In compliance with the request of Congress contained in resolutions passed on the fourth day of the current month, I invoke your attention to the present condition and future prospects of our country, and to the duties which patriotism imposes on us all during this great struggle for our homes and our liberties.
These resolutions are in the following language:
Joint Resolution Relating to the production of provisions.
Whereas, a strong impression prevails through the country that the war now being waged against the people of the
Confederate States may terminate during the present year; and whereas this impression is leading many patriotic citizens to engage largely in the production of cotton and tobacco, which they would not otherwise do; and whereas, in the opinion of Congress, it is of the utmost importance, not only with a view to the proper subsistence of our armies but for the interest and welfare of all the people, that the agricultural labor of the country should be employed chiefly in the production of a supply of food to meet every contingency: Therefore,
Resolved, by the Congress of the Confederate States of American, That it is the deliberate judgment of Congress that the people of these States, while hoping for peace, should look to prolonged war as the only condition proffered by the enemy short of subjugation; that every preparation necessary to encounter such a war should be persisted in, and that the amplest supply of provisions for armies and people should be the first object of all agriculturists; wherefore, it is earnestly recommended that the people, instead of planting cotton and tobacco shall direct their agricultural labor mainly to the production of such crops as will insure a sufficiency of food for all classes and for every emergency, thereby, with true patriotism, subordinating the hope of gain to the certain good of the country.
Sec. 2 That the
President is hereby requested to issue a proclamation to the people of these States, urging upon them the necessity of guarding against the great perils of a short crop of provisions and setting forth such reasons therefore as his judgment may dictate.
Fully concurring in the views thus expressed by the
Congress, I confidently appeal to your love of country for aid in carrying into effect the recommendations of your
Senators and Representatives.
We have reached the close of the second year of the war, and may point with just pride to the history of our young Confederacy.
Alone unaided, we have met and overthrown the most formidable combination of naval and military armaments that the lust of conquest ever gathered together for the subjugation of a free people.
We began this struggle without a single gun afloat, while the resources of our enemy enabled them to gather fleets which according to their official list, published in august last, consisted of 447 vessels, measuring 300 036 tons, and carrying 3,268 guns — Yet we have captured, sunk, or destroyed a number of there vessels, including two large frigates and one steam sloop-of war, while four of their captured steam gunboats are now in our possession, adding to the strength of our little navy, which is rapidly gaining in numbers and efficiency.
To oppose invading forces, composed of levies which have already exceeded thirteen hundred thousand men, we had no resources but the unconquerable valor of a people determined to be free; and we were so destitute of military supplies that tens of thousands of our citizens were reluctantly refused admission into the service from our inability to provide them with arms, while for many months some of our important strongholds owed their safety chiefly to a careful concealment of the fact that we were without a supply of powder for our cannon.
Your devotion and patriotism have triumphed over all these obstacles, and called into existence the munitions of war, the clothing, and the subsistence which have enabled our soldiers to illustrate their valor on numerous battlefields and to inflict crashing defeats on successive armies, each of which an arrogant foe fondly imagined to be invisible.
The contrast between our past and present condition is well calculated to inspire full confidence in the triumph of our arms.
At no previous period of the war have our forces been so numerous, so well organized, and so thoroughly disciplined, armed and equipped, as at present.
The lesson of high water, on which our enemies relied to enable their fleet of gunboats to penetrate into our country and devastate our homes, is fast passing away.
Yet, our strongholds on the
Mississippi still bid defiance to the foe, and months of vastly preparations for their reduction have been spent in vain.
Disaster has been the result of their every effort to turn or to storm
Vicksburg and
Port Hudson, as well as of every attack on our batteries on the
Red river, the
Tallahatchie, and other navigable streams.
Within a few weeks the falling waters and the increasing heats of summer will complete their discomfiture, and compel their battled and defeated forces to the abandonment of expeditions on which was based their chief hope of l sucesse in effecting our subjugation.
We must not forget, however, that the war is not yet ended, and that we are still confronted by powerful armies, and threatened by numerous fleets; and that the
Government which controls those fleets and armies is driven to the most desperate efforts to effect the unholy purposes in which it has thus far been defeated.
It will use its utmost energy to avert the impending doom, so fully merited by the atrocities it has committed, the savage barbarities which it has encouraged, and the crowning infamy of its attempt to excite a servile population to the massacre of our wives, our daughters, and our helpless children.
With such a contest before us there is but one danger which the
Government of your choice regards with apprehension, and to avert this danger it appeals to the never falling patriotism and spirit of self sacrifice which you have exhibited since the beginning of the war. The very unfavorable season, the protracted droughts of last year reduced the harvests on which we depended far below an average yield, and the deficiency was unfortunately still more marked in the
Northern portion of the
Confederate where supplies were specially needed for the army.
It, through a confidence in early peace, which may prove diffusive our fields should be now devoted to the production of cotton and tobacco instead of grain and live stock, and other articles necessary for the subsistence of the people and the army the consequences may prove serious if not disastrous, especially should the present season prove as unfavorable as the last.
Your country, therefore, appeals to you to lay aside all thought of gain and to devote yourselves to securing your liberties, without which those gains would be valueless.
It is true that the wheat harvest in the more Southern States which will be gathered next month promises an abundant yield; but even in this promise be fulfill the difficulty of transportation, enhanced as it has been by an unusually rainy winter, will cause embarrassments in military operations and suffering among the people, should the crops in the middle and northern portions of the
Confederacy prove deficient.
But no uneasiness need be felt in regard to a mere supply of bread for man. It is for the large amount of corn and forage required for the raising of live stock, and for the supply of the animals used in military operations that your aid is specially required.
These articles are too bulky for distant transportation, and in them the deficiency in the last harvest was most felt.
Let your fields be devoted exclusively to the production of corn, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, and other food for man and beast.
Let corn be sown broad cast for fodder, in immediate proximity to railroads, rivers, and canals, and let all your efforts be directed to the prompt supply of these articles in the districts where our armies are operating.
You will thus add greatly to their efficiency, and furnish the means without which it is impracticable to make those prompt and active movements which have hitherto stricken terror into our enemies, and secured our most brilliant triumphs.
Having thus placed before you, my countrymen, the reasons for the call made on you for aid in supplying the wants of the coming year, I add a few words of appeal in behalf of the brave soldiers now confronting your enemies, and to whom your Government is unable to furnish all the comforts they so richly merit.
The supply of meat for the army is deficient.
This deficiency is only temporary, or measures have been adopted which will, it is believed, soon enable us to restore the full ration.
But that ration is now reduced at times to one half the usual quantity in some of our armies.
It is known that the supply of meat throughout the country is sufficient for the support of all, but the distances are so great, the condition of the roads has been so bad during the five months of winter weather through which we have just passed, and the attempts of groveling speculators to forestall the market and make money out of the life blood of our defenders, have so much influenced the withdrawal from sale of the surplus in the hands of the producers that the
Government has been unable to gather full supplies.
The
Secretary of War has prepared a plan, which is appended to this address, by the aid of which, or some similar means to be adopted by yourselves, you can assist the officers of the
Government in the purchase of the bacon the pork and the beef, known to exist in large quantities in different parts of the country.
Even if the surplus be less than is believed, is it not a bitter and humiliating reflection that those who remain at home, secure from hardship and protected from danger, should be in the enjoyment of abundance, and that their slaves also should have a full supply of food, while their sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers are allotted in the rations on which their health and efficiency depend.
Entertaining no fear that you will either misconstrue the motives of this address, or fall to respond to the call of patriotism, I have placed the facts fully and frankly before you. Let us all unite in the performance of our duty, each in his sphere: and with concerted, persistent, and well directed effort there seems little reason to doubt that under the blessing of Him to whom we look for guidance, and who has been to us our shield and our strength, we shall maintain the sovereignty and independence of these
Confederate States, and transmit to our posterity the heritage bequeathed to us by our fathers.
Plan Suggested by the Secretary of War.
- I. Let the people in each county, parish, or ward, select at public meeting, as early as convenient, a committee of three or more discreet citizens, charged with the duties hereinafter mentioned.
- II.
Let it be the duty of this committee to ascertain from each citizen in the county or parish what amount of surplus meat, whether bacon pork, or beef, he can spare for the use of the army, after reserving a supply for his family and those dependent on him for food.
Let this committee fix a price which is deemed by them a just compensation for the articles furnished, and inform the citizens what this price is, so that each may know before delivery what price is to be paid for the articles furnished.
Let this committee make arrangements for the transportation of the supplies to some convenient depot, after consultation with the officer who is to receive them.
Let the committee make delivery of the supplies on receiving payment of the price, and assume the duty of paying it over to the citizens who have furnished the supplies.
- III.
Where the duty of the committee is performed in any town or city at which there may be a Quartermaster or Commissary no further duty need be required of them then to deliver to the officer a list of the names of the citizens, and of the supplies which each is ready to furnish, and the price fixed; where upon the officer will himself gather the supplies and make payment.
- IV.
Where the supplies are furnished in the country the cost of transportation to the depot will be paid by the Government, in addition to the price fired by the committee.
- V. As this appeal is made to the people for the benefit of our brave defenders now in the army, the Department relies with confidence on the patriotism of the people that no more than just compensation would be fixed by the committees, nor accepted by those whose chief motive will be to aid their country, and not to make undue gains out of the needs of our noble soldiers.
