John S. Preston to C. B. Duffield, March 16, 1864

No. 34. Richmond, March 16, 1864.

I. The following act of Congress and orders are published for the information of the Army:

AN ACT to provide an invalid corps.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That all officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, privates and seamen, who have or shall become disabled by wounds, or other injuries received, or disease contracted in the service of the Confederate States, and in the line of duty, shall be retired or discharged from their respective positions as hereinafter provided. But the rank, pay and emoluments of such officers, and the pay and emoluments of such noncommissioned officers, musicians, privates and seamen, shall continue to the end of the war or as long as they shall continue so retired or discharged.

Sec. 2. That all persons claiming the benefits of this act, shall present themselves for examination, to one of the medical examining boards now established by law. Upon the certificate of such Board that such permanent disability exists, such persons shall be retired or discharged as aforesaid.

Src. 38. That all persons retired or discharged as aforesaid, shall periodically, and at least once in six months, present themselves to one of said boards for further examination, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of War, the result of which examination shall be reported by such Board to the said Secretary. And if any such person shall fail so to report himself to such Board, whenever he shall be required so to do, he shall be dropped from said retired or discharged list, and become liable to conscription, under the terms of the law, unless such failure shall be caused by physical disability.

Src. 4. That the Secretary of War may assign such officers, and order the detail of such non-commissioned officers, musicians, privates and seamen, for such duty as they shall be qualified to perform. If any such non-commissioned officers, musicians, privates and seamen, shall be relieved from disability, they shall be restored to duty in their respective commands.

Src. 5. That the Secretary of War shall make all needful rules and regulations for the action of the medical boards as aforesaid.

Src. 6. That vacancies caused by the retirement of officers under this act, shall be filled as in case of the death or resignation of such officers.

Sec. 7. This act shall be in force from its passage.

Approved February 17, 1864.

I. I. Applications will be made by officers and soldiers who wish to be retired or discharged under this act through their commanding officers for authority to appear before one of the medical examining boards now established by law. Commanding officers will indorse fully the facts connected with the alleged disability and forward the application to the general commanding, who will return it to the applicant with his approval or the reason why it is withheld. The indorsement will be the authority to the Board, which will be composed of three medical officers, for the examination of the applicant.

Il. If the application be approved by the commanding general, and the Board find the soldier permanently disabled by wounds or other injuries received or disease contracted in the service, it will retire the soldier and forward to the Adjutant and Inspector General the original application and certificates; or, if the Board find a soldier totally unfit for duty in any department of service, he may, if he prefer it, be discharged upon certificates of disability, under the regulations and usage of the service, as before the enactment of the law providing an invalid corps. If the application be disapproved, the Board may, nevertheless, proceed with the examination. If they find the applicant permanently disabled from either of the causes stated in the act, they will not retire him, but forward the original application and their certificate to the Surgeon-General for final action at this office.

I. V. A corresponding course will be pursued when the applicants are Officers, except that the Board will not retire, but forward the certificates, through the Surgeon-General, to the Adjutant and Inspector General.

V. If the Board examining the officer or soldier find him disabled for service in the field, but fit for duty in some department of service, the duty he can best perform will be indicated in the certificate, which will be forwarded to the Adjutant and Inspector General.

V. I. Officers recommended under the act to relieve the Army of disqualified, disabled, or incompetent officers, approved October 13, 1862, to be retired because of wounds or other injuries received or disease contracted in the service, will receive, upon their written application to the Adjutant and Inspector General, authority to appear before one of the medical examining boards for retiring officers and privates, under the act above recited, approved February 17, 1864.

VII. Officers or soldiers retired under the provisions of this act will present themselves once in six months to one of the boards of surgeons indicated in paragraph II of these orders for further examination, the result of which will be certified as directed in paragraph III of these orders. If prevented by physical disability from so presenting himself the cause of such failure will be established by the certificate of a surgeon of the Army, or of a citizen physician and the enrolling officer of the district in which the person may at the time be residing. As soon as the physical disability is removed the officer or soldier will appear before the Board for re-examination.

VIII. Failure to appear periodically, as provided by the preceding paragraph, will be reported by the Medical Examining Board and proper enrolling officer to the Adjutant and Inspector General.

IX Officers retired under the act of Congress above recited are entitled to commutation of quarters and fuel only when assigned to duty (as provided in section 4 of said act) at a station without troops where public quarters cannot be furnished in kind. They will receive pay from any post quartermaster upon exhibiting evidence of their retirement from active service and the certificate of last payment required by paragraph IV, General Orders, No. 28, and paragraph I, General Orders, No. 126, 1865.

X. Soldiers retired from the service as herein provided will be furnished with descriptive lists, which, in addition to the usual history given, will exhibit the fact that they have been placed on the retired list and designate the post at which they will be entitled to receive pay and allowances. They will report to the commandant of such post—which will be nearest their places of residence—and deliver to him their descriptive lists.

X. I. Post commanders are required to take possession of descriptive lists of all soldiers reporting to them and from the data therein given, at the end of every two months, to prepare muster-rolls upon which these soldiers will receive pay from the post quartermaster or assistant quartermaster. They will append to each roll a certificate that it has been made out in accordance with statements presented in descriptive lists of the soldiers on file in his office.

XII. Officers of the Quartermaster’s Department will issue necessary clothing to retired soldiers upon requisitions made by the commandants of the posts at which they are stationed, taking their receipts upon receipt rolls, Form No. 53, Regulations for the Quartermaster’s Department.

XIII. Retired soldiers will have their rations commuted at $1.25 per day, to be paid by the commissary at the post designated, under the orders of the commanding officer.

XIV. When the soldier shall be returned to his command, his disability for field service having been removed, the post commander will note upon his descriptive list the dates to which payment may have been made him on account of pay and rations commuted and the articles of clothing issued, and return it to him to be delivered to his company commander, or, if he belongs to the non-commissioned staff, to the adjutant of his regiment or battalion.

X. V. The following forms will be observed:

Medical certificate to retire invalid officer.

(Under act of Congress approved February 17, 1864.)

, of the Regiment, Brigade, having appeared before the Board for examination, we do hereby certify—

(Here state whether the officer is permanently disabled and cannot perform duty in any branch of the military service, with a full description of the wound, injury, or disease, and the disabling effects, and that it was received or contracted in the service of the Confederate States in the line of duty. If it is a re-examination, made periodically, state such fact. If the invalid, being disabled for service in the field, is fit for other service, recommend him accordingly. Should an ele ees overcome the disability, recommend him for such duty as he can perform. . ——, Surgeon, P. A.,C.S., ——— ———, Surgeon, P. A.,C.S., ——— -——_,, Surgeon, P. A.,C.S., Medical Examining Board. (Place.) Examining Board. (Date. ) (Duplicates. )

Certificate of disability for retiring of invalid soldiers.

(Under act of Congress approved February 17, 1864.)

, of Captain – ‘s company (——), of the ‘s brigade, enrolled or enlisted by a8

Regiment, , on the —— day

CONFEDERATE AUTHORITIES. 21e

of , to serve He was born in years of age, —— feet —— inches high, and by occupation, when enlisted, a for examination, we do hereby certify—

(Here state whether the soldier is permanently disabled and cannot perform duty in any branch of the military service, with a full description of the wound. injury, or disease, and the disabling effects, and that it was received or contracted in the service of the Confederate States in the line of duty. If it is a re-examination, made at periods of six months, state suchfact. If the invalid, being disabled for duty in the field, is fit for duty in some department of the military service, recommend him accordingly. Should an invalid discharged overcome the disability, recommend him for such duty as he can perform.) _ ——,, Surgeon, P.A.,C.S., Medical Examining Board.

, in the State of —-—; is —— complexion, eyes, hair, ; and having appeared before this Board

(Place.) Examining Board. (Date. ) (Duplicates. )

Form for retiring a soldier. (Under the act to provide an invalid corps, approved February 17, 1864.)

To all whom it may concern:

Know ye that ,a of Captain ‘s company, Regiment of , who was enlisted the —— day of , one thousand eight hundred and , to serve ,is hereby honorably retired from military service, with the pay and emoluments of a in the Army of the Confederate States.

Said – was born in , in the State of ; ils —— years of age, -—— feet —— inches high, complexion, eyes, hair, and by occupation, when enlisted, a :

Given at this —— day of , 186—. , Surgeon, P. A.,C.S. ——— ——, Surgeon, P. A.,C.S. ——_ ——, Surgeon, P.A.,C.S. By order: S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector General.

[Marcu 16, 1864.—For orders of Governor Allen, requiring every person in Louisiana liable to militia duty to hold himself in readiness at a minute’s call for the defense of the State, see Series I, Vol. XXXIV, Part II, p. 1047. ]

[Marcy 17, 1864.—For Vance to Davis, in relation to the business of blockade running, see Series I, Vol. LI, Part II, p. 837. CIRCULAR BUREAU OF CONSCRIPTION, No. 8. Richmond, March 18, 1864.

I. General Orders, No. 26, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, is herewith made a part of this circular,* and commandants of conseripts are enjoimed to proceed to the rapid and vigorous execution of its provisions, under the instructions and interpretations herein prescribed.

I. I. Under the terms of the eighth section of the act of Congress, published in General Orders, No. 26, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, and the terms of Circular No. 55 of the Bureau, last series,

commandants will proceed to organize the service in their respective States. In addition to the organization therein provided for, and in further pursuance of paragraph II of the said General Orders, No. 26, commandants will forthwith organize in each county a board, to consist of not more than three of the most reliable and intelligent citizens between the ages of forty-five and fifty years, and who have been enrolled and detailed for the service. These boards will be charged with aiding the local enrolling officer in obtaining information concerning all applications for exemption and detail for agricultural or other industrial pursuits, and also in furnishing all other information which may be needed in the duties imposed upon the enrolling officers. The local and Congressional enrolling officer will be required to supervise the action of these boards, and promptly report to the commandant unfitness or delinquencies on the part of the persons detailed for them. So long as the duties are properly performed the persons so employed will be exempted from other service. Care will be used in the beginning to select proper men, and in view of the grave duties herein devolved upon the enrolling officer, he will at his discretion require the written opinion of the Board on claims for exemption or applications for detail, and may call on them for special information concerning matters pertinent to the service. In every case referred by the local or Congressional district enrolling officer to the commandants an opinion as to the merit must be indorsed or accompany the case, and the like rule will be rigidly observed by commandants in referring to this Bureau.

ination of all persons within the prescribed ages who are found in the employment of any department of the Government and who are not specially exempted by the act of Congress; and such as are found fit for service in the field may be detailed until the 10th day of April next, provided an application is made according to the terms of the sixth paragraph of General Orders, No. 26, herein cited.

I. V. Commandants of conscripts will forthwith transmit to this Bureau recommendations for physicians to be employed in accordance with paragraph IX, General Orders, No. 26, herein cited. Much complaint reaches this Bureau concerning irregularities in the medical examinations. Loose or irregular examinations must not be permitted, and commandants will promptly report any well-ascertained delinquency in the matter.

V. Forms for consolidated reports by the commandants of conscripts will be forwarded; also forms for the records of the Congressional district and local enrolling officers. These records must be accurately kept and the reports based on them must be in clear and intelligible form or they will be returned for revision and correction.

V. I. Persons and classes enumerated in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth articles of section 10, except those referred to in the latter clause of the fourth article of said tenth section of the act of Congress recited, shall beexempted. All other persons referred to in said act shall be detailed.

VII. Exemptions by examining boards.

1. Persons who shall be determined by the Board of Examination to be incapable of performing active service in the field and any of the duties mentioned in the eighth section of the said act of Congress from causes of a permanent nature shall be exempted from military service by the said Board, who shall grant certificates thereof, which shall specify the causes of the incapacity, reciting in full the nature and degree of the disease or other incapacity and the probable duration of the disability caused by it; and the parties shall not be subject to future examination unless specially ordered by the Board of the Congressional district in which such parties reside, or by the commandant of conscripts for the State, or by this Bureau.

2. When in the opinion of enrolling officers the causes for which exemption was granted to a person, after examination by the Medical Board, have ceased to exist, they will make a report to the Board, stating the name of the person, when enrolled, when examined, and the disease and other cause of disability with the reasons for believing it to have disappeared, and that the person is capable of performing active service in the field, or some of the duties mentioned in the said eighth section of the act aforesaid. The Examining Board will then order the party to be brought before it for re-examination. When a person is re-examined by the Board his former certificate shall be surrendered and canceled. If again found unfit for duty a new certificate of exemption shall be issued to him.

3. Every certificate of exemption granted by a Board of Examination shall be approved by the Congressional district enrolling officer, which shall protect the person exempted from molestation by the officers of conscription and from re-examination unless the Board of Examination, or the commandant of conscripts, or the Bureau of Conscription shall order the same.

VIII. Exemption of specified classes and individuals.

1. Applications for exemption under the third and sixth articles of the tenth section of the act aforesaid shall be made to the enrolling officer of the county in which the applicant resides, who will thoroughly investigate the case, and if satisfied by competent evidence that exemption should be allowed, shall issue a certificate thereof, which must be submitted to the enrolling officer of the Congressional district for his approval.

2. Applications for exemptions under the fifth article of the tenth section of the act aforesaid shall be made to the commandant of conseripts for the State, who will grant the certificate of exemption authorized by law, to continue during compliance with the conditions prescribed by said act. Exemption, except for the president, treasurer, auditor, and superintendent, shall not be allowed to any officers and employés of a railroad company, unless the president or superintendent shall certify on oath that the parties applied for are indispensable to the efficient operation of such railroad; that the persons exempted on said railroad shall not exceed one for each mile thereof in actual use for military transportation; that the exempts for such road shall be reported by name and description once a month to the commandant of conscripts for the State through which such road passes (or to the Bureau of Conscription), together with the names and descriptive list of any one who may leave the employment of the railroad company, or who may cease to be indispensable to the efficient operation of the said road.

3. The exemption of overseers or agriculturists on each farm or plantation upon which there are now, and were on the Ist day of January last, fifteen able-bodied hands between the ages of sixteen and fifty, will be allowed for the space of twelve months, and the certificate of exemption shall be granted by the officer taking the bond required by law, upon being informed by the commandant for that State that the bond is approved.

4. The bond required to be given upon the exemption of an over. seer or agriculturist, under the fourth article of section 10 of the said act, shall be taken by the enrolling officer of the county or district in which such party resides, with the advice and assistance of the temporary Board aforesaid. It shall be payable to the Confederate States of America, in a penalty double the estimated value of the products to be delivered to the Government, and conditioned for the faithful performance of the requirements of the fourth article of the tent section of the said act. The value of the said products shall be assessed by the enrolling officer, who shall take the said bond, with the assistance of the said temporary Board, according to the market value thereof at the time and place of assessment. The said bond may be secured by a deposit of the amount of the penalty thereof in notes issued from the Treasury Department of the Confederate States, with any of the depositaries of the said Treasury, or by personal security, the nature of the security to be at the option of the principal obligor in the said bond. Should the person so exempted elect to give personal security, the sureties tendered by him shall justify their sufficiency under oath before some justice of the peace, but shall not be accepted unless the enrolling officer taking the said bond, under the advice of the said temporary Board, shall deem them sufficient. Such bonds shall, after due execution, be transmitted to the commandant of conscripts for the State for file in his office, to be surrendered to the obligors when the conditions thereof are fully complied with; and the receipt of any quartermaster or commissary specifying that the amount of produce required by the bond has been duly delivered and accepted will entitle the person to have the bond canceled; and copies of such receipts should be forwarded to the commandant of conscripts, to be by him forwarded to the Quartermaster-General or the Commissary-General, through this Bureau.

I. X. Exemption on account of religious faith.

Persons entitled to exemption as provided for in paragraph XII, General Orders, No. 26, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, current series, will on application receive certificates thereof from the Congressional district enrolling officer, on producing satisfactory evidence that they have complied with the requirements of the law.

X. Exemption of officers of Confederate and State governments.

Certificates of exemption for officers of the Confederate and State governments will be given by the commandants for the States.

X. I. Investigation of applications for exemption.

1. All other applications for exemption shall be made in writing to the enrolling officer of the county or district in which the applicant resides; shall be supported by his affidavit and other sworn testimony, and dealt with according to the provisions of paragraph III, of General Orders, No. 26, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, current series.

2. Every application for exemption should be carefully, minutely, and thoroughly investigated by the local enrolling officer, with the aid of the temporary Board to be organized under the second clause of paragraph II of this circular, and be thereafter transmitted to the commandants of conscripts for the State, with a report of facts and their respective opinions on the merits of the application. The report of facts should be somewhat in detail, setting forth in regular order the facts developed in the investigation, giving briefly the reasons for the opinion expressed, and instead of being put in the form of an indorsement, will be made on a separate sheet of paper. The investi- gation should not be confined to an examination of the application and the papers that accompany it, or merely into the truth of the statements therein made, but should be directed with a view of ascertaining all the facts and circumstances of the case, and the exact condition of the parties with relation thereto.

Agricultural details: 1. The officers of conscription will give the most careful attention to the provisions of paragraph IV, General Orders, No. 26, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, current series, in connection with the last clause of the fourth article of the tenth section of the act of Congress cited. This paragraph embraces the whole system of details provided by law to maintain the industrial production of the country, in view of the public defense.

2. The investigation of every case presented must be the most precise and accurate which can be attained by the enrolling officer (with the co-operation of the temporary boards), and all action must be in direct view of the necessities indicated. Commandants will institute such modes of inquiry and report as will furnish the fullest testimony. The policy of the law is to enforce the largest amount of production in every case in which the detail is made. The schedule of terms hereto appended will, it is believed, meet a majority of the cases that are likely to be presented. Where it is doubtful whether the case is covered by the classification, commandants will in general decide by reference to the plain intent of the law, or refer the matter to this Bureau, with full testimony and opinion. In all details there must be satisfactory evidence of the necessity, as expressed in General Orders, No. 26, current series.

Schedule of terms: 3. Where there are two or more farms contiguous, or within five miles of each other, measuring from the homesteads, having on each five or more hands, amounting in the aggregate to fifteen hands, or where one person has two or more plantations within five miles of each other, having an aggregate of fifteen or more hands, there may be detailed one person as overseer or manager of the two or more farms; provided there is on neither of the farms a white male adult, declared by the enrolling officer and the temporary Board capable of managing the farms with a reasonable efficiency, not liable to military duty; and provided the person detailed was on the 1st day of January, 1864, either owner, manager, or overseer residing on one of the farms; and provided the owners of said farms shall execute a joint and several bond, on the terms prescribed for the owners of fifteen hands, except that such persons shall not be allowed the privilege of commutation provided in the fourth article of the tenth section of the act recited.

4. Where details are allowed to persons having less than fifteen, and five or more than five, hands, they shall enter into like obligation as prescribed for the owners of fifteen or more hands, except that for each hand less than fifteen down to five there shall be supplied five pounds less meat, thus: Each of fourteen hands, 95; thirteen hands, 90; twelve hands, 85; * * * six hands, 55; five hands, 50 pounds.

5. Where details are allowed to persons having less than five hands, they shall enter into like obligations to sell all their surplus productions to the Government.

6. All details herein prescribed to be allowed are subject to revocation by the commandant of conscripts, on the report of the enrolling officer that the person detailed is not habitually, industriously, and in good faith engaged in the occupation for which the detail is granted.

Enrolling officers are required to be unusually vigilant in supervising such details. Omission in this duty will constitute grave dereliction.

7. Enrolling officers are required to exercise the utmost caution in recommending details in the classes enumerated. It is by no means intended to grant them indiscriminately, but to limit them as muck as is consistent with the public good. All pertinent circumstances will be carefully inquired into. Among these are fitness for the field; ability or aptitude for the purposes of the detail; condition of the family; whether any or how many are in the military service; public good, justice, equity or necessity, &c.

XIII. Details for public necessity.

Applications for details such as are not required for the service in any of the military bureaus, or for service in any of the departments of the Government, including service with contractors, will be made, accompanied by a descriptive list, to the enrolling officer of the appropriate county or district, and be supported by the affidavit of the applicant and other testimony under oath. The district enrolling officer will institute a minute and searching investigation into the circumstances of the case, the result of which will be set forth on a separate sheet of paper. The district enrolling officer may, if he approves the application, grant a detail for sixty days and forward the papers through the commandant to the Bureau for its action. If the application is refused, the reasons in full will be indorsed, and in case of appeal, the papers forwarded to this Bureau through the same channels. If the persons for whose detail application is made are engaged in performing the duties on account of which details are asked they will be allowed to remain until finalaction. If otherwise, they should be sent to camps of instruction.

XIV. Details for persons between forty-five and fifty for Government work.

Applications for the detail of persons between forty-five and fifty years of age for service in any of the military bureaus or in any of the departments of the Government will be made, accompanied by a descriptive list, to the local or district enrolling officer; and it must set forth the nature of the duties to be performed, the necessity for the detail, and the period for which it is required. The district enrolling officer, after investigation made and repcrted as directed in preceding paragraph, may, if he approve the application, grant a detail for a period not exceeding sixty days, and forward the papers to the commandant for his action. An appeal from the action of the enrolling officers and the commandant may be taken to this Bureau.

X. V. Details of artisans, mechanics, &e.

1. Applications for the detail for service in any of the military bureaus or for any of the departments of the Government (including contractors) of artisans, mechanies, or persons of scientific skill, to perform indispensable duties, should be made, with descriptive lists, to the enrolling officer. The skill of the party, the duties to be performed, and why his services are indispensable, and the period for which the detail is required, must be distinctly set forth. Applications for the employés of contractors must in addition contain a certificate from the officer contracted with, or the head of the department, that the services of the particular parties are required for the performance of indispensable Government work. The district enrolling officer may grant detail for sixty days and forward the papers through the commandant (each expressing his opinion) to this Bureau for its action. If the application is refused, reasons in full will be indorsed, and in case of appeal, papers forwarded to this Bureau. If the parties applied for are at work they will be allowed to remain until action is taken; if otherwise, they should be sent to the camps of instruction. Applications for the detail of contractors themselves must also contain the certificate of the head of the Bureau, required by the eleventh section of the act.

XVI. All other applications for exemption or detail not otherwise provided will be made to the enrolling officer and forwarded through the proper channels.

XVII. Great care should be exercised in exempting or detailing able-bodied men between eighteen and forty-five. No case should be acted on until after minute and thorough investigation as to the alleged private or public necessity, advantage, convenience, justice, or equity, and as to whether persons not liable to service in the field may not be obtained.

1. Examining boards, in addition to the lists directed in paragraph VIII, General Orders, No. 26, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, current series, will furnish district enrolling officers with lists of men in their districts found fit for military service but unfit for service in the field, specifying in each case what duties they are eapable of performing. Congressional district officers to furnish similar lists to county enrolling officers, the object being to enable persons needing detailed men to see who are the subjects of detail, and to choose from them.

2. Enrolling officers will forward to the commandant of conscripts monthly a report of all persons enrolled by them and the action taken in each case. These reports will be consolidated by the commandant, with reference to the distinctions made in the act of Congress, and the regulations for its enforcement, in duplicate, one copy of which will be forwarded to this Bureau, and one kept on file in the office of the commandant.

XIX. Enrollment of reserve classes.

1. Commandants of conscripts will proceed to enroll all persons between the ages of seventeen and eighteen and forty-five and fifty years, in execution of General Orders, No. 33, Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office, current series, which is herewith made a part of this circular. *

2. Commandants will keep a separate and distinct roll of persons between the ages of seventeen and eighteen and forty-five and fifty.

3. Commandants of conscripts will assign to duty, as a supporting force for conscription service, such persons as may be recommended by the examining boards as unfit for the field, but as competent for this service; and when as many as sixty-four such persons are so assigned, they will be organized into a company, elect their officers, and return the muster-rolls to the commandants; and if there be not a sufficient number to form a company in each Congressional district, then the commandant may assign a sufficient number of persons between forty-five and fifty years of age, so as to complete a company for each Congressional district. A competent officer of the rank of colonel will be assigned by this Bureau to organize such companies into a regiment, if there be the requisite number of companies; or into a battalion, if there be less than ten companies; or into two battalions, if deemed preferable.

*Here omitted, but see p. 212.

X. X. General instructions.

1. Commandants will always bear in mind that General Orders, No. 26, is not only the basis, but forms a large portion of these instructions. They will habitually recur to its provisions to aid in the application of other provisions of this circular.

2. Commandants will of course refer cases of difficulty to this Bureau; but references which bear on their face that they are rather to avoid due responsibility or labor will be retained without remarks.

3. The duty of the commandants of conscripts is, in accordance with these instructions, to maintain and invigorate the industrial production of the Confederacy and supply its armies with men. This duty must be performed or our struggle for independence and liberty will fail.

By order of Col. J. S. Preston, superintendent: