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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, May 5, 1864.
OPEN SESSION.
The Hon. Robert W. Barnwell, from the State of South Carolina, attended.
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Dalton:
Mr. President: The House of Representatives have passed the following resolution; in which they request the concurrence of the Senate:
"Resolved, That the Doorkeeper be directed to furnish to the proper officer of the Senate, for distribution in that body, copies of all bills and other papers printed for the use of this House, and that the Senate be requested to adopt a like rule as to the papers printed for the use of the Senate."
The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution submitted yesterday by Mr. Johnson of Arkansas, fixing a day for the adjournment of Congress; and
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. Sparrow submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That the Committee on Finance be instructed to inquire--
Mr. Brown (by leave) introduced
A bill (S. 5) to protect Senators and Representatives in Congress from annoyance when traveling in the Confederate States;
which was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and
On motion by Mr. Sparrow, to amend the bill by striking out "againsty," line 12, and inserting "without,"
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It was determined in the negative.
No further amendment being proposed, the bill was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time.
The said bill was read the third time and the title was amended.
Resolved, That it pass, and that the title thereof be "An act to provide passports for Senators and Representatives in Congress when traveling in the Confederate States."
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives therein.
Mr. Johnson of Missouri (by leave) introduced
A joint resolution (S. 3) of thanks to Missouri officers and soldiers in the Confederate service east of the Mississippi River;
which was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment being proposed, it was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time.
The said resolution was read the third time.
Resolved, That it pass, and that, the title thereof be as aforesaid.
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives therein.
Mr. Johnson of Missouri (by leave) introduced
A bill (S. 6) for the relief of States holding Confederate securities; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. Dortch (by leave) introduced
A joint resolution (S. 4) for the relief of John D. Southerland;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Claims.
Mr. Barnwell presented the memorial of officers of the First Army Corps, praying a change in the law granting rations to officers of the Army; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Orr (by leave) introduced
A bill (S. 7) to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for the payment of the interest on the removal and subsistence fund due the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina," so as to authorize the Secretary of War to pay the interest in cash or provisions;
which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Mr. Orr submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire and report what, if any, legislation is necessary to vacate the commissions of general, field, and staff officers who have no commands or duties to perform.
Mr. Orr submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be instructed to inquire and report upon the expediency of reducing the cavalry force now in the service of the Confederate States, in consequence of the scarcity of forage.
Mr. Haynes submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That twenty-eight copies of the acts and resolutions of the Provisional Congress, and treaties, with the table of contents, be bound in pamphlet form by the Public Printer, and furnished by him to the Senate for the use of its members,
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out of the three thousand copies ordered to be printed by the act of seventeenth of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, with an index for each copy; to be furnished to the Senate as soon as printed.
Mr. Henry (by leave) introduced
A joint resolution (S. 5) of thanks to Maj. Gen. N. B. Forrest and his officers and soldiers;
which was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and
On motion by Mr. Burnett, that the resolution be referred to theCommittee on Military Affairs,
After debate,
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be postponed until to-morrow.
The President pro tempore laid before the Senate the petition of a convention of banks of Virginia and North Carolina, praying a reduction of the tax imposed on banks by the act of February 17, 1864; which was referred to the Committee on Finance.
Mr. Walker submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That the Committee on Finance be instructed to inquire into the expediency of so amending the act to tax, fund, and limit the currency as to provide that transfers by delivery of the four per cent certificates and bonds provided for by said act shall be sufficient to enable the holder to use the same in the payment of his taxes.
Mr. Walker submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
Resolved, That the Committee on Finance be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing by law that all arrears of interest upon the coupon and registered bonds and the interest-bearing Treasury notes of the Confederate States due prior to the first day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and not heretofore paid, shall be paid in Treasury notes of the new issue.
On motion by Mr. Jemison,
Ordered, That Green T. Hill have leave to withdraw his petition and papers.
Mr. Semmes, from the Committee on Finance, reported
A bill (S. 8) to appropriate money for the payment of certain printing done by the authority of Congress;
which was read the first and second times and considered as in Committee of the Whole; and no amendment being proposed, it was reported to the Senate.
Ordered, That it be engrossed and read a third time.
The said bill was read the third time.
Resolved, That it pass, and that the title thereof be as aforesaid.
Ordered, That the Secretary request the concurrence of the House of Representatives therein.
On motion by Mr. Semmes,
Ordered, That the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, together with the accompanying documents, be printed for the use of the Senate.
On motion by Mr. Hill,
Ordered, That the report of the Attorney-General be printed for the use of the Senate.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
Ordered, That the report of the Secretary of War be printed for the use of the Senate.
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On motion by Mr. Mitchel,
Ordered, That the report of the Postmaster-General be printed for the use of the Senate.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, May 4, 1864.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, and invite your attention to his request for an early consideration of it.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, Va., May 5, 1864.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit for your consideration two communications from the Secretary of the Treasury, submitting estimates of additional appropriations required for the support of the Government.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Finance.
On motion by Mr. Sparrow,
The Senate resolved into executive session.
The doors having been opened,
On motion by Mr. Johnson of Arkansas,
The Senate adjourned.
EXECUTIVE SESSION.
The following messages were received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Confederate States of America, Executive Department,
Richmond, May 4, 1864.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
Agreeably to the recommendation of the Secretary of War, I nominate F. M. Green, of Mississippi, to be colonel of the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
War Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, May 4, 1864.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the nomination of F. M. Green, of Mississippi, to be colonel of the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment, to rank from February 19, 1864.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.
To His Excellency Jefferson Davis,
President, etc.
To the Senate of the Confederate States of America:
The action of the Senate on the nominations for field officers of the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment, which occurred on the eve of your adjournment at the last session, was not communicated to me till after the adjournment. I was thus unable to return the nomination of Colonel Green for your reconsideration (his rejection appearing to have been based on an error), and have kept the whole subject open for further action at the present session, when you could be informed of the facts.
The resolution of the Senate is in the following words:
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"Resolved, That the nomination of F. M. Green, to be colonel of the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment, be rejected, for the reason that in the opinion of the Senate W. B. Lowry is the senior and ranking officer."
If the Senate had at the same time suspended its action on the other nominations there could have been no difficulty in awaiting its present session for a settlement of the legal rights of the officers of this regiment, which can not be affected by the action of the Executive or the Senate, or of both combined, inasmuch as they are vested by act of Congress, which has the constitutional power to determine the rules of promotion in the service But, probably not perceiving in the press of business at the close of the session what would be the result of its action if carried into effect, the Senate confirmed the nominations of the lieutenant-colonel and major, thus subordinating to two of his juniors the senior captain of the regiment, who had been in command of it, to the entire satisfaction of his superiors, for more than nine months, and who had been adjudged to be the senior captain, after an examination of the rights of the different claimants for seniority, at the War Department.
I was compelled, in order to avoid this result, to decline commissioning either of the field officers confirmed by you, leaving each of the captains in his former rank of captain, and leaving Captain Green in command of the regiment till your attention had been called to the case, and full information was placed within your reach.
The law and facts appear to me to admit of but one conclusion, and they are now presented as succinctly as possible:
Only two companies of the Eleventh Regiment volunteered reenlistment, of which Captain Green's was one and Captain Franklin's the other. The remaining companies were reenlisted by conscription. Captain Franklin is no longer in the service. Under the laws as they stand on the statute book, Captain Green's commission is the only one in the regiment that bears date in 1861. The remaining commissions. being all under the conscript act of 1862, are necessarily subsequent to its passage.
It is due to candor to observe that the conclusion reached by the Senate in its resolution that Captain Lowry was the senior captain is in conformity with a general order issued by the War Department on the 9th July, 1862 (General Orders, No. 47, par. 4). But many complaints having been made against the effects of this order, the whole subject was carefully investigated by me, and that order was modified on the 5th March, 1863, by General Orders, No. 24, paragraph 1. When, therefore, in the following May, the question of seniority between Captains Green and Lowry was presented to me for decision, the question of law was no longer open, and nothing remained but to ascertain the facts, which were found to be in accordance with the foregoing narrative.
I now respectfully send again to the Senate the nomination of Captain Green to the office for which it has not been suggested he is incompetent, which he held for many months, and to which, according to my best judgment, he has rights vested in him by the laws. I am confident the Senate would never have consented to prejudice those rights if they had been in full possession of the facts.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Executive Department, Richmond, May 4, 1864.
The messages were read.
Ordered, That they be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs,
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The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Executive Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, May 4, 1864.
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.
No. 2.]War Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, May 3, 1864.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the following nominations for appointment in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America:
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES A. SEDDON.
Secretary of War.
To His Excellency Jefferson Davis,
President, etc.
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The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
The following message was received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Executive Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, May 3, 1864.
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.
No. 1.]War Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, May 2, 1864.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the following nominations for appointment in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America:
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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.
The following messages were received from the President of the Confederate States, by Mr. B. N. Harrison, his Secretary:
Richmond, Va., May 3, 1864.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
Agreeably to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy, I hereby nominate the persons named upon the annexed list to the offices designated.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Navy Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, May 3, 1864.
The President.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the following nominations for appointment in the Navy for the war, under Act No. 331 of Provisional Congress, approved December 24, 1861:
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. R. MALLORY,
Secretary of the Navy.
The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
Richmond, May 3, 1864.
To the Senate of the Confederate States:
Agreeably to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy, I hereby nominate the persons named upon the annexed list to the offices designated.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Navy Department, Confederate States of America,
Richmond, May 3, 1864.
To the President.
Sir: I have the honor to recommend the following nominations for appointment in the Marine Corps:
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant.
S. R. MALLORY.
Secretary of the Navy.
The message was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
Mr. Brown presented a communication from W. B. Lowry in relation to his appointment as colonel of the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
On motion by Mr. Hill,
The Senate resolved into open legislative session.
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