A Damaging Item

We cut the following significant item from the Shiloh correspondence of the New York Times.  The writer was in the battle of Wilson’s Creek and was at that time corresponding for the New York Times and the Dubuque Herald.  Doubtless the Jones family is very loyal, but it has been exceedingly unfortunate.  Our illustrious ex-Senator and ex-Minister has been guilty of writing a “love letter” – that is what he styles it – to Jeff. Davis.  One son was bagged at Fort Donelson, fighting against his country in the secesh army.  The other son, always claiming to be loyal, has sent a valuable recruit to Dixie, from the Mahony Democracy of the lovely city of Dubuque, with a most affectionate introductory letter.  One would think that a person, in standing a position so questionable would keep himself a little in the back ground.  But no.  Jones is apparently upon a pilgrimage among the people, holding himself up as a martyr, and seeking to organize a party in this State, the evident purpose of which is to aid the rebellion and assist in making satisfactory terms for Jeff. Davis & Co. when they are beaten and “subdued.”  But the letter introductory to Mr. Quigly:

In roaming about the woods I found a well worn letter, whose contents  may prove of interest.  It is dated:

DUBUQUE, Iowa, July 1, 1861.

DEAR HUNTER:  By this I introduce to you my Friend, Daniel O. C. Quigly, of this town, and bespeak your kindness and attention toward him.  I believe he will prove himself worthy of your friendship.  With every wish for your prosperity and happiness, your friend.

CHARLES D. JONES.

To Captain S. E. Hunter, Hunter’s Rifles,

Clinton, Louisiana

The Particularities of this document consist in the fact that the writer is a son of Gen. Geo. W. Jones of Dubuque, (late minister to Bogota, fort Lafayette, &c.) and a brother of the Lieut. Jones who was bagged at Fort Henry.  The Quigly spoken of, is a son of a prominent citizen of Dubuque, and one who, soon after the war commenced, bolted to the South and offered his services to the scoundrels who are trying to break up this Government.  I offer the letter for publication from the fact that the writer now lives in Dubuque, and pretends, as he ever has pretended since the war began, to be loyal. – How far such loyalty will be tolerated by a Government whose burdens are already heavy enough, should be tested.  The letter was given, and for a treasonable purpose, at a time when the gallant Lyon was struggling against the traitorous uprisings in Missouri – at a time when hundreds of Jones’ townsmen in the First Iowa, were toiling and suffering beneath the burning sun of Missouri, inspired only by motives of patriotism, by a wish to preserve intact their beloved Constitution – it was at such a time that Jones chose to perpetrate his treason and assist in the work of breaking up the Government.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 24, 1862, p. 1

Proclamation Revoking General Hunter's Order of Military Emancipation of May 19, 1862

May 19, 1862

By the President of The United States of America.

A Proclamation.

Whereas there appears in the public prints, what purports to be a proclamation, of Major General Hunter, in the words and figures following, towit:

Headquarters Department of the South,}

Hilton Head, S.C., May 9, 1862.}

General Orders No. 11.---The three States of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, comprising the military department of the south, having deliberately declared themselves no longer under the protection of the United States of America, and having taken up arms against the said United States, it becomes a military necessity to declare them under martial law. This was accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862. Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible; the persons in these three States---Georgia, Florida and South Carolina---heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free.

(Official)

DAVID HUNTER,

Major General Commanding.

ED. W. SMITH, Acting Assistant Adjutant General.

And whereas the same is producing some excitement, and misunderstanding: therefore

I, Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, proclaim and declare, that the government of the United States, had no knowledge, information, or belief, of an intention on the part of General Hunter to issue such a proclamation; nor has it yet, any authentic information that the document is genuine. And further, that neither General Hunter, nor any other commander, or person, has been authorized by the Government of the United States, to make proclamations declaring the slaves of any State free; and that the supposed proclamation, now in question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void, so far as respects such declaration.

I further make known that whether it be competent for me, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, to declare the Slaves of any state or states, free, and whether at any time, in any case, it shall have become a necessity indispensable to the maintainance of the government, to exercise such supposed power, are questions which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and which I can not feel justified in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field. These are totally different questions from those of police regulations in armies and camps.

On the sixth day of March last, by a special message, I recommended to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution to be substantially as follows:

Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system.

The resolution, in the language above quoted, was adopted by large majorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands an authentic, definite, and solemn proposal of the nation to the States and people most immediately interested in the subject matter. To the people of those states I now earnestly appeal. I do not argue. I beseech you to make the arguments for yourselves. You can not if you would, be blind to the signs of the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, if it may be, far above personal and partizan politics. This proposal makes common cause for a common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the pharisee. The change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not been done, by one effort, in all past time, as, in the providence of God, it is now your high previlege to do. May the vast future not have to lament that you have neglected it.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

{L.S.}

Done at the City of Washington this nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

SOURCE: Roy P. Basler, editor, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 5, p. 222-3; The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 11.

 HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE SOUTH,

Hilton Head, Port Royal, S.C., May 9, 1862.

The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, comprising the Military Department of the South, having deliberately declared themselves no longer under the protection of the United States of America, and having taken up arms against said United States, it became a military necessity to declare martial law. This was accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862. Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible; the persons in these three States, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free.

By command of Maj. Gen. D. Hunter:

 [ED. W. SMITH,]

 Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I – Volume 14, p. 341

The President, it will be seen . . .

. . . sets Gen. Hunter back a notch or two.  Our military commanders are very unfortunate in their proclamations.  It is not their forte and they ought to learn as much by and by.  Gen. Hunter’s proclamation, like Gen. Phelps’ and others, is a very harmless document which can do neither harm nor good.  It will not free a negro, and the idea that it is going to exasperate the rebels is all nonsense.  No body cares whether they like it nor not.  It is about time we gave up the idea of conciliation.  They have clearly shown that nothing will conciliate them but heavy blows well laid on.  There is but one issue – one point to make.  We must conquer rebellion or the rebellion will conquer us.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 24, 1862, p. 1

The Nashville Cotton Market

Upon inquiry, we have ascertained that down to the 1^st of this month permits were granted for the shipment from Nashville, of 2,918 bales of cotton.  The requirement of permits for the shipment of goods from this to the loyal States having been abrogated, it is not easy to ascertain the precise number of bales of cotton that have been shipped since the 30^th ult.  Upon the inquiry we have ascertained that since that date there have been shipped [684] bales.  To this amount may be added from 50 to 100 bales shipped by outsiders who are unknown to us.  The whole amount shipped since the 11^th of March when the trade was opened may be set down as not less, and probably something over 3,000 bales.  The price it now commands readily is twenty cents in gold or U. S. Treasury notes – at times lots at twenty-one cents and others 19 cents.  The entire amount which it may be expected will be shipped from this place during the season is estimated at about 18,090 bales.  From two to three thousand bales have been burnt by the Confederate troops – chiefly in Giles county.  The cotton already sold at this point has brought into the country $300,000 of good currency either in specie or U. S. Treasury Notes.  If no obstacle shall be placed in the way of trade by further operations of rebel marauding parties composed of worthless and irresponsible vagabonds, the cotton already shipped and to be shipped at this point will bring $1,800,000.  That burned by the rebels is estimated at [$300,000], the average value of the bales being $100 each. – {Nashville Union.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Rebel Sympathies in Federal Hospitals – A Stinging Rebuke

We have had repeated occasion to notice the fact that the wounded rebels were better treated by our medical agents than the troops who have fallen in a loyal cause.  The Louisville Journal now takes up the subject, with especial reference to the hospitals in that city, and handles the abuse with indignant eloquence.  It says

With pain and deep regret we are impelled to make representations upon the management of our city hospitals, in doing which we are influenced by an overwhelming sense of duty.  On the battle-field of Shiloh, after the dreadful carnage had ended, all who were discovered on the field were recognized as brothers of the great human family, and all received the same care, attention and comforts. – It was most undoubtedly the intention of all who aided to bring the sick and wounded here, that the same impartiality should be exercised after their arrival, but such has not been the case.  The bedsides of wounded rebels are crowded with delicacies – wines, jellies and flowers – in the same ward room where lay our own soldiers deprived of everything but the mere necessaries of life and constantly exposed to a view of the profuseness with which favors are showered upon the others.

Within a week past there has been a great change of nurses and other assistants in the hospital, including Ward-master Clark.  This Mr. Clark, about two weeks since, told one of our lady informants that there would have to be a change in the management, for the loyal nurses and attendants could not bear to see the preference given to disloyal prisoners; that although there was quite a superabundance of sheets, pillow cases and bandages in the establishment, he could not procure these articles to make the necessary changes for our own sick and wounded soldiers, many of whom were suffering from wounds which had become offensive, and necessarily demanded constant change of linen, both for the recovery of the patient and the promotion of general cleanliness in the hospital.

The question now is, what can be done to remedy these infamous abuses, and how shall we prevent our hospitals from being converted into hotbeds of treason, where rebels are pampered with all the luxuries of the land, and comforted by words of cheer and sympathy by those who taunt and deride and insult the loyal sick and wounded on their cots of pain in the same ward?  Some way [must] be devised, and we call most urgently upon the medical directors, sanitary commissioners, and surgeons generally for the remedy.  If the nuisance, the foul and pestilent nuisance, is not abated, we shall deem it our duty to appeal to our sister States to send their special agents here and remove their respective sick and wounded from a place where insult and degradation await them.  If Louisville cannot be cleaned from the leprosy of secession in its hospital wards, let our city rest under the stigma forever, and let all shun her as they pass and cry, “Room for the leper!” that she may be avoided and despised.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Exit the Merrimac

Our skeleton in the closet has crumbled into dust, and nervous people inhabiting seacoast cities can sleep o’ nights hereafter without fear of being awakened by the thunder of the Merrimac’s guns at their very doors.  This vessel – the one navel success of the South, that accomplished the rare feat of compelling an American frigate to strike her colors to an enemy, and whose advent into Hampton Roads marks an era in conflicts at sea – was scuttled and sunk by the rebels to prevent her falling into the hands of our naval forces.  Her loss is more damaging to the rebellion than if an army of 50,000 men had been killed or captured.  Better to have lost Savannah, Charleston, Memphis or Richmond, than have destroyed this naval monster without a fight.  Had she gone down, as did the Cumberland or the Varuna, firing until the water closed over her, all the world would have wondered, and Southern valor, as well as Southern skill, would have claimed a proud page in the history of battles; but the pitiful panic which must have possessed the councils in which her destruction was determined upon will bring contempt upon the Confederate cause, even in those foreign circles whose interest or whose humor it has been to sustain and countenance the great rebellion.

It is to be regretted, for many reasons, that this vessel did not venture on another conflict with our fleet in Hampton Roads.  Her first exploit proved the folly of building any more wooden frigates.  The contest with the Monitor on the second day was of great scientific interest, as showing the relative value of heavy ordnance and thick iron plating in an actual sea fight.  The third fight, if a chance had been given, would have demonstrated the value of a swift steam ram against an iron clad vessel.  The Vanderbilt, the Arago, and the Baltimore, as is now well known, were in readiness to make the attempt, at least had she ventured into deep water or got out of the range of the guns at Sewall’s Point.  But this experiment is now postponed until another war takes place, for the rebels have no vessel left that a few guns would not sink with ease.

It is more than probable, although it has been denied by the rebel press, that the Merrimac was seriously injured in her contest with the Monitor, so much so as to disable her for another fight.  The report that she leaked continuously is no doubt true.

The destruction of the Merrimac is of the utmost consequence to us in the progress of the war.  After the occupation of Richmond the Galena, the Monitor, the Naugatuck and a large fleet of wooden vessels can pay their respects to Fort Sumter and reduce it promptly.  Gen. Hunter is already drawing his lines about the city of Charleston, but his work will be greatly expedited by the cooperation of these invulnerable vessels.  Iron-clad batteries, as against forts, were first tried by the rebels upon Sumter, but they took months to erect them, and finally opened fire upon a half-starved garrison of seventy men, let us show that the same work can be done against greater odds, and with much less fuss and waste of powder. – {N. Y. World.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Northern Partizanship and Secesh Impudence

The fact that the secessionists of Kentucky are becoming more impudent, and that rebel mauraders [sic] are in the field in both Eastern and Western Ketucky, is one that calls for the most serious consideration.  There is certainly nothing in the drift of the war to encourage the enemies of the Government. – Almost every day we hear of the splendid success of the fleets, and armies of the Union.  Why is it, then, that the secesh on the banks of the Ohio are insolent and demonstrative?  The plain truth is: the rebels are feeling confident of the speedy division of Northern public sentiment.  The traitors on the border find encouragement not in the South but in the North.  They look upon the demonstrativeness of the Democratic Partizans [sic], in persistently organizing an opposition to the war with hope and something of confidence.  They are deceived by the tory journals that are poisoning our atmosphere.  Do men who are permitting themselves to be moved by the old party cries, that are again heard, realize that they are taking a course which if not arrested in good time, will endanger the peace of the Northern States?  Some of those who are engaged in the odious partizan operations of the day, know what they are doing, but many must be unaware of the terrible consequences that would inevitably result from their conduct, if the schemes of the leaders should prove successful.  It is impossible to restore peace to the country, save by the prosecution of the war to a conclusion triumphant for the Government.  Peace must be conquered and the war policy sustained, or we shall have anarchy in our midst.  Every man who values peace at his own door, must sustain the Government and push the war to its legitimate conclusion.  If we permit ourselves to become partisans and factionists, the war will have been in vain, and we shall all be plunged in the bloody cauldron of revolution.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

More Guerrilla Work – Proposed Retribution

Of the guerrilla attack upon the party of teamsters of Gen. Bank’s division, we have learned further particulars.  Twenty six wagons were out on a foraging expedition without sufficient guard; and having met but little success in the object of their movements and no signs of the foe, they imprudently wandered beyond the Shenandoah in the mountains, and were cut off from their camp by the sudden rising of several intermediate streams.  While in this dilemma they were attacked by a large guerrilla force, who killed several teamsters and horses, and destroyed sixteen of the wagons[,] the others escaping.

So soon as the intelligence of the mishap reached Gen. Fremont he ordered General Milroy to send a force into the district where the raid was committed to hold the people thereof responsible, to take as many wagons and as much forage as would make up the loss, and to scour the region for the depredators.  If any of the latter should be taken a summary disposition will be made of them undoubtedly.  A continued series of prompt and thorough acts of retribution for such depredations should be executed – and the guerrilla operations which so harass our troops and abuse and intimidate the loyal people of the country will cease. – {Wheeling, Va., Intelligencer.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Wheeling Intelligencer of the 9^th says:

At midnight on Sunday, the bridge over the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry was opened for travel, and immediately the cars of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad began to pass over it.  For the forty-eight hours ending at midnight, eight hundred loaded cars had passed over. – Of that number six hundred went East and two hundred came West.  There is still a large amount of freight awaiting transportation, and all the cars of the road will be brought into requisition to dispose of it as speedily as possible.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Battering Rams

A considerable curiosity was excited on Saturday last by the appearance, at the landing, of several steamers razeed [sic] and altered by covering their sides with two thicknesses of timber, each being about eight inches thick, and composed of live oak.  The prows are iron-plated, and quite sharp.  These are the boats that were purchased at Pittsburgh some months since, and they have been converted into rams.  They are very powerful, and are intended to run down and sink rebel craft on the Western rivers. {Cincinnati Gazette, 12^th.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Stewart’s Independent Cavalry Battalion.

Organized at Jackson, Tenn., by consolidation of Stewart's Independent Company Cavalry, organized at Cape Girardeau, Mo., August 10, 1861, as Company "A;" Carmichael's Independent Cavalry Company, organized at Cairo, IIl., August 19, 1861, as Company "B;" Dollins' Independent Cavalry Company, organized at Cairo, Ill., August 27, 1861, as Company "C;" O'Harnett's Independent Cavalry Company, organized at Springfield, Ill., September 16, 1861, as Company "D"; Hutchins' Independent Cavalry Company, organized June 26, 1861, as Company "E." Attached to Districts of Jackson, Tenn., and Corinth, Miss., to November, 1862. District of Corinth, 13th Army Corps (Old), Department of the Tennessee, to December, 1862.

SERVICE.--Duty in the Districts of Jackson, Tenn., and Corinth, Miss., Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. Action at Toone's Station, on Lower Post Ferry, Tenn., July 27, 1862. Near Humboldt, Tenn., July 28. Hatchie Bottom, near Denmark, July 29. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign, November-December. Operations against Forrest in West Tennessee December 18, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Transferred to 15th Illinois Cavalry December 25, 1862, as Companies "A," "B," "C," "D," "E" and "F," which see.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1032

Cotton From Nashville

The Cincinnati Gazette of the 12^th says: Yesterday morning the Lady Pike arrived in this city from Nashville, bringing 188 bales of cotton.  The Jacob Strader brought from Louisville, on Sunday 213 bales.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Specials to the New York Papers

(Times Dispatch)

WASHINGTON, May 14. – Gov. Sprague says our losses at Williamsburgh in killed, wounded and missing, will amount to about 2,000, and that the rebel loss was not less.

He also says the battle at West Point, under Franklin, was much more severe than reported; that at least 500 of our men were taken prisoners, the enemy taking advantage of the landing of our troops.  The gunboats came up in good time and saved Franklin from suffering a severe disaster.

Gen. Burnside has very quietly put an extinguisher on C. H. Foster, the gentleman who has so long been trying to get recognized as a member of Congress from North Carolina.  He advertized the citizens of Newberne a few evenings since of a thing which, as Gen. Burnside put it, he thought would be very foolish for him to do or the General to permit.  The military Governor appointed by the President was to shape the policy of the Government in the State and he could not permit anything to be done which might hereafter prove to be a source of embarrassment.

(Special to Herald)

The steamer Kennebec arrived here this afternoon, with 213 wounded rebels and 25 wounded Union soldiers from Williamsburg.  Among the latter is Col. Dwight.  His wounds are less dangerous than at first supposed.  The rebels receive precisely the same treatment as our wounded and are sent to the same hospitals.

The rumor that Gen. McCall had resigned the command of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps is unfounded.  He has no intention to resign until the army of the Union has accomplished its mission to suppress the rebellion.

(Tribune’s Dispatch)

WASHINGTON, May 14. – The French Minister has received intelligence  from his Consul at Richmond to the effect that the rebel Government had notified him that should it be necessary to evacuate the city, the French tobacco must be destroyed with the rest.  At the same time the rebels offer to pay for it, a proposition not much relished by the French men.

The French Minister discredits the rumors of European intervention in our affairs and it is generally thought here that whatever purposes may have been entertained by England and France the news from New Orleans will cause their definite postponement.

The 885 prisoners recently released from Richmond will arrive here by way of the Potomac to-morrow.  A few who came through Baltimore arrived to-day.  They say the rebels are as determined as ever and believe that after the great impending battles they will, if whipped, band together in small guerrilla parties and fight to the very last.  They represent the treatment of our prisoners as barbarous in the extreme; that our officers who alone remain in the prisons, all the privates being set free, will not be released at all.  Colonel Corcoran’s health is good.  He is anxious to be released and contradicts the statements made some time since.  He said he would prefer remaining where he is, believing that he could be of more service there and adds that the only way in which he wishes to serve his country is on the battle field.  Col. Bowman’s health is failing rapidly and his eye sight is nearly lost.  He can survive his present treatment but a few weeks longer.  His long confinement has affected his mind so much that at times he is looked upon as insane.  The rebels offered every inducement to the prisoners to join their army, but only two have done so, viz., Jno. A. Wicks, late of the Congress and a private of the 7^th Ohio named Wilson.  As soon as it became known to the prisoners that Wilson intended to desert them, they proceeded to hang him.  The guard however entered in time to cut him down before life was extinct.  In punishment of this act the prisoners were put upon bread and water for ten days.

The House Committee on Foreign affairs having authorized Mr. Gooch to report the Senate Bill establishing diplomatic relations with Hayti and Siberia, it will doubtless be pressed to a vote at an early day.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Confiscation

WASHINGTON, May 14 – The first bill reported by Mr. Elliott, from the Special Conference provides that all the estate, property and money, stock, credit and effects of the person or persons hereafter named, are declared forfeited to the Government of the United States, and are declared lawful subjects of seizure and of prize and capture wherever found, for the indemnity of the United States against the expenses for suppressing the present rebellion; that is to say,

1.  Of any person hereafter acting as an officer in the army of the Rebels, now or hereafter in arms against the Government of the United States.

2.  Any person hereafter acting as President, Vice President, Member of Congress, Judge of any Court, Cabinet officer, Foreign Minister, Commissioner, or Consul of the so-called Confederate States.

3.  Any person acting as Governor of State, member of Convention, or Legislature, or Judge of any Court of the so-called Confederate States

4.  Any Person who having held an office of honor, trust or profit in the United States, shall hereafter hold an office in the so-called Confederate states.

[5].  Any person hereafter holding any office or agency under the so-called Confederacy, or under any of the several States of said Confederacy, or laws thereof, whether such officer or agency be National, State, or Municipal in its name or character.

6.  If any person, who holding property in the loyal State or territory of the United States or in the District of Columbia, shall hereafter assist and give aid and comfort to such rebellion, the said estate, property and money, stocks, credits and effects of these persons are declared lawful subjects of capture wherever found, and the President of the United States shall cause the same to be seized, and to the end that they may be confiscated and condemned to the use of the United States, and all sales, transfers or conveyances, shall be null and void, and it shall be a sufficient bar to any suit brought by such person for the possession and for the use of such property, or any of it, to allege and prove he is one of the persons described in this section.

The second section provides that if any person within any State or Territory of the United States, other than those already specified, shall not within 60 days after public warning and proclamation by the President, cease to aid and countenance and abet such rebellion and return to their allegiance, their property in like manner shall be forfeited for the use of the United States.  All sales, transfers, or conveyances of any such property, after the expiration of said 60 days from the date of the warning shall be null and void.

The 3d section provides that to secure the possession, condemnation and sale of such property situated or being in any State district or Territory of the United States.  Proceedings in such cases shall be instituted in the name of the United States, in any District court or Territorial court in the United States, or the District of Columbia, or in any district in which the property may be found, or into which the same, of moveable, may be first brought, which proceeding shall conform, as nearly as may be, to the proceedings in Prize cases, or to cases of forfeiture arising under the revenue laws, and the property so seized and condemned, whether real or personal, shall be sold under the decree of the court having cognizance of the case, and then proceeds to go into the Treasury of the United States for their use and benefit.

The remainder of the sections provide the necessary machinery for carrying the act into effect.

The second bill of the Select Committee is as follows:

If any person or persons, within the United States, shall, after the passage of this act, willfully engage in an armed rebellion against the Government of the United States, or shall willfully aid or abet such rebellion, or those engaged in such rebellion, giving them aid and comfort – every such person shall thereby forfeit all claim to the service or labor of any persons commonly known as slaves, and such slaves are hereby declared free and forever discharged from service, anything in the laws of the United States, or any State to the contrary notwithstanding, and whenever thereafter, any person claiming the labor or service of any such slave, shall seek to enforce this claim, it shall be sufficient defence thereto that the claimant was engaged in said rebellion, or aided or abetted the same, contrary to the provisions of this act.

Whenever any person claiming to be entitled to the service or labor of any other person, and shall seek to enforce such claim, he shall in the first instance and before any service shall be made for the surrender of the person whose service or labor is claimed, establish not only his claim to such service or labor, but also that such claimant has not in any way aided, assisted or countenanced the rebellion existing against the Government of the United States.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Rumors

BALTIMORE, May 15. – The city is filled this morning with rumors of the taking of Richmond.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

The political campaign has opened in Indiana.

Ex-Senator Bright is ready for a vigorous campaign as the representative of the “peace” party.  Many of the Democratic journals refuse to recognize him.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Personal

LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 14. – Major Ratcliffe, who was released on parole by Morgan, has arrived here, en route for Washington, to endeavor to effect an exchange of himself for Lieut. Col. Wood of Morgan’s band.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Washington News

WASHINGTON, May 14. – The Senate to-day confirmed Erastus B. Tyler of Ohio, as a Brigadier General.

The President has nominated Stephen G. Burdige [sic] of Kentucky, for a similar position.

Official advices of yesterday say the position of Gen. Halleck’s army is unchanged.

Information from Gen. McClellan’s army at Cumberland, is up to yesterday.  There has been no inconsiderable skirmishing with the enemy in front.  No other news.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 17, 1862, p. 3

Government of the Confederate States

President,

JEFFERSON DAVIS,

Of Mississippi.

Vice President,

ALEX. H. STEPHENS,

Of Georgia.

Secretary of State,

JUDAH P. BENJAMIN,

Of Louisiana.

Secretary of the Treasury,

C. G. MEMMINGER,

Of South Carolina.

Secretary of War,

GEORGE W. RANDOLPH,

Of Virginia.

Secretary of the Navy,

STEPHEN R. MALLORY,

Of Florida.

Attorney General,

THOMAS R. WATTS,

Of Alabama.

Postmaster General,

JOHN H. REAGAN,

Of Texas.

CONFEDERATE CONGRESS. – First Session.

The following is a list of the members of the first Congress of the permanent Government of the Confederate States.

SENATE.

ALABAMA

Wm. L. Yancey

C Clay, Jr.

ARKANSAS

Robert W Johnson

J B Mitchell

FLORIDA

James M Baker

N E Maxwell

GEORGIA

John W Lewis

B H Hill

KENTUCKY

Henry C Burnett

Wm E Sims

LOUISIANA

Edward Sparrow

T. J. Semmes

MISSISSIPPI

A G Brown

James Phelan

MISSOURI

John B Clark

R L E Peyton

NORTH CAROLINA

George Davis

Wm T Dortch

SOUTH CAROLINA

Robert W Barnwell

James L Orr

TENNESSEE

Gustave A Henry

Landon C Haynes

TEXAS

Louis C Wingfall

W S Oldham

VIRGINIA

R M T Hunter

Wm Ballard Preston

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ALABAMA

Dist.

1 T J Foster

2 W R Smith

3 J P Ralls

4 J L M Curry

5 F S Lyon

6 W P Chilton

7 D Clopton

8 J F Pugh

9 _ S Dorgan

ARKANSAS

1 A G Garland

2 Jas M Patterson

(incomplete)

FLORIDA

1 James B Dawkins

3 R P Hilton

GEORGIA

1 Julian Hartridge

2 Chas J Monnerlyn

3 Hines Holt

4 Augustus H Keenan

5 David W Lewis

6 W W Clark

7 Robert P Trippe

8 Lucius J Gartell

9 Hardy Strickland

10 Augustus R Wright

KENTUCKY

1 Alfred Boyd

2 John W Crockett

3 H E Read

4 George W Ewing

5 J S Chrisman

6 L T Burnett

7 H W Bruce

8 G B Hodge

9 E M Bruce

10 J W Moore

11 R J Breckinridge

12 J M. Elliot

LOUISIANA

1 Charles J Villiere

2 Charles M Conrad

3 Duncan F Kenner

4 Lucien J Dupree

5 John L Lewis

6 John Perkins, Jr.

MISSISSIPPI

1 J W Clapp

2 Reuben Davis

3 Israel Welch

4 H C Chambers

5 O R Singleton

6 John J McRae

MISSISSIPPI [sic MISSOURI]

1 W M Cook

2 T C Harris

3 Casper W Bell

4 Adam H Condon

5 L W Freeman

6 G G West

NORTH CAROLINA

1 W N H Smith

2 R W Bridges

3 O R Keenan

4 T D McDowell

5 A H Arrington

6 J R McLean

7 T S Ashe

8 Wm Landor

9 R S Gaither

10 A T Davidson

SOUTH CAROLINA

1 John McQueen

2 W Porcher Miles

3 L M Ayer

4 M L Bonham

5 James Farrow

6 W W Boyce

TENNESSEE

1 Joseph B Heiskel

2 W G Swan

3 W H Trobs

4 E F Gardenhire

5 Henry S Foote

7 Meredith P Gentry

8 Thomas Menees

9 J D C Atkins

10 John V Wright

11 D M. Currin

TEXAS

1 John A Wilcox

2 O B Herbert

3 P W Gray

4 F B Sexton

5 M P Graham

6 B H. Ebberson

VIRGINIA

1 M R H Garnett

2 John B Chambliss

3 John Tyler

4 Roger A Pryor

5 Thomas S Bocock

6 John Goode, Jr

7 Jas P Holcombe

8 D C DeJarnette

9 William Smith

10 Alexander R Bote

11 John B Baldwin

12 Woller R Staple

13 Walter Preston

14 Albert Jenkins

15 Robert Johnson

16 Chas W Russell

– Published in The Daily Rebel, Chattanooga, Tennessee, August 9, 1862, p 4

NOTE:  There are a few omissions and spelling errors.  This list appears as it was printed in the paper.

The Conscription Law

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED “AN ACT TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR THE PUBLIC DEFENSE.”

In view of the exigencies of the country, and the absolute necessity of keeping in the service our gallant army, and of placing in the field a large additional force to meet the advancing columns of the enemy now invading our soil; therefore,

SECTION 1.  The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the President be, and is hereby authorized to call out and place in the military service of the Confederate States, for three years unless the war shall have sooner ended, all white men who are residents of the Confederate States between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years at the time of the call or calls be made, who are not legally exempted from military service.  All of the persons aforesaid who are not now in the service of the Confederacy and whose term of service will expire before the end of the war, and shall be continued in the service for three years from the date of their original enlistment, unless the war shall have been sooner ended: Provided, however, That all such battalions and regiments, whose terms of original enlistments were for twelve months, shall have the right within forty days, on a day to be fixed by a commander of the brigade to reorganize said companies, battalions and regiments by electing their officers, which they had a right heretofore to elect, who shall be commissioned by the President: Provided further, that furloughs not exceeding sixty days, with transportation home and back, shall be granted to all those retained in the services by the provision of this act beyond the period of their original enlistment, and who have heretofore not received furloughs under the provisions of an act entitled, “An act providing for the granting of bounty and furloughs to privates and non-commissioned officers in the Provisional Army,” approved 11^th December, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, said furloughs to be granted at such times, and such numbers as the Secretary of War may deem most compatible with the public [interest] and Provided, further, That in lieu of a furlough, the [commutation] value in money of the transportation herein above granted, shall be paid to each private, musician or non-commissioned officer who may elect to receive it at such time as the furlough would otherwise be granted: Provided, further, That all persons under the age of eighteen years, or over the age of thirty-five years, who are now enrolled in the military service of the Confederate States, in the regiments, battalions, and companies hereafter to be organized, shall be required to remain in their respective companies, battalions and regiments for ninety days, unless their places can be supplied by other recruits not now in the service, who are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years, and all laws and parts of laws providing for the reenlistment of volunteers and the organization thereof into companies, squadrons, battalion or regiments, shall be and the same [are] hereby repealed.

[SEC. 2.]  Be it further enacted, That, such companies, squadrons [battalions] regiments organized or in process or organization by authority from the Secretary of War as may be within thirty days from passage of this act so far completed as to have the whole number of men requisite for organization actually enrolled, not embracing in said organization any person now in service shall be mustered into the service of the Confederate States as part of the land forces of the same, to be received in that arm of the service into which they are authorized to organize, and shall elect their company, battalion and regimental officers.

SEC. 3.  Be it further enacted, That for the enrollment of all persons comprehended within the provisions of this act, who are not already in service in the armies of the Confederate States, it shall be lawful for the President, with the consent of the Governors of the States, to employ State officers, and on failure to obtain such consent, he shall employ Confederate officers, charged with the duty of making such enrollments in accordance with the rules and regulations to be prescribed by law.

SEC. 4.  Be it further enacted, That persons enrolled under the provisions of the proceeding section shall be assigned by the Secretary of War to the different companies now in service until each company is filled to its maximum number, and the person so enrolled shall be assigned to companies from the States from which they respectively come.

SEC. 5.  Be it further enacted, That all seamen and ordinary seamen in the Confederate States, enrolled under the provisions of this act may on application of the Secretary of the Navy; be transferred from the land forces to the naval service.

SEC 6.  Be it further enacted, That in all cases where a State may not have in the army a number of regiments, battalions squadrons or companies, sufficient to absorb the number of person[s] subject to military service under this act, belonging to such State then the residue or excess [thereof] shall be kept as a reserve under such regulations as may be established by the Secretary of War, and that at stated periods of not greater than three months details, determined by lot, shall be made from said reserve, so that each company, as nearly as practicable, be kept full.  Provided, That the persons held in reserve may remain at home until called into service by the President.  Provided, also, That during their stay at home they shall not receive pay.  Provided, further, that the persons comprehended in this act shall not be subject to the rules and articles of war until mustered into the active service of Confederate States; except that said persons when enrolled and liable to duty, in case they shall willfully refuse to obey said call each of them shall be held to be a deserter and punished as such under said articles Provided further, That whenever, in the opinion of the President, the exigencies of the public service may require it, he shall be authorized to call into active service the entire reserve, or so much as may be necessary; not previously assigned to different companies in service under provision of section four of this act; said reserve shall be organized under such rules as the Secretary of War may adopt, Provided, The company, battalion and regimental officers shall be elected by the troops composing the same.  Provided, The troops raised in any one State shall not be combined in regimental, battalion, squadron or company organizations with troops raised in any other states.

SEC. 8.  Be it further enacted, That each man who may hereafter be mustered into the service, and who shall arm himself with a musket, with a musket [sic], shot-gun or rifle, accepted as an efficient weapon, shall be paid the value thereof, to be ascertained by the mustering officer, under such regulation as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War, if he is willing to sell the same, and if he is not, then he shall be entitled to receive one dollar a month for the use of said received and approved musket, rifle, shotgun or carbine.

SEC 9.  Be it further enacted.  That all vacancies shall be filled by the president from the company, battalion squadron or regiment in which said vacancies shall occur, by promotion, according to seniority, except in cases of disability or other incompetency; Provided, however, That the President may, when in his opinion, it may be proper, fill such vacancy or vacancies by the promotion of any officer or private or privates, from  such company, battalion squadron or regiment who shall have been distinguished in the service by the exhibition of valor and skill, and that whenever a vacancy shall occur in the lowest grade of the commissioned officer of the company, said vacancy shall be filled by election.  Provided, That all appointments made by the President shall be by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

SEC. 10.  Be it further enacted, That the provisions of the first section of this act relating to the election of officers, shall apply to those regiments battalions or squadrons which are composed of twelve months’ and war companies combined in the same organization, without regard to the manner in which the officer thereof were originally appointed.

SEC. 11.  Be it further enacted, That each company of infantry shall consist of one hundred and twenty-five rank and file; each company of field artillery company [sic] of one hundred and fifty rank and file; and each company of cavalry of eighty rank and file.

SEC. 13 [sic].  Be it further enacted, that all persons subject to enrollment, who are now in the service under the provisions of this act, shall be permitted previous to such enrollment to volunteer in companies new in the service.

– Published in The Daily Rebel, Chattanooga, Tennessee, August 9, 1862, p 4