CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, SUBSISTENCE BUREAU, March 10, 1868

Richmond, March 10, 1868.

Hon. J. C. BRECKINRIDGE, Secretary of War:

Str: In reply to your communication of this date, calling attention to points in the letter of the General-in-Chief, I have the honor to state:

First. As to the existence of commissary supplies in the country, I express the general opinion that a sufficient surplus remains within the Confederate lines in Virginia, North Carolina, upper South Carolina, and East Tennessee to subsist the Confederate forces operating therein until the next crop can be made available. This opinion is based upon a careful review of the Bureau information up to the 20th ultimo, and after personal .conference with leading farmers, millers, and men of business. It assumes that four months’ supply will be retained for local wants, and does not include the small and very uncertain supplies whieh may be wagoned over from Georgia.

Second. As to the collection of these supplies I express the further opinion that with adequate military protection in the more exposed localities, and with a prompt supply of suitable funds, the officers and agents of this service can keep the depot full in anticipation of all arrangements of the Quartermaster’s Department to remove and forward. In the present condition of the country great effort will be required, but with funds it can be done. To aid the Government officers a very active popular movement has been initiated and pressed by the Bureau, but it must be regarded as simply auxiliary and not to be relied upon as a permanent source of supply.

Prompt payment in funds that will be received without compulsion are considered indispensable in arranging a certain supply for the future; without this all efforts will be paralyzed. The commissary debt now exceeds $70,000,000.

Third. As to transportation of these supplies, in the Southwest and in North Carolina the forces can be subsisted frora local resources and with the ordinary army transportation, but the Army of Northern Virginia must be supplied by distant railroad transportation; and at least to Abingdon, Va., and to Goldsborough and Charlotte, N. C., 120 tons of commissary supplies daily

[MarcH 13, 1865.—For Davis to Lee, relating to the signing of the bill for putting negroes into the Army, see Series I, Vol. XLVI, Part II, p. 1308. ]

Macon, March 18, 1868. Governor JOSEPH E. BROWN:

Detailed agriculturists are now ordered into Confederate service in the field. Will those whom you called and who went into the militia be compelled to report for duty in Confederate service, or will you claim them still in the militia? Answer immediately by telegraph.

Tick. SEEW ART, 72 R R—SERIES IV, VOL III

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Milledgeville, Ga., March 13, 1868,

All persons belonging to Major-General Smith’s division are in the actual military service of the State. No one of them, whether detailed agriculturists or not, will obey any order from a Confederate officer, unless so directed by General Smith, when he is under orders from me to report to a Confederate general. The State took the detailed agriculturists into her military service at a time when, according to the decision of the supreme court, they were not in the military service of the Confederacy, and the Confederate officers can take no control over them without the consent of the State till they are disbanded by the State. They are now only on furlough.

STATE OF VIRGINIA, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Richmond, March 14, 1865, The Honorable the COURTS OF THE COUNTIES, CITIES, &C., NAMED IN THE ANNEXED SCHEDULE:

GENTLEMEN: In compliance with the requisition from the President of the Confederate States, under the law recently enacted by the General Assembly (a copy of which is herewith accompanying), I, William Smith, Governor of Virginia, as required by said act, do hereby call upon the courts of the counties, cities, and towns in the annexed schedule for 10 per centum of the slaves therein, between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five years, capable of ordinary labor.

Instructions.—It is the duty of the court to ascertain the number of slaves within the prescribed ages within their respective jurisdictions. This duty comprehends all slaves, however employed, not embraced in former requisitions by the Governor. It includes all slaves hired by the Confederate Government or any of its agents.

Slaves impressed or allotted under this requisition may be detailed by Confederate authority, but when so detailed they cannot be replaced by a new impressment.

The courts must include among those from whom the allotment is to be made all the capable slaves between the before-mentioned ages within their jurisdictions, whether owned or hired, except the slaves of parties owning or hiring but one slave each.

No county exempt.—All counties, &c., whether ravaged by the enemy or stripped of their slave labor, to whatever extent, are bound to furnish the required per centum of what is left, except in such counties, &¢., as may have lost two-thirds of their slaves; in which case no person in such counties, unless he have more than two such slaves, is liable to allotment.

Exemptions.—The Governor is intrusted with the power to exempt in cases in which the law cannot or ought not to be enforced; in cases in which the slave-owner, from sickness or other calamity, has but one Slave liable to draft. He cannot exempt in any other cases.

Slaves not subject to draft.—Where a soldier in service, or a widow having a son, or whose husband has died therein, has but one slave, either owned or hired.

The allotment.—All persons required by the court to furnish negroes under this requisition failing to deliver them at the time and place designated will incur a fine of not less than $3 nor more than $10 for each negro and for every day for which he may be withheld. This penalty will be rigidly exacted.

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All slaves not delivered by the sheriff, &e., may be seized by the enrolling officer of the county, or such other agency as the Confederate Government may provide.

Penalties.—The sheriff, for neglect of duty, is liable to a penalty of not less than $500 nor more than $2,000.

Clerks, justices of the peace, or sheriffs failing or refusing to perform the duties imposed by this act are guilty of malfeasance in office, and upon conviction thereof in the circuit court their offices are declared vacant.

Owners of slaves will observe that for their slaves they will be entitled to $60 per month each, soldiers’ rations, medicines, and medical attendance; that they are entitled to an overseer of their own selection; that they can furnish their slaves rations, which can be commuted, and that their overseers will be allowed to issue them.

I regret to have to inform the counties that many of them have wholly neglected to’respond to the former requisition, and that the new act has been passed to prevent in future such delinquency. I need not say that it will be rigidly enforced. Nothing but the sternest necessity has induced the present call. The officer conducting this branch of the service says:

In consideration of the urgent need for labor on the defenses in the vicinity of Richmond and Petersburg, as set forthin the letter of Brigadier-General Stevens, chief engineer of the Army of Northern Virginia, written by direction of General Lee, I respectfully call the attention of His Excellency the Governor of Virginia to the modified act of Assembly of March 5, 1865. Every day that is lost may involve most serious consequences to our country. The negroes should be delivered to Captain Snead, adjutant to General W. H. Stevens, chief engineer, corner of Franklin and Nineteenth streets, city of Richmond.

I earnestly hope prompt and immediate response to this call will be made, involving, as it does, the safety of the capital of our State, and, it may be, of the institution of slavery itself.

Respectfully, &e., WILLIAM SMITH.

The following are the counties, cities, &c., called on for their quotas of 10 per cent. of slaves:

Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Craig, Cumberland, Danville, Dinwiddie, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Giles, Goochland, Grayson, Greenbrier, Greene, Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Henry, Highland, King and Queen, King William, Lee, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mecklenburg, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Nelson, Nottoway, Orange, Patrick, Petersburg, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Rappahannock, Richmond City, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Spotsylvania, Surry, Sussex, Tazewell, Washington.

AN ACT prescribing the mode of apportioning slaves to work on fortifications and other public works, and regulating the impressment of slaves therefor by the Confederate Government, passed March 4, 1865,

1. Be tt enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall be the duty of the Governor, and he is hereby authorized and required, whenever thereto requested by the President of the Confederate States, to call into the service of the Confederate States, for labor on fortifications and other works for the public defense within this State, from time to

time, for a period not exceeding sixty days, a number of male slaves, between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five years, not exceeding ten thousand at any one time, and not exceeding in any county or corporation one-fifth of the number of male slaves therein between the ages aforesaid, to be apportioned by the Governor. In making said apportionment it shall not be necessary to ascertain the number of slaves in each county or corporation liable to requisition; but the Governor, with the limitation hereinbefore specified, may require all the counties and corporations to furnish a like proportion of their slaves between the ages specified. Such requisition shall be apportioned ratably among all the owners or possessors of slaves in the several counties and corporations so as to charge each owner or possessor with the same proportion of his male slaves, between the ages specified, capable of performing ordinary labor, to be judged of by the court, which may be demanded from his county or corporation. The sum of sixty dollars per month for each slave shall be paid by the Confederate States to the person entitled to his services, and soldiers’ rations, medicines and medical attendance furnished; and the value of all such slaves as may, without the default of the owner, die during their term of service, or thereafter, from injuries received or diseases contracted in such service, or not be returned to the owners, shall be paid by the Confederate States to the owners of such slaves. If such slaves shall be injured while in such service, full compensation therefor shall be made to the owners; and in all cases the burden of proof shall be on the authorities of the Confederate States to discharge the latter from liability to the former. Hired slaves shall be regarded as the slaves of their temporary owners in apportioning for the purposes of this act, but when such slaves shall be held by persons owning other slaves it shall not be lawful for the temporary owner to select one or more of the hired slaves to be sent to the public works; but in every such case the slave or slaves to be sent shall be ascertained by lot, in which each of said slaves, as well those owned as hired, shall be drawn for by the court: Provided, That the Governor shall exempt from the operation of this act any county or corporation, or any part thereof, in which he may be satisfied the law cannot be enforced, or in which, by reason of losses by the public enemy, or of contiguity to the enemy’s lines, it ought not, in his judgment, to be enforced; of which he shall judge upon the affidavits of the commissioner of the revenue, the clerk and presiding justice of the county or corporation court, and such other evidence or information as may be laid before him; and, in cases where, by reason of sickness or by other calamity, a slaveholder shall have but one male slave liable to the provisions of this act, it shall be competent for the Governor to exempt said slave-holder from the impressment or draft: Provided further, That in no ease where any person shall own or have hired but one slave liable to the provisions of this act, shall said slave be impressed, or drafted, or counted, in ascertaining the quota of a county or corporation: Provided further, That whenever it shall be certified to the Governor by the county court of any county that two-thirds of the male slaves described in this act in such county have been removed from said county by escape to the enemy, or other cause, the requisition provided for in this act shall not be enforced in such county, except in the case of persons therein who are employing in their service more than two slaves of said description.

2. Be wt further enacted, That so soon as the Governor shall determine to make a requisition for slaves under this act he shall give notice thereof to the several counties and corporations on which the

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call may be made, by causing to be filed with the clerks of the several county and corporation courts copies of the requisition made on their respective counties and corporations; and thereupon it shall be the duty of said clerks forthwith to issue a summons to all the acting justices of their respective counties and corporations, requiring them to meet at the court-houses of their counties and corporations on a day to be named in the summons, not later than six days from the filing ot the requisition, to carry the same into effect; which summons shall be directed to and executed by the sheriff of the county or sergeant of the corporation, as the case may be.

3. It shall be the duty of the several county and corporation courts, after being duly convened, as aforesaid, and not less than five justices being present, to ascertain, by the assistance of the commissioners of the revenue of their respective counties and corporations, or otherwise, the entire number of male slaves therein between the ages specified, subject to requisition under this act; and after ascertaining the same to apportion the requisition aforesaid, without delay, among all the holders of such slaves, so as to charge each slave-holder, as near as may be, with the same proportion of his male slaves between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five, capable of performing ordinary labor, as may be demanded from his county or corporation, throwing into classes, when necessary, the holders of but one or few slaves, and of fractions of slaves, and ascertaining by lot, or agreement between the parties, or otherwise, the slave or slaves to be sent to the public works from such classes, and giving, as far as practicable, relief to those upon whom the lot or draft may have fallen under any preceding requisition: Provided, That in no case of a soldier in the service, or a widow having a son therein, or whose husband has died in such service, owning or hiring but one male slave, shall such slave be subject to requisition under this act. But no slave-holder shall be exempted by reason of having slaves in the employment of the State or Confederate Government.

4. So soon as the apportionment aforesaid shall be made, it shall be the duty of the courts of the several counties and corporations to require each slave-holder to deliver, on a day and at a place appointed by the court, his quota of slaves to the sheriff or sergeant, as the case may be, to be delivered by such sheriff or sergeant to an agent or officer of the Confederate States in the city of Richmond, at the expense of the Confederate States. All slaves delivered by the holders on the day and at the place designated, as aforesaid, to be returned at the expiration of sixty days. Slaves not delivered in accordance with the order of the court shall be seized by the sheriff or sergeant, as the case may be, and delivered, at the expense of the owners, to the agent or officer of the Confederate States authorized to receive them, and may be held, on the terms and conditions aforesaid, for a period not exceeding ninety days, unless sufficient cause for the failure shall be shown to the court of the county or corporation in which such failure may occur, and then entered on record; in which event the expenses of said delivery shall be paid by the Confederate States, and a certified copy of such order shall be conclusive evidence of such sufficient cause; and, moreover, the holder of such slave shall be fined not less than $3 nor more than $10 for every day each slave shall be withheld; and it shall be the duty of the sheriff or sergeant to report to the court, at its next succeeding monthly term, all persons failing or refusing to deliver their slaves as aforesaid. And unless good cause be shown, after ten days’ notice, for such failure or refusal, the court shall impose said fines, for which an execution shall be

forthwith issued by the clerk of the court; which fines shall be repeated from time to time until the order of the court is complied with. Any sheriff or sergeant failing to discharge the duties imposed by this act shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $2,000; and any slave or slaves not delivered as aforesaid may be forthwith seized by the enrolling officer of the Confederate States for the county in which the owner of such slave or slaves may reside, to be by him delivered to the proper officer of the Confederate States, to be held for the period of ninety days, as aforesaid.

5. It shall be lawful for the proper authorities of the Confederate States whenever, in their opinion, the public interest may require it, to detail for business, and at the place from which they have been taken, any slaves drafted under the provisions of this act; but inno case shall the deficiency in labor on the public works, caused by such detail, be supplied by a new draft on the other slave-holders of the county or corporation in which the detail may be made; and any slaves which shall be exempted from impressment or draft by any law of the Confederate States shall be regarded as detailed under the provisions of this act.

6. The clerk and sheriff or sergeant shall attend the sessions of the court, as in other cases, and the court may adjourn from time to time, until the business shall be completed.

7. Should any county or corporation court fail or refuse to discharge the duties imposed by this act, wholly or in part, for ten days from the filing of the requisition with the clerk of the court, as prescribed in the second section of this act, it shall be the duty of the clerk of said court immediately to notify the Secretary of War of the Confederate States; or, in case any clerk shall fail to give such notice to the said Secretary in due time after the failure or refusal of such court to act, it shall thereupon be lawful for said Secretary of War, by officers and agentsof hisown selection, with the aid of the commissioners of the revenue of such county or corporation (who are hereby required to render such aid when required), to impress from said county or corporation such proportion of the slaves demanded by the Governor therefrom as may not have been furnished under the provisions of this act. The slaves thus impressed, together with such as may have been furnished by such county or corporation under this act, shall not exceed one-fifth of the number of male slaves therein between the ages specified, capable of performing ordinary labor, shall be apportioned among the slave-holders as herein above set forth, and shall be held not longer than ninety days, for the uses and upon the terms and conditions set forth in the first section of this act. Separate receipts shall in all cases be executed to the owners by the sheriff or other person seizing or taking possession of slaves under this act, and receipts shall, in like manner, be taken by the sheriff or other person holding them, when slaves may be turned over to the agent or officer of the Confederate States. Slaves coming into the possession of the sheriffs, sergeants, or agents of the Secretary of War under this act shall be regarded as in the possession and service of the Confederate States, and at their expense until redelivered to their owners. For every seizure of a slave by a sheriff or sergeant, under this act, he shall be entitled to a fee of $5, to be paid by the person failing to deliver such slaves. The willful failure or refusal of either the clerk, or any justice, or sheriff, or sergeant, to perform the duties required of them under this act, shall be deemed a malfeasance in office, and on conviction thereof their offices shall become

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vacant; and for every such failure or refusal it shall be the duty of the Commonwealth’s attorney for the circuit court of such county or corporation to cause the offender or offenders to be forthwith indicted for the same in said court.

8. Under any requisition made upon any county or corporation, it shall be lawful for any number of persons who may be required to furnish not less than thirty nor more than forty slaves, to place such slaves in charge of an agent or overseer, not liable to military duty, selected by such owners, who shall deliver them to the Confederate authorities at the place where the labor is to be performed, at the expense of the Confederate States; and such agent or overseer, if a fit and proper person, shall be employed by the Confederate Government as the agent or overseer in charge of the slaves during their service of sixty days; and such agent or overseer shall not be discharged by any officer of the Confederate Government, except for good cause, to be approved by the Secretary of War: Provided, That if the requisition on any county or corporation shall amount to only twenty slaves, and less than thirty, in such case an overseer or manager, not liable to military duty, may be selected, as aforesaid.

9. The owners of slaves may furnish them subsistence and provisions, and in such event shall be allowed commutation in money, in. lieu of rations, equal to the commutation allowed soldiers in the service. Transportation therefor shall be furnished by the Governor, and he shall make such arrangements with the authorities of the Confederate States as may be necessary to secure the benefit thereof to said slaves.

10. All slaves sent voluntarily by their owners to the Confederate authorities, and accepted by them, shall stand on the same footing as if sent under the proceedings required by this act.

11. This act shall be communicated forthwith by the Governor to the President of the Confederate States, and shall be regarded as an act regulating the mode in which, and the terms upon which, slaves in this State shall be impressed by the Confederate authorities, under the act of Congress, entitled ‘‘An act to regulate impressments,” approved March 26, 1863, to the extent provided for in this act. Any call for slaves hereafter made by the President on the Governor shall be regarded as an assent to, and acceptance of, all the provisions of this act by the Confederate States.

12. Be i further enacted, That the act, passed March 13, 1863, entitled ‘‘ An act to amend and re-enact ‘An act further to provide for the public defense,’ passed October 3, 1862,” and the acts amendatory thereof, and all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

13. This act shall be-in force from its passage.

A copy from the rolls.

Test. WM. F. GORDON, JR.,

Clerk House of Delegates and Keeper of Records.