KENTUCKY. 



before the war, members of the great American Union, 

 and the people thereof are citizens all subject to the 

 Constitution and laws of the United States. 



4. That the inaugural address and message of Gor. 

 Bramlette (see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA, 1863) to the 

 present General Assembly, so far as the same treat 

 of our Federal relations, reflect truly the sentiments 

 of the Union people of Kentucky, are approved by 

 the present General Assembly, and are recommend- 

 ed to the patriotic consideration of the American 

 people. 



On Feb. 24th Congress passed an act direct- 

 ing that all able-bodied male colored persons 

 between twenty and forty-five, resident in the 

 United States, should be enrolled and form a 

 part of the national forces. When a slave of a 

 loyal master should be drafted, his master should 

 have a certificate and the bounty of one hundred 

 dollars, and the slave should be free. Under 

 this act of Congress the enrolment was com- 

 menced in the State, and the Governor, on 

 March IGth, issued the following proclamation: 



FRANKFORT, March 15th, 1864. 

 To tJie People of Kentucky : 



FELLOW-CITIZENS : In view of the disturbance of the 

 popular mind, produced by the enrolment of slaves 

 for the army in Kentucky, it is deemed prudent to 

 make the following suggestions for the benefit and 

 guidance of the loyal people of Kentucky : Your in- 

 dignation should not move you to commit acts of vio- 

 lence, nor to unlawful resistance. Standing as we 

 have stood, and will ever stand, "for the Constitu- 

 tion, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws," 

 we must repel the efforts of rebellion to overthrow 

 our Government, by our gallant soldiers in the field, 

 and meet and correct unjust or unconstitutional legis- 

 lation by legitimate appeals to the constituted tri- 

 bunals of the Government; and through the ballot- 

 box displace, in the constituted modes, those who 

 pervert or abuse the trusts committed to them. This 

 is the only true mode of maintaining " the Constitu- 

 tion, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws." 



The mere act of enrolling the names of slaves does 

 not affect any right of the citizen. No draft has been 

 ordered, nor do we know that a draft will be ordered. 

 It may or it may not. We should abide by and main- 

 tain the law, and pursue in the modes provided the 

 remedy it affords. If any violence or wrong to the 

 person or property of the citizen be committed by 

 any officer or soldier, against the known laws of the 

 land, make your "accusation" in the mode pre- 

 scribed by law ; and, if the commanding officer re- 

 fuses or neglects to use his utmost endeavors to arrest 

 the officer or soldier under his command so accused, 

 and hand him or them over to the civil magistrate for 

 trial, when officially advised of the facts, the Execu- 

 tive of the State will prefer charges and demand a 

 court-martial. In the Union, under the Constitution, 

 and in accordance with law, assert and urge your 

 rights. It is our duty to obey the law until it is de- 

 clared, by judicial decision, to be unconstitutional. 

 The citizen, whose property may be taken under it 

 for public use, will be entitled, under the imperative 

 mandate of the Constitution, to a just compensation 

 for his private property so taken for public use. Al- 

 though the present Congress may not dp us jus- 

 tice, yet it is safe to rely upon the justice of the 

 American people ; and an appeal to them will not be 

 unheeded or unanswered. Peace restored, and the 

 unity of our Government preserved, will drive to ig- 

 nominious disgrace those who, in the agony of our 

 conflict, perverted their sacred trusts to the base uses 

 of partisan ends and fanatical purposes. Uphold 

 and maintain your Government as constituted, and 

 obey and enforce its just demands as the only hope 

 of perpetuating free institutions. 



THOMAS E. BRAMLETTE. 



At the same time the Union State Central 

 Committee issued a call for a State Convention, 

 to meet at Louisville on May 25th, to nomi- 

 nate an electoral ticket, and appoint delegates 

 to the Chicago Convention. 



On the 22d of March the Governor proceeded 

 to Washington. The object of his mission he 

 thus states, in a letter dated April 22d, address- 

 ed to Col. Hodges : 



The object of my mission to Washington was to 

 have the quota of militia called into service from Ken 

 tucky assigned upon the basis of enrolment, and not 

 of population ; and to obtain relief to the citizens of 

 Kentucky against the unauthorized and offensive in- 

 terference of officers, soldiers, and recruiting brokers, 

 with the slaves in Kentucky ; and to have the enlist- 

 ment and draft of slaves confined within the purview 

 of the act of Congress for enrolment and draft, &c. 



He was quite successful in the objects of his 

 visit, and further says : 



It is a source of gratification to me to add, that the 

 President and Secretary of War manifested the most 

 cordial readiness to bestow upon the people of Ken- 

 tucky every favor which, under the existing laws, 

 could reasonably be demanded; and expressed the 

 most earnest sympathy for them, and a desire to 

 avert, so far as may be, the recurrence of those ca- 

 lamities to which, as a Border State, they have been 

 subjected. 



In the interviews between the authorities at 

 Washington and the Governor, it was agreed 

 that, when any county filled its quota, in any 

 way, no further recruiting of negroes should 'be 

 permitted in such county, except in such cases 

 as where the master and slave both concurred 

 in the application for enlistment. When the 

 draft was necessary to fill the quota, all subject 

 to draft had to take their chances of such in- 

 voluntary service. It was agreed that all re- 

 cruiting should be strictly limited to the regu- 

 larly appointed officers for that service; and 

 that those engaged without authority, or in the 

 offensive and unlawful modes of sending out 

 bodies of troops to gather up negroes by force 

 and otherwise, and put them in camps, should 

 be arrested and summarily punished. It was 

 further agreed, that all negroes recruited by en- 

 listment or draft should be removed to camps 

 outside of the State, for organization and in- 

 struction. This was to prevent the entire de- 

 moralization and destruction of what might be 

 left of that class of labor. Maj.-Gen, Burbridge, 

 then in command in Kentucky, was selected, 

 and charged with carrying out these points. 



While at Washington, Gov. Bramlette, Senator 

 Dixon, and Mr. A. G. Hodges, had an interview 

 with President Lincoln, at the close of which 

 the President remarked "that he was appre- 

 hensive that Kentuckians felt unkindly toward 

 him in consequence of not properly understand- 

 ing the difficulties by which he was surrounded," 

 &c. It was subsequently suggested to the Pres- 

 ident, by Mr, Hodges, to write out his remarks 

 at this interview for publication, as likely to re- 

 move much of the prejudice which was attempt- 

 ed to be created against him in Kentucky. The 

 following is his letter : 



