248 



CONFEDEKATE STATES. 



fore stated, he shall call for those between the age of 

 thirty- five, and any other age less than forty-five; Pro- 

 vided, that nothing herein contained shall be under- 

 stood as repealing or modifying any part of the act to 

 which this is amendatory, except as nerein expressly 

 stated ; and Provided further, that those called out un- 

 der this act, and the act to which this is an amendment, 

 shall be first and immediately ordered to fill to their 

 maximum number the companies, battalions, squad- 

 rons, and regiments from the respective States at the 

 time the act to further provide for the public defence, 

 approved 16th April, 1862, was passed; and the sur- 

 plus, if any, shall be assigned to organizations formed 

 from each State since the passage of that act, or placed 

 in new organizations, to be offered by the State having 

 such residue, according to the laws thereof, or dis- 

 posed of as now provided by law ; Provided, that the 

 President is authorized to suspend the execution of this, 

 or the act to which this is an amendment, in any local- 

 ity where he may find it impracticable to execute the 

 same; and that in such localities, and during such 

 suspension, the President is authorized to receive 

 troops into the Confederate service under any of the 

 acts passed by the Confederate Congress prior to the 

 passage of the act further to provide for the public de- 

 fence, approved 16th of April, 1862. 



On the 8th of October President Davis, in a 

 Message to Congress, relative to incompetent 

 army officers, stated that numerous regiments 

 and companies had been so reduced by the cas- 

 ualties of war, by sickness and other causes, as 

 to be comparatively useless under the existing 

 organization. There were companies in the 

 army in which the number of officers exceeded 

 that of the privates present for duty, and regi- 

 ments in which the number of such privates 

 did not exceed that which was required for a 

 single effective company. 



Such were the measures by which the Con- 

 federate Government succeeded in obtaining 

 men for its armies during 1862. It was equally 

 deficient at the beginning of the year, in the 

 munitions of war. When the new levies came 

 forward, at the call of the President at the be- 

 ginning of the year, the Ordnance Department 

 had not the arms for them. The Government 

 issued a call upon the people for their shot guns 

 as follows : 



HEADQUARTERS ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, ) 

 RICHMOND, Va., March 28, 1862. J 

 This department is desirous of purchasing arms from 

 those parties having good double barrel shot guns, 

 sporting rifles, or any kind of weapon that will be use- 

 ful in the field. These arms will be fairly appraised on 

 their delivery in Richmond, and payments will be 

 promptly made. Agents heretofore collecting State 

 arms for this department are requested to collect and 

 forward these private arms as promptly as possible. 

 0. DB1MOCK, Colonel of Ordnance of Virginia. 



Of the fifty-nine regiments of infantry, one 

 regiment of cavalry, and eleven cavalry battal- 

 ions sent into the field from Tennessee, the 

 Confederate Government had found arms for 

 only fifteen thousand of them, and the remain- 

 der were furnished with the shot guns obtained 

 from the citizens. 



Official calls were also made by the Govern- 

 ment for sulphur, lead, and saltpetre. The ad- 

 vance in the price of the latter article caused 

 the Secretary of War to issue the following 

 order : 



CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, ) 

 WAR DEPARTMENT, February 4, 1862. j 



Bands of speculators have combined to monopolize 

 all the saltpetre to be found in the country, and thus 

 force from the Government exorbitant prices for an ar- 

 ticle indispensable to the national defence. The de- 

 partment has hitherto paid prices equal to four times 

 the usual peace rates, in order to avoid recourse to 

 impressment, if possible. This policy has only served 

 to embolden the speculators to fresh exactions. It is 

 now ordered that all military commanders in the Con- 

 federate States impress all saltpetre now or hereafter 

 to be found within their districts, except such as are in 

 the hands of the original manufacturers, or of Govern- 

 ment agents and contractors, paying therefore forty 

 cents per pound, and no more. The price fixed is the 

 highest rate at which contracts have been made, and 

 leaves very large profits to the manufacturer. 



J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War. 



The deficiency of light artillery was so great 

 that the Government issued the following no- 

 tice: 



The Ordnance Bureau of the Confederate States solic- 

 its the use of such bells as can be spared during the 

 war, for the purpose of providing light artillery for the 

 public defence. While copper is abundant, the supply 

 of tin is deficient to convert the copper into bronze. 

 Bells contain so much tin that 2,400 IDS. weight of bell 

 metal, mixed with the proper quantity of copper, will 

 suffice for a field battery of six pieces. Those who are 

 willing to devote their bells to this patriotic purpose 

 will receive receipts for them, and the bells will be 

 replaced, if required, at the close of the war, or they 

 will be purchased at fair prices. 



Bells may be directed as follows : Richmond Arse- 

 nal, Richmond, Va. ; Fay etteville Arsenal, Fayetteville, 

 N. C. ; Charleston Arsenal, Charleston, S. C. ; Augusta 

 Arsenal, Augusta, Ga. ; Mount Vernon Arsenal, Mount 

 Vernon, Ala. ; Columbus Depot, Columbus, Miss. ; At- 

 lanta Depot, Atlanta, Ga. ; Savannah Depot, Savannah, 

 Ga. ; Knoxville Depot, Knoxville, Ga. ; Baton Rouge 

 Arsenal, Baton Rouge, La. ; Montgomery Depot, Mont- 

 gomery, Ala. 



The Government will pay all charges to these places, 

 and receipts will be promptly returned to the proper 

 parties. 



Persons and congregations placing their bells at the 

 service of the Government, are requested to send a 

 statement of the fact, with a description and weight of 

 the bell, to the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, at 

 Richmond, for record in the War Department. 



At the same time Gen. Beauregard, in com- 

 mand at the Southwest, issued an appeal to the 

 people to contribute their church bells to be 

 manufactured into cannon. In response to 

 these calls, the stewards of St. Francis street 

 Methodist church, in Mobile, met and voted to 

 send their bell to the Government foundery. 

 The Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal 

 churches in Marietta, Ga., sent forward their 

 bells. The Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, 

 Cumberland Presbyterian, and Baptist churches 

 in Huntsville, Ala., sent forward their bells, 

 weighing 4,259 pounds. These were consider- 

 ed sufficient to make two batteries of six guns 

 each. The church bells of Fredericksburg, 

 weighing in the aggregate 4,500 pounds, were 

 tendered to the Government. The planters of 

 Louisiana sent forward the bells used on their 

 plantations. The public prints contained notes 

 like the following : 



MESSRS. EDITORS : I see Gen. Beauregard has called 

 for bells, to be manufactured into cannon. Cannot the 



