Duke University Libraries 
 
 Message of John 
 Conf Pam 12mo #254 
 
 DTTDTD143Z 
 
MESSAGE 
 
 Of 
 
 GOV. JOHN J. 'TT' 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1861 
 
 
 Exec jtive Offigb, ) 
 jacUeon, Mis*., N II. S 
 
 of Ike Senate and Rouse of Rc% rcsentalivcs : — 
 
 The two years which have elapsed sincelhe laut regulai 
 sion of the Legislature, have been marked by events of more 
 vital i r portance to the people, of Mississippi 
 transpired sinee the formation of thcfc§'ate. I 
 
 The Federal Union, which was vainly stamp- 
 has been dissolved by the withdrawal of eleten of the sovereign 
 States which composed it. For the statement of the causey which 
 led to this separation, and the par- which Mississippi acted, I must 
 refer you to the legislation oi the Convention of the people of thn 
 State, and the several extra sessions of the Legislature, which! 
 deemed it my duty to convoke. The wisdom «•«<! necessity of thre 
 action have ceased to be subjects of debate 
 seceded Slates. 
 
 With a unanimity unparalleled in the history of republican gov- 
 ernments, the people of this State have decided that the adminis- 
 M— 1 
 
 bevwaen citizens of 
 
tuition of the Federal Government in the hands of Mr. Lincoln, 
 would be destructive of the ends for which governments are in- 
 etituted among men, and have instituted a new government, lay- 
 ing its foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers 
 in such form as to them seems most likely to effect their happiness 
 and safety. 
 
 Whether we shall be permitted to exercise this unquestionable 
 and inestimable right of sovereign States, or be subjugated and 
 governed at the will of a Northern despot, is the grave question 
 which is now being debated on bloodier fields, and with larger 
 armies than this continent has heretofore known'; and until it is 
 decided in our favor, which is the only question worthy the at- 
 tention of public or private men, for if decided against us, all for 
 which freemen should wish to live is lost to us and our children 
 forever. 
 
 Then to place Mississippi in the best condition to exert her full 
 force in rendering this conflict successful, is certainly the first 
 duty, and I doubt not will be the chief aim of the present Legis« 
 lature. 
 
 The most obvious means of accomplishing this, is the adoption 
 of means to render more comfortable and healthy, and conse- 
 quently more efficient, the volunteers who are now bravely bear- 
 ing all the hardships incident to a soldier's life. A more regular 
 and efficient mode of supplying them with clothing is imperative- 
 ly demanded. 
 
 The law enacted at the last session of the Legislature, author* 
 izing the Boards of Police of the several counties to levy a tax 
 sufficient to provide clothing for the companies of their respective 
 counties, operates unequally, and in some instances oppressively. 
 Some counties with but little wealth have furnished from ten to 
 fifteen companies, while others, with more than double the wealth 
 have furnished but two or three. The poorer counties are thus 
 required to bear more than a just ratio in supporting the war. I 
 suggest the propriety of providing clothing at the expense of the 
 State, thus placing the burthen of sustaining the troops on the 
 property which they are defending ; or if deemed best, the State 
 could be reimbursed for this oikiay, by receiving from the Con- 
 federate States the commutation money due the troops and thus 
 only act as an agent to facilitate the conversion of the commutation 
 money into suitable clothing. 
 
 Tbe provisions of the law cf 1887, giving to members of volun- 
 teer companies nine dollars per annum, was extended by ordinance 
 of the Convention, to all volunteers who should be mustered into 
 the service of the State under the military ordinance of said Con- 
 vention. Many companies having entered the Confederate ser- 
 vice without being mustered into the service of the State, have 
 not received the benefit of this provision and complain of this dis- 
 crimination against them. I respectfully suggest the propriety 
 
Fjooj-e m 
 
 and justice of placing all on an equa\ footing in this respect, and 
 giving to companies which have gone directly into the Confeder- 
 ate service similar advantages with' those mustered into the ser- 
 vice of the State. 
 
 When this matter was under corii'deration in the Convention 
 no other mode of raising volunteers lhan that provided for in the 
 ordinance referred to, was thought j, and this accounts for the 
 seeming partiality. If any discriminition is made, it should bs fo 
 favor of, and not against volunteers w|o enlist for the war. 
 
 From the report of the Adjutant GWral herewith transmitted, 
 it will be seen that Mississippi has no[ in the Confederate service 
 twenty-two regiments and one battalih of infantry, one regiment 
 and fourteen companies of calvary aH eleven companies of ar- 
 tillery, amounting in the aggregate tubout 23,000; the number 
 not definitely stated, for the reason th several of the regiments 
 have no muster rollson file at the Ad tant General's office. To 
 this estimate should be added a consi rable number of indepen- 
 dent companies tendered directly to t: Confederate Authorities, 
 and ordered to Missouri, Kentucky o Virginia, probably fifteen 
 companies, making the number over ioOO. 
 
 When this number shall be furthJ increased by the thir-y 
 companies enlisted for the war, now ileamps in the State, ind 
 the companies now rapidly sending iatheir tenders of service 
 under the recent call of Major Generl A. S. Johnston for ten 
 thousand troops, the aggregate will exfed 35,000, which is pro- 
 bably a larger proportion of the adult lale population, than any 
 State or nation has sent forth to war inlodern times ; and when 
 it is remembered that not one of all the| thousands has been 
 quired by law to enter the service, or < 
 save their patriotic desire to stand bet 
 enemies, Mississippi may well feel prouc f her volunteer de; 
 ers and cheerfully bear any burthen cessary to cherish aud 
 sustain them. 
 
 In the month of August last, the eigh egiments ordered to be 
 raised by the ordinance of the Conventii , adopted 23d of Janu- 
 ary, 1861, were completed. 
 
 Believing that the Federal Governme would invade the sea- 
 shore and cotton shipping ports of the south this fall, and that 
 the Confederate Government would requ e a large force to meet 
 that invasion, I ordered the eight regiment into camps of instruc- 
 tion, that they might be inured to camp Ire, get over the diseases 
 incident to camps, be instructed and driili, and thus rendered tit 
 representatives of Mississippi on the batpfield, and capable of 
 doing credit to themselves and service to lie Confederacy. I ex- 
 pected that they would go from these carts into the Confederate 
 service, and the result has verified my exfpctalions, and they have 
 all been mustered into that service, and In thousand more called 
 for by the Confederate authorities (o refcl the desperate efforts 
 
 strained by any fore 
 ten the State and 
 
now being made to subjugate the seceding States. Having these 
 troops in camps, I was enabled promptly to respond to the urgent 
 calls of Generals Johnston and Polk for help in Kentucky, where 
 four of the regiments hae been sent, and to meet the demand 
 for more troops on the sa shore, although many ot my fellow- 
 citizens have differed wth me in opinion, in regard to the neces- 
 sity or propriety of this teasure. Now when the plans ot the 
 enemy are more fully deeloped, my onl) regret in the matter is, 
 that Mississippi did not ave more troops better drilled and better 
 equipped, ready to meet ie hosts of enemies now threatening her 
 on the North and on thfSouth. 
 
 To facilitate forming nd sustaining these camps of instruction, 
 the Brigadier Genera were furnished with Treasury Notes 
 and required to convas their brigadier districts, and exchange 
 the note?, if practical)!, for money, and buy camp equipage, 
 provisions, and arms ■ every description, which could be made 
 available for military nrposes. Double-barrel shot guns and 
 hunting rifles were thuobtained to the number of three or four 
 thousand, and are no^being altered or repaired in this city and 
 to Aberdeen. Many f them have already been sent to the 
 tk>ops in Kentucky anio those in camp at Enterprise. All other 
 sources of supply of ;ms having failed, I resorted to this as a 
 matter of necessity, Hieving that should we not be able to get 
 better arms before thenemy came, our volunteers would be able 
 to exchange them foretter after their first battle. 
 
 The Convention othe State in January last, authorized and 
 provided for the issuu;of one million of Treasury notes or bonds, 
 to be sold and the joceeds used in the defense of the State.-— 
 Fihding it impossible > effect the sale of a sufficient amount of these 
 notes for gold and sibr, to meet the heavy expenses incident te 
 raising and providingin outfit for the large number of troops re- 
 quired from this Stat I have exercised a discretion which I be- 
 lieve is given me by ic ordinance, and caused these notes to be 
 used as money in thepurchase of arms, accoutrements, equipage 
 and supplies which \*re necessary for the defence of the State. 
 in thus acting, I deeied that I was carrying out the spirit of the 
 ordinance, and effectig the manifest purpose and intention of the 
 Convention in the on/ manner practicable. 
 
 The financial conation of the State, requires and will doubU 
 less receive your mat earnest consideration. How best to meet 
 (he requirements of he Confederate and State Government, for 
 the necessary funds o defray the extraordinary expenses of the 
 present war, is a quetion which has, and will continue to engage 
 the attention of both Confederate and State Legislatures during 
 the war, 
 
 Some well digested financial scheme is now the most pressing 
 want of the country. The people of this State dependent almost 
 
entirely on the sale of cotton for money, having no large cities 
 whose capital is accumulated, and no bank, and having spent the 
 ready money on hand at the commencement of hostilities, in fitting 
 out their sons for the field, will be peculiarly embarrassed in pay. 
 ing their taxes, unless some plan can be devised by which cotton 
 can be converted into the means of payment. 
 
 If this can be done, then all trouble on this subject vanishes, 
 and the Confederate Government might double the tax, and it 
 would be paid as cheerfully as the most moderate State tax was 
 ever paid; but unless cotton can be thus exchange*, my deliberate 
 opinion is that the present tax cannot be paid. Various plans for 
 effecting this object have been presented to the country, none of 
 which seem to have met with general approbation. One which 
 appears to be favored at Richmond, is to induce the banks to ad- 
 vance their notes on cotton and other produce. If the banks 
 would consent to this, it seems to me, liable to two very serious 
 objections, First, That the people would be required topay large 
 sums as interest for the use of the notes of banks, which do not 
 redeem them uith specie. Second, that after the Government 
 shall have received and paid out this paper currency and the country 
 flooded with bank paper, what guarantee is offered that the interest 
 paid by the people will be the only loss sustained by them in the 
 transaction, and that the Bank paper thus put in circulation will be 
 nnally redeemed. If we must rely on a paper currency, during 
 the continuance of the blockade, which I believe is admitted by 
 all, would it not be both cheaper and safer for the Confederate 
 Government to make that paper currency by issuing Treasury 
 notes to the full amount of the wants of the Government ; the Leg. 
 islatures of the several States might materially aid in giving these 
 notes a continued currency by making them receivable at the State 
 Treasury, for all State dues, and the tax for their ultimate pay. 
 isent be collected on the raising of the blockade ; and if necessary, 
 it might be made double or treble the present rate, and it would 
 be less burthensome and more cheerfully paid. I respectfully sug- 
 gest the propriety of an early consideration of this grave subject 
 % the Legislature, and that such instructions be given to the 
 members of the Confederate Congress from this State, as the as- 
 fienibled representatives of the people, coming fresh from them, 
 and informed fully of their present condition, may deem best cal- 
 •ulated to promote the success of our cause, and interest of the 
 •tate ; with this assurance, however, to the Confederate States Con- 
 gress, assembled at Richmond, that Mississippi will, to the full ex- 
 tent of her power and means, strive to make successful any plan 
 Wnich may be adopted by the Confederate Congress. 
 
 Let the Confederate Government bo assured that the patient 
 fortitude of the people at home, to bear any and all sacrifices ne- 
 cessary for a successful prosecution of this war, is equal to the 
 daring heroism of our troops in the field, Jinx' ' 
 
6 
 
 duct this struggle to a glorious termination, and dictate terms of 
 peace, without abating one jot or tittle of our just rights. 
 
 Our people may well endure the privations of a few years of 
 war, consoled by the reflection, that for them, with returning peace, 
 comes renewed prosperity : while to our foes, no peace can restore 
 their former prosperity, when bootless and baffled they are driven 
 back to survey the ruin brought on their country by their own 
 folly. They might well be addressed in the language of the veiled 
 Prophet to his deluded followers, "Ye would be dupes and victims, 
 and ye are. 
 
 At the commencement of hostilities between the two sections 
 of the United States, a company of volunteers took possession of 
 the Federal property on Ship Island. At the suggestion of the 
 Military Board, the perishable portton of the property was order- 
 ed to be sold, and tho net proceeds, amounting to something over 
 nine hundred dollars, turned over to Block, McAfee & Co., of New 
 Orleans, who were then purchasing powder and other munitions of 
 war for the State, and has been accounted for in their account 
 current with the State, 
 
 Some complaints have been made to me of inconvencies result- 
 ing from the absence of civil officers, who have enlisted as volun- 
 teers. Believing that no power has been conferred on the Gov- 
 ernor to declare or fill vacancies in such cases, I have taken no 
 actio;, and now refer it to your wisdom to devise whatever reme- 
 dy may be deemed eipedient. 
 
 For a detailed account of the expenditures of the State Govern- 
 ment for the last two years, I refer you to the reports of the Audi- 
 tor and Treasurer, now being prepared. 
 
 A very large proportion of these expenditures have been incur- 
 red for munitions of war, most of which have been turned over to 
 the Confederate Government, with troops sent from this State, and 
 are claimed and admitted to be advances from the State to the 
 Confederate Government, accounts for which, amounting to over 
 three hundred thousand dollars, were sent to Richmond in August 
 last, and seventy.four thousand audited and paid in Confederate 
 Treasury notes; and a recent letter from the Treasurer of the Con- 
 federate States, informs me that the balance is now being Audited 
 and will shortly be settled. I have ordered a further account to be 
 taken, of advances in munitions of war and provisions, made sfnce 
 August, to be sent on to Richmond, which will amount to several 
 hundred thousand more. 
 
 For a full report of all munitions of war and provisions thus 
 turned over to the Confederate Government, I respectfully refer 
 you to the reports of the Quarter-Master General and Chief; of 
 Ordnance. 
 
 At the last regular session of the Legislature an appropriation 
 of ten thousand dollars was made for repairing and painting the 
 Capitol. Failing to get the painting contracted for at prices 
 
which I thought the Stat© ought to pay, no contract for that por- 
 tion of the work was made. Contracts for repairing the stone 
 work and porticos, and for repairing the roof were entered into, 
 and a portion of the work done. The stone work at each end of 
 the portico has been, braced with bars of iron to prevent any of 
 the stones falling ; and the roof repaired thoroughly. All the 
 work done amounts to but a few hundred dollars, and that has not 
 been paid lor the reason that the contractors volunteered and left 
 for the war before the work was completed. 
 
 The Ordinance of the Convention creating a Military Board, 
 and giving to it power to prescribe rules and regulations for the 
 government of the troops of this State, provided that such action 
 of the Board should be subject to the approval of the Convention 
 or the Legislature, when the Convention should have finally ad- 
 journed. At the last called session of the Legislature a full 
 transcript of all the action ef the Board was sent to the House of 
 Representatives, and I presume is now with the papers of the 
 unfinished business of that session, and I respectfully call the sub- 
 ject to the consideration of the present Legislature ; aftd herewith 
 transmit a printed copy of the orders of said Board, at its earlier 
 and most important sessions. The main purpose for which this 
 Board was created, the organizing and putting troops in the field 
 having been accomplished, a loss expAnelvo au<l l« e o complicated 
 system for the administration of the Military affairs of the State 
 might be devised. 
 
 It is my painful duty to inform you that Col. E. R. Burt, Audi- 
 tor of Public Accounts, fell mortally wounded at the battle of 
 Leesburg, while gallantly leading a Regiment of Mississippi's 
 brave sons to one of the most brilliant victories which has crown- 
 ed our arms during the war. While we honor the brave dead, 
 and feel that his deeds have shed lustre on the State of Missis- 
 sippi, and acknowledge that his life was sacrificed in rendering 
 the most valuable service which a citizen can perform for a free 
 people, repelling invaders who seek to enslave them, would it not 
 be well for the State to remember that those who depended on 
 hiin for the cherishing care of a father and husband, are left 
 with us, and may need assistance which he can give no more ? 
 For these reasons I recommend that such provision be made by 
 the State for the family as their circumstances may be found to 
 require. 
 
 The magnitude and duration of the war in which we are en- 
 gaged, I fear, have not been fully appreciated, The vast inter- 
 ests involved exceed anything contended for by armies in modern 
 times. The North, contending for the absolute control of the 
 hundreds of millions of the teeming annual Svealth of Southern 
 fields, will not b& easily driven from their pretensions to the right 
 to plunder us, and will doubtless submit to any sacrifices so long 
 as hope remains of so rich a conquest. While the Southern 
 
8 
 
 States battling in defense of property, honor, life, all for which 
 freemen should wish to live, cannot abandon the conflict no matter 
 what sacrifices may be required to be made in its continuance. 
 We must triumph or perish ! Let the legislative action of the 
 State speak this to our frauds and foes as the action of our troops 
 on the field has spoken if, and the conflict may be shortened and 
 victory will be insured. 
 
 I canno* in justice, close this Message without paying a heart- 
 felt tribute to the patrjj&ic. elf. sacrificing devotion exhibited by 
 the women of >pi. If our brave defenders are supplied 
 
 with clothing sufficient to keep She field in the winter campaign, 
 the country will be iw ; it to the patient toil of the daugh. 
 
 ters of the South; 
 
 the God who re ,.m I- virtue and defends the right, blest 
 them and shield those for vhom they have toiled. 
 
 JOHN J. PETTUS. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H8.5