CONFEDERATE STATES. 



153 



North Carolina 12 



South Carolina 8 



Tennessee 13 



Texas 8 



Virginia 18 



Financial affairs became more and more em- 

 barrassed, and the sale of the year's crops, upon 

 which an agricultural people always relies, 

 being cut oflj the planters and agriculturalists 

 found themselves sadly crippled. Clothing and 

 arms were deficient for the army, and the means 

 of increasing the latter were too defective to 

 promise a sufficient supply, unless they could 

 be obtained in Europe, and imported in spite 

 of the blockade. 



On the 6th of November, an election was 

 held for a President and Vice-President under 

 the permanent constitution. President Davis 

 and Vice-President Stephens were the candi- 

 dates without opposition. The electoral votes 

 of the States respectively were as follows : 



Alabama 11 



Arkansas 6 



Florida 4 



Georgia 12 



Louisiana 8 



Mississippi 9 



Total 109 



Messrs. Davis and Stephens were elected 

 President and Vice -President for the term of 

 six years. They entered upon the duties of 

 their offices under this election, in the ensuing 

 mouth of February. 



The extent of attachment for the Federal 

 Uniou, which remained among the people of 

 the Confederate States, can never be jnstly 

 known. It was not prudent to express such 

 sentiments, however ardently they might have 

 been entertained. Neither was it any less im- 

 prudent to express sentiments in favor of seces- 

 sion in the United States. Doubtless a large num- 

 ber of the people were disposed to acquiesce 

 in the result, whichever side triumphed. In 

 some parts of the Confederate States, such as 

 "Western Virginia, the Union sentiment was 

 irresistible ; in other parts it was kept in sub- 

 jection by the strong arm of military power. 

 Such was the case in Eastern Tennessee. The 

 following correspondence between the Colonel 

 commanding a post in that region of country, 

 and the Confederate Secretary of "War, reveals 

 the strength of the Union attachment among 

 the people : 



KSOXVH.I.E, Nov. 20, 1861. 

 /". P. Benjamin, Secretary of War : 



SIB : The rebellion in East Tennessee has been put 

 down in some of the counties, and will be effectually 

 suppressed in a few weeks in all the counties. Their 

 camps in Sweet and Hamilton counties have been 

 broken up, and a large number of them made pris- 

 oners. Some are confined in jail at this place, and 

 others sent to Nashville. In a former communication 

 I inquired of the Department what I should do with 

 them. It is a mere farce to arrest them, and turn them 

 over to the courts instead of having the effect to in- 

 timidate, it really gives encouragement and emboldens 

 them in their traitorous conduct. 



We have now in custody some of their leaders : Judge 

 Patterson, the son-in-law of Andrew Johnson ; Colonel 

 Pickens, the Senator in the Legislature from Sevier 

 and other counties ; and several members of the Legis- 

 lature, besides others of influence and some distinction 

 in their counties. These men have encouraged this 

 rebellion, but have so managed as not to be found in 

 arms ; nevertheless, all their actions and words have 

 been hostile to the Confederate States. The influence 



of their wealth, position, and connection has been ex- 

 erted in favor of the Lincoln Government, and they 

 are the parties most to blame for the troubles in East 

 Tennessee. They really deserve the gallows, and if 

 consistent with the laws, ought speedily to receive 

 their deserts. But there is such a gentle spirit of con- 

 ciliation in the South, that I have no idea that one of 

 them will receive such a sentence at the hands of any 

 jury empanelled to try them. I have been here at 

 this station for three months, half the time in com- 

 mand of the post, and I have had a good opportunity 

 of learning the feeling pervading the country; it is 

 hostile to the Confederate Government. They are the 

 followers and slaves of Johnson and Maynard, and 

 never intend to be otherwise. When accosted, they 

 suddenly become very submissive, and declare they 

 are for peace, and not supporters of the Lincoln Gov- 

 ernment, but yet they claim to be Union men. At one 

 time, when our forces were at Knoxville, they gave it 

 out that great changes were taking place in East Ten- 

 nessee, and the people were becoming reconciled and 

 loyal. 



At the withdrawal of the army from here to the Gap, 

 and the first intimation of the approach of the Lincoln 

 army, they were in arms, and there was scarcely a 

 man but who was ready to join the enemy and make 

 war upon us. 



I have to suggest at least that the prisoners I have 

 taken be treated, if not as traitors, as prisoners of 

 war. To release them would be ruinous to convict 

 them in a court next to an impossibility. But if they 

 are kept in prison six months, it will have a good 

 effect. The bridge-burners ought to be tried at once. 

 Very respectfully, W. B. WOOD. 



Colonel commanding post. 



BEXJAJIIX'S REPLY. 



WAU DEPARTME>T, RICHMOND, 1 

 Not. 25, 1SG1. f 



COL. "W. B. WOOD SIR : Your report of the 20th 

 inst. is received, and I now proceed to give you the 

 desired instructions in relation to the prisoners taken 

 by you amongst the traitors of East Tennessee. 



1st. All such as can be identified in having been en- 

 gaged in bridge-burning are to be tried summarily by 

 drum-head court-martial, and if found guilty, "exe- 

 cuted on the spot by hanging. It would be well to 

 leave their bodies hanging in the vicinity of the burnt 

 bridges. 



2d. All such as have not been so engaged, are to 

 be treated as prisoners of war, and sent with an armed 

 guard to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, there to be kept im- 

 prisoned at the depot selected by the Government for 

 prisoners of war. 



Whenever you can discover that arms are concen- 

 trated by these traitors, you will send out detachments, 

 search for, and seize the arms. In no case is one of 

 the men known to have been up in arms against the 

 Government, to be released on any pledge or oath of 

 allegiance. The time for such measures is past. They 

 are all to be held as prisoners of war, and held in jail 

 till the end of the war. Such as come in voluntarily, 

 take the oath of allegiance, and surrender their arms, 

 are alone to be treated with leniency. Your vigilant 

 execution of these orders is earnestly urged by the 

 Government. 



Your obedient servant, 



J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War. 



P. S. Judge Patterson, Colonel Pickens, and other 

 ring-leaders of the same class, must be sent at once to 

 Tuscaloosa to jail, as prisoners of war. 



The year finally closed with one of the most 

 decisive blows to the hopes of the Confederate 

 States for a speedy triumph, which could pos- 

 sibly occur. The chief reliance for success, 

 entertained by the Confederate authorities and 

 people, was founded upon the expectation of 

 certain interference by England and France to 



