James A. Seddon to John Milton, February 11, 1864

Richmond, Va., February 11, 1864.

His Excellency JOHN MILTON, Governor of Florida, Tallahassee:

Str: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communications of the 11th and 26th January last. They have not been answered sooner, partly in consequence of the necessity from their subjects of reference to different bureaus of this Department for consideration and report, and partly in consequence of even an unusual pressure of important business, some of it of an urgent nature, in attending to which it must sometimes happen that matters, though of more intrinsic importance, yet not seeming to demand such immediate action, will be apparently unduly delayed. The high respect for and appreciation of yourself personally and the gallant and patriotic State you so worthily represent makes me regret the more that you in this instance happened to be subjected to an apparent neglect, only seeming, however, and certainly unintentional. A report from the Ordnance Bureau was received some days ago on the subject referred to it, and until the receipt of your telegram of yesterday I was under the impression that the Bureau had communicated directly with you. Orders were issued on the Ist instant to Major Humphreys, at Columbus, Ga., to furnish the cavalry equipments for Major Scott’s battalion, and to the Richmond and Macon arsenals to furnish to that command all the musketoons on hand, amounting to some 300 or more. You were informed on yesterday by telegraph that the arms you applied for could be obtained from Major Humphreys. The settled policy of this Department is against the employment of men fit for field service in other capacities. No chief of a bureau, much less subordinate agents, has the right to exempt from such service men liable to conscription by employing them, except on detail made by this Department specially, which is done reluctantly, and only when indispensably required by the public interests. Orders have been issued for the due investigation of the conduct of purchasing and impressing agents in your State, in regard to the subjects mentioned in your communication, with instructions to make the proper correction of existing causes of complaint and to prevent their recurrence. So much of your communications as related to the propriety of allowing a purchase of the corn received under the tax in kind for the use of the families of soldiers was referred to Col. Larkin Smith, in charge of that subject. His reply, a copy of which is inclosed,* will, I think, be found satisfactory and fully meet your views. I had directed this to be directly communicated to you. I regret that circumstances render it inexpedient to send Perry’s brigade to Florida to recruit its diminished ranks as desired by the officers and yourself. The movements of the enemy in the south and west, threatened for some time past, and now in progress, have interposed objections to any exchanges of troops that could be avoided. The reluctance felt by General Lee to part with that gallant brigade, whose courage and conduct have

been so often signally displayed under his command, is a tribute well deserved by them, and should soften the disappointment they naturally feel. It is hoped that the mode proposed by him to replenish their ranks will relieve them from all apprehensions of the consolidation of regiments, and will enable them with restored numbers to raise still higher the pride their native State must feel in their achievements.

Very respectfully, yours,

Secretary of War.
AN ACT to aathorize the Governor to call into the State service free persons of
color.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana in General Assembly convened, That
the Governor of this State be, and he is hereby, authorized to call into
the service of the State all free men of color, resident in this State,
between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five, not physically and mentally