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A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875

Journal of the Confederate Congress --FOURTEENTH DAY--THURSDAY, December 5, 1861.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume I]
FOURTEENTH DAY--THURSDAY, December 5, 1861.

OPEN SESSION.

Congress met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Dr. Hoge.

Mr. Orr announced the presence of Alexander B. Bradford, a Delegate-elect from the State of Mississippi, who came forward, presented his credentials, was duly qualified, and took his seat.

Congress then resolved itself into secret session.

SECRET SESSION.

Congress being in secret session,

The Chair presented a communication from the President; which was read and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, and is as follows, to wit:

Executive Department,
Richmond, December 3, 1861.

To the President of the Congress.

Sir: In response to the resolution of the Congress of the 28th November ultimo, inquiring "whether any restrictions (and if so, what) have been placed upon vessels leaving the ports of the Confederate States, other than those imposed by law, and if any such have been imposed, by what authority," I herewith transmit copies of letters forwarded by the War Department, marked A, B, C, and D, which will show all the action taken on the subject of inquiry, and that no restrictions have been imposed other than those incident to a state of war, and which the public defense, as it was believed, not only justified, but demanded. It will be noted that the

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instructions were given to an officer commanding the defensive line of a port threatened by the enemy's fleet, and related to articles usually recognized as the contraband of war.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The Chair also presented a communication from the Secretary of War in reply to a resolution of inquiry from the Congress as to the expediency of further regulations as to the arrest and punishment of soldiers; which was read and, on motion, was laid on the table.

The Chair also presented a communication from the President, transmitting to Congress the report of the Postmaster-General; which was referred to the Committee on Postal Affairs, without being read.

Congress then resolved itself into executive session; and having spent some time therein, again resolved itself into legislative session.

Congress then proceeded to the consideration of the unfinished business of yesterday; which was the consideration of the substitute offered by Mr. Hill for the first section of a bill to encourage the enlistment of volunteers for the war.

Mr. Chilton, by unanimous consent, presented the memorial of certain revenue officers; which was referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, without being read.

Also, a memorial in regard to the fees of the clerks of the district courts; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, without being read.

Also, a bill to dispense with the office of quartermaster of the Marine Corps; which was read first and second times and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

Mr. Ward presented the memorial of A. B. Noyes; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, without being read.

Mr. Hill, by general consent, was allowed to withdraw his amendment to a bill to encourage the enlistment of volunteers for the war, in order to introduce a substitute for the same; which is as follows, to wit:

• Section 1. Be it enacted by the Congress of the Confederate States, That the pay of privates, now in the service of the Confederate States, enlisted for the war, shall be fifteen dollars a month, to be computed at that rate from the first clay of January next, and that the pay of privates who shalt hereafter enlist for the war, including all who are now enlisted, for a less time than the war, and who shall reenlist for the war, shall be the like sum of fifteen dollars a month, to be computed from the date of such enlistment for the war; and all troops now enlisted for a less time than the war, and who shall reenlist for the war, shall be entitled to furloughs not exceeding sixty clays, with transportation home and back, at such times as in the judgment of the Secretary of War, may best comport with the exigencies of the public service.
• Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the pay of officers in the military service of the Confederate States, above and including the grade of second lieutenant, shall be twenty-five per cent less than the pay now allowed by law, to be computed from the first day of January next.

Mr. Perkins moved to amend as follows, to wit, by striking out the words "a bounty of fifty dollars" and inserting in lieu thereof the words:

The pay of private soldiers in the Confederate Army, who have served twelve months, shall be fifteen dollars a month.

Mr. Vest announced the presence of Messrs. William M. Cooke and T. W. Freeman, Delegates-elect from the State of Missouri, who appeared, were duly qualified, and took their seats.

On motion of Mr. Conrad,

Congress then adjourned until 12 m. to-morrow.

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EXECUTIVE SESSION.

The Chair presented to the Congress the following communication from the President, viz:

Richmond, Va., December 4, 1861.

To the Congress of the Confederate States:

In the list sent for confirmation November 28 an error occurs which requires correction, viz, Stephen F. Hale, nominated lieutenant-colonel Eleventh Alabama Regiment, to take rank July 8, 1861. should be to take rank June 11, 1861.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

The Chair also laid before Congress the following communication from the President, viz:

Richmond, Va., December 5, 1861.

To the Congress of the Confederate States:

I nominate the officers on the accompanying list to the rank affixed to their names, respectively, agreeably to the recommendation of the Secretary of War.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT.
• Majors.
  • Joseph L. Locke, of Georgia; William Henry Smith, of Virginia; R. J. Moses, of Georgia; A. M. Lea, of Tennessee; A. M. Woodruff, of Arkansas; Thomas Peters, of Tennessee; Andrew J. Vaughn, of Maryland; Theodore Johnson, of Arkansas; Frank G. Ruffin, of Virginia; J. H. Claiborne, of Virginia; John C. McDonald, of Virginia; W. S. Munday, of Tennessee; A. H. Johnston, of Virginia; Richard T. Brownrigg, of Texas; George W. T. Kearsley, of --; F. R. Shackelford, of Virginia; J. J. Walker, of Alabama; John L. Brown, of Tennessee; Charles H. Smith, of Virginia; P. T. Glass, of Tennessee; John H. Chichester, of Alabama; Samuel T. Sawyer, of North Carolina; A. Davis, of Louisiana; B. H. Green, of Virginia; S. B. French, of Virginia; W. W. Morrison, of North Carolina; Samuel E. Barbee, of Tennessee; R. G. Fain, of Tennessee; G. M. Hillyer, of --; W. C. Wingfield, of Louisiana; John T. Wilson, of --; Henry L. Lyons, of Kentucky; Dabney Ball, of Virginia W. H. Haynes, of Mississippi; Richard Hawes, of Kentucky; Robert W. Keyworth, of Texas; Joseph Kennedy, of South Carolina; S. A. Jones, of Mississippi; F. M. Jones, of Louisiana; Walter Jones, of Alabama; W. L. Lanier, of Kentucky; T. R. Jackson, of Tennessee; William H. Stewart, of Texas; John J. Murphy, of Tennessee; William J. Hawks, of Virginia; William F. Ayer, of South Carolina; Ed. McMahon, of Virginia; N. B. Pearce, of Kentucky.
• Captains.
  • Albertis Wilkins, of Arkansas; George H. Shorter, of Alabama; J. H. F. Mayo, of Virginia; Parker Campbell, of Virginia; John S. Kennedy, of Alabama; Arthur C. Beard, of Alabama; Renjamin Wyman, of Alabama; John H. Coleman, of Alabama; Wyatt Oates, of Arkansas; Selevin B. Malone, of Mississippi; Browdie S. Crump, of Mississippi; Jesse R. Kirkland, of Mississippi; A Milton Hawken of Mississippi; D. P. McAllum, of Mississippi; T. B. Puckett, of Mississippi; Thomas L. Maxwell, of Louisiana; H. C. Cunningham, of Georgia; H. S. Hughes, of Georgia; J. B. Morgan, of Georgia; H. B. T. Montgomery, of Georgia; W. T. Wilson, of Georgia; Elias Yulee, of Florida; John A. Settle, of Texas; Thomas G. Brook, of Tennessee; Samuel M. McConnell, of Georgia; William M. Strickland, of Mississippi; W. H. Thomas, of Virginia; M. M. Copeland, of Virginia; T. J. Elford, of South Carolina; James W. Wade of Mississippi; F. G. Ragland, of Mississippi; William H. Vasser, of Mississippi; Ferdinand Molloy, of Mississippi; John E. Bacon, of South Carolina; George E. Dennis, of Virginia; Alexander C. Jones, of Virginia; V. Howard Claiborne, of Virginia; Herbert A. Claiborne, of Virginia; S. B. French, of Virginia; George W. T. Kearsley, of Virginia; A. M. Smith, of Virginia; Thomas S. Barton, of --; Leigh Watkins, of Louisiana; H. G. Wilson, of Arkansas; John Hockenhull, of Georgia; Richard F. Robertson, of Alabama; Thomas W. Francis, of Alabama; Isaac M. Partridge, of Mississippi; R. A. Reid, of Georgia; H. C. Guerin, of --; W. P. Stone, of Arkansas; Solomon Stephens, of Alabama; S. C. Elliott, of Virginia; H. E. C.

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    Baskerville, of Virginia; John H. Mangham, of Georgia; George C. Norton, of Georgia; H. M. Drane, of North Carolina; James F. Johnston, of North Carolina; James B. Chrisman, of Mississippi; John F. Heath, of Georgia; George B. Robertson, of John G. Edwards, of South Carolina; John P. Baldwin, of Florida; W. C. King, of North Carolina; James M. Morphis, of Texas; F. W. Henderson, of --; C. S. McKinney, of Virginia; Robert Vaughan, of Virginia; Fred. E. Bridge, of Louisiana; William E. Sinead, of Tennessee; James H. Pawley, of South Carolina; R. O. Barrett, of Georgia; James M. Quinlan, of Missouri; T. M. Lumpkin, of Georgia; Thomas E. Ballard, of Virginia; P. A. Peebles, of Mississippi; Charles H. Rogers, of Georgia; John H. McCue, of Virginia; T. J. Wortenbaker, of Virginia, Hugh Brewster, of Georgia; Jesse R. Wikle, of Georgia; James W. Hackett, of North Carolina; M. A. Moore, of South Carolina; Sanders Glover, of South Carolina; Thomas Rector, of Arkansas; John H. Waytt, of North Carolina; James Field, of Virginia; James Verney, of Alabama; William Sherwood, of Virginia; W. H. Alexander, of North Carolina; John A. Williams, of North Carolina; George Whitman, of Louisiana; A. E. Wilson, of Virginia; Lucius Hilliard, of North Carolina; Richard C. Wintersmith, of Kentucky; B. P. Noland, of Virginia; G. W. Wightman, of North Carolina; L. F. Lucads, of Virginia; John E. Patterson, of Virginia; Charles Byrne, of Virginia; Ed. W. Bayly, of Virginia; C. W. Countz, of Virginia; M. N. McNeill, of North Carolina; A. A. Hughes, of Alabama; W. H. H. Minge, of Louisiana; W. S. Pemberton, of Arkansas; J. S. Wooster, of Louisiana; G. W. Buckner, of Louisiana; George M. Stubinger, of Louisiana; D. F. Boyd, of Louisiana; James G. Richardson, of Louisiana; J. M. Israel, of North Carolina; W. R. D. Moss, of Georgia; Jos. L. Keith, of Georgia; Thos. J. Bacon, of Georgia; W. E. Moore, of Arkansas; R. H. Moseley, of Virginia; George H. Cheever, of Georgia; Edmund J. Lloyd, of --; Francis Q. Metage, of Louisiana; John L. Strong, of Mississippi; H. Shepherd, of North Carolina; W. H. Houston, of Virginia; D. G. Meade, of --; Thomas Robinson, of --; B. F. Rust, of Virginia; Adam Bear, of Virginia; P. B. Moffett, of Virginia; George Kinsley, or Virginia; George H. King, of Georgia; George Westant, of Georgia; Daniel T. Caraway, of North Carolina; John S. Ryan, of South Carolina; William Waller, of Virginia; Edwin Smith, of Virginia; W. C. Grief, of Tennessee; James E. Munehun, of Tennessee; Thomas H. Hartmus, of Tennessee; R. M. Jarnghan, of Tennessee; J. S. Ridley, of Tennessee; James C. Davis, of Tennessee; William J. Wood, of Tennessee; John C. Ruby, of Virginia; Robert C. Forsythe, of Alabama; J. R. Benson, of Alabama; Dawson Blanchard, of Louisiana; R. H. Herbert, of Mississippi; Alex. P. Sperry, of Virginia; Jos. C. Sexton, of Virginia; H. C. Trader, of North Carolina; J. C. Waddy, of Georgia, A. F. Edwards, of South Carolina; William Weeden, of Florida; James M: Harper, of Virginia; A. J. Kennedy, of Georgia; James D. Wescott, of Florida; W. C. George, of Virginia; J. H. Muse, of Virginia; Keenan T. Terrell, of Georgia; William B. Edmunds, of Virginia; William H. Slover, of Tennessee; Jackson Wainer, of --; Albion Martin, of Virginia; Alfred B. Smith, of Georgia; T. K. Handy, of Tennessee: Richard Crump, of Virginia; J. M. Kirkland, of South Carolina; V. M. Brown, of Virginia; George Chamberlain, of Virginia; J. L. Fare, of Tennessee; John S. Mayo, of Virginia; P. D. Warlick, of Tennessee; J. D. Rogers, of Mississippi; W. C. Donnell, of Arkansas; John W. Moore, of North Carolina; H. R. Shorter, of Alabama; G. P. Summers, of Tennessee; James E. Givens, of Tennessee; George J. Atkinson, of Tennessee; G. W. Menees, of Tennessee; B. L. Wilkes, of Tennessee; S. E. Barber, of Tennessee; John D. Allen, of Tennessee; Albert G. Ewing, of Tennessee; Isaac N. Barnett, of Tennessee; George D. Martin, of Tennessee; M. M. Henkle, of Tennessee; Thomas O'Keefe, of Tennessee; Robert N. Smith, of Tennessee; Thomas H. Butler, of Tennessee; H. J. Walker, of Tennessee; J. W. Dawson, of Tennessee; Thomas Knox, of Virginia; Harvey Hammond, of South Carolina; McP. B. Miller, of Georgia; Enoch M. Lowe, of --; Charles A. McDonald, of North Carolina; E. B. Settle, of Texas; John D. Hyman, of North Carolina; Jos. C. Airey, of Alabama; Robert D. Walker, of Georgia; Jas. S. Gribble, of Tennessee; Robert, Henderson, of Mississippi; Abraham Carr, of Mississippi; Ed. A. Owens, of Mississippi; John C. Carter, of Alabama; Bernard L. Wolff, of --; E. A. Rabb, of South Carolina; Virgil L. Hopson, of Georgia; J. J. McCornack, of Mississippi; Phineas Horton, of North Carolina; John D. Richardson, of Virginia; John M. Orr of Virginia; Josiah Carter, of Virginia; R. C. Williams, of Virginia; Samuel H. Henry, of Virginia; E. H. Rowe, of Virginia; Robert Walton, of Georgia; John H. Dunlavy, of Virginia; Albert McDaniel, of Virginia; Horace W. Jones, of Virginia; James P. Sawyer, of North Carolina; James W. Green, of Virginia; Francis W. Reid, of Georgia; Charles D. Owens, of Georgia; Hardy B. Willis, of Tennessee; Abram Loller, of Arkansas; D. A. Nolen, of Louisiana; W. C. Dowd, of North Carolina; Charles Y. Bush, of Mississippi; N. S. Hilt, of --; William H. Morrill, of North Carolina; James H. Willis, of Georgia; Daniel T. Webster, of Alabama; Solomon Gardner, of Arkansas; R. T. Bennett, of North Carolina; James C. Bryan, of

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    Alabama; James R. Armstrong, of Texas; R. C. Nichols, of Virginia; P. C. Hungerford, of Virginia; James A. Johnston, of Virginia; George T. Shaw, of Kentucky; Henry L. Briscoe, of Virginia; W. W. Herbert, of Virginia; Benjamin J. Harrison, of Virginia; R. Henley, of Virginia; W. J. Johnson, of Virginia; W. G. Williams, of Virginia J. S. Melvin, of Virginia; John A. Selden, of Virginia; Henry Harney of Virginia; Thacker Rogers, of Virginia; Huston Estill, of Virginia; A. W. Mathews, of Virginia; George W. Dillingham, of Georgia; A. M. Gibson, of Alabama; C. McClanaghan, of South Carolina; Niche]as Gibbon, of North Carolina; Thomas M. Owen, of Texas; M.D. L. McLeod, of North Carolina; Stephen E. Yerby, of Arkansas; J. Davidson, of Arkansas; Robert Maloney, of Arkansas; E. G. Williams, of Mississippi; A. M. Green, of Mississippi; G. W. Scott, of Louisiana; James Campbell, of Louisiana; Ferrell Henshaw, of Alabama; Pleasant Armstrong, of South Carolina; Thomas Lanegan, of North Carolina; S. C. Curry, of Alabama; Walter J. Dayle, of Tennessee; Samuel T. Williams, of Virginia; J. L. Pendleton, of Virginia; W. H. Eltener, of Arkansas; Fred. A. Kerr, of Arkansas; John B. Bainhill, of Tennessee; W. B. Myers, of North Carolina; W. A. J. Miller, of Virginia; W. A. Bradford, of Virginia; A. C. Massenburg, of North Carolina; Thomas T. A. Lyon, of Alabama; E. D. Scales, of North Carolina; W. D. C. Lloyd, of Mississippi; Thomas B. Reed, of Mississippi; James N. Garnaway, of Mississippi; Edwd. H. Armistead, of Alabama; A. G. Summers, of Florida; W. O'Harvie, of Virginia; E. B. Carruth, of Mississippi; J. J. Halsey, of Virginia; F. L. Hale, of Virginia; N. T. N. Robinson, of Louisiana; Floyd Williams, of Tennessee; D. W. Davis, of Tennessee; Lloyd Bullen, of Tennessee; A. E. Lassalle, of Louisiana; Lewis McGuire, of Georgia; R. H. Cannon, of Georgia; E. S. Wilson, of Tennessee; Timothy Rives, of Virginia; George Proctor, of Arkansas; Clinton McCarty, of Kentucky; J. C. Holland, of Tennessee; Francis Lanegan, of Arkansas; E. P. Turner, of Tennessee.

The communication was laid on the table.

The Chair also laid before Congress the following communication, viz:

Richmond, December 4, 1861.

To the Congress of the Confederate States:

The nominations sent to the Congress at the test session not having been acted on, I respectfully request that they be returned that they may be replaced by fuller and more perfect lists, prepared for submission to your action at the present session.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

On motion of Mr. Rhett,

Congress consented to grant the request, and the Secretary of Congress was authorized to return the nominations to the President.

Mr. Hale, from the Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred a resolution of instruction to report "whether the original appointments made by the President ought not to be first acted on by Congress, unless the same shall be withdrawn by the President at his request and the consent of Congress," reported that in the opinion of the committee it is the duty of Congress to act upon nominations sent in to them by the President, and that nominations, after they are so sent in, can not be altered or modified by the Executive until first withdrawn by the President with the consent of Congress, and therefore that the Congress should act upon the nominations first sent in to them by the President, unless they shall have been withdrawn as above indicated.

On motion of Mr. Rhett,

The report was laid on the table; and

Congress then resumed legislative session.

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