John Milton to James A. Seddon, January 26, 1864

Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.:

SiR: Permit me to introduce to your acquaintance Capt. D. W. Gwynn, of the Fifth Florida Battalion.

In your letter of the 29th of October, 1863, in reply to one from me of the 22d, you promised that ” orders will also be given relative to the supply of arms for the service in Florida.” Previously upon application by me for 3,000 stand of arms, 2,000 Austrian rifles were sent to Columbus, but they were without wipers and were comparatively useless. ‘These rifles were at Columbus subject to the order of the general commanding the district, but I do not know how they were generally disposed of. We have much reason to apprehend raids from the enemy, and it is very important that the troops on whose service the State is dependent for defense should be armed and prepared to make it. I request therefore respectfully that the application for arms by Major Scott, who commands the Fifth Florida Battalion, may be promptly granted. I would also respectfully invite your attention to the copies of letters received by me relative to the impressment of milch cows and calves by the commissary agents. One is from the Rev. John R. Richards, from West Florida; the other from a judge of probate in South Florida. The effect of the impressments made in West Florida was the desertion of a large number of the troops in that part of the State, a portion of whom have joined the enemy. From one company, which was considered the best drilled and most reliable company in West Florida, fifty-two men deserted with their arms, some of whom were known to be brave men, who, indignant at the heartless treatment of the rights of citizens, have joined the enemy. I respectfully urge that orders should be immediately issued to conscript and place in military service every impressing agent not in military service, and who if not connected with the Quartermaster or Commissary Department, would be subject to conscription; also that orders shall be issued forbidding interference with cows and calves, or stock not fit for beef, by the officers of the Confederate Government. The citizens of Florida in many parts of the State are indignant at the unnecessary abuse of their rights; and I have reason to know that the lawless and wicked conduct of Government agents in this State have produced serious dissatisfaction among the troops from this State in Northwest Georgia and in Virginia, and unless the evils complained of shall be promptly remedied the worst results may reasonably be apprehended.

I have the honor to be, respectfully,