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which the
Governor replied that the memorial did not overestimate the importance of the matter to which it related; that the consideration of it was not a new thing; in many cases, he had gone beyond the letter of the law in his endeavors to prevent such men from being commissioned; that he would not knowingly commission a person so offending.
It was his desire to have the soldiers of
Massachusetts surrounded by the best influences in the camp and in the field; and that he would gladly avail himself of advice given by respectable parties in the selection of officers.
On the 28th of March, he wrote to
Colonel Frank E. Howe, in New York, to recommend to the consideration of
General Ullman, who was authorized to raise a colored brigade in the
South,
James Miller, of
Salem, as a proper person to receive a commission.
He was then serving in our Fiftieth Regiment, in the Department of the Gulf. ‘
Mr. Miller,’ he says, ‘is the eldest grandson of
General Miller, of the war of 1812,— the hero of
Lundy's Lane.’
On the 31st of March, he wrote to
Colonel Maggi, commanding our Thirty-third Regiment,—
You must not resign.
As soon as our Legislature adjourns, I am intending to visit Washington.
I shall then do my utmost for your advancement.
I want you to secure the good favor of General Hooker, and see if he wants help.
You must make yourself necessary to him, by giving him to know your capacity, devotedness, and zeal.
Colonel Maggi had resigned before the letter reached him. His discharge from the service was dated April 1, 1863.
The Legislature having passed the bill appropriating one million of dollars to be expended, under the direction of the
Governor, for coast defences, on the first of April he dispatched
Colonel Browne, his military secretary, to
Washington, to confer with the
Secretary of War on the subject, and to obtain his opinion as to the manner in which the money could best be applied to secure the object for which it was designed.
He says,—
Mention to General Totten the subject of revolving turrets, mentioned by the committee of the Boston Marine Society; and, if possible,
