| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journal of the Confederate Congress --TWENTY-SECOND DAY--THURSDAY, September 11, 1862.
OPEN SESSION.
The House met pursuant to adjournment, and proceeded to the consideration of the unfinished business of yesterday, which was a bill to authorize the transfer of troops.
The question being upon the amendment of Mr. H. W. Bruce to the amendment of the committee,
Mr. Royston demanded the previous question; which was ordered, and the amendment of Mr. H. W. Bruce was agreed to.
The amendment of the committee was agreed to, and the bill as amended was engrossed, read a third time, and passed.
Mr. Kenner, by consent, from the Committee on Ways and Means, reported a bill to raise revenue.
The bill was read the first and second times, ordered to be printed, and made the special order after the disposal of the bill to exempt certain persons from military service, etc.
Mr. Hilton, by consent, introduced
A joint resolution in relation to the late movement of General Lee's army;
which was read the first and second times.
Mr. Kenner called for the question; which was ordered, and was upon the reference of the resolution to a committee.
Mr. Jones moved that the rule requiring its reference be suspended; which motion was lost, and the resolution was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
On motion of Mr. Gartrell, leave was granted the Committee on the Judiciary to sit to-day during the session of the House.
Mr. Ashe, by consent, offered
A resolution that the President be requested to communicate to the House the estimated amount required to be appropriated to meet claims upon the Confederate Government for vessels and other property seized by the naval and military authorities for the use of the Government.
Mr. Foote moved a call of the House; which was ordered, and the following members answered to their names, to wit:
Messrs. Ashe, Barksdale, Batson, Bell, Bonham, Boteler, Breckinridge, Bridgers, Horatio W. Bruce, Chambliss, Chrisman, Clark, Clopton, Collier, Conrow, Crockett, Currin, Curry, Dargan, Davidson, Davis, Dupré, Ewing, Farrow, Foote, Foster, Freeman, Gardenhire, Gartrell, Goode, Graham, Gray, Hanly, Harris, Hartridge, Heiskell,
Page 368 | Page image
Herbert, Hilton, Holcombe, Holt, Johnston, Jones, Kenner, Lander, Lyon, Lyons, Machen, Marshall, McDowell, McLean, McQueen, Menees, Miles, Moore, Munnerlyn, Perkins, Preston, Pugh, Read, Royston, Sexton, Smith of Alabama, Strickland, Swan, Vest, Villeré, Welsh, Wilcox, Wright of Georgia, and Wright of Tennessee.
On motion, all further proceedings under the call were suspended.
A message was received from the Senate, by their Secretary, Mr. Nash; which is as follows, to wit:
Mr. Speaker: The Senate have passed bills of the following titles, viz:
In which I am directed to ask the concurrence of this House.
The House then proceeded to the consideration of the special order, which was a bill for the filling up of existing companies, squadrons, battalions, regiments, etc.
The question was on the amendment of Mr. Smith of North Carolina.
Pending which,
A message was received from the President, by his Private Secretary, Mr. Harrison.
The Chair laid before the House a message from the President; which is as follows, to wit:
Confederate States of America, Executive Office,
Richmond, September 11, 1862.
In compliance with the resolution of your honorable body of the 20th ultimo, requesting me to transmit the official reports of all the battles and engagements which have occurred since the adjournment of Congress, including the reports of major-generals and brigadier-generals engaged, I herewith transmit the report of Gen. Braxton Bragg of the battle of Shiloh, accompanied by the reports of Generals Withers and Ruggles, and the report of Col. J. W. Head, commanding a brigade at Fort Donelson; also the report of Brig. Gen. H. Marshall of the attack upon the command of General Cox; the report of Major-General Huger of the affair at South Mills; the report of General Leadbetter of operations on Tennessee River and at Bridgeport; the report of Brig. Gen. T. M. Jones of the evacuation of Pensacola Navy-Yard, forts, etc.; the report of Col. N. B. Forrest of the evacuation and removal of public property from Nashville, and the report of Maj. Gen. J. C. Pemberton of the engagements on James Island.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
The Chair also laid before the House a message from the President; which is as follows, to wit:
Confederate States of America, Executive Department,
September 6, 1862.
To the House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit a letter from the Secretary of War, inclosing a communication from the Quartermaster-General, in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives requesting information relative to the payment of troops. The organization of the Army of the Confederate States gives a paymaster to each regiment by devolving the payment of troops on regimental quartermasters, a system by which we avoid at the same time all danger from delay in payment by the absence of the proper officer, as well as the hazard of transporting large sums of money from camp to camp, as would be the case if a corps of officers were employed for the sole purpose of paying the troops. The failures to pay regularly, as required by regulations, should disappear with the prompt and regular supply of funds to the quartermasters of the different regiments. The ability of the Government to do this, it is hoped, will increase with the further development of the means of the Treasury Department.
JEFFERSON DAVIS
Page 369 | Page image
Confederate States of America, War Department,
Richmond, September 5, 1862.
His Excellency Jefferson Davis,
President Confederate States of America.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a letter from the Quartermaster-General in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives relative to the payment of troops.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
GEO. W. RANDOLPH,
Secretary of War.
Quartermaster-General's Office,
September 3, 1862.
Hon. George W. Randolph,
Secretary of War.
Sir: In reply to the communication of the President to the War Department, accompanying a resolution of the House of Representatives relative to the payment of troops, referred to this office for consideration and report, I have the honor to explain that the Army Regulations do not require the troops to be paid monthly.
Paragraph 1056 is in these words: "The troops will be paid in such manner that the arrears shall at no time exceed two months, unless the circumstances of the case render it unavoidable," etc.
Circumstances have arisen in numerous instances to cause four months and occasionally six or eight months to elapse between the dates of payment. This failure to pay is attributable not to the fact that quartermasters do not promptly forward their Estimates for the funds requisite, but to the difficulty in obtaining money from the Treasury after requisitions have been sent in, owing to causes which, no doubt, will be fully explained by the honorable Secretary of the Treasury. It not unfrequently happens, though, that, owing to interruption of mail communication between the scat of government and the points at which the quartermasters are stationed, the estimates fail to reach the Department in season to be acted on, so that payment to the troops may not be deferred.
Again, a particular body of troops, after having been estimated for in one military department, may be removed to a different and distant point before the quartermaster's Estimate has been acted on or responded to. The quartermaster whose duty it may be to procure funds to disburse to the command to which they are removed will not have embraced them in his estimate, and payment to them will, of course, be delayed.
The practice prevailed with the United States Government to pay troops at the end of every two months; never for a less period were companies mustered for pay.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. C. MYERS,
Quartermaster-General.
which was ordered to be printed and referred to the Committee on Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments and Military Transportation.
The Chair also laid before the House a message from the President; which is as follows, to wit:
To the Senate and House of Representatives.
Gentlemen: The circumstances necessarily surrounding an army operating in presence of an enemy render it inexpedient--next to impossible--to assemble frequent courts-martial, and to detail for them the best officers of the Army.
The ordinary attendant of the circumstances referred to is frequent offenses against military discipline and trespass upon the property of individuals inhabiting the country.
To correct these evils it is believed to be desirable that Congress should give authority to institute a commission to attend each army in the field, to be composed of men whose character and knowledge of the modes of administering justice would give the best assurance for the punishment of crime, the protection of private rights, and the security of the citizens of the country occupied by the Army.
Could courts-martial be assembled as frequently as occasion required, their functions, under existing laws, being limited to the consideration of offenses defined by the Rules and Articles of War, it will be perceived that a great variety of outrages against private rights might be committed, of which a court-martial could not directly take cognizance.
Page 370 | Page image
Under ordinary circumstances offenders in such cases would De turned over to the civil courts for trial. In a foreign country, or where the courts can not hold their sessions, this is impossible, and in the case of a marching army would, for obvious reasons, be ineffectual. The witnesses, whose testimony is indispensable to conviction, would generally follow the march of the army and be out of the reach of the courts.
The powers delegated by the Constitution "to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces," and "to ordain and establish from time to time inferior courts," would seem ample to justify such legislation as is herein recommended, especially as the necessity for the ordinary forms of indictment and trial "for capital and otherwise infamous crimes" is expressly dispensed with by the Constitution "in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war."
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was read and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
The Chair presented a memorial of Julius Baumgarten, asking to be made "coiner" of the Confederacy; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, without being read.
Also, the memorial of John R. Cardwell, praying compensation for a slave lost while under the impressment of the Government; which was referred to the Committee on Claims, without being read.
The Chair also laid before the House a bill from the Senate to change the time for the assembling of Congress for its next regular session.
The bill was, on motion, taken up for consideration, read the first and second times, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Also, a bill from the Senate to determine the annual pay of the engineer in chief and passed assistant surgeons of the Navy; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.
Also, a bill from the Senate amendatory of an act to reorganize the Marine Corps; which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Also, a House bill to authorize the appointment of additional officers of artillery for ordnance duties, reported from the Senate with an amendment; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Also, a bill from the Senate to provide for the public defense: which was read the first and second times and referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
On motion, leave of absence was granted to Mr. Gaither.
Mr. Jones moved that when the House adjourn it adjourn to meet at 12 o'clock m. to-morrow.
The motion was agreed to.
Mr. Foote moved that the House do now adjourn.
The motion was lost.
Mr. Wright of Texas moved a call of the House; which motion was lost.
And on motion of Mr. Gray,
The House adjourned until 12 o'clock to-morrow.
PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |