February 3, 1864 to States, February 12, 1864

QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL’S OFFICE,
Richmond, February 12, 1864.
Respectfully returned.

Action of this kind upon the part of State authorities is apt to lead to competition without any material increase of the resources of the country. Still, I have never felt at liberty to impose any restraints upon the agents or officers of a State engaged in the collection of supplies.

Dist. No. 3, ALA., Miss., WEST TENN., AND EAST LA., Brandon, Miss., January 30, 1864. Lieut. Col. A. H. CoLez, Inspector-General, &c., Richmond, Va. :

COLONEL: Although so far as I am aware my general letters on the affairs of my district never reach you, yet I will continue to advise you, hoping they mayturnup. Lat last begin to see my way to realize the resources within my reach. If you will glance at the map, with the suggestion that in the interior there is an abundance of corn, und the stock is in good order and better cared for than it could be by the Government, and that it is nearly all required for the production of food, and should not be demanded by the Government unless upon a fair canvass of what is most required—food or mules. In addition to this it is always within reach of the Government, and by June 1, 1864, the corn crop will be made. I have located Capt. L. B.

Mitchell at Courtland, Ala., in connection with General Roddey’s cavalry, with agents in the enemy’s lines. A quartermaster at Okolona is acting as my purchasing agent in all matters that arise around that point. Maj. W. S. Harris is at Panola, Miss., with agents on Mississippi River and in West Tennessee moving with Forrest’s cavalry. Capt. C. A. Manlove is stationed at Tchula, Miss., with agents running in to Mississippi River. Capt. Wilkes Henry is stationed at Port Gibson, with agents in and around Vicksburg. At Woodville, Miss., I have Capt. H. F. Cook, with agents on Mississippi River down to Lake Maurepas. Upon my personal application to General Polk, he assigned Capt. E. T. Henry for the charge of my recruiting stables in Alabama. My instructions to my quartermasters are to select the most respectable and energetic men, exempt from military service, as their agents, with instructions to canvass every plantation and buy every mule, the quartermaster traveling through every part of his district and conferring at home with his agents, seeing for himself and aiding and advising his agents, requiring them to report in writing and verbally. By this means I am accomplishing something, and will certainly meet requisitions from my own district, which are much increased by the organization of new regiments by General Forrest and others, and by having requisitions already filled for Georgia. I have been notified already of arrival at a safe place of 140 mules from North Alabama and 150 from near Baton Rouge. Respectfully, A. M. PAXTON; Major and Quartermaster.

[JANUARY 30, 1864.—For Cooper to Polk, in relation to the organization of troops within the enemy’s lines, see Series I, Vol. XXXII, Part II, p. 636. GENERAL oe ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL’S OFFICE, No. 11. Richmond, February 1, 1864.

I. Examining boards for conscripts will, when practicable, be composed of two medical officers and one employed surgeon. They will hold continuous sessions in the several counties of their respective districts, to facilitate the execution of the duties prescribed by General Orders, No. 141, 1863, from this office.

IJ. Paragraph III, General Orders, No. 141, last series, from this office, is amended to provide that in all cases when there are two medical officers on the boards for the examination of conscripts, recommendations and certificates must be concurred in and signed by both medical officers.

Adjutant and Inspector General. SPECIAL Seu a ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL’S OFFICE, No. 26. Richmond, February 1, 1864. * * * * * * *

XXIV. Col. William Miller, of the First Florida Regiment, is assigned to duty as commandant of conscripts for the State of Florida, and will report to Col. John S. Preston, chief of the Bureau of Conscription, in this city. * * * * * * *

By command of the Secretary of War:

Assistant Adjutant-General.
FEBRUARY 3, 1864.
STATES:
The present state of the Confederacy, in my judgment, requires
that I should call your attention to a condition of things existing in the
country which has already been productive of serious evil, and which
threatens still graver consequences unless an adequate remedy shall
be speedily applied by the legislation of Congress. It has been our