in our power as good
citizens to relieve the distressed, repair the damages which
have resulted from the contest, and restore permanent
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 889
peace and prosperity to the whole country under the old
flag, to which all must again look for protection, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific.
As I will give no advice to others which I will not
practice myself, I shall immediately do all which the
Constitution and laws of my State will permit, to eman-
cipate my own slaves, and shall treat them as free, and
give them part of the crop or such other wages as may
be agreed upon, for their future labor.
During my sojourn there, I found, among the people
of the North, much less bitterness than I had anticipated
towards the people of the South. If we act prudently,
and do nothing to cause unnecessary agitation or to pro-
voke angry and unprofitable discussions, I think there
are strong reasons to hope that a sentiment of justice
and liberality will prevail so soon as we have given up
slavery, and the i^assions engendered by the unfortunate
and wicked assassination of the late President have had
time to subside.
In making up their judgment, upon cool reflection, it
should be remembered by just men of the North that they
are sitting as judges in their own cause ; that their adver-
sary's side of the question has ceased to be represented
or heard, and that if they will restore unity, harmony
and permanent prosperity to the whole country tliey
must, while flushed with victory, exercise magnanimity
to their fallen foes, whose heroism they are obliged to
respect. Otherwise, though held in the Union by force,
they could not expect the people of the South and their
posterity to meet them in future as friends and embrace
them as fellow citizens. I trust their good practical
890 Confederate Records
sense will teach them this, and that moderation and wise
counsels may in future prevail on both sides.
Foreign nations have looked with astonishment upon
the immense strength put forth by the two sections dur-
ing the war, and they cannot fail to understand the invin-
cibility and power of the Government, which unites in
harmonious concert the whole strength of the two gigantic
belligerents, while they would readily appreciate the di-
minished strength of this great power if roots of bitter-
ness are constantly springing up and bearing the fruits
of discord and sectional hate.
When slavery has been abolished I believe the present
Chief Magistrate of the United States who, having sprung
from the mass of the people and by his industry, energy
and ability having passed through almost every grade
of office from the lowest to the highest, may justly be
styled a representative man, will cast his immense power
and influence into the scale of equal rights and popular
Government, and will leave the States when re-or-
ganized, the undisturbed management of their own in-
ternal affairs, including the questions of suffrage, police,
the regulation of labor, etc. I therefore recommend the
people of Georgia to give his administration a generous
support.
I also recommend every citizen, who is allowed to
do so, and who expects to remain in the country, to take
the oath and qualify themselves as voters under the rules
prescribed by the President. What will be the result?
The few who do qualify, whatever may be their charac-
ter, will elect delegates of their own number to represent
their respective counties in the convention which is to
State Papers of Governor Jos. E. Brown. 891
shape the Constitution of the State for the future gov-
ernment of all. I think all should take the oath and
observe it in good faith, and do all they can to elect their
wisest and best men as representatives, that all the dif-
ferent interests of the State may be protected as far as
possible, and her honor and credit maintained against
unwise and unjust legislation. Many conscientious men
object to taking the oath, because they believe the procla-
mation and Acts of Congress during the war on the sub-
ject of slavery are unconstitutional, and they are not
willing to swear to abide by and support them. It must
be remembered that the late proclamation of President
Johnson tenders pardon to all who are not excepted, if
they take the oath. The pardon then is conditional, and
while the President does not interfere with any ones
opinions on the Constitutional question, he requires, as
a condition to the extension of clemency, that he who re-
ceives the pardon and is allowed to retain the balance of
his property, shall give up his slaves.
The proclamation of President Lincoln declared the
slaves to be free. To abide by and support it is simply
to treat them as free. Every intelligent man in Georgia
who has taken the pains to investigate the question, must
see that slavery is now at an end. The oath simply re-
quires that each so treat it. The other portion of the
oath is not objectionable. Every man should be willing
to support the Constitution of a Government if he intends
to live under it and act the part of a good citizen. If he
does not, he should seek a home and protection elsewhere.
I will only add in conclusion that I shall carry with
me into my retirement a lively appreciation of the gener-
892 Confederate Records
ous confidence which you have so long reposed in me, and
my constant prayer to God will be for your prosperity
and happiness.
I am, very respectfully,
Your fellow citizen and
Obedient servant,
Joseph E. Beown.
MilledgevUle, June 29th, 1865.
L
INDEX
Akins, T. J., transferred to Capt. Talbot's company, 728.
Alexander, A., appointed agent of the State to ship goods stored
at Nassau, 874.
Allen, C. W., transferred to Capt. Talbot's company, 728.
Amos, Wm. T., not subject to conscription, 875.
Anderson, Major, spiked guns and burned gun carriages in Ft.
Moultrie, 10.
Ashley, Dr. Wm., appointed surgeon, 70.
Atlanta, large portion of burned by enemy, 790; State's property
to be stored in Masonic building in, 813.
B
Barker, Eldridge, exempt from military duty, 857.
Barrow, Col. David C, authorized to organize five military com-
panies, 76.
Baylor, C. G., appointed Commissioner to governments of Great
Britain, France, etc., 442; 44.'>; commission revoked, 733.
Beall, A. A., appointed agent of the State to purchase cotton,
etc., 682.
Beall, Lt. Col., battalion commanded by furloughed, 865.
Bell, William, ordered released, 700.
Bigham & Cox, Governor Brown contracts with, for supply of salt,
692; appointed State agents to procure salt, 696.
Blackburn, Dr. J. C. C, appointed surgeon, 71.
Bonds, seven per cent, to be substituted for six per cent, in hands
of Georgia banks, 39.
Bradford, Capt. T. M., military storekeeper, 46; ordered to ship
arms to Savannah, 58.
Brown, Governor Joseph E., message to Hou.se on purcTiase and
distribution of arms, 3; message concerning purchase of
steamers, 6; statement of, concerning occurrences connected
with seizure of Fort Pulaski, 9; instruction from, to Col.
Lawton, 14; action of, in seizing Fort approved by con-
vention, 19; orders seizure of New York .^hips in Savannah
893
894 Index.
harbour, 24; instructs Gen. Jackson to make other seizures,
26; issues bonds for payment of arms, 29; orders New York
ships sold, 30; again orders New York ships released, 31;
orders certain companies into service at Norfolk, 32; letter
from, to Major-General J. A. Clark, 43; accepts "Oconee
Grays," 55; orders "German Artillery" to prepare to march,
57; letter from, to J. C. Ferrill, 58; requested to take
charge of B. & F. R. R. Co., 62; takes charge of same, 64;
annual message from, Nov. 6, 1861, 77; inaugurated Govern-
or for third term, 125; inaugural address of, 125; requested
to furnish House correspondence with Secretary of War, 134;
contracts with Col. La Mat to purchase rifles, etc., 137;
message of, to Senate concerning correspondence with
Secretary of War, 138; orders Capt. Field to seize salt, 145;
message to Hou.se concerning correspondence with Secre-
tary of War relative to coast defenses, 146; message to
General Assembly in reference to coast defenses and State
troops, 149; committee reports on message of, in relation
to tender of troops in service of State to Confederate gov-
ernment, 160; message from, recommending appropriation
for relief of Charleston, 170; protest of, against action of
House, 171; orders to sheriff of Fulton County concerning
Wm. Watkin.s, 182; letter from, to Brig.-Gen. W. P. Howard
concerning Watkins, 185; orders transportation furni.shed
recruits to Capt. Napier's Artillery, 195; orders transporta-
tion for recruits for Capt. Stewart's company, 196; appeals
to mechanics of Georgia to manufacture pikes and knives,
199; exempts Noble Bros.' Co. from duty to make cannon,
201; orders seizure of block tin, 202; report of, on call of
Secretary of War for twelve additional regiments, 208;
turns over to Confederate General all State troops, 215;
orders of, concerning shipment of cotton, 217; orders R. H.
Howell to remove engraving apparatus to Augusta, 219;
secures lease on interest in Va. Salt Works, 223; orders
Secretary of State to issue proclamation for arrest of de-
serters, 225; letter from, to Col. J. I. Whitaker concerning
distribution of salt, 225; letter from, declaring contract
made by Capt. S. G. Cabell unauthorized, 232; appeals
for laborers to finish defenses around Savannah, 236, 238
agrees to take salt at $7.50 per bushel, 237; annual message
from, Nov. 6, 1862, 240; special message from, on con-
scription Act, 283; message from, in reference to salt, 309;
message to General Assembly enclosing letters from Brig.-
Gen. Mercer in reference to fortifications around Savannah,
311; message to General Assembly concerning 18th Regt.
Ga. Volunteers, 315; message to General Assembly con-
/■
Index. °^*^
cerninc conduct of negroes at St. Mary's, 317; message to
House in reference to Hon. T. B. King, 322; committee
reports on same, 324; message to House concerning Quar-
termaster and Commissary Generals, etc., 328; letter from,
to Col. Foster concerning seizure of factories, etc., 332;
message to General Assembly concerning right of Georgia
troops to elect officers to fill vacancies, 335; message to
General Assembly in reference to manufacture of pikes
and knives, 344, 353; message to Senate concerning reso-
lutions authorizing Governor to provide clothing, etc., for
destitute Georgia troop.s, 354; letter from, to county offi-
cers, concerning distillation of grain, 356; letter from, to
T. T. Windsor, concerning cotton cards, 360; message to
General Assembly giving reasons for extra session, etc.,
367; message to Senate concerning purchase of interest in
card factory, 395; message to House transmitting report
of Comptroller-General, 399; message to House transmit-
ting report of Quartermaster-General, 407; message to
House transmitting contract for manufacture of salt, 413;
letter to, from M. S. Temple in reference to manufacture
of salt, 420, 427; letter from, to Temple, 426; letter to,
from J. R. Wikle, 429; message to General Assembly con-
cerning increase in wages of private soldiers, 433; me.ssage
to General Assembly concerning continuance of office of
Adjutant and Inspector-General, 437; orders arrest of de-
serters, 446; instructs Gen. Foster to procure yarn for
needy families, 450; letter from, to Col. P. Thweatt, con-
cerning Income Tax Act, 453; orders public records removed
to place of safety, 469; informs Home Guards that Prest.
Davis claims right to appoint commanding officers, 476;
revokes licen.ses authorizing distillation of grain 479, 480,
536, 559, 561, 562, 568-586, 665, 666, 669, 670, 676-682,
688 690-692, 697, 702, 705, 709, 710, 783; annual message
to General Assembly, Nov. 6, 1863, 481; inaugurated Gov-
ernor for fourth term, 536; message to General Assembly
concerning illicit distillation, 540; message to General
Assembly disapproving tithing system, 541; contracts with
Seago, Palmer & Co. for salt, 546; message to General
Assembly advising them of receipt of old and captured
battle flags, 550; message to General Assembly enclosing
letter from Maj. Locke, 552; letter to Dr. G. D. Phillips
concerning supply of wood, 554; message to General Assem-
bly concerning losses sustained by State in transportation
of freights for Confederate Government, 556; message to
House refusing assent to Act authorizing payment of State
and county taxes in Confederate treasury notes, 563;
89() Index.
charters steamers to export cotton, etc., for the State, 581;
message to General Assembly in extra session, March 10,
1864, 587; message to General Assembly recommending
purchase of cotton cards, 666; requests that Georgia Hos-
pital Association be permitted to export cotton for pur-
pose of importing supplies, 668; message to House con-
cerning exemption of Methodist ministers, 671; message
to Senate in reference to law exempting State officers, 672;
message to General Assembly on order for enrollment of
State Militia between 17 and 50 years, and suspension of
the writ of habeas corpus, 673; threatens extra session of
General Assembly, 676; issues statement specifying dif-
ferent officers exempt from conscription, 683; exempts
other officers, 689; contracts with Bigham & Cox for salt,
692; instructions to Georgia Militia, 716; issues orders to
aides-de-camp concerning exemption of millers, 718; ap-
peals to citizens of Macon for aid, 722; issues orders for
protection of Milledgeville, 722; orders arrest of policemen
failing to do duty, 725; orders bonds of absentees in mil-
itary service not forfeited, 727; letter to Col. J. I. Whitaker
in reference to scarcity of salt, 728; annual message to
General Assembly, Nov. 3, 1864, 733; message to General
Assembly concerning men held in habeas corpus cases, 781;
message to House concerning purchase and disposition of
cotton, 784; message to House transmitting names of aides-
de-camp appointed under Act to reorganize State Militia,
788; message to House transmitting report of superintend-
ent of card factory, 789; message to General Assembly that
Atlanta and other towns have been burnt by the enemy,
790; suggests adjournment of legislature to the front to
aid in struggle, 791; special message to General Assembly
on message of President of Confederacy relating to ex-
emptions from conscription, 792; orders camps for or-
ganization of militia established, 805; approves orders issued
by Maj.-Gen. Howell Cobb, 811; orders return of property
belonging to State House, 812; issues orders to reserve militia,
814; message to General Assembly at extra session, Feb.
15, 1865, 818; message to General Assembly concerning
cotton cards, 856; message to Senate concerning troops
used as guard for capital, 859; message to General Assembly
recommending sale of cotton for relief of suffering prison-
ers, 861; pledges faith of State to carry out contracts to
secure transportation of corn, 862; message to General
Assembly concerning impressment of corn, 862; message
to General Assembly concerning propriety of calling con-
vention of the people, etc., 867; congratulates General
Index. 897
Aspembly, etc., on restoration of Gen. J. E. Johnfiton to
h's command, 869; mtssage to Housp disapproving Act
to distill certain quantities of liquors, 871; message ta
General Assembly on purchase and shipment of cotton,
872; contracts with Munday & Hancock to take charge of
telegraph line, 877; arrested, in violation of his parole, and
carried to Washington City, 884; released, 885; issues ad-
dress resigning his office, 885.
Brunswick & Florida R. R. Co., resolutions, of, 60; Governor re-
quested to take charge of, 62.
Burghard, Captain, authorized to contract for manufacture of
harness, 57.
Burke, Capt. T. A., supplies ordered for, 71.
Cabell, Capt. S. G., contracts made by, unauthorized by Gov-
ernor Brown, 232.
Caldwell, Rev. J. M. M., authorized to ship one bale of thread, 364.
Campbell, Henry F., money sent to, for benefit of Georgia Hos-
pital in Virginia, 51.
Ci^mps McDonald and Stephens, subsistence of troops at, 72.
Capets, Brig. Gen. F. W., certain companies to reprrt to, 133;
appo nted Brigadier-General, 133.
Chastain's regiment threatens to abandon field and go home, 168.
Christopher, Captain, to report to Col. Ledford, 813.
"City Light Guards," of Columbus, ordered into Confederate
service, 32.
Clark, Maj.-Gen. Josiah A., letter to., from Governor Brown, 43.
Cleveland, Col. Henry, ordered to report to Gen. Harrison, 59
Cobb, Brig. -Gen. Howel.', to command Home Guards, 476.
Cobb, Maj.-Gen. Howell, issues general orders, 810.
Commissioners appointed to alter Great Seal report, 538.
Committee reports on message of Governor Brown relative to
tender of troops, 160.
Cotton cards, instructions of Governor Brown concerning, 360;
message from Governor Brown to Senate concern.ng pur-
chase of interest !n, 395; Governor Brown recommends
appropriation to pay for, 666; message from Governor
Brown to General Assembly concerning, 856.
Cunningham, John, appointed military purveyor, 13.
Curry, Dr. James W., appointed assistant surgeon, 70.
898 Index.
D
Davis. President, claims right to appoint commanding; officers of
Home Guards, 476.
Daviaon, John, appointed agent of State in Augusta to fund State
treasury notes, etc., 679.
Dearing, A. P., appointed financial agent, claim as exempt by
Governor Brown, 701.
Dodamead, Ihomas, letter from, to Maj. B. H. Bigham concern-
ing transportation of salt, 431.
E
Enlisted men who have not been mustered into service who fail
to respond when company is ordered into service not de-
serters, 67.
Etheridge, Captain, to receive guns, 45.
Felton, M. L., appointed agent of State to purchase corn, 875.
Ferrill, John C, letter to, from Governor Brown, 58.
Field, Capt. E. M., ordered to seize salt, 145.
Flags, old battle flags and captured flags received by Governor
Brown, 550, 552.
Floyd, Col. H. H., letter to, from Governor Brown, asking per-
mission to call out militia, 321.
"Floyd Rifles," from Macon, ordered into Confederate service, 33.
Floyd, Secretary of War, resigns from cabinet, 11.
Fort Pulaski, facts connected with seizure of, 9; Col. Lawton
ordered to occupy, 13; occupied by Col. Lawton, 16; falls
into hands of enemy, 214.
Foster, Gen. Ira R., appointed special agent to examine arms,
etc., in State arsenal at Savannah, 37; ordered to furnish
supplies to Capt. T. A. Burke, 71; receipts of, 73-75; in-
structions to, 317, 804; letter to, from Governor Brown,
cncerning seizure of factories, 332; report of, 408-413; to
furnish shoes and clothing to Georgia troops in Confederate
service, 445; instructed to procure yarn for needy families,
450; appointed to audit claims of officers and privates of
4th Georgia Brigade, 700; officers under command of Lt.-
Gen. Taylor to render assistance to, 808.
Fulton County, orders to sheriff of, concerning salt, 182.
Index. 899
G
Gaskill, Capt. V. A., ordered to seize block tin, 202.
General Assembly meets in extra session, 587; adjourns on account
of approach of enemy, 792; to convene at Macon, 817;
to convene in extra session at Milledgeville, 878; messageB
to, see Governor Brown.
General Orders No. 30, 810.
Georgia Relief and Hospital Association, Governor Brown re-
quests that Association be permitted to export cotton for
purpose of importing supplies, 068
Georgia Hospital in Virginia, $5,000 sent to, 51.
"German Artillery" ordered to prepare to march to sea-coast, 57.
Gerstmann, Capt. Simeon, employed to biing in articles needed
by State, 441.
Great Seal, Commissioners appointed to alter report, 538.
Green, Col. J. A., ordered to issue tents for Col. Cowart's and Col.
Watkins' regiments, 68.
H
Hamilton, Col. B. B., men and ammunition to be furnished to, 808.
Harris, Gen. R. Y., guns placed at disposal of, 132.
Harris, Capt. William T., to receive guns from "Mountain Rang-
ers," 44.
Harrison, Brig. -Gen. George P., "Oconee Grays" to report to, 55;
appointed Brigadier-General, 133.
Harriss, George, commissioned agent to receive, store and export
cotton, etc., 574.
Hart, Capt.,L. S., military storekeeper, arms to be shipped to, 58.
Home Guards to be commanded by Brig. -Gen. Howell Cobb, 476.
Hood, Gen. J. B., militia transferred to command of, 724.
Holt, Postmaster General, appointed acting Secretary of War, 11.
Hough, E. C, selected as Notary Public, 689.
Howard, Dr. T. M., appointed assistant surgeon, 70.
Howard, W. P., to be paid for damages to property, 575.
Howard, Gen. W. P., ordered to store State's property in Masonic
building in Atlanta, 813.
Howell, Richard H., ordered to move engraving apparatus to
Augusta, 219.
Hughes, D. C, appointed agent to purchase corn for the State,
876.
Hunnicut, Capt. G. W., ordered to use military force, if necessary,
to resist enrolling officers, 224.
Hunt, Wm. H., appointed aide-de-camp, 47.
900 Index.
J
Jackson, Judge H. R., orders to concerning seizure of New York
ships, 24, 25; instructed to make other seizures, 26; ap-
pointed Major-General 1st Division Georgia Volunteers,
138.
Jackson, Col. James, sent on important business to New Orleans
by Governor Brown, 212.
Johnson, Hon. James, appointed Provisional Governor of Geor-
gia, 885.
Johnston, General Joseph E., restored to his command, 869.
Jones, A. W., financial agent, claimed as exempt by Governor
Brown, 698.
Jones, Captain, to report to Col. Ledford, 813.
Jones, Lieutenant, orders in reference to, revoked, 723
Jones, Lieutenant-Colonel, to take command of camp at Albany,
805.
K
Keeth, C. F., appointed agent to purchase wool for the State, 856.
King, Hon. T. Butler, appointed Commissioner to England, France
and Belgium, I'J- instructions to, 20; message from Gov-
(rnor Brown in reference to, 322; committee reports on
messace of Governor in reference to. 324.
Lamar, Col. C. A. L., appointed agent to import and export cot-
ton, etc., 581.
La Mat, Colonel, authorized to purchase rifles, etc., 137.
Lawton, Col. A. R., ordered to occupy Fort Pulaski, 13; instruc-
tions to, from Governor Brown, 14; occupies Fort
Pulaski, 16.
Ledford, Colonel, Captains Jones and Christopher to report to, 813.
Lee, Col. G. W., to report condition of State Road to Governor
Brown, 809.
Letcher, Governor, letter from, concerning salt, 310.
Lewis, John W., appointed Senator in Confederate Congress to
fill vacancy of Robert Toombs, 207; appointed agent of
State to transact business in East Tennessee, 219; secures
lease in interest of Va. Salt Works, 223.
Locke, Major, Chief Commissary, letter from, to Governor Brown,
concerning distillation of whiskey for use of troops, 553.
Logan, Joseph P., money sent to ''or Georgia Hospital in Virginia,
51.
Lumpkin, Joseph T., appointed aide-de-camp, 67.
Index. 901
M
"Ma on Volunteers" ordered into Confederate service, 33.
Mandeville, G. S., liable to service in State militia, 726.
May, Col. Benjamin, ordered to pay drafts of Dr. Levsis for salt,
223
May, Col. R. H., guns placed at disposal of, 132.
Mcintosh, Lachlan H., Chief of Ordnauce. receipts of, 220-222,
231, '35; letter from, to Governor Brown concerning pikes
and knives, 349.
Mercer, Bng.-Gen. H. W., letters from, to Governor Brown, 313,
314.
Militia transferr^id to command of Gen. Hood, 724.
Milledgeville, orders for protection of, 440, 722.
"Mountain Rangers" to deliver their guns to Capt. Harris, 44.
Munday & Hancock, Governor Brown contracts with, to take
charge of telegraph line, 877.
N
Napier, W. T. W., appointed State agent to ai t in transport-
ing cotton, 688. \
Napier's Artillerv, transportation furnished to r\^ lits for, 195
New York ships in Savannah harbour ordered seizt 24; ordered
released, 25; again ordered seized, 26; ordt I sold, 30;
again released, 31.
Nichols, Dr. W. J., appointed assistant surgeon, 71.
Noble Bros., exempted from duty to make cannon, 20
Nunnally, A. F., appointed financial agent for the Statv 701.
° \
"Oconee Grays," accepted by Governor Brown, 55.
Oglethorpe University, students of, excused from military duty,
7:i, 207.
P
Palmer, J. C, bonds issued to, for payment of arms, 29.
Peters,' M. B., appointed State agent to receive goods imported
at Charleston, 799.
Phillips, Dr. George D., letter to, from Governor Brown, concern-
ing supply of wood, 554.
Phillips, Col. Wm., to take command of camp at Newnan, 805.
Pierce, Rev. L., not to be molested, 780.
902 Index.
Pikes and knives, Governor appeals to mechanics of Georgia to
manufacture, 199; message from Governor in reference to
manufacture of, 344-353.
Porter & Wells, authorized to use chimney of engine belonging
to Card Mfg. Co. in order to make gun carriages, 365.
President of United States refuses to recognize State governments
enacted under Confederate constitution, 885; appoints
James Johnson Provisional Governor of Georgia, 885.
Proclamation, prohibiting commercial intercourse with northern
States, 33; proclamation ordering election for ratification
of State Constitution 38; proclamation calling upon citi-
zens to search for scattered guns, 45; proclamation appeal-
ing to citizens for loan of private arms, 47; proclamation
declaring constitution adopted by convention at Savan-
nah the constitution of the State, 50; proclamation prep-
arations for defense of coast of Georgia, 52; proclamation
exempting certain persons, 56; proclamation giving notice
that no more tenders of service will be accepted, 69; proc-
lamation giving notice that thirty companies will be ac-
cepted, 131; proclamation setting apart a day of fasting
and prayer, 135, 196; proclamation calling for additional
troops to serve during the war, 187; proclamation prohib-
iting distillation of corn into ardent spirits, 202; proclama-
tion calling for volunteers to fill ranks of State forces, 213;
proclamation calling special session of legislature, 366,
817, 878; proclamation calling for volunteers, 447, 464,
470; proclamation calling for eight thousand volunteers
for home defense, 456; proclamation, calling for men between
40 and 45 years, 463; proclamation prohibiting unlawful
impressment of property, 473; proclamation specifying
dififerent classes of officers exempt from con.scription, 689;
proclamation requiring all commissioned and civil officers
to report to Maj. Gen. Wayne, 703; proclamation order-
ing all civil officers under 50 years, with certain exceptions,
to report to Maj. -Gen. Wayne, 703; proclamation ordering
arrest of those refusing to enter .service when ordered, 707;
proclamation calling for troops for local defense, 710; proc-
lamation ordering aliens who refu.se to volunteer to leave
State, 717; proclamation revoking commission of C G.
Baylor, 732; proclamation ordering levy en masse of en-
tire population for local defense of State, 799; proclama-
tion calling upon those remaining at home to defend them-
selves against plunderers, 802.
Pruden'e Battery, used as guard for capital, 859;
Index. 903
Q
Quartermaster and Commissary Generals, message from Governor
Brown concerning, 328.
R
Records, public, to be moved to place of safety, 469.
Reserve militia, in camps of instruction, furloughed, 814.
Resolutions concerning seizure of factories, etc., 334; resolutions
adopted by Governors of several States at convention at
Augusta, 777.
Rodgers, Capt. R. L., to take charge of train ordered to haul corn,
865; instructions to, 873; assistance to be given to, 873.
Rowland, Maj. John S., order to, concerning shipment of cotton
217.
S
Salt, seizure of, ordered, 145; trouble concerning, 182, 185; to be
brought from Virginia, 216, 225; distribution of, 227; Gov-
ernor Brown agrees to take salt at $7.50 per bushel, 237;
copy of salt contract, 416; correspondence concerning,
420-433; engine "Texas" to be repaired and used in ship-
ping, 477; Governor contracts with Seago, Palmer & Co.
for, 546; Governor contracts with Bigham & Cox for, 692;
contract with Stuart-Buchanan & Co. to furnish salt water
for making, 695; scarcity of, 728
Savannah, letters from Governor Brown concerning defenses
around, 236, 238.
Seago, Palmer & Co., Governor contracts with for salt, 546.
Secretary of State to issue proclamation for arrest of deserters,
225, 359.
Semmes, Gen. Paul J., appointed agent to purchase arms, etc., 5.
Soldiers' families, who are tenants, dispossession of, 358.
"Spalding Grays," from Griffin, ordered into Confederate
service, 33.
State officials, etc., not to be drafted, 468.
Stevenson, Wellington, appointed State agent to import medi-
cines, 782.
Stewart, Captain, transportation to be furnished recruits for
company of, 196.
Stuart-Buchanan & Co., contract to furnish State sufficient salt
water to make five hundred bushels salt per day, 695.
904 Index.
Temple, M. S., copy of salt contract with, 418; letter from, con-
cerning salt, 420, 427; letter from Governor Brown to, 426.
"Texas," engine, to be repaired and used in shipping salt, 477.
Thurmond, Col. S. P., to assist Col. Yancey, 805.
Thweatt, Comptroller-General Peterson, report of, 399-406; letter
to, concerning tax Act, 453.
Treasury notes, redeemed, cancelled and burned, 717, 883; com-
mittee appointed to burn, 816.
U
Ultez, W. R., agent of Georgia Relief and Hospital Association,
granted permission to ship sixty bales of cotton, 783.
W
Waitzfelder, Leopold, appointed agent of the State to go to Eng-
land and demand moneys due State for cotton shipped,
879, 881, 882; appointed agent to dispose of goods stored
at Nassau, 880.
Waitzfelder, Leopold and Solomon L., not to be interfered with
by enrolling officers, 239.
Waitzfelder, S. L., to go to Europe to purchase card wire, 452.
Walker, Charles, fine remitted, 698.
Walker, Hon. L. P., requests Governor Brown to send volunteer
companies to Virginia, 32.
Walker, Gen. Wm. H. T., appointed Brigadier-General, 146.
Wallace, Col. W. S., to assist Col. Phillips, 805.
Waters, Col. H. H., appointed to go to Augusta to attend Rail-
road convention, 444.
Watkins, William, military storekeeper, orders to sheriff of Ful-
ton county concerning, 182; letter to Brig. -Gen. Howard
concerning, 185.
Wayne, Major H. C, appointed Adjutant and Inspector General,
8; issues orders for protection of Milledgeville, 440; all
commissioned and civil officers to report to, 703.
Whitaker, Col. J. I., Commissary General, drafts of, to be honored,
149; orders to, 211, 213; letter to, concerning distribution
of salt, 225; letter to, from the Governor concerning scarcity
of salt, 728.
Index. 905
Whittle, Col. L. N., to take charge of camp at Macon, 805.
Wikle, Jesse R., appointed agent to remain at salt works, 420;
letter from, to Governor Brown, concerning salt, 429.
Wilkinson, U. B., appointed appraiser, 444.
Williford, Capt. W. J., to assist Col. I. R. Foster, 222.
Windsor, T. T., letter to, concerning cotton cards, 360; statement
of, concerning cotton cards, 363.
Yancey, Col. B. C, to take command of camp at Athens, 805.
Young, Dr. T. J., appointed surgeon, 70.
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