the army to state that the temporary reduction of rations has been caused by circumstances beyond the control of those charged with its support. Its welfare and comfort are the objects of his constant and earnest solicitude, and no effort has been spared to provide for its wants. It is hoped that the exertions now being made will render the necessity but of short duration; but the history of the army has shown that the country can require no sacrifice too great for its patriotic devotion. Soldiers! you tread, with no unequal steps, the road by which your fathers marched through suffering, privation, and blood to independence. Continue to emulate in the future, as you have in the past, their valor in arms, their patient endurance of hardships, their high resolve to be free-which no trial could shake, no bribe seduce, no danger appall-and be assured that the just God who crowned their efforts with success, will, in his own good time, send down his blessings upon yours. R. E. LEE, Doc. 57. General. GENERAL GRAHAM'S EXPEDITION. GENERAL BUTLER'S DESPATCH. FORTRESS MONROE, VA., January 25, 1864. Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: SIR: Brigadier-General Graham, by my direction, went with three armed transports and a competent force to the Peninsula, made a landing on the James River, seven miles below Fort Powhatan, known as the Brandon Farms, and captured twenty-two of the enemy, seven of the signal corps, and brought away ninety-nine negroes. They also destroyed twenty-four thousand pounds of pork, and large quantities of oats and corn, and captured a sloop and schooner, and two hundred and forty boxes of tobacco, and five Jews, preparing to run the blockade, and returned without the loss of a man. BENJ. F. BUTLER, Major-General Commanding. A NATIONAL ACCOUNT. NORFOLK, VA., Tuesday, January 26, 1864. One of the most brilliant exploits that has been chronicled for some time past, was accomplished yesterday by some of our troops, whose bravery is only equalled by their patriotism. Late on Sunday afternoon a gunboat expedition started from this city, composed of the army gunboats Gen. Jessup, Smith Briggs, and Flora Temple. The whole was under the command of General Graham. Before daylight, on the following morning, the boats had proceeded as far up the James River as Brandon, (which is near Harrison's Landing,) without the least opposition. From the Gen. Jessup a detachment of men were landed, under charge of Captain Lee, of the Harbor Police. Two other detachments were sent ashore, under Captain Harris, of one of the boats, and Captain Brown, of the Twenty-first Connecticut regiment. Supported by the latter, the men of Captain Lee penetrated the interior of the country to the distance of three miles. Here was a signal-station of the rebels, which it was their intention to capture. Dividing the men in two bodies, Captain Lee assigned one of them to remain with Lieutenant Bullard, of General Graham's staff, in front of the station, while he with his squad marched around to the rear. So The manoeuvre was a complete success. skilfully was it managed, that the rebels in the station were not aware of the presence of the Union troops, until they were within less than fifty yards of them. The surprise was so sudden, that they did not attempt to make any hostile demonstration whatever, but quietly and gracefully yielded themselves up as prisoners. With them were taken a large number of signalling flags, telescopes, rifles, and other equipments. The captain in command of the station was away at the time on a visit to Petersburgh, and had left a sergeant and six men in charge during his temporary absence. At Brandon, a confederate agent for the collection of forage and provisions was captured, with two overseers. From a plantation near by, about one hundred and thirty negroes, field hands, were taken. These were not the only trophies; for, while these active and exciting operations were going on, Lieutenant Harris, the commander of the Gen. Jessup, captured a blockade-runner schooner heavily laden with tobacco, jewelry, state bonds, and specie, belonging to some Jews. In addition to this, a smaller vessel, a sloop, was taken. The captures are fully worth twenty thousand dollars. The expedition reflects great credit upon General Graham and Captain Lee, and all the officers and men engaged in it, when we take into consideration the hazardousness of the undertaking, and the care, sagacity, and bravery displayed in The rebels carrying it successfully through. were caught napping, and they must feel sore to think that they were outwitted. Doc. 58. RE-ORGANIZATION IN TENNESSEE. NASHVILLE, January 26, 1864. WHEREAS, in consequence of the disloyalty of a large majority of the persons filling the offices established by the constitution and laws of Tennessee, and of the majority of the people of the State, and as part of the legitimate fruits of secession and rebellion against the Government of the United States, the people of Tennessee have been deprived for nearly three years of all free, regular, and legitimate government, and they are now without a Governor chosen in the ordinary way, Legislature, representation in the Congress of the United States, and without courts, judges, chancellors, and the various legitimately authorized county officers: And Whereas, it is believed that a majority of the people of the State are ready and desire to return to their allegiance to the Government ple, States, and Territories thereof; and further, that I will hereafter heartily aid and assist all loyal people in the accomplishment of these results. So help me God." of the United States, and to recognize and restore the State Government to the exercise of its rightful functions, as a State of the American Union, under the Constitution of the United States; and as an initiatory step in such reörgan- And all the judges, officers, and persons holdization and restoration, it is determined to open ing the election, before entering upon their reand hold an election on the first Saturday in spective duties, in addition to the oath now reMarch next, in the various precincts, districts, or quired by the laws of the State, shall take and wherever it is practicable so to do, in the respect-subscribe the same oath, and also that they will ive counties of the State, as prescribed by the permit no one to vote who has not taken and laws and Constitution of the State, to wit: Just-subscribed the oath above set forth, or refuses ices of the peace, sheriffs, constables, trustees, to do so. circuit and county court clerks, registers, and tax collectors. Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me, and for the purpose of bringing the State of Tennessee within the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees to each State a republican form of government, I do order said elections to be holden in the various counties on the first Saturday in March next, for the officers aforesaid, and none other. The provisions of the Code, in regard to inspectors and judges of election, are as follows: Section 841. The County Court, at the session next preceding the day of election, shall appoint three inspectors or judges for each voting place to superintend the election. Section 842. If the county court fail to make the appointment, or any person appointed refuse to serve, the sheriff, with the advice of three justices of the peace, or if none be present, three respectable freeholders, shall, before the beginning of the election, appoint said inspectors or judges. But, inasmuch as these elections are ordered in the State of Tennessee, as a State of the Union under the Federal Constitution, it is not expect- Section 843. If the sheriff, or other officer ed that the enemies of the United States will pro-whose duty it is to attend at a particular place of pose to vote, nor is it intended that they be per-voting, under the foregoing provisions, fail to atmitted to vote or hold office. tend, any justice of the peace present, or if no justice of the peace be present, any three freeholders, may perform the duties prescribed by the preceding section, or, in case of necessity, may act as officers or inspectors. And in the midst of so much disloyalty and hostility as have existed among the people of this State toward the Government of the United States, and in order to secure the votes of its friends and exclude those of its enemies, I have Now, whereas, in many of the counties there deemed it proper to make known the requisite are no county courts, sheriffs, or justices of the qualifications of the electors at said elections. peace, and in others the persons now and hereTo entitle any person to the privilege of voting, tofore filling these offices are disloyal, and therehe must be a free white man, of the age of twenty-fore disqualified, in all such counties some reone years, being a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the county where he may offer his vote six months preceding the day of election, and a competent witness in any court of justice of the State by the laws thereof, against a white man; and not having been convicted of bribery or the offer to bribe, of larceny or any other offence declared infamous by the laws of the State, unless he has been restored to citizenship in the mode pointed out by law. And he must take and subscribe, before the judges of the election the following oath: spectable citizen of the county will be appointed to hold said elections, appoint the judges, clerks, and other officers, either by himself or his deputies, and administer the oath to such officers, and receive the votes and make due returns to the office of Secretary of State. All other steps will be taken looking to the election of the other officers, Federal and State, as soon as practicable. In testimony whereof, I, Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of the State of Tennessee, do hereunto set my hand, and cause the Great Seal of the State to be affixed, at this Department, on the twenty-sixth day of January, A.D. 1864. L. S. EDWARD H. EAST, ANDREW JOHNSON. Secretary of State. Doc. 59. "I solemnly swear, that I will henceforth support the Constitution of the United States, and defend it against the assaults of all its enemies; that I will hereafter be, and conduct myself as a By the Governor, true and faithful citizen of the United States, freely and voluntarily claiming to be subject to all the duties and obligations, and entitled to all the rights and privileges of such citizenship; that I ardently desire the suppression of the present insurrection and rebellion against the GovSPEECH OF HOWELL COBB. ernment of the United States, the success of its armies, and the defeat of all those who oppose DELIVERED AT ATLANTA, GA., JAN. 28, 1864. them, and that the Constitution of the United WHEN I look back, my friends, to the last few States, and all laws and proclamations, made in months, I confess that the present moment is pursuance thereof, may be speedily and perma- one corresponding with that bright sun that has nently established and enforced over all the peo-blessed us in the past few days with his benignant duced to ashes. Do you love your wives and daughters? They have been dishonored and outraged wherever this infamous invader has planted his foul footsteps upon Southern soil. If there be the hearts of men beating in your bosoms, I appeal to you, by the discharge of your duty in this hour of your trial, see to it that this desolation-this dishonor-comes not upon you and your household. rays; I feel energy anew arising up in my heart, been destroyed and trampled under foot. Do and a new inspiration appealing to the manhood you love your dwellings? They have been reof every citizen of our Confederacy, stimulating him to renewed efforts in the great cause in which we are engaged. When I look to your army, I find that its ranks are being filled up day by day, and the roll of honor increasing with every morning and evening's sun. The spirit of these brave men is unbroken. Would that our people throughout the land could gather the inspiration as it rises around the camp-fires of our army. Despair would cease among them, and despondency give way before a bright and prom-whether Georgian or not, who does not feel that ising sun. Is there a man within the hearing of my voice, it is his duty, the duty of his neighbor, and the duty of every man within the limits of the Confederacy, to go forward as his country calls for and demands his services in the field? You ask me, shall the other great interests of the country be abandoned? I say, No. Your agricultural, mechanical, and other interests should be attend My friends, I come to-night to address myself to Georgians. Deeply as every portion of our people are interested in the present condition of the country, to none does it come with more and deeper interest than to the people of Georgia. I am a Georgian, proud of my native State. I was born upon her soil, nurtured in her bosom, edu-ed to and preserved, and neither your President, cated in her faith. All that I am, all that I hope ever to be, I owe to her. Beneath her soil sleep the bones of my fathers and those of my own off spring, and, sooner or later, I must lie down by their side. I love this old commonwealth. The affections of my heart gather around this old State. I love her mountains and her valleys; I love her history in the past and in the present, and I hope I shall love it in the future; but, thank God, I have a heart big enough to love every inch of soil over which floats the proud banner of our Southern Confederacy. To you, then, my brethren of Georgia, I come to-night to make an appeal. Your soil is invaded, your homes are threatened. Do you wish to know what it is to have a Yankee army encamped in the heart of your State? Do you wish to realize the desolation which would follow the track of a merciless and cruel enemy? If so, go to Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and let their burned villages, their desolate homes, their property of every kind destroyed, teach you the lesson. Do you hope to fare better than your brethren of those States? Is there burning in your hearts a whining spirit of Unionism, by which you hope to commend yourselves to the tender mercies of this heartless foe? I tell you to-night that the few poor, miserable personsdishonored in name and reputation-who have sought in this way to save themselves from the effects of Yankee rapacity, have been everywhere treated with the same cruelty and outrage that have been visited upon the true and loyal men. I do thank God that they have been treated in this way, and if there be any such traitors to our cause within the borders of my native State, I pray heaven that they may be treated in like manner. No, my friends, ours is a common fate and a common destiny, and I thank God that it is so. We must all be free, or all be slaves. We must all live or all perish. If you read the history of the outrages which the Yankees perpetrated in Virginia and Tennessee, you will see that it must be so. Do you love your property? It has your Congress or your generals, nor any portion of your country, demand any such sacrifice at your hands. When men talk about calling every body into the field, and abandoning all other interests of the country, they talk wildly, and raise a phantom that they may fight it. You ask me what number of men our country needs at this time? I cannot tell you. I am not possessed of the information to give you an answer upon which you may act. I have told you who cannot answer this question. There is one other class-high, honorable, worthy of your respect and confidence-equally unable to answer this question. They are the men who are called upon to sit in habeas corpus courts. The man whose patriotism has sunk so low as to want a habeas corpus court to decide whether he is to go into the army or not, does not deserve the liberty which is won by the strong arms of others. In My friends, do you remember about two years and a half ago, when the summons came pealing in your ears that your country was invaded, and calling upon her sons to go in her defence? What was the response? You saw, then, your noble brethren gathering around the flag of their country-brave and true men-old and youngbeardless boys and gray-headed fathers. those days briefless lawyers sat quietly in their offices, and honest judges were never summoned to try cases before habeas corpus courts. There was no hunting down judges of superior courts to get them to decide whether brave men should go in defence of their country, or let the infamous invader run wildly over it. Those brave boys were the first who left for the defence of their country; and where are they now? My countrymen, many of them sleep in their graves, many are in hospitals, many go about the country on crutches, and many are gathered to-night around the camp-fires-all true, generous, noble souls-who have labored from that hour to the present, and are yet willing to labor in driving back the invader. Why are judges now holding their courts out of season? It is to try the ha beas corpus case of a man the liberty of whose planters and the farmers of the country, and I country has been trampled upon-whose rights apprehend I have the pleasure, to-night, of adhave been disregarded-a hale, healthy, hearty dressing many of them, must come up to the man, who is able to go to the field, but never work. Your country calls upon you to make has been, and asks the judge to sit at chambers to free him from the service which he owes his country. I believe my brethren of the bar have what they call a black letter book, and I tell you all the authorities upon it are cited. sacrifices. I shall not attempt to mince words to you; I say sacrifices; and your duty requires you to make them. You tell me that the government should have your produce; all you ask is just compensation. How much better are you than the enemy? If the enemy could furnish us with corn and meat, they would do so for a just pensation for your produce. Have you ever asked yourselves what would be a just compensation to that soldier who has lost an arm or leg, or who, a few months ago, was strong and hearty, but now with tottering steps goes through our streets, soon to be a victim for the grave? Who, then, I say, shall decide the question? You cannot. I cannot, but the Constitution of your country has declared who shall decide it-compensation. You demand, again, just comin whose hands such power and such discretion shall be intrusted. I care not whether you are the friend or the enemy of your President. I care not whether you are in the list of his devoted friends or among those who have raised up a standard of opposition to him. I come not here to-night to eulogize or praise, but to speak of our duty. We have a President selected by our own unanimous voice, chosen for the discharge of high and responsible duties. Into his hands we have committed this power. That he may have sometimes erred none will deny. His worst enemy will not say that he has been false to his trust. Upon him the Constitution and laws of your country have devolved the responsibility of saying who shall and who shall not be called into the field. No other tribunal can decide that question. We must leave this power to him, or all must be lost. I ask you to-night as patriots, as men who love your country and are desirous of preserving your liberties, when your President summons you to the field, will you respond to the call? Georgians, will you go? Will you falter? Shall it be written of you in the future history of your country, that when the enemy was upon one border of your country, and the other threatened by that enemy; when your soil was the theatre of this war; your homes, your families and firesides involved in the issue, you remained quiet at home, and trusted your defence in the hands of those brave men of other States, who are this night in the faithful discharge of their duty? It cannot, it must not be. Better meet the enemy at the door-sill than wait for him at the hearth-stone. Better stand by the side of those brave men in the front, than meet the desolation that will come upon you after their shattered ranks shall have been driven back. I trust that you will, and that we shall have no more of that complaining spirit which has led some to shun the service which they owed to their country. My friends, not only must we go forward to the field in the discharge of this duty, but there are other duties to be performed by those who will not be called to the field. Our planters and our farmers have their duty to perform, and this is one of deep responsibility. These brave men must be fed. I apprehend there is not a man, woman, or child within the hearing of my voice who does not respond with all his heart when I declare, again, this army must be fed. These brave men have enough to endure, enough to suffer, without the sufferings of hunger. The Tell me, my fellow-planter, what would be a just compensation to him? Where is the treasury to pay him for his loss? Who is to give just compensation to his widowed wife and orphaned children? Talk not, my friends, of just compensation. Let us hear no more of this from farmers going to county meetings and setting down the last dollar which they can put upon the price of their produce. For whom does your government demand this produce for whom does it ask it? For your sons-those brave soldiers that cheerfully went forth at the first call of your country. Do you love your corn, your bacon, and your wheat more than you love the children of your own loins? You sent them to encounter dangers and death upon the battlefield. They, with their comrades, stand as sentinels to-night to guard and defend you and your property, and they ask of you provisions to feed them. Do you pause to count up the cost and ascertain how much profit you can make before you will sell them? If your government can pay you just compensation, have confidence to believe that it will be done. Suppose it cannot pay but one half, or one fourth of what your provisions are worth in the market, I appeal to you as men, as patriots, as men in whose hearts beat the warm instincts of humanity, will you hug your corn and your meat to your bosom, while your soldiers are hungering in the field? Had you rather sell your provisions a half-dollar higher in the bushel or pound, or had you not rather give it to them than that it should be written in history that while your granaries and your meat-houses were full, your brave defenders could not keep off the enemy because they could not be fed? You must come up to your duty. I appeal to you as men loving your country and your kindred. Complain not if the strong arm of the law shall put its clutches upon your property, if you refuse to do at this hour what duty demands at your hands. I know not what others may do; I speak only for myself; but, as God is my judge, so long as my country intrusts me with the command of any portion of these brave men, they shall not starve, if there be provisions in the country and I can get them, law or no law. I tell you, my friends, you may de nounce me as revolutionary; I may outrage the sensibilities of some who love their property dearly; but liberty is dearer to me than property, and the brave men who defend that liberty are dearer to me than the men who withhold the provisions from them. They may denounce me for this sentiment, as I denounce them for their conduct; the result is, that we will entertain for each other mutual disgust. I do not pretend to deny that many officers of the government have done wrong, and committed outrages. I do not justify them; but it is better to endure some of these wrongs and bear these outrages than to lose liberty and all. What is that property of yours worth if the enemy gets possession of your country? What are your rights in the hands and under the control of the minions of Lincoln ? You must choose between our own people and our own government, and the people and the government of your enemy. There is no middle ground. One or the other must have your provisions. One or the other must be supplied from your granaries. These brave soldier boys of our own kith and kindred must either feed upon your meat and bread, or the Yankees must feed upon them, and I tell you frankly if you refuse to let the government have your provisions, and you could be separated in one portion of the land by yourselves, I would not care how soon the Yankees got possession of both them and you. There is but one class of men in our community meaner than the speculator and extortioner, and that is the man who is unwilling to let his produce go for the support of our brave soldiers in the field. What better are you than speculators and extortioners, who cling to your provisions with a starving army upon your border? What is the speculator and extortioner but the man who loves gold and property more than life and liberty? Is not that your case? And do you think that you satisfy the demands of your country and of your own conscience, because you agree with others in this denunciation of Yankees? If there is any man in this wide world who hates the Yankee race worse than I do, I am sorry for him, because he must have devoted his whole heart to the work; but I tell you, and the history of this war will bear me out in the assertion, that many true-hearted Southern men were born at the North, and some of the vilest Yankees that ever disgraced this earth were born at the South. There is another duty which we are called upon to perform. Not only must these brave men be clothed and fed and supported in the field, but their families must be provided for and taken care of at home. When I see a soldier's wife, whose little ones are dependent upon her labor for support, go into one of the stores of Atlanta, and she is asked to pay from ten to twenty dollars per bushel for meal, and corresponding prices for other articles necessary for the support and comfort of that family, I am compelled in my heart to say there is some great wrong somewhere. I know if you go to the merchant he will tell you he has to pay so large a price that he cannot afford to sell for less. Go to the man he bought it from, and the same story is told, and so on. It is not for me to decide who is to blame. I know not at whose door the fault lies, but it must rest somewhere; the responsibility must rest upon the conscience of some man that can be reached. I confess frankly to you, that with all my confidence in our cause, with all my devotion to it, my heart sinks within me when these scenes are passing before my view. I ask myself the question: Can a kind Providence, a God of mercy and justice, bless a people among whom these wrongs are perpetrated; these outrages practised? I know, my friends, that our people have done well by the soldiers' families; I know that in many counties ample provisions have been made for their support, but in others only a small yearly pittance has been provided, which will scarcely pay the expense of going to market and obtaining a week's supply for the family. See to it that no soldier's wife or child shall suffer and you be responsible for it. To those who have much or have accumulated much, to them I appeal-to their liberality, their generosity-to their sense of justice. Let it be written of us as it was written of others in the olden time: "He that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered little had no lack." Let this be the rule of your conduct. You ask me, then, what of the condition of my country? My friends, I say it all depends upon yourselves. I have never, in so short a space of time, thought so much of the condition of the country in reference to the dangers by which we are surrounded and the duties we are called upon to perform. You ask me now in reference to the dangers. Tell me first, are you doing any thing in reference to the discharge of your duty? Has your spirit been aroused and excited by those dangers? Are you prepared to give your life, if need be, to your country, and go to the field, if required? Are you prepared to furnish from your granaries the provisions necessary to feed our armies? Answer me these questions and then I can tell you what of the night. If you answer me that you are ready to discharge these duties, then I can answer that all is well. It is the answer of our brave soldiers in the field. There is with them no spirit of despondency. They are unbroken in spirits; firm, true, and steadfast to the cause in which they are engaged. They stand there as a band of brothers, fearless and defiant of danger. Tell me of the thousands and thousands that the enemy have concentrated for the spring campaign. I tell you that all Yankeedom, assisted by abolition sympathizers throughout the civilized world, cannot conquer and subjugate the South if you are true to yourselves and your country. Therefore, choose you this night! Your fate is in your own hands. Are you looking forward with a hope which has no residing place in your conviction, and is only fitting through your mind, that, perhaps, after all, some foreign inter |