"Say to General Sherman that Georgia has entered into a confederation with her Southern sisters for the maintenance of the same sovereignty of each, severally, which she claims for herself, and her public faith thus pledged shall never be violated by me. Come weal or come woe, the State of Georgia shall never, by my consent, withdraw from the confederation in dishonor. She will never make separate terms with the enemy which may free her territory from invasion and leave her confederates in the lurch."

Such was the decisive action of a man in high official station charged with the honor of his people, after the advancing and overwhelming forces of the public enemy had to a great extent placed it beyond himself and his confederates to save the State from widespread ruin.

After the surrender of the Confederate armies, and not before, Governor Brown surrendered to the Federal General Wilson, commanding in this State, and accepted from him his parol and retired to the mansion at Milledgeville. His parol was soon after violated by an actual arrest at his own home by Federal soldiers and taken from him. He was hurried away to Washington City and imprisoned by armed force without delay, without the privilege of conferring with his family and against his earnest protest and claim of personal liberty on his parol from the Federal commander.

He was afterwards released by President Johnson and allowed to return home, where the State was under entire military occupation, and when he was divested of all military power and prevented by armed force from exercising any civil authority in the State; and therefore he resigned the office that had been by overpowering force wrenched from him; and the cause of independence for which he had so long struggled, and the hope of Constitu

tional liberty as he had understood it in the nature and history of the Government and the express terms of the Federal Constitution; retired to the pursuit of private business, as did the civil officers of the State, as well as the surviving officers and soldiers of the Confederate armies.

FLIGHT FROM MILLEDGEville.

The approach of the Federal army to the State Capital while the Legislature was in session produced a panic and a stampede of that body and caused the sudden and hasty departure of the State officials, including the Governor, his family, and staff. The enemies of Governor Brown were busy in circulating reports to damage him in the estimation of the people. It was charged against him, after his four years of labor and unremitted efforts in the cause of liberty and independence, that he proved to be selfish in this emergency, even in the small matter of taking care of his private effects to the neglect of those of the State, which might have been saved, but which he left to fall into the hands of the enemy. The late Gen. Richard Taylor, brother-in-law to President Davis, and holding high military rank under him, having referred to this criticism in his book entitled "Destruction and Reconstruction," has given it sufficient importance to call for the publication of the facts and truths of the removal from Milledgeville.

To this end the author has solicited a statement from Gen. Ira R. Foster, the laborious, efficient, and indefatigable Quartermaster-General of the State during the entire war; which statement, descriptive of the situation and showing the criticism referred to to be without merit, is here given :

CUTHBERT, GA., December 19, 1880.

“GEN. IRA R. FOSTER, Warrenton, Ala.

"Sir:-In the late Gen. Richard Taylor's book entitled 'Destruction and Reconstruction,' purporting to be his personal experiences in the late war,' describing his visit to Georgia and the confusion produced by General Sherman's march through the State, reference is made to a criticism upon ExGovernor Brown, then attributed to his enemies, to the effect that, in leaving the capitol with his family, he disregarded the State's property in order to take care of his own effects; that he even brought off his 'cow and cabbages.' He also refers in terms calculated to disparage the State troops. These matters derive importance from the high character of the gifted author, thus putting them in permanent print. I call your attention to them as the Quartermaster-General of the State, and ask a statement that will present the facts and truths as they were in that exciting period, in order to do justice to this State represented by her Executive.

"Respectfully your obt. servant and friend,

"HON. HERBERT FIELDER:

"HERBERT FIELDER."

WARRENTON, ALA., January 30, 1880.

"Dear Sir:-I have received your letter of the 19th ult., calling my attention to the rumors that were circulated at the time of General Sherman's advance to the sea by way of Milledgeville, to the effect that Governor Brown in leaving the capitol with his family to escape the Federal troops, disregarded the State's property in order to take care of his own, bringing away his cow and cabbages.'

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In answer to your request for my statement in regard thereto, I have to say-I often heard these reports, and knowing them to be untrue I as often positively contradicted them. I was there in person, and as QuartermasterGeneral of the State had immediate and entire supervision of the work; I have never seen more interest and anxiety manifested, or greater efforts made to accomplish any object than was shown both by Governor Brown and his wife in their endeavors to secure that property from the ravages of the opposing army.

"It is well known that Governor Brown owned no property in Milledgeville at the time, and that he had no private interest to care for and protect except his wife and children, a span of horses and carriage, a fine cow presented to his wife by a friend. These were removed only in time to save capture by the Federal troops.

"I feel it to be my duty to give a short history of some of the scenes at Milledgeville shortly after it was made known there that General Sherman with his army had left Atlanta, and was on his way to the sea.

"The Legislature was in session, Governor Brown and family were occupying the Executive Mansion, and the city was thronged with visitors. When

hearing of the movements of the enemy the whole people became excited, reaching almost to a panic. In the afternoon of that day the Legislature promptly adjourned, the members sought their respective homes as best they could, some taking passage on railroad trains, others in carriages and on horseback, thereby draining the city and vicinity of wagon transportation. “Immediately after being assured of the enemy's advance, Governor Brown issued orders to me, as Quartermaster-General of the State, to secure and protect as best I could the most valuable of the State's perishable property in and around the seat of government. I at once took in the situation, and was assured that nothing short of Herculean efforts could handle the vast quantity of goods and chattels at the State House, Executive Mansion, Penitentiary, Armory, Arsenal, and in the quartermaster's and commissariat's store-houses, in so short a time, with my limited facilities of transportation. "Upon consideration Governor Brown and myself agreed that the Lunatic Asylum afforded the safest and in many respects the most appropriate depository for our immense stores.

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"I, having only two or three wagons and teams at that place, immediately put them, with all others I could command from the citizens by hire, impressment, or otherwise, to removing the property to that place, taking the most valuable first. I continued to do so with all possible rapidity for several hours, until I became convinced that from the long distance to travel it would be utterly impossible with my limited means to remove all the goods to the asylum in the time allotted me, and so reported to Governor Brown. Upon further consultation we concluded it would be safer and a wiser policy as well as more expeditious, to haul the goods to and load them on cars (the railroad depot being much nearer than the asylum), keep the cars ready to move on short notice, and to remove them to southwest Georgia. We then had an engine and several cars at the depot, and others were ordered and supplied immediately. The removal to and loading on the cars was commenced and continued day and night with all the energy and rapidity possible for man to use.

"Very soon after I began hauling goods to the depot I discovered that, from the shortness of the distance to that place, it required more men to load and unload the wagons in order to keep the teams rapidly moving, and so reported to Governor Brown, assuring him that the deficiency could not be supplied for either love or money. Whereupon he informed me the requisite number could be furnished in a few minutes, as he was then preparing pardons for most of the penitentiary convicts, who would be properly equipped and put in the field under General Wayne as soon as I could dispense with their service. But the remainder of the convicts, about ten or a dozen, composed of life-time prisoners and the most noted desperadoes, would be sent to lower Georgia under heavy guard, as he did not think it prudent to leave any within the walls of the penitentiary to be released by General Sherman and turned loose against us. In a short time, therefore, a large

number of ex-convicts headed by the noted Doctor Roberts reported for duty, and by their timely and efficient aid we were enabled to accomplish our great undertaking.

"The removal of the property in and around the Executive Mansion was the last in order. Looking around to ascertain what should be taken away, I discovered a luxuriant lot of collards in the garden; and without the knowledge of Governor Brown or his wife I ordered Aunt Celia, an old colored cook, to cut and bring them to where the wagons were being loaded. I designed to have the last cabbage cut and put on the train if time would permit, knowing the Governor's family would need part of them while refugeeing from place to place, and in part for the use of my own family then camped on the line of railroad at Dawson, whither they had gone after fleeing from Atlanta before General Sherman's fierce march. But not for Governor Brown's and my own family alone did I wish to save and bring away the cabbages. The greater part of them I desired and hoped to give to the several hundred poor, homeless, destitute exiles, consisting of the widows and orphans of slain Georgia soldiers; families of brave ones still at the front, aged men and women, and not a few of our noble sons who had long before volunteered and gone forth in the cause of the South and, after much suffering and many hard battles, had returned diseased, maimed, and helpless, to the care and protection of those for whom they had fought, had been driven from their homes in Atlanta and vicinity by order of General Sherman and left on line of railroad to Macon and below there, and who had been gathered up and taken to a place of refuge near Dawson.

"There, by order of Governor Brown, I had erected about one hundred cabins in which they were sheltered, protected, and fed at the expense of the State, under the immediate supervision of Milton A. Candler, who did his whole duty in their behalf.

"I also discovered on the premises the fine milch cow alluded to, and advised Mrs. Brown to have her shipped on a stock car, as she would be of great service to her children, and as by leaving her she would be stolen or slaughtered by the Federal soldiers. Mrs. Brown assented and the cow was driven to the train and placed on the car.

war.

"As we were loading the last wagons with furniture we received a dispatch that the enemy's cavalry were making rapid advances toward the Central railroad between Macon and Milledgeville; and this reminded us to be up and off lest our entire train might be captured and we made prisoners of The loading of the wagons was about completed when I discovered the small pile of cabbages cut by Celia lying in the yard and had them thrown on top of the furniture, leaving at least nine tenths in the garden uncut. The wagons off in double-quick time and with wonderful dispatch unloaded on cars; steam being up we left immediately and made the trip to Macon in perhaps shorter time than any engine had ever done before.

"On reaching Macon, where a portion of the State troops were stationed, we