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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 --THURSDAY, February 26, 1863.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 3]
THURSDAY, February 26, 1863.

OPEN SESSION.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill (S. 3) to organize the Supreme Court of the Confederate States.

On motion by Mr. Clark,

Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be postponed until to-morrow.

The Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of the bill (H. R. 9) to authorize and regulate impressment of private property for the use of the Army and other military purposes.

On motion by Mr. Haynes, to amend the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting:

That when by due diligence private property, essential for the use of the Army of the Confederate States, can not be procured or purchased by the persons hereinafter named, in cases of absolute necessity it may be taken in the following manner:

• Sec. 2. That said property shall be taken by a bonded quartermaster or commissary, or some person duly authorized by him in writing, which writing shall be exhibited

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  to the owner or person having control of said property at the time and before the said quartermaster or commissary, or the person authorized as aforesaid, shall take the same.

• Sec. 3. That the owner or person having control of said property, and the officer or person hereinbefore authorized to take the same, shall each select one disinterested citizen as appraisers from the neighborhood, district, or parish, unconnected with the Army, who shall take an oath that they are not interested in said property or appraisement, and that they will well and truly fix and determine the value thereof and the amount of compensation which may be just. And in case of disagreement between said appraisers, they shall choose a third citizen of said neighborhood, district, or parish, in like manner unconnected with the Army, as an umpire, to decide, under a like oath as aforesaid, the matters in dispute: Provided, That the said appraisers shall have the power, and it is hereby made their duty, to administer to each other all necessary oaths prescribed by this act to the same extent as belongs to any judge or justice of the peace in any State.
• Sec. 4. That the officer or person taking private property as aforesaid for public use shall, at the time of said taking, pay to the owner, his agent or attorney, the compensation fixed by said appraisers, and shall also give to the owner or person controlling said property a certificate, over his official signature, specifying the battalion, regiment, brigade, division, or corps to which he belongs, that said property is essential for the use of the Army, could not be otherwise procured, and was taken through absolute necessity; setting forth the time and place when and where taken, the amount of compensation fixed by said appraisers, and the sum, if any, paid for the same. Said certificate shall be evidence for the owner, as well as of the taking of said property for the public use, as the right of the owner to the amount of compensation fixed as aforesaid. And in case said officer or person taking said property shall have failed to pay the owner, his agent or attorney, said compensation as hereinbefore required, then said owner shall be entitled to the speedy payment of the same by the proper disbursing officer, which, when so paid, shall be in full satisfaction of all claim against the Government of the Confederate States.
• Sec. 5. That before any officer or person authorized as aforesaid shall be entitled to take the private property of the owner for public use, under the provisions of this act, the said appraisers, upon their oaths to act faithfully and impartially between the owner and the Confederate Government, shall say that the said property is not essentially necessary for the support of the owner and his family and not absolutely required to carry on his ordinary agricultural and manufacturing business until the harvesting of the ensuing crop.
• Sec. 6. That no officer shall take for the public use, and use and occupy the lands of any citizen of any State, except for posts, depots, ordnance purposes, fortifications, encampments, and battlefields, without his consent; nor take for use and occupation the houses of any citizen, nor quarter officers or troops therein without the consent of the owner, nor take and use his household furniture, except when such houses and furniture shall be absolutely necessary for hospital purposes for the use of the sick and wounded, and when suitable houses and furniture can not be otherwise, in the exercise of due diligence, procured to meet the emergency; which houses and furniture, when taken as aforesaid, shall be protected from injury as much as practicable and delivered up to the owners as soon as the emergency will allow.
• Sec. 7. That a just compensation shall he paid to the owners, agents, or attorneys for the use and occupation of said houses and furniture by the proper disbursing officer, to be fixed by appraisers to be selected and sworn as aforesaid. The officer or surgeon taking said houses and furniture shall give the owner, his agent or attorney, a certificate as hereinbefore required of quartermasters and commissaries, which shall be in like maimer evidence for the owner of the taking of said houses and furniture for the public use, of the use and occupation of the same, and of his right to immediate compensation therefor.
• Sec. 8. That any commissioned or noncommissioned officer or private who shall violate the provisions of this act shall be tried before the military court of the corps to which he is attached, on complaint made by the owner or other person, and on conviction, if an officer, he shall be cashiered and put into the ranks as a private, and if a private he shall suffer such punishment, not inconsistent with military law, as the court may direct,

An amendment having been proposed by Mr. Hunter to the amendment proposed by Mr. Haynes,

After debate,

On motion by Mr. Yancey,

Ordered, That the further consideration of the bill be postponed to,

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and made the special order for, to-morrow at 12 o'clock, and that the amendment proposed by Mr. Hunter be printed.

Mr. Haynes, Mr. Yancey, Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Johnson of Georgia severally gave notice of their intention to propose amendments to the bill (H. R. 9) last mentioned; which were ordered to be printed.

On motion by Mr. Semmes,

The Senate resolved into secret legislative session.

The doors having been opened,

On motion by Mr. Mitchel,

The Senate adjourned.

SECRET SESSION.

Mr. Brown, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, reported

A bill (S. 61) to authorize the President to contract for the construction and equipment of vessels for the Navy abroad;
which was read the first and second times and ordered to be placed upon the Calendar.

The Senate resumed, as in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the joint resolution (S. 2) relative to the plan of retaliation proposed in the President's message.

After debate,

On motion by Mr. Davis, that the resolution lie on the table,

On motion by Mr. Brown,

The Senate resolved into executive session.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:

Richmond, February--, 1863.

To the Senate of the Confederate States:

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

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

Confederate States of America, War Department,
Richmond, February 16, 1863.

Sir: I have the honor to recommend the following nominations for appointment in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America:

Brigadier-general.
• Col. William Smith, of Virginia, to be brigadier-general, January 31, 1863.

Aids-de-camp, with rank of first lieutenant.
• Henry Irwin, of Maryland, to Maj. Gen. A. Elzey, January 12, 1863.
• S. S. Kirkland, of North Carolina, to Brig. Gen. W. D. Pender, December 13, 1862.
• F. von Phul, of Missouri, to Brig. Gen. D. M. Frost, October 15, 1862.
• E. A. Hawkins, of Georgia, to Brig. Gen. George Doles, December 28, 1862.
• G. T. Smoote, of Tennessee, to Maj. Gen. J. P. McCown, March 10, 1862.
• James R. Crump, of Tennessee, to Brig. Gen. W. H. Jackson, January 6, 1863.
• E. H. Gregory, of Tennessee, to Brig. Gen. John Adams, January 11, 1863.
• M. M. Lindsay, of Tennessee, to Brig. Gen. C. M. Wilcox, August 19, 1862.
• A. L. Pitzer, of Virginia, to Maj. Gen. J. A. Early, January 21, 1863.
• W. G. Calloway, of Virginia, to Maj. Gen. J. A. Early, January 21, 1863.
• Jeff. B. Posey, of Mississippi, to Brig. Gen. C. Posey, January, 19, 1863.
• William McCabe, of Arkansas, to Brig. Gen. J. C. Tappan, January 26, 1863.
• S. C. Hepburn, of Louisiana, to Brig. Gen. F. T. Nicholls, January 17, 1863.

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• F. C. Cox, of Virginia, to Brig. Gen. E. F. Paxton. January 19, 1863.
• E. Bredell, jr., of Missouri, to Brig. Gen. J. S. Bowen, January 7, 1863.
• B. Manning, of Alabama, to Brig. Gen. James Cantey, January 30, 1863.
• E. T. Harris, of Tennessee, to Brig. Gen. M. J. Wright, January 20, 1863.
• John M. Sharp, of Kentucky, to Maj. Gen. S. B. Buckner, January 26, 1863.
• William Eggeling, of Virginia, to Brig. Gen. C. J. Polignac, February 9, 1863.
• S. P. Hanly, of Arkansas, to Maj. Gen. P. R. Cleburne, December 13, 1862.
• H. J. Brother, of Arkansas, to Brig. Gen. F. C. Armstrong, January 23, 1863.
• F. G. Lyon, of Alabama, to Brig. Gen. Z. C. Deas, January 11, 1863.
• Robt. C. Stewart, of Tennessee, to Brig. Gen. A. P. Stewart, February 3, 1863.
• Thomas G. Jones, of Alabama, to Brig. Gen. J. B. Gordon, January 2, 1863.
• Rufus J. Polk, of Louisiana, to Brig. Gen. L. E. Polk, December 16, 1862.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.

To His Excellency Jefferson Davis,
President, etc.

The message was read.

Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

Mr. Brown, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom were referred the nominations of Samuel Barron, jr., Thomas W. Benthall, E. C. Stockton, John G. Blackwood, Julius A. Pratt, Marshall Brown, and James McC. Baker, to be lieutenants for the war; Simeon B. Reardon, J. W. Beasly, William H. Chase, H. E. McDuffie, William M. Ladd, to be assistant paymasters, and R. C. Bowles, Henry Stone, John C. Harrison, H. B. Meade, to be assistant surgeons for the war, reported, with the recommendation that said nominations be confirmed.

The Senate proceeded to consider said report; and in concurrence therewith, it was

Resolved, That the Senate advise and consent to their appointment, agreeably to their respective nominations.

On motion by Mr. Hill,

The Senate resolved into open legislative session.

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