The entire vote, as shown by the returns of 1861, was 11,971, and the entire vote, as shown by the returns of 1864, was 20,835, it thus appearing that Kansas has furnished nearly double as many soldiers for the war as the entire voting population was in 1861, and almost as many as shown by the returns of 1864. The State has furnished the Federal army more troops, in proportion to her population, than any other State in the Union; and the entire militia was always in readiness for immediate action in the field, and was all engaged rendering efficient service in repelling the rebel army under Price from our border; and, upon several occasions, regiments and independent companies were in actual service, defending the border and frontier. The State has received credit from the General Government for only 15,961 men, which error caused Brig. Gen. Fry, the Provost Marshal General, to order the draft in Kansas under the call of Dec. 19th, 1864. I assumed the duties of Governor on the 9th day of January, 1865, and found the draft then pending. I directed the Adjutant General of the State to make out a complete report of the actual number of troops furnished by the State, their term of service, date of organization, number of re-enlisted veterans, &c., which I immediately transmitted, through the Adjutant General of the U. S. Army, to the Provost Marshal General. He received it. during the month of February. This report showed conclusively that Kansas had already furnished more than her entire quota under all calls; notwithstanding which, the Adjutant General U. S. Army, from some cause, refused to give the State her just credits and suspend the draft. The day following the adjournment of the last Legislature, I proceeded to Washington, with an additional report, prepared by the Adjutant General of the State, and, after considerable delay, obtained credit at the Adjutant General's office in Washington for 3,039 additional men. This additional credit, according to Government records, placed the State about 2,000 in excess of all calls and demands; and justice required that further proceedings under the draft should have been suspended immediately, and all drafted men who had reported at the general rendezvous dis charged, and allowed to return to their homes. This the Secretary of War refused, on the ground that other States were claiming similar credits, and that the men were greatly needed, and that every available man must be secured immediately, and to suspend the draft in one State would create dissatisfaction in others. I then waited upon Provost Marshal General Fry, with the credits obtained at the Adjutant General's office, who, as an act of justice to the State, ordered further proceedings under the draft suspended, and immediately telegraphed to the Assistant Provos Marshal General at Leavenworth to discharge the men and allow them to return to their homes. When I arrived at Leavenworth, I found, to my astonishment, a portion of the drafted men still held. I immediately sent a dispatch to General Fry, of which the following is a copy: LEAVENWORTH, April 11th, 1865. To General J. B. Fry, P. V. M. G., Washington, D. C. On arriving here, I find that one hundred and twenty of the men drafted from Kansas are still held. These men are mostly from one locality, and were drawn while the State had an excess of over three thousand. Will you not release and order them home? (Signed) S. J. CRAWFORD, On the 15th, I received notice that an order had been issued discharging the drafted men; during the interval, however, the drafted men had been ordered from Leavenworth to St. Louis, and from there south, into Gen. Canby's Department. The order forwarding the men south was executed with a wonderful degree of alacrity, before the second order for their discharge reached the Department of Missouri. Having failed in my efforts in behalf of the drafted men, and also of some volunteer regiments, I returned to Washington in June, and procured an order from the Secretary of War to Gen. Canby, in whose department these men were now serving, directing him to order all drafted men from Kansas to be discharged. This last order, I am informed, was delayed and kept from the Regiment (the Tenth Kansas, to which the drafted men were assigned,) until it was mustered out. The drafted men were unwarrantably imprisoned and badly treated by United States officers, after reporting at the draft rendezvous at Fort Leavenworth, for duty. The large amount of money expended by citizens, communities and corporations to secure enlistments, (under the call for which the draft was ordered,) should, in justice, all be refunded by the General Government; as the State at that time was several thous and in excess of all calls. And our soldiers who enlisted in the beginning of the war should receive additional bounty, not only to an equal amount with those, who long afterwards enlisted, but proportionately greater, as their term of service was longer. The pensions allowed by the Government being inadequate to meet the wants of our brave, but now disabled, defenders, I therefore recommend that you memoralize Congress for an appropriation of land as a basis upon which the State may appropriate suitable pensions to her soldiers, in proportion to the disability contracted in the service. Instead of the faithful soldiers being allowed to suffer, or become subjects of public charity, the State should feel it her highest duty to make honorable and ample provisions for them. These men, by their sacrifices, defended, protected and saved the Country, and the Government now should and must, be their protector and benefactor. Immediate provision should be made by the State for those wounded and disabled, and for the families of those killed in the militia service of the State. REPORT (NOT COMPLETE) OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ΤΟ |