Whereas,
Abraham Lincoln, the
President of the
United States has, by proclamation, announced the intention of invading this Confederacy with an armed force, for the purpose of capturing its fortresses, and thereby subverting its independence, and subjecting the free people thereof to the dominion of a foreign power; and
whereas it has thus become the duty of this Government to repel the threatened invasion, and to defend the rights and liberties of the people by all the means which the laws of nations and the usages of civilized warfare place at its disposal;
Now, therefore, I,
Jefferson Davis,
President of the
Confederate States of America, do issue this my Proclamation, inviting all those who may desire, by service in private armed vessels on the high seas, to aid this Government in resisting so wanton and wicked an aggression, to make application for commissions or Letters of Marque and Reprisal, to be issued under the Seal of these
Confederate States.
And I do further notify all persons applying for Letters of Marque, to make a statement in writing, giving the name and a suitable description of the character, tonnage, and force of the vessel, and the name and place of residence of each owner concerned therein, and the intended number of the crew, and to sign said statement and deliver the same to the
Secretary of State, or to the
Collector of any port of entry of these
Confederate States, to be by him transmitted to the
Secretary of State.
And I do further notify all applicants aforesaid that before any commission or Letter of Marque is issued to any vessel, the owner or owners thereof, and the commander for the time being, will be required to give bond to the
Confederate States, with at least two responsible sureties, not interested in such vessel, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars; or if such vessel be provided with more than one hundred and fifty men, then in the penal sum. of ten thousand dollars, with condition that the owners, officers, and crew who shall be employed on board such commissioned vessel, shall observe the laws of these
Confederate States and the instructions given to them for the regulation of their conduct.
That they shall satisfy all damages done contrary to the tenor thereof by such vessel during her commission, and deliver up the same when revoked by the
President of the
Confederate States.
And I do further specially enjoin on all persons holding offices, civil and military, under the authority of the
Confederate States, that they be vigilant and zealous in discharging the duties incident thereto; and I do, moreover, solemnly exhort the good people of these
Confederate States, as they love their country, as they prize the blessings of free government, as they feel the wrongs of the past and these now threatened in aggravated form by those whose enmity is more implacable because unprovoked, that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, in maintaining the authority and efficacy of the laws, and in supporting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted for the common defence, and by which, under the blessings of Divine Providence, we may hope for a speedy, just, and honorable peace.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the
Confederate States to be affixed, this
seventeenth day of April, 1861.
By the
President,
(Signed)
of the 19th April, in referring to this proclamation, says: “To avoid any misunderstanding and prevent comment arising from the supposition that the
intends to assume the authority and responsibility of issuing these himself, without the action of Congress, we would say that the proclamation is merely a
indication of what he intends to recommend to Congress, and what we have no doubt Congress will do and ought to do, in the event that war becomes
. The secession of
and the frontier Southern States may command the peace even from the silly fanatics who at present rule
.
The South does not want war. We stand on the defensive.
But if the
