ed his execution in expiation of his crimes if he should fall into the hands of any of our forces. Recently I have received apparently authentic intelligence of another General, by the name of Milroy, who has issued orders in Western Virginia for the payment of money to him by the inhabitants, accompanied by the most savage threats of shooting every recusant, besides burning his house, and threatening similar atrocities against any of our citizens who shall fail to betray their country by giving him prompt notice of the approach of any of our forces. And this subject has also been submitted to the superior military authorities of the United States, with but faint hope that they will evince any disapprobation of the act. Humanity shudders at the appalling atrocities which are being daily multiplied under the sanction of those who have obtained temporary possession of power in the United States, and who are fast making its once fair name a byword of reproach among civilized men. Not even the natural indignation inspired by this conduct should make us, however, so unjust as to attribute to the whole mass of the people who are subjected to the despotism that now reigns with unbridled license in the city of Washington a willing acquiescence in its conduct of the war. There must necessarily exist among our enemies very many, perhaps a majority, whose humanity recoils from all participation in such atrocities, but who cannot be held wholly guiltless while permitting their continuance without an effort at repression. The public journals of the North have been received, containing a proclamation, dated on the first day of the present month, signed by the President of the United States, in which he orders and declares all slaves within ten of the States of the Confederacy to be free, except such as are found within certain districts now occupied in part by the armed forces of the enemy. We may well leave it to the instincts of that common humanity which a beneficent Creator has implanted in the breasts of our fellow-men of all countries to pass judgment on a measure by which several millions of human beings of an inferior race - peaceful and contented laborers in their sphere-are doomed to extermination, while at the same time they are encouraged to a general assassination of their masters by the insidious recommendation "to abstain from violence unless in necessary self-defence." Our own detestation of those who have attempted the most execrable measure recorded in the history of guilty man is tempered by profound contempt for the impotent rage which it discloses. So far as regards the action of this government on such criminals as may attempt its execution, I confine myself to informing you that I shall unless in your wisdom you deem some other course more expedient-deliver to the several State authorities all commissioned officers of the United States that may hereafter be captured by our forces in any of the States embraced in the proclamation, that they may be dealt with in accordance with the laws of those States providing for the punish ment of criminals engaged in exciting servile insurrection. The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to treat as unwilling instruments in the commission of these crimes, and shall direct their discharge and return to their homes on the proper and usual parole. In its political aspect this measure possesses great significance, and to it in this light I invite your attention. It affords to our whole people the complete and crowning proof of the true nature of the designs of the party which elevated to power the present occupant of the Presidential Chair at Washington, and which sought to conceal its purposes by every variety of artful device, and by the perfidious use of the most solemn and repeated pledges on every possible occasion. I extract, in this connection, as a single example, the following declaration, made by President Lincoln under the solemnity of his oath as Chief Magistrate of the United States, on the fourth of March, 1861: "Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a republican administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehensions. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the public speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read: "Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions, according to its own judg ment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend, and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest crimes." Nor was this declaration of the want of power or disposition to interfere with our social system confined to a state of peace. Both before and after the actual commencement of hostilities the President of the United States repeated in formal official communication to the Cabinets of Great Britain and France that he was utterly without constitutional power to do the act which he has just committed, and that in no possible event, whether the secession of these States resulted in the establishment of a separate Confederacy, or in the restoration of the Union, was there any authority by virtue of which he could either re store a disaffected State to the Union by force of arms, or make any change in any of its institutions. I refer especially for verification of, this assertion to the despatches addressed by the Secretary of State of the United States, under direction of the President, to the Ministers of the United States at London and Paris, under date of tenth and twenty-second of April, 1861. The people of this Confederacy, then, cannot fail to receive this proclamation as the fullest vindication of their own sagacity in foreseeing the uses to which the dominant party in the United States intended from the beginning to apply their power; nor can they cease to remember with devout thankfulness that it is to their own vigilance in resisting the first stealthy progress of approaching despotism that they owe their escape from consequences now apparent to the most skeptical. This proclamation will have another salutary effect, in calming the fears of those who have constantly evinced the apprehension that this war might end by some reconstruction of the old Union, or some renewal of close political relations with the United States. These fears have never been shared by me, nor have I ever been able to perceive on what basis they could rest. But the proclamation affords the fullest guarantees of the impossibility of such a result. It has established a state of things which can lead to but one of three possible consequencesthe extermination of the slaves, the exile of the whole white population of the Confederacy, or absolute and total separation of these States from the United States. This proclamation is also an authentic statement by the Government of the United States of its inability to subjugate the South by force of arms, and as such must be accepted by neutral nations, which can no longer find any justification in withholding our just claims to formal recognition. It is also in effect an intimation to the people of the North that they must prepare to submit to a separation, now become inevitable; for that people are too acute not to understand that a restitution of the Union has been rendered forever impossible by the adoption of a measure which, from its very nature, neither admits of retraction nor can coexist with union. Among the subjects to which your attention will be specially devoted during the present session, you will, no doubt, deem the adoption of some comprehensive system of finance as being of paramount importance. The increasing public debt, the great augmentation in the volume of the currency, with its necessary concomitant of extravagant prices for all articles of consumption, the want of revenue from a taxation adequate to support the public credit, all unite in admonishing us that energetic and wise legislation alone can prevent serious embarrassment in our monetary affairs. It is my conviction that the people of the Confederacy will freely meet taxation on a scale adequate to the maintenance of the public credit and the support of their government. When each family is sending forth its most precious ones to meet exposure in camp and death in battle, what ground can there be to doubt the disposition to devote a tithe of its income, and more, if more be necessary, to provide the government with means for insuring the comfort of its defenders? If our enemies submit to an excise on every commodity they produce, and to the daily presence of the tax-gatherer, with no higher motive than the hope of success in their wicked designs against us, the suggestion of an unwillingness on the part of this people to submit to the taxation necessary for the success of their defence is an imputation on their patriotism that few will be disposed to make, and that none can justify. The legislation of your last session, intended to hasten the funding of outstanding treasury notes, has proved beneficial, as shown by the returns annexed to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury; but it was neither sufficiently prompt nor far-reaching to meet the full extent of the evil. The passage of some enactment, carrying still further the policy of that law, by fixing a limitation not later than the first of July next to the delay allowed for funding the notes issued prior to the first of December, 1862, will, in the opinion of the Secretary, have the effect to withdraw from circulation nearly the entire sum issued previous to the last-named date. If to this be added a revenue from adequate taxation, and appropriation of bonds guaranteed proportionately by the seven per cents, as has already been generously proposed by some of them in enactments spontaneously adopted, there is little doubt that we shall see our finances restored to a sound and satisfactory condition, our circulation relieved of the redundancy now productive of so many mischiefs, and our credit placed on such a basis as to relieve us from further anxiety relative to our resources for the prosecution of the war. It is true that at its close our debt will be large; but it will be due to our own people, and neither the interest nor the capital will be exported to distant countries, impoverishing ours for their benefit. On the return of peace the untold wealth which will spring from our soil will render the burthen of taxation far less onerous than is now supposed, especially if we take into consideration that we shall then be free from the large and steady drain of our substance to which we were subjected in the late Union through the instrumentality of sectional legislation and protective tariffs. I recommend to your earnest attention the whole report of the Secretary of the Treasury on this important subject, and trust that your legislation on it will be delayed no longer than may be required to enable your wisdom to devise the proper measures for insuring the accomplishment of the objects proposed. The operations of the War Department have been in the main satisfactory. In the report of the Secretary, herewith submitted, will be found a summary of many memorable successes. They are with justice ascribed in large measure to the to render it, in my opinion, incompatible with the public interests that they should be published with this message. I therefore confine myself to inviting your attention to the information therein contained. reörganization and reënforcement of our armies details embraced in it are of such a nature as under the operation of the enactments for conscription. The wisdom and efficacy of these acts have been approved by results, and the like spirit of unity, endurance, and self-devotion of the people which has hitherto sustained their action, must be relied on to assure their enforcement under the continuing necessities of our situation. The recommendations of the Secretary to this effect are tempered by suggestions for their amelioration, and the subject deserves the consideration of Congress. The report of the Postmaster General shows that during the first postal year under our government, terminating on the thirtieth of June last, our revenues were in excess of those received by the former government in its last postal year, while the expenses were greatly decreased. There For the perfection of our military organization is still, however, a considerable deficit in the reno appropriate means should be rejected, and on venues of the department, as compared with its this subject the opinions of the Secretary merit expenses, and, although the grants already made early attention. It is gratifying to perceive that, from the general treasury will suffice to cover all under all the efforts and sacrifices of war, the liabilities to the close of the fiscal year ending on power and means of the Confederacy for its suc- the thirtieth of June next, I recommend some lecessful prosecution are increasing. Dependence gislation, if any can be constitutionally devised, on foreign supplies is to be deplored, and should, for aiding the revenues of that department during as far as practicable, be obviated by the develop- the ensuing fiscal year, in order to avoid too great ment and employment of internal resources. a reduction of postal facilities. Your attention is The peculiar circumstances of the country, however, render this difficult, and require extraordinary encouragements and facilities to be granted by the government. The embarrassments resulting from the limited capacity of the railroads to afford transportation, and the impossibility of otherwise commanding and distributing the necessary supplies for the armies, render necessary the control of the roads under some general supervision, and resort to the power of impressment under military exigencies. While such powers have to be exercised, they should be guarded by judicious provisions against perversion or abuse, and be, as recommended by the Secretary, under due regulation of law. I specially recommend in this connection some revision of the exemption law of last session. Serious complaints have reached me of the inequality of its operation from eminent and patriotic citizens whose opinions merit great consideration, and I trust that some means will be devised for leaving at home a sufficient local police, without making discriminations, always to be deprecated, between different classes of our citizens. Our relations with the Indians generally continue to be friendly. A portion of the Cherokee people have assumed an attitude hostile to the confederate government; but it is gratifying to be able to state that the mass of intelligence and worth in that nation have remained true and loyal to their treaty engagements. With this exception, there have been no important instances of dissatisfaction among any of the friendly nations and tribes. Dissatisfaction recently manifested itself among certain portions of them, but this resulted from a misapprehension of the intentions of the government in their behalf. This has been removed, and no further difficulty is anticipated. The report of the Secretary of the Navy, herewith transmitted, exhibits the progress made in this branch of the public service since your adjournment, as well as its present condition. The also invited to numerous other improvements in the service recommended in the report, and for which legislation is required. I recommend to the Congress to devise a proper mode of relief to those of our citizens whose property has been destroyed by order of the government in pursuance of a policy adopted as a means of national defence. It is true that full indemnity cannot now be made; but some measure of relief is due to those patriotic citizens who have borne private loss for the public good, whose property in effect has been taken for public use, though not directly appropriated. Our government, born of the spirit of freedom and of the equality and independence of the States, could not have survived a selfish or jealous disposition, making each only careful of its own interest or safety. The fate of the Confederacy, under the blessing of Divine Providence, depends upon the harmony, energy, and unity of the States. It especially devolves on you, their representatives, as far as practicable, to reform abuses, to correct errors, to cultivate fraternity, and to sustain in the people a just confidence in the government of their choice. To that confidence and to the unity and self-sacrificing patriotism hitherto displayed is due the success which has marked the unequal contest, and has brought our country into a condition at the present time such as the most sanguine would not have ventured to predict at the commencement of our struggle. Our armies are larger, better disciplined and more thoroughly armed and equipped than at any previous period of the war; the energies of a whole nation, devoted to the single object of success in this war, have accomplished marvels, and many of our trials have, by a beneficent Providence, been converted into blessings. The magnitude of the perils which we encountered have developed the true qualities and illustrated the heroic character of our people, thus gaining for the Confederacy from its birth a just appreciation from the other nations of the earth. The injuries resulting from the interruption of foreign commerce have received compensation by gang of drunken rebels under command of Colonel the developments of our internal resources. Can- Wade took possession of the Hastings." Then non crown our fortresses that were cast from the followed a scene of plunder and theft never beproceeds of mines opened and furnaces built dur- fore witnessed. They robbed soldiers and pasing the war. Our mountain caves yield much of sengers indiscriminately. They took from your the nitre for the manufacture of powder, and pro- wounded soldiers their blankets, rations, medimise increase of product. From our own foun- cines, and in many instances, their clothing! dries and laboratories, from our own armories and Robbed the officers of their side-arms, overcoats, work-shops, we derive, in a great measure, the hats, etc. The boat of all her freight stores and warlike material, the ordnance and ordnance stores money, and her officers of their personal property. which are expended so profusely in the numerous I demanded of Col. Wade some explanation of his and desperate engagements that rapidly succeed inhuman course; he being so drunk, only made each other. Cotton and woollen fabrics, shoes me an idiotic reply. I then looked round for some and harness, wagons and gun-carriages, are pro- other officer, and discovered Capt. Buford, Gen. duced in daily increasing quantities by the fac- Wheeler's A.A. General, in whom I recognized an tories springing into existence. Our fields, no old acquaintance. I appealed to him; he was longer whitened by cotton that cannot be export- | powerless, from the fact that the whole gang were ed, are devoted to the production of cereals and drunk. He, however, reported the facts to Gen. the growth of stock formerly purchased with the proceeds of cotton. In the homes of our noble and devoted women-without whose sublime sacrifices our success would have been impossible the noise of the loom and the spinning-wheel may be heard throughout the land. With hearts swelling with gratitude, let us, then, join in returning thanks to God, and in besceching the continuance of His protecting care over our cause, and the restoration of peace, with its manifold blessings, to our beloved country. JEFFERSON DAVIS. RICHMOND, January 12, 1863. Doc. 104. AFFAIR AT HARPETH SHOALS, TENN. CHAPLAIN GADDIS'S REPORT. CAMP AT MURFREESBORO, TENN., Major-General Rosecrans, Commanding Depart- SIR: In accordance with your request, I herewith transmit a condensed account of the capture and subsequent destruction of a portion of your transportation by fire, on the Cumberland River, on the thirteenth day of January, 1863, at the head of Harpeth Shoals, thirty miles from Nashville, and thirty-five from Clarksville. I was on the steamer Hastings at the time of her being ordered by the guerrillas to land, and at the request of the captain of the Hastings, the officers and men on board, (near two hundred and sixty wounded,) assumed command. I answered their hail and order by saying, "that we were loaded with wounded, and could not stop." They again ordered us to come to;" and backed their orders by three (3) volleys of musketry, after which I ordered the pilot of the Hastings: "Round the steamer to the shore." This he immediately endeavored to do. The current being swift, the boat yielded slowly, and the enemy again fired two rounds of artillery, one of the balls taking effect on the steamer, seriously wounding one of the men. As soon as the boat struck the steamer that had been captured some two hours previously, "a Wheeler, who authorized him to parole the Hastings on condition that she carry no more supplies for the Federal Government. I accepted the parole. I then took on board the wounded off of the steamer Trio, also from the steamer Parthenia, and had succeeded in obtaining permission to pass on, when they for the first time discovered that the deck of the Hastings was covered with bales of cotton, on which our wounded were lying. Wade instantly ordered me to put ashore all the wounded (over four hundred) that he might burn the cotton, it being theirs by capture, and with them a contraband of war. To move the men again was almost impossible; they had been virtually stripped of every thing-— medicines, rations, clothing; were thirty-five miles from any military post; night coming on; no place of shelter, no place to put our wounded and dying men, save a muddy corn-field; a heavy snow had begun to fall, and in view of all this, and my sympathy for men, who, for eighteen months, had done their duty as true soldiers, and who for days had fought under you, and only ceased when borne from the field, I demanded other terms. I told him I would not move a soul from the boat, etc. All this was reported to Wheeler (at least they said so) and he ordered that I should be held personally responsible for the burning of their cotton on reaching Louisville, under penalty of my return to their lines as a prisoner of war. I deemed the terms mild, under the circumstances, and I immediately accepted them, in which I claim I did my duty. The passengers and soldiers of the Trio and Parthenia were robbed in like manner. After they had done us all the harm they could, barely escaping with our lives, they allowed us to cross the river during the burning of the steamers. While they were preparing to burn, the gunboat "Sidell" hove in sight, and to all appearance made preparations to drive the enemy away. But from some cause or other Van Dorn made no fight, and surrendered the boat without firing a single shot. They then took possession of her, threw over her guns and arms, fired the three boats, and in a short time nothing remained but the charred hulls. On reaching Clarksville, I reported by telegraph to Major Sidell, who ordered me to proceed on as rapidly as possible to Louisville, and report to Generals Boyle or Wright. This I did, and the inclosed papers will explain the final result of the unfortunate affair. Thus hoping that in all this you will not condemn me, I remain your obedient servant, M. P. GADDIS, Chaplain Second Regiment O.V.I. Mr. Spray, a hospital clerk at Nashville, gives the following account of this affair: ON BOARD STEAMER HASTINGS, January 15, 1863. I snatch a few moments from the dreadful scenes that have surrounded us for the past three days, to say that on the twelfth instant, in company with many officers, wounded in the late battle, together with four hundred wounded soldiers, on the steamers Hastings and Trio, I left Nashville to assist in getting the steamers through to Louisville. Before starting I heard several insinuations that the guerillas would resist our passage, but we being on an errand of mercy, thought our mission would be respected and allowed to pass unmolested. No evidences of danger were seen until, approaching Harpeth Shoals, we beheld the smoking hull of the steamer Charter, and several burning houses on the south side of the river. The steamer had been burned by the guerrillas under the notorious Col. Wade, and the houses by Lieut. Van Dorn, of the First Ohio, in charge of the national gunboat Major Sidell. A short distance below was a large fleet of Federal steamers engaged in getting over the shoals, under the protection of the gunboat Sidell. On passing Van Dorn's fleet I hailed him, and inquired as to danger below. He replied: "There is no danger-I have cleaned them out." We passed on, the Trio a mile or so in advance. Near two miles below the gunboat we caught sight of the Trio lying to in a cove opposite the shoals. Knowing that she was short of fuel, we concluded that she was engaged in taking on a supply of wood. On nearing her we saw several mounted soldiers drawn up in line along the shore. As many of them had on Federal overcoats, we thought them to be our cavalry. They hailed us, and ordered us to land. I at once discovered them to be guerrillas, and ordered Capt. Robinson to land. The order was promptly obeyed. The current being strong, the boat did not yield readily to the turn of the pilot, making slow progress in swinging around, causing her to drag slowly down the stream. This caused the guerrillas to think that we were not going to land, and they immediately fired two heavy volleys of musketry, followed by two discharges of six-pound balls, all taking effect on the steamer. Your correspondent, in company with Captain Robinson and Pilot Kilburn, of Covington, was standing on the hurricane-deck when the firing took place. I hailed them, and told them to fire no more, as we were loaded with wounded, and would land as soon as possible. They tried to kill the man at the wheel, who stood bravely at his post, amidst all the fire, until the boat was tied up. On our near approach to them, I hastened down to still the dreadful confusion that the firing had caused. Several ladies were on board, and, be it said to their praise, they behaved like true heroines; no fainting or screaming; all as quiet as could be desired under such circumstances. On my return to the front of the boat, I was met by Col. Wade, who, with a horrible oath, ordered Dr. Waterman, surgeon in charge of the wounded, to take his d-d wounded Yankees ashore, as he would burn the boat, and us, too, unless the order was obeyed. I instantly appealed to him in behalf of the wounded. During this time his followers had come on board, and took full possession of every thing. Here I should like, if I could, to picture out to your readers, and the world at large, the awful scene of pillage and plunder that ensued. All but two or three of them were demoralized by the drink obtained previous to our arrival from the bar of the Trio. I will not attempt to penpicture the scene; language fails, and words are beggars, in attempting to do so. Near one hundred of the thieving, plundering gang, were engaged in rifling every thing from the clerk's office to the chambermaid's room. For a few moments, the stoutest hearts were appalled, and consternation had seized upon all. On passing around, appealing to them to desist, I met their Assistant Adjutant-General, in whom I recognized an old acquaintance, who instantly promised to do all in his power to save the boat, and stop the plundering. He spoke to Col. Wade, and he ordered them off the boat; but, alas, that overshadowing curse of both armies was there, in full possession of human hearts, that might have been more humane, had not the demon spirit of rum hardened their natural sympathies, and unchained their baser passions. In their maddened thirst for plunder, they trampled on and over our poor wounded men, taking their rations, blankets, overcoats, canteens, and even money out of their pockets. Never was there such a scene witnessed. For a time confusion reigned supreme. During the time Dr. Waterman and myself had come to terms with Assistant Adjutant-General Buford, in regard to the passengers. The officers, able and disable, were to be paroled together with the wounded men, but he insisted on burning the boat. We then asked him to spare one boat, and allow us to go on to Clarksville. This he consented to do, upon my entering into a written agreement that the boat should hereafter carry no other supplies, or do any other work for the Government, other than sanitary work. In addition to this, the writer was to burn, or have burned, one hundred and eleven bales of cotton that were on the deck of the Hastings, upon our arrival at Louisville. The terms were severe, and Wade would listen to no other; and on my failing to comply with these terms, the men must be put ashore, and left without covering, rations, or medicines, badly wounded, and thirty-five miles from any military post. Military rule and the stern dictates thereof may condemn our conclusion, yet the claims of suffering humanity, under such circumstances, would com |