Early in 1862 H. P. Bee was appointed brigadiergen-eral and assigned to duty in command of the Western sub-district, with his headquarters at San Antonio.
The Confederate Congress passed the conscript law on April 16, 1862, and it went into effect a month afterward. The exemption from military service of men who owned or were in charge of a certain number of slaves, by that law, had the effect of producing dissatisfaction in a few localities, which discouraged volunteering in the army. It was an excuse for some to say that ‘this is a rich man's war and a poor man's fight.’ The effect of the law was to put every able-bodied man over sixteen years of age and under forty-five in the army, except those exempt by the slaves under their control. This unfavorable influence was somewhat increased by the declaration of martial law by Gen. H. P. Bee, on the 28th of April, 1862, in the Western sub-district; also by the declaration of martial law by General Hubert over the whole State of Texas, on May 30, 1862. Provost marshals appointed by him were given extraordinary power over all persons suspected of disaffection. While these measures produced some annoyance occasionally, and some criticisms, they really bad but little effect, except in a few localities; for the war spirit at that time was at fever heat, and controlled the action of the mass of the people in Texas.