Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 6.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

[240] Townsend, who now has charge of the whole matter of the archives and their publication; Colonel R. N. Scott, who is in charge of the compilation of the records; Mr. A. P. Tasker, who is keeper of the archives; General Wright, and other gentlemen connected with the “War-record office.”

General Townsend received me with every courtesy and kindness, and we had a long talk on the whole question. He assured me that so far from desiring to suppress. he is exceedingly anxious to obtain, in order to publish,. full files of all of our Confederate reports and other official documents; that he is pushing the work of compilation as rapidly as possible, and that he is ready to give our Society every facility in his power to secure copies of whatever we may wish for historical purposes. In a word, the whole matter has at last been arranged to the satisfaction of both parties, and the work of exchange will be begun just so soon as our lists can be made out.

A visit to the Archive Office impressed me very favorably with the system, order and care with which everything is managed.

General Wright, of course, showed me every courtesy, and I was more than ever impressed with his high qualifications for his position. And surely,. if the “official history” of the great struggle is to be published by the Government, it is to our interest to make the Confederate part of it as full as possible.

J. William Jones, Secretary of Southern Historical Society.