Secretary of War, November 24, 1864
Richmond, Va., November 24, 1864.
General GILBERT S. MEEM, Shenandoah County, Va.:
Sir: The memorial of the justices of Shenandoah County, submitted by you to the President, has been by him referred to this Department for appropriate reply. Deepestsympathy is felt for the suffering which has been entailed on the people of Shenandoah and the adjoining counties by the savage depredations and malignant incendiarism of our enemies, and there is not wanting, on the part of the Department, an earnest desire to afford to the people of the county all the alleviations which exigencies of the service will allow.
I have had on this subject anxious conference with General Kemper and General Lee, and am compelled reluctantly to the conclusion that the reserves from Shenandoah and Page Counties, now serving in front of Richmond, cannot be relieved and sent home in this emergency. Neither can the call for those between eighteen and forty-five years of age capable of active service be altogether dispensed with.
All that I see practicable at this time is, that such of the reserves remaining at home in these counties, now being collected by BrigadierGeneral Lee, may be allowed to remain, and that the enrolling officers engaged in assembling those between eighteen and forty-five capable of active duty be instructed to exercise a more liberal discretion than heretofore in furloughing important mechanics and others, the necessity for whose presence is plain for the support of numerous dependents.
It is hoped the contingencies of the campaign may allow, at a later period, more liberality in furloughing the reserves in front of this city than the exigencies of service have hitherto permitted. Should such an opportunity occur it will be embraced with promptness, and the reserves from the counties desolated by the enemy will be specially favored.
While these indulgences may appear to the distressed community of those counties but inadequate relief, they will, it is hoped, accept them as an earnest of the sympathy and interest of the Department, and believe that more is not done only because not compatible with the general defense and safety.
Very respectfully, JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.