readiness for immediate action should emergencies require it. This order was promptly obeyed by the energetic and efficient officer to whom it was given. General Phillips, assisted by Adjutant-General Wayne and Major Capers, the superintendent of the Georgia Military Institute, pressed forward the instruction and preparation of the troops with great activity and energy. The troops remained in camp from the 11th of June till the 2d of August. They were a noble, patriotic, chivalrous band of Georgians, and I hazard nothing in saying, military men being the judges, that no brigade in the Confederate service was composed of better material, or was better trained at that time for active service in the field. The season having so far advanced that it was not probable that our coast would be invaded before cold weather, I tendered the brigade to President Davis for Confederate service in Virginia. The President refused to accept the tender of the brigade, but asked for the troops by regiments. Believing that a due respect for the rights of the State should have prompted the President to accept those troops under their State organization, and if any legal obstacle in the way of accepting a brigade existed that it should have been removed by the appointment of the general who had trained the men, and who was their unanimous choice, to continue to command them in active service, I at first refused to disband a State organization, made in conformity to the statute, and tender the troops by regiments; more especially as the President only demanded the two regiments which would have left the three battalions to be disbanded or maintained as battalions through the balance of the season by the State. Finally the presideut agreed to accept the battalions and regiments, and in view of the pressing necessity for troops in Virginia, I yielded the point, and accepted General Phillips's resignation, and permitted the troops to be mustered into the Confederate service by regiments and battalions.

"About the time these troops left the secretary of war also ordered out of the State the regiment of Regulars under Colonel Williams, and the 2d regiment of volunteers commanded by Colonel Semmes, both excellent regiments, well drilled and armed. This left the coast almost entirely defenceless. By that time I had permitted nearly all the arms of the State to go into the Confederate service, and it has been a very difficult matter to get arms enough to supply the troops since ordered to the coast.

"At the time Fort Pulaski was by an ordinance of our State Convention turned over to the Confederate government the number and size of the guns in the fort were very inadequate to its successful defence against a fleet with heavy guns, and, as the secretary of war made no provision for the proper supply of guns or ammunition I deemed it my duty to purchase, with funds from the State treasury, the necessary supply, which was done at a cost of $101,521.43. In this estimate is included the freights paid on the supply and a number of heavy guns sent to other parts of the coast together with work done on gun carriages, etc. During the months of August and Sep

tember our climate was considered a sufficient protection of our coast against invasion; but an attack was reasonably looked for so soon as the advanced stage of the season would render the health of an army on the coast secure. I had petitioned the secretary of war to send a larger force to our coast, prior to the order by which I called out General Phillips's brigade, and had offered to supply promptly any number of troops needed in obedience to a requisition from the War Department, and had mentioned five thousand as the number which I considered necessary. He replied, declining to order so many, and I felt it to be my duty to hold State troops in readiness to meet any contingency until the period when the climate would be a sufficient protection. "Early in September I visited the coast and inspected the fortifications and batteries which had been thrown up by Confederate authority. I was fully satisfied that the number of troops upon the coast in the Confederate service was entirely inadequate to its defence, and as no requisition was made upon me for any increase of the force, I felt it to be my duty to call out State troops and increase the force as soon as possible. It is true the State was not invaded, but the danger was considered so imminent as to admit of no further delay and I was of opinion that my action was justified by both the letter and spirit of the constitution of the Confederate States.

"In the early part of September last I appointed Gen. George P. Harrison, of Chatham county, a brigadier-general, under the Act of the last session of the Legislature, and ordered him to organize a brigade of volunteers armed as far as we had the means with military weapons, and the balance with good country rifles and shot guns, and to throw them into camp of instruction near the coast where they could readily be used when needed. General Harrison has pressed forward the organization with his characteristic promptness and energy and now has a fine brigade under his command. I have also, within the last few days, appointed Maj. F. W. Capers a brigadier-general and ordered him to take command of the second brigade now about organized.

"When I permitted nearly all the State's guns to go out of the State in the summer, I entertained the hope that such number of the troops with the guns as might be needed would be permitted to return to our coast in case of necessity during the winter. Considering the danger imminent, I lately requested the secretary of war to order back to our coast five regiments of armed Georgia troops. This request was at the time declined by the secretary, who agreed, however, to supply the Confederate general in command at Savannah with one thousand of the Enfield rifles lately imported.

"As very little expenditure has been made by the Confederate government to place Georgia in a defensive condition, and as the number of Confederate troops upon the coast is not sufficient to meet the necessities of the service, and as the enemy's fleet is now off our coast, I am of opinion that the State will be compelled in a very great degree to take her own defences

into her own hands, and I therefore recommend such additional legislation as the General Assembly may think necessary for that purpose together with such appropriations of money as may be required for a bold and vigorous defence of our beloved State against the aggressions of a wicked and powerful foe. Should we have to continue our troops in the field, which I think quite probable, during the winter, an appropriation of less than $3,500,000 will be insufficient to meet the exigencies of the service for the ensuing year. "It is true the sum asked for is large, but the emergency in which we are placed and the results which must follow our action are such, that we cannot for a moment stop to count the cost. The only question proper for discussion now is, how many men and how much money are necessary to protect the State and repel the invasion. Other States have voted larger sums than I have asked. I see by the message of Governor Harris, that the gallant State of Tennessee has appropriated and expended $5,000,000 as a military fund within the last six months.

"How the amount of money above demanded is to be raised, is a question for the serious consideration of the General Assembly. The war tax imposed by the Confederate government, together with the expenses assumed by dif ferent counties for supplies needed by their companies in the service, will greatly increase the burdens of taxation. If we add this additional sum to that to be collected within the present year, the burden will be too onerous. On the other hand, we should not forget that the debt which we now incur, with the interest, has to be paid by us and our posterity. While we cannot avoid some increase of the public debt of the State, I think it wise that we increase it as little as possible, and that we meet a large part of our necessary expenditures by taxation.

"I therefore recommend the enactment of a law authorizing the collection, during the present fiscal year, of one million of dollars by taxation, for State purposes, and the sale of State bonds bearing such rate of interest as will command par in the market, to an amount necessary to raise the balance. If the interest is fixed at a high rate, the State should reserve the right to redeem the bonds at no very distant period. In the management of private affairs, I have generally noticed that he who is largely indebted, and keeps his property and pays heavy interest rather than sell property enough to pay the debt and stop the interest, is seldom prosperous; so it is with a State. The revolution has happened in our day; its burdens belong to the present generation, and we have no right, by a very large increase of our public debt, to transmit the greater portion of them to generations yet unborn." THE TRANSFER OF STATE TROOPS TO THE CONFED

ERACY.

The subject of maintaining a separate military force, by the State, sufficient for the defence of her coast in

addition to the large drain upon the population by troops already in the Confederate service, having been much discussed by the public journals, the General Assembly took the following action on the 16th December, 1861:—

“Resolved, By the General Assembly of Georgia, that the Governor be, and he is hereby authorized and instructed to tender to the Confederate Government the volunteer forces called into service under the law of 1860, or which may hereafter be called into service for the State defence, in companies, battalions, regiments, brigades or divisions, as may be found to be acceptable to the war department of the Confederate States; Provided, That the Confederate States will receive them for the term of their enlistment and for local defence in this State, under the act of Congress to provide for local defence and special service, approved August 21, 1861; And provided further, That, if the Confederate States shall not accept said troops, in that event the troops shall remain in service as State troops, under the terms of their enlistment; And provided further, That such tender shall be made, so far as the troops now in the State are concerned, before the 15th day of January next, and before a greater sum than one million of dollars is raised or expended as provided for in the 20th section of the general appropriation bill; And provided further, That none of said troops shall be transferred to the Confederate service without their full consent, first fairly obtained, by com panies, if organized as independent companies, by battalions, if organized in independent battalions, or by regiments if organized in regiments.

"Be it further Resolved, That we earnestly recommend the Confederate Government to receive said State forces, should they assent, with all their field and general officers, and if there be no law now authorizing such acceptance we respectfully request our Senators and Representatives to urge the passage of a bill to effect so desirable an object.

"Assented to December 16, 1861."

The following extract from the annual message of Governor Brown, the 6th of November, 1862, contains a full account of the transfer :

"In compliance with the resolution of the General Assembly passed at its last session, directing me to transfer the State troops to the Confederacy with the consent of the troops, I ordered the question of transfer to be submitted to a fair vote of each organized body of troops, and the majority against the transfer amounted almost to unanimity. Soon after the passage of the Conscription Act, however, which passed after the expiration of the term of enlistment of part of the men, but a short time before the end of

the term of much the larger portion of them, the Secretary of War informed me that all the State troops between 18 and 35 years of age must go into the Confederate service. At that time an attack upon the city of Savannah was daily expected, and for the purpose of avoiding conflict and collision with the Confederate authorities in the face of the enemy, I agreed to yield the point, and I immediately tendered the State army to Brigadier-General Lawton, who then commanded the Military District of Georgia, Major General Henry R. Jackson, who commanded the State troops, having retired from the command to prevent all embarrassment. General Lawton accepted the tender, and assumed the command of the troops. The claim made by the Secretary of War did not include those under 18 or over 35 years of age, but it was thought best to tender the whole together, as the detachment of those between 18 and 35 from each organization would have disorganized the entire force.

"While referring to the subject, I feel it a duty which I owe to the gallant officers and brave men who composed the State army to say, that they were, at the time of the transfer, as thoroughly organized, trained and disciplined, as probably any body of troops of equal number on the continent who had not been a much longer time in the field. They had performed without murmur, an almost incredible amount of labor in erecting fortifications and field works necessary to the protection of the city, and had made their position so strong as to deter the enemy, with a force of vastly superior numbers, from making an attack. While they regretted that an opportunity did not offer to show their courage and efficiency upon the battle-field, they stood, like a bulwark of stout hearts and strong arms, between the city and the enemy, and by their chivalrous bearing and energetic preparation, in connection with the smaller number of brave Confederate troops near, saved the city from attack and capture, without bloodshed and

carnage.

"It is but justice to Major-General Jackson, that it be remarked, that he had, with untiring energy and consummate ability, pressed forward the preparation of the defences and the training of the army, and that the people of Georgia owe much of gratitude to him for the safety of the city of Savannah and its present freedom from the tyrannical rule of the enemy. There is not, probably, an intelligent, impartial man in the State who does not regret that the services of this distinguished son of Georgia should not have been properly appreciated by the Confederate authorities, and that he should not, after the Georgia army was transferred, have been invited by the President to a command equal to his well known ability and merit. This was requested by the Executive of this State, which request was presented to the President by her entire delegation in Congress.

"It is also due Brigadier-Generals George P. Harrison, F. W. Capers, and W. H. T. Walker, that their names be honorably mentioned for enlightened generalship and efficiency as commanders of their respective brigades. The