2d. On the subject of the publication in the Richmond Dispatch of two articles signed "Bohemian," I share your indignation at such an outrageous breach of duty of both the writer and publisher. I have anxiously sought for some means of punishing the offense, but the state of the law is such as to give no remedy for this wrong through the courts of justice, and I have appealed to the Military Committee of Congress for some legislation to protect the Army and the country against the great evils resulting from such publications. Judge Harris, the chairman of the committee, has promised to report a bill for the purpose. In this connection allow me to say that I think some of the mischief from this too-frequent offense arises from your own too lenient toleration of the presence of newspaper reporters within your lines. I will do all I can to help you, but the application of military regulations within the Army will be much more efficacious than any attempt at punishment by jury trial. I feel persuaded that this man Shepardson is a spy, and would be found guilty as such by a court-martial; and if he is caught again within your camp I trust you will bring him to prompt trial as a spy. But if I arrest him here he will at once be liberated by habeas corpus, and I will be unable to secure his proper punishment. His offense is a military one and ought to be summarily repressed by a military trial. I beg also to call your attention to a practice that is becoming too prevalent, of sending here prisoners arrested on suspicion of being disloyal. I have no means of enforcing their confinement, and am compelled to discharge them as fast as they come, or the judges would certainly do it by habeas corpus. But military commanders have the right to arrest and keep in confinement all dangerous or suspected persons prowling about their camps. It is, I know, a little troublesome to be burdened with this class of prisoners in camp, but I see nothing else that can be done with them. They come here without definite charges against them; without any proof or witnesses, and I am utterly powerless to hold them for you. I can only, therefore, urge upon you a stricter and less lenient application of military law as the sole resource I see for repressing this growing mischief. I am, your obedient servant, J. P. BENJAMIN, HEADQUARTERS FIRST CORPS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, Brig. Gen. D. H. HILL, Commanding C. S. Forces, Leesburg: GENERAL: Your letter of this date has been received and communicated to the general commanding, whose instructions in the premises are the following: You are not expected to hold the works under construction, unless all three of them shall, at the time of the emergency, be so far completed as to satisfy you that they are defensible for about a week with, say, one regiment of your forces and such local volunteer troops and militia as you can muster meanwhile. There must not be an attempt to hold the works on the eve of an assault or investment before they are in a tenable condition. An effort will be made to send an engineer to you, also a competent artillery officer. Respectfully, your obedient servant, THOMAS JORDAN, Assistant Adjutant-General. GENERAL ORDERS, No. ADJT. AND INSP. GEN.'S OFFICE, I. The following act of Congress and regulations in reference thereto are published for the information of the Army: AN ACT for the recruiting service of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States.. SECTION 1. The Congress of the Confederate States do enact, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized to adopt measures for recruiting and enlisting men for companies for service in the war or three years, which by the casualties of the service have been reduced by death and discharges. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, anthorized to detail the company commissioned officers for the above duty, in such numbers and at such times as in his opinion will best comport with the public service. The officers thus appointed to enlist and recruit for their respective companies. Approved December 19, 1861. II. Commanding officers of all war regiments, battalions, squadrons, and independent companies will detail for recruiting service, subject to approval of the commanding officer of the army with which they are serv ing, a subaltern and a non-commissioned officer or private from each war company below the minimum organization, with instructions to proceed to the neighborhood where his company was raised, and there enlist recruits to raise the company to the maximum organization. III. Officers detailed for recruiting service will make requisitions on the Adjutant-General for recruiting funds, reporting the station to which they have been ordered, the company and regiment for which they have been directed to recruit, and post-town, county, and State to which letters for them should be addressed. A similar report should also be made to the Commissary and Quartermaster's Departments, in order that the required instructions may issue to the proper officers of these departments to fill the requisitions necessary for such recruiting purposes. IV. As soon as possible after the enlistment of a recruit, he shall be inspected by a commissioned surgeon of the Confederate States, and, if unfit for service, shall be rejected. In all cases this inspection shall take place before the recruit leaves the State in which he is enlisted. V. A commutation for rations, at the rate of twenty-five cents per ration, shall be allowed to each recruit from the date of his enlistment until he is supplied regularly with subsistence by an officer of the Commissary Department. VI. No clothing or commutation for clothing will be allowed a recruit until after inspection. As soon as possible after inspection and muster, the recruit will be supplied with clothing or commutation therefor by the nearest quartermaster, in accordance with regulations. VII. The time allowed for recruiting will in no case extend beyond thirty days; at the expiration whereof the recruiting party with the enlisted men will proceed to join their company. VIII. Officers in charge of recruiting parties will keep a strict account of the disbursements made by them of moneys placed in their hands for the recruiting service, taking duplicate receipts for every item of expenditure. One set of these receipts will be retained by the officer for his se curity; the other set, with an account-current, will at the expiration of the recruiting term be transmitted to the Adjutant and Inspector General for final settlement at the Treasury. These vouchers and accountscurrent, addressed to the Adjutant and Inspector General, will be marked on the upper right-hand corner of the envelope which covers them, "Recruiting service." By command of the Secretary of War: S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General. WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A., General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Centreville, Va.: SIR: A letter from Brigadier-General French, of the 30th ultimo, with indorsements of General Holmes and yourself, has been received and submitted to the President. The withdrawal of the Arkansas regiment was not, as you suppose, "made under the instructions of this Department" to a request of General Holmes on the subject. He was authorized, by a reply of the 16th ultimo, to move a regiment of his command to the Northern Neck "as soon as, in his opinion, it could be done with safety to his command." The reduction of the force under General French, arising from the withdrawal of this regiment (as well as of Colonel Judge's Alabama regiment, totally disabled by sickness), renders it necessary, in the opinion of the President, to strengthen that important position by a detail from your center, as there are no re-enforcements here that can be sent to Evansport. As soon as Colonel Judge's regiment is recovered from its present deplorable condition it will be returned to you, and as commander of the Department of Northern Virginia you have, of course, the power to recall from the Northern Neck the regiment sent there, if in your opinion the safety of your command requires it. The President has ordered Brigadier-General Wayne, from Georgia, to assume command of a brigade of Georgians; and as there are only thirteen Virginia regiments in your army, already provided with three Virginia brigadiers, he does not deem it now necessary to appoint another Virginia brigadier. The delay in organizing your army under General Orders, Nos. 15 and 18, has embarrassed me in providing the brigadier-generals appropriate to its several brigades, in accordance with the act of Congress directing that they should be assigned as far as possible according to States, and I have to request of you a statement of your present organization, indicating the separate brigade commands with the designation of the regiments comprised in each, so as to guide the Executive in selecting any additional generals that may be requisite from the States entitled to such additional nominations. Your obedient servant, J. P. BENJAMIN, * Inserted here because of resulting correspondence between General Johnston and the Richmond authorities. HEADQUARTERS FORTY-FIFTH VIRGINIA REGIMENT, Camp Thorn Spring, near Dublin Depot, January 7, 1862. Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War, C. S. A.: SIR: As you were advised in a dispatch from this place a few days since, I sent two scouts, with instructions to proceed to Pack's Ferry, where it was reported the enemy in some force were crossing. They have returned, and report that a few of the enemy had crossed at that point and proceeded some distance (probably 10 or 12 miles) on the road to Peterstown. They were, however, driven back by a number of the citizens of Giles and Monroe. The information which will be communicated to your excellency through the letter which I have the honor to forward you is confirmed by reports of refugees from the county of Raleigh. The strength of the enemy at Fayetteville and Raleigh County is given by intelligent persons from that section at 3,000. The forward movement of the enemy to Raleigh Court-House in any force is very recent, and I feel confident that they have in contemplation an advance upon this road. Deeming it proper to give you the above information, I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, WILLIAM E. PETERS, Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding Forty-fifth Virginia Regiment. Lieutenant-Colonel PETERS: [Inclosures.] DUBLIN, January 6, 1862. DEAR SIR: Inclosed I send you a letter I have just received from Lieut. Col. Joseph Caldwell, of Raleigh County, giving information of the movements of the enemy. Respectfully, Mr. WM. H. HOWE: WM. H. HOWE. MERCER COURT-HOUSE, VA., January 3, 1862. DEAR SIR: I am a citizen of the county of Raleigh, residing near the Court-House, and have been driven from home with a good many other citizens of the county. Having just arrived here from that county, the citizens of this village think it proper that the fact of the invasion of that county by the Federal troops should be made known, so that the citizens of the counties between that place and the railroad may adopt some policy to repel their intended raid upon the Virginia and Tennes see Railroad. Hence I am troubling you with this note, that the people may have time to organize for their own protection. After repeated visits by the enemy in small forces, and committing depredations wherever they went by stealing property (cattle, horses, &c.) and arresting citizens pursuing their usual avocations, forcing them to take the oath or taking them to Fayetteville and holding them in confinement, on last Monday, the 30th day of December last, our village was taken possession of by at least 1,000 Federal troops, arresting the citizens that were remaining and compelling them to take the oath, or holding them prisoners. They are robbing the citizens of all their property, grain, provender, &c., leaving the families of those that have had to flee from their persecutions entirely dependent and helpless. Holding a commission as lieutenant-colonel of the militia (the colonel being a prisoner in their hands), I have issued orders to call out the militia of Raleigh County to meet to-morrow in edge of this county, but the prin cipal portion of the county being in possession of the Federals, the number to assemble is very small, but we will assist with all our power in resisting any further advances of the enemy, hoping to have the aid of the counties interested with ourselves; and perhaps, if the facts were properly represented to our authorities, they would dispatch a regiment of volunteer forces to our assistance, for they openly avow that their destination is ultimately the railroad. Asking pardon for troubling you (being a stranger), and hoping that you will use your influence in procuring aid, I am, very respectfully, JOSEPH CALDWELL, Lieutenant-Colonel of the One hundred and eighty-fourth Regiment. SPECIAL ORDERS, ADJT. AND INSP. GEN.'S OFFICE, * ** XIX. Brig. Gen. H. C. Wayne, Provisional Army, will forthwith proceed to Manassas, Va., and report for duty to General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding. By command of the Secretary of War: JNO. WITHERS, Assistant Adjutant-General. [General HILL:] HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY BRIGADE, Dear GENERAL: I thank you for your favor received some time since, and I assure you I am very grateful to you for the suggestions it contained. I was desirous of sending the whole of Radford's regiment to Leesburg, but the commanding general was unwilling to spare so much cavalry. Colonel Radford, with two companies, to join the four already with you, are now en route, making your available cavalry amount to six companies. The picket now in sight of Dranesville is merely to notify me of any movement on Leesburg from that direction. I regret very much that you have lost the services of Colonel Jenifer, whose thorough acquaintance with the whole Potomac region must have made him invaluable as a cavalry commander. I will require of Colonel Radford a monthly return of his regiment, and I hope you will concert with me some point of junction by pickets or patrols, so we can keep up a more rigid non-intercourse, as well as more direct communication with each other. A system of signals similar to those in use by the cavalry here is, I think, indispensable to safety from injury by friends as well as imposition by enemies. I hope to hear cheering news from Stonewall Jackson soon. The Potomac Burnside fleet has not yet developed itself, but we are all anxiously expectant. McClellan's illness delays its operations doubtless. Most respectfully, your obedient servant and true friend, 65 R R-VOL V |