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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 --THIRTY-SECOND DAY--WEDNESDAY, September 24, 1862.

Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 5]
THIRTY-SECOND DAY--WEDNESDAY, September 24, 1862.

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OPEN SESSION.

The House met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Dr. Moore.

On motion of Mr. Miles, the bill of the House to fill up existing companies, squadrons, battalions, and regiments, reported from the Senate with sundry amendments, was taken up and, with its amendments, was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.

On motion of Mr. Smith of North Carolina, leave was granted Mr. J. P. Johnson to withdraw from the Committee on Elections certain transcripts of records.

Mr. Moore, by consent, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported

A bill to authorize the President of the Confederate States to institute a commission for the trial and punishment of offenses in the armies of the Confederate States;
which was read the first and second times, placed upon the Calendar, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Baldwin, by consent, presented the memorial of sundry citizens of Rockbridge County, Va., praying that Confederate notes be made a legal tender; which was laid upon the table, without being read.

Mr. Baldwin, from the Committee on Ways and Means, reported

A bill to amend Acts Nos. 223 and 311 of the Provisional Congress, so as to authorize an extension of the time for selling property for taxes in default;
which was read the first and second times.

The question being on the postponement of the bill and placing the same on the Calendar,

Mr. Jones called for the yeas and nays;

Which were ordered,

And are recorded as follows, to wit:
• Yeas ... 0
• Nays ... 54

Nays: Baldwin, Barksdale, Batson, Bonham, Breckinridge, Horatio W. Bruce, Burnett, Chambers, Chambliss, Chilton, Chrisman, Clapp, Crockett, Davidson, Dawkins, De Jarnette, Dupré, Ewing, Foster, Freeman, Gartrell, Gentry, Hanly, Hartridge, Hilton, Holcombe, Holt, Johnston, Jones, Kenan of North Carolina, Kenner, Lyon, Lyons, Machen, Marshall, McQueen, Menees, Miles, Moore, Munnerlyn, Perkins, Pugh, Ralls, Read, Royston, Sexton, Smith of Alabama, Smith of North Carolina, Strickland, Trippe, Vest, Wilcox, Wright of Tennessee, and Mr. Speaker.

So the bill was not postponed and placed on the Calendar.

The bill was taken up, engrossed, read a third time, and passed.

The House took up for consideration the motion of Mr. Bell to reconsider the vote by which the bill from the Senate, to amend an act to establish a patent office, and to provide for the granting and issue of patents for new and useful discoveries, inventions, improvements, and designs, approved May 21, 1861, was referred to the Committee on Patents; and the same was agreed to.

The bill was then taken up, read a third time, and passed.

On motion, leave of absence was granted to Mr. Freeman.

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Mr. Chambers, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to which was referred

A bill to provide for the temporary organization of forces for the Provisional Army of the Confederate States in the States and parts of States invaded and occupied by the forces of the enemy,
reported the same back, with the recommendation that it pass with the following amendments, to wit:

In second line of the first section, which section is as follows, to wit:

That in the States or parts of States within the Confederate States which are now invaded and occupied by the forces of the enemy, to such an extent as to render impracticable the execution of the laws for raising provisional forces for the Confederate Army, it shall be legal for any portion of the mate white inhabitants thereof voluntarily to rise in arms, organize themselves into companies, battalions, or regiments, by choosing their own officers, and proceed to attack any of the forces of the enemy found upon the soil of their own State; and all the hostile acre of said companies or bodies of men are hereby legalized, whether the officers be commissioned or not; and shall from the time of assuming hostilities be entitled to and receive protection, in case of capture by the enemy, in like manner and in all respects as officers or soldiers regularly mustered into the service of the Confederate States.
insert the words "or may hereafter be" after the word "now."

Also, in same section strike out the clause beginning with the words "and all the hostile acts" and ending with the words "commissioned or not."

In the second section of the same, which is as follows, to wit:

All such organizations or bodies of men shall, as early as practicable, report themselves for duty to the commanding officer of the department in which said companies or bodies of men may be raised, and shall be subject to the general army rules and regulations made for the organization, control, and government of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States,

In the fifth line insert the word "then" before the words "be subject."

The rules being suspended, the bill was taken up, and the amendments were agreed to.

Mr. Jones moved to amend the first section of the same by inserting in the second line, after the word "are," the words "or have been."

The amendment was lost.

The hour for the special order of business having arrived, on motion of Mr. Miles the same was postponed until after the report of the Military Committee.

The question being on ordering the bill to be engrossed for a third reading.

Mr. Harris moved that its further consideration be postponed and that the same be printed; which was agreed to.

A message was received from the President, by his Private Secretary, Mr. Harrison, reforming the House that on the 23d instant the President approved and signed the following acts, to wit:

• An act to provide for the payment of certain claims against the Confederate States in the State of Missouri; also
• An act to provide for the further issue of Treasury notes; also
• An act in relation to the transfer of troops; also
• An act to regulate the rank of officers of the Provisional Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Miles, from the Committee on Military Affairs, to which was referred a bill of the Senate to amend an act to provide for establishment and organization of a general staff for the Army of the Confederate

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States of America, reported the same back, with the recommendation that it pass.

Mr. Kenner moved that the House proceed to the consideration of the special order, which was a bill to make certain exemptions from military duty.

Mr. Curry moved that the special order be postponed, and that the House proceed to the consideration of the bill to organize a general staff, etc.; which was agreed to.

Mr. Barksdale moved to amend the first section of the bill; which is as follows:

That hereafter the Quartermaster-General shall have the rank, pay, and allowances of a brigadier-general,
by inserting after the words "Quartermaster-General" the words "the Commissary-General, the Chief of Ordnance, and the Chief Officer of the Engineer Corps."

Mr. Jones moved to amend the amendment by inserting the words "the Surgeon-General" before the words "the Commissary-General."

Mr. Goode demanded the previous question; which was ordered, and the amendment to the amendment was agreed to.

The question recurring on the amendment as amended,

Mr. Miles demanded the yeas and nays;

Which were ordered,

And are recorded as follows, to wit:
• Yeas ... 30
• Nays ... 49

Yeas: Arrington, Baldwin, Barksdale, Bell, Bridgers, Eli M. Bruce, Clapp, Collier, Currin, Dargan, Davidson, Dawkins, Foster, Goode, Hartridge, Heiskell, Hilton, Holcombe, Holt, Kenan of North Carolina, Kenner, Lyon, Lyons, McRae, Read, Smith of Alabama, Strickland, Tibbs, Wright of Texas, and Wright of Tennessee.

Nays: Atkins, Batson, Bonham, Boteler, Boyce, Breckinridge, Chambers, Chambliss, Chilton, Clopton, Conrad, Curry, Davis, De Jarnette, Dupré, Elliott, Ewing, Farrow, Foote, Freeman, Gardenhire, Garland, Garnett, Gartrell, Hanly, Harris, Herbert, Johnston, Jones, Lander, Machen, Marshall, McDowell, McQueen, Menees, Miles, Moore, Munnerlyn, Perkins, Preston, Pugh, Ralls, Royston, Russell, Sexton, Trippe, Vest, Welsh, and Mr. Speaker.

So the amendment was lost.

The bill was then read a third time.

Mr. Garnett demanded the question; which was ordered, and the question being upon the passage of the bill,

Mr. Kenner called for the yeas and nays;

Which were ordered,

And are recorded as follows, to wit:
• Yeas ... 45
• Nays ... 34

Yeas: Atkins, Barksdale, Batson, Bell, Bonham, Boteler, Boyce, Bridgers, Eli M. Bruce, Chambers, Chambliss, Clapp, Conrad, Currin, Curry, Davidson, Dawkins, De Jarnette, Dupré Elliott, Farrow, Foote, Freeman, Garnett, Goode, Graham, Harris, Heiskell, Hilton, Holcombe, Kenner, Lyons, Marshall, McRae, McQueen, Miles, Preston, Pugh, Russell, Sexton, Smith of Alabama, Smith of North Carolina, Tibbs, Wright of Texas, and Mr. Speaker.

Nays: Arrington, Ayer, Baldwin, Breckinridge. Chilton, Clopton, Collier, Davis, Ewing, Foster, Gardenhire, Garland, Gartrell, Gray,

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Hartridge, Herbert, Hodge, Holt, Johnston, Jones, Kenan of Georgia, Kenan of North Carolina, Lander, Machen, McDowell, Moore, Munnerlyn, Perkins, Ralls, Royston, Strickland, Trippe, Welsh, and Wright of Tennessee.

So the bill was passed.

Mr. Lyons moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed.

Mr. Wilcox moved to lay that motion on the table; which was agreed to.

Leave of absence was granted Messrs. Crockett and Ewing for the remainder of the session, and to Mr. Davis for the balance of the session from Saturday next, and to Mr. McLean on account of sickness.

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:

• S. 100. An act to supply deficiencies in the appropriation for the engineer service of the War Department;
• S. 101. An act appropriating money for engraving and printing Treasury notes, and for other purposes; and
• S. 102. An act establishing the seal of the Confederate States of America;

In which I am directed to ask the concurrence of this House.

The President of the Confederate States approved and signed, on the 18th instant,

• S. 74. An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for the public defense."

The House then proceeded to the consideration of the special order, which was a bill from the Senate to be entitled "An act to exempt certain persons from military duty, and to repeal an act entitled 'An act to exempt certain persons from enrollment for service in the Army of the Confederate States,' approved April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two."

The bill having been read as follows, viz:

• Section 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That persons who shall be held unfit for military service by reason of bodily or mental incapacity or imbecility, under rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of War; the Vice-President of the confederate States; the officers, judicial and executive, of the Confederate and State governments, except postmasters not nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and assistants and clerks in any other post-office than the General Post-Office, and except such State officers as the several States may have declared by law to be liable to militia duty, or may hereafter be excepted by the several States; the members of both Houses of the Congress of the Confederate States and of the legislatures of the several States and their respective officers; all clerks in the offices of the Confederate and State governments allowed by law; all pilots and persons engaged in the merchant-marine service; the president, superintendents, conductors, treasurer, chief clerk, engineers, managers, station agents, section masters, two expert track hands to each section of eight miles, and mechanics in the active service and employment of railroad companies, not to embrace laborers, porters, and messengers; the president, general superintendent, and operators of telegraph companies, the local superintendent and operators of said companies not to exceed four in number at any locality but that of the seat of government of the Confederate State; the president, superintendents, captains, engineers, chief clerk, and mechanics of all companies engaged in river and canal navigation, and all captains of boats and engineers therein employed; all foremen, pressmen, and journeymen printers employed in printing newspapers having at least five hundred bona fide subscribers; the Public Printer and those employed to perform the public printing for the Confederate and State governments; every minister of religion authorized to preach according to the rules of his sect and in the regular discharge of ministerial duties, and all persons who have been and now are members of the Society of Friends and the Association of Dunkers in regular membership in their respective denominations; all physicians who now are and for the last five years have been in the actual practice of their profession; all shoemakers, tanners, harness makers, saddlers, blacksmiths, wagon makers, millers and their engineers, millwrights skilled and actually employed at their regular vocation in the said trades whilst so actually employed: Provided, Said persons shall make oath in writing that they are so skilled and actually

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  employed at the time at their regular vocation in one of the above trades which affidavit shall only be prima facie evidence of the facts thereto stated; all Superintendents of public hospitals, lunatic asylums, and the regular nurses and attendants therein, and the teachers employed in the institutions for the deaf, dumb, and blind; in each apothecary store now established and doing business, one apothecary in good standing who is a practical apothecary; superintendents and operators in wool and cotton factories who may be exempted by the Secretary of War; all presidents and teachers of colleges, academies, and schools who have been regularly engaged as such for two years previous to the passage of this act, and theological seminaries; all artisans, mechanics, and employees in the establishments of the Government for the manufacture of arms, ordnance, ordnance stores, and other munitions of war, who may be certified by the officer in charge thereof as necessary for such establishments; also all artisans mechanics, and employees in the establishments of such persons as are, or may be, engaged under contracts with the Government in furnishing arms, ordnance, ordnance stores, and other munitions of war: Provided, That the Chief of the Ordnance Bureau, or some ordnance officer authorized by him for the purpose, shall approve of the number of the operatives required in such establishments; all persons employed in the manufacture of arms or ordnance of any kind by the several States or by contractors to furnish the same to the several State governments, whom the governor or secretary of state thereof may certify to be necessary to the same; all persons engaged in the construction of ships, gunboats, engines, sails, or other articles necessary to the public defense, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy; all superintendents, managers, mechanics, and miners employed in the production and manufacture of salt to the extent of twenty bushels per day, and of lead and iron and all persons engaged in burning coke for remelting and manufacture of iron, regular miners in coal mines, and all colliers engaged in making charcoal for making pig and bar iron not to embrace laborers, messengers, wagoners, and servants unless employed at works conducted under the authority and by the officers or agents of a State; and one person, either as owner or overseer, on each plantation on which one white person is required to be kept by the laws and ordinances of any State and on which there is no white male adult not liable to do military service; and such other persons as the President shall be satisfied, on account of justice, equity, or necessity ought to be exempted, are hereby exempted from military service in the armies of the Confederate States: Provided, That such numbers of the militia of any State as have been called out and mustered into the service of said State by the executive thereof, employed and necessary to repel any actual invasion of said State, shall also be exempted: Provided, That whenever such invasion shall have been repelled or otherwise shall have ceased to exist, the exemption hereby declared shall expire: Provided further, That the exemptions hereinabove enumerated and granted hereby shall only Continue whilst the persons exempted are actually engaged in their respective pursuits or occupations.

• Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the act entitled "An act to exempt certain persons from enrollment for service in the armies of the Confederate States," approved the twenty-first of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, is hereby repealed,

Mr. Miles moved to amend the same by striking out all of the same and inserting in lieu thereof the following, to wit:

• Section 1. The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That certain persons, as hereinafter provided, are exempted from service in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States.
• • I. Persons unfit for military service by reason of mental or physical incapacity, under rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of War, and all persons who are now exempted by the laws of their respective States.
  • II. The Vice-President and members of both Houses of Congress; and members of the legislatures of the several States, and the officers of Congress and the legislatures.
  • III. Officers, judicial and executive, of the Confederate and State governments, who may be elected or appointed according to law; but no State officers shall be exempted unless exempted by the laws of their respective States; and not exempting postmasters, nor the clerks nor deputies of postmasters, nor assistant clerks or messengers in the several Executive Departments of the Confederate Government, except those appointed or approved by the heads of those Departments; and provost-marshals are hereby prohibited from employing any clerk, or other assistant, or agent in their offices who is subject to military service and has not been discharged therefrom, and no person subject to military service shall be employed as clerk, agent, or assistant by quartermasters or commissaries, or assistant quartermasters or commissaries, except such as may be appointed by the Quartermaster-General or Commissary-General.

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  • IV. Persons actually and necessarily engaged in carrying the mail, the number on any post route to be determined by the Postmaster-General.
  • V. Ferrymen, on post routes, not exceeding one at any locality.
  • VI. Pilots and persons engaged in the marine service.
  • VII. The Presidents, superintendents, conductors, the treasurer, the chief clerk, engineers, managers, and mechanics, in the active service and employment or any railroad company, not to embrace laborers, porters, or messengers.
  • VIII. The president, general superintendent, and operators of telegraph companies, and the local superintendent and operators of said companies, the latter not to exceed one in number at any locality having less than five thousand population, and not to exceed two at any place but that of the seat of government of the Confederate States.
  • IX. The president, superintendents, captains, chief clerks, engineers, and mechanics of all companies actively engaged in river and canal navigation, and all captains of boats in actual employment, and the engineers thereon.
  • X. The public printers, and all foremen and journeymen printers actually employed in the public printing of the Confederate and State governments, or in printing newspapers.
  • XI. Such physicians, and such shoemakers and tanners, engaged in the business of manufacturing shoes or leather for sale, and such harness makers, saddlers, and millers, actually employed in their trades, as the Secretary of War may consider necessary to their communities or the public service.
  • XII. Superintendents of public hospitals and lunatic asylums and the regular nurses and attendants therein, and the teachers employed in the institutions for the deaf, dumb, and blind.
  • XIII. In each apothecary store now established and doing business, one apothecary or practical druggist.
  • XIV. Superintendents and operators in wool and cotton factories, who may be exempted by the Secretary of War.
  • XV. Professors and teachers in State military schools or institutes, and the cadets therein, and all presidents and professors of colleges and academies, and all teachers having as many as twenty scholars in regular attendance upon their schools; and all professors and teachers in theological seminaries and the students therein who are candidates for the ministry; ministers of religion in the regular discharge of their ministerial duties.
  • XVI. All engaged in working iron mines, furnaces and foundries and rolling mills; and all blacksmiths habitually engaged in working for the public; and all persons engaged in the production or manufacture of salt, lead, copper, sulphur, saltpeter, or gunpowder, under authority from the governors of their respective States, or the Secretary of War, and not to include laborers, messengers, or wagoners.
  • XVII. Artisans and employees in Government workshops, armories, foundries, or furnaces.
  • XVIII. One overseer on each plantation cultivated exclusively by negro labor and owned by any person in the civil or military service of the Confederate or State governments, or any minor, or widow, or unmarried woman, or person not of sound mind: Provided, That on plantations owned by the same person, and not five miles apart, only one overseer shall be thus exempted: And provided further, That the owner of any such plantation, his or her agent or representative shall first pay into the treasury of the State in which said plantation may be located, a stun equal to five dollars for each hand over sixteen and under forty-five years of age, and file therewith his affidavit that it is a true return of the hands between such ages employed on said plantation; and where the overseer on such plantation, being between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years, has been enlisted or enrolled in the Army since the passage of the act, further to provide for the public defense, approved April sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and said plantation is at the date of the affidavit aforesaid, without an overseer, the owner thereof, his or her agent, or representative, may pay the said sum and file his affidavit, stating the truth of his said return, and also that his plantation was deprived of an overseer by enrollment or enlistment as aforesaid, thereupon the owner of any such plantation shall be entitled to the governor's certificate of the payment of said stun and the filing of said affidavit in which certificate shall be stated the name of the overseer sought to be exempted, and upon the production of said certificate to the enrolling officer, the overseer therein named shall be exempted from enrollment, or if already enrolled or enlisted as aforesaid shall, on the production of said certificate to the Secretary of War, or the commandant of the camp of instruction, or officer commanding the regiment to which said overseer may belong, be discharged therefrom by the Secretary of War, the commandant or officer aforesaid, and the governor of each State is hereby

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    authorized and requested to distribute through the county, district, or parish authorities the sum thus paid into the treasury for the benefit of the indigent families of soldiers from his State, in the military service of the Confederate States, and also the indigent families of those who have died or been disabled in such service, making said distribution as equally as may be according to the number of such indigent families in the several counties, districts, or parishes of his State.

• Sec. 2. All laws and parts of laws heretofore passed by Congress upon the subject of exemptions from military service are hereby repealed.

Mr. Barksdale, by consent, from the Committee on Printing, to which was referred

A resolution that 1,000 copies of the President's message and accompanying reports of battles fought since the adjournment of Congress be printed for the use of this House,
reported the same back, with the recommendation that it pass; which was agreed to.

Mr. Jones, by consent, from the Committee on Rules and Officers of the House, reported the following resolution:

Resolved, That one page in addition to those now allowed he appointed by the Speaker of the House, who shall be subject to his order, and shall receive the compensation of two dollars per day during the session.

Mr. Jones then moved to amend the resolution of the committee by adding thereto the words "and that the Doorkeeper be allowed to appoint an additional page;" which was agreed to, and the resolution as amended was adopted.

The Chair laid before the House a message from the President; which is as follows, to wit:

I herewith transmit for your consideration a communication from the Secretary of War, covering an estimate for a deficiency in the appropriation for ordnance.

I recommend an appropriation of the amount, rant for the purpose specified.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was read and, with its accompanying documents, was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

The Chair also presented a message from the President; which is as follows, to wit:

I herewith transmit for your consideration a communication from the Secretary of War, covering an estimate "of the Commissary-General of the stun necessary to purchase the supply of flour for the Army for the ensuing season."

I recommend an appropriation of the amount, and for the purpose specified.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was read and, with its accompanying documents, was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

The Chair also laid before the House a communication from the President; which is as follows, to wit:

Richmond, Va., September 24, 1862.

I herewith transmit for your consideration a communication from the Secretary of War in reference to the proposed railroad from Blue Mountain, Ala., to Rome, Ga., and to which I invite four especial attention, because of the importance of this link in our system of railroads in the transportation needful for the public defense.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.
which was read and, with its accompanying documents, referred to the Committee on Quartermaster s and Commissary Departments and Military Transportation.

On motion,

The House adjourned until 11 o'clock to-morrow.

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