| Columbia, October 18th 1864 |
| |
| Major S. B. French |
| CS |
| Richmond VA |
| |
| Major, |
| Referring to my several
communications to Capt Abrams, I have now to report that I returned last
evening from an intensive tour though all the important portions of this
state & seen & conferred fully with all the leading district
commissioners. |
| I have availed of the order
furnished to me by Major Guerin to them to obey my orders, and
given such instructions as I deemed best calculated to carry out
successfully the imposing mission. I have examined closely into their
actions & proceedings. I find them all active energetic & valuable
officers, in the course of my observation & expression I have seen no
one more so. And with their impressive organization, you may expect to
receive more than double of the loading articles of subsistence than you
did last year. In bacon is heavily so: and I have directed them all to
proceed at once to collect all the hogs on the foot they possibly
could. With the swill afforded by the distilleries of Capts. Simons &
Riley they could cheaply fatten, and I have suggested, if better
arrangements could not be made, to receive & fatten for the farmers,
hogs on shares, say one half. |
| Capt Rily commenced the
distillation of whiskey last week, having a supply of old corn, Capt
Simons commences this week from the new. Capt Simons has bought &
shipped to Major Claiborne this week 8 bls whiskey & all the bacon here
has some 10,000 lbs, and as soon as the weather is sufficiently cool
will commence to slaughter heavy & with brandy already provided he will
ship off to him salt beef. He will be able to appropriate several
hundred head to this purpose. But the Captain as well as the other
efficient purchasing commissioners of this state are encumbered with
difficulties. The people are in South Carolina, the western portions
particularly, are becoming very tired of the war, more sordid that war,
& ready to jump at anything to justify their treachery. An agent of the
Navy Department has been in Capt Simons' District placanding the
villages that he would pay $100 p barrel for flour whilst the Capt was
paying only $50, and a public meeting of the citizens of Anderson had
recently been held wherein Capt Simons has been demanded, and their
proceeding have been transmitted to the Secy of War. I assure Capt
Simons that he need not be apprehension in faithfully & energetically
discharging his duty, and direct him, as I do other purchasing
commissioners to enforce the laws of impressment without hesitation when
necessary, to increase his agents so that every portion of his district
should be thoroughly traversed, that the earliest measures must be taken
to gather in the tithes, and to see that bonded exempts faithfully met
their obligations. And I have given similar instructions to all the
other purchasing commissioners of the state. Capt Means of the
Spartanburg District is an influential & valuable officer, but he had
manifested a repugnance to execute the laws of impressment, and Major
Guerin very properly placed another in his stead. |
| You can expect nothing from
this state in the way of meat except from Capt Anderson until the winter
set in & when hogs can be converted to bacon. The sorghum crop is
immense, but the sudden reduction of the commissioners of the state from
$8 p gallon to $3 has given much dissatisfaction: It was indeed
injudicious, as much so as was the course of my Virginia commissioners
when they so largely increased the prices of wheat. But I instruct all
the purchasing commissioners of the state to enforce the laws of
impressment and to see that they secured all the surplus of subsistence
in their District, and to send forward early & as rapidly as they could
to Major Claiborn. |
| There will be little or no
dried fruit in this state. The crops were short & the little there was
has been converted into brandy. The summers drought has embarrassed the
pen crop, yet you will receive more from this source than you did last
year. A better system prevails altogether in the collection of saltlies
from which I rely for materially increased waihts. |
| There is here to day a
speculator from Georgia who under the authority of the Secretary of War
has brought from that state some 20,000 lbs of bacon with a view as he
says of supplying the necessities of the people of Richmond; but he has
professed to my friend Saml M Welson Sr; who with the sanction of the
Secy & Comy Genl is authorized to bring supplies for those people to
salt their bacon @ $5 p lg. I take leave to say that this is
injudicious. Our soldiers in their struggle to defend the City of
Richmond, should be supplied with meat brt on the ??? of this city. You
write on me for suggestions that ????? to buy supplies are dangerous if
not improper -- they are calculated not only to encourage the
speculator, but to impair and arrest the action of purchasing
commissioner. |
| I notice with much regret, in
the papers, the death of Major Lowe(?), but I proceed in the morning to
Savannah where I shall prosecute as I best can the orders of the
Commissary General, and I apprehend it will be incumbent upon me to go
to Mobile. Hoping however to hear from you a Savannah. |
| I am Major |
| Very Respectfully |
| W H Smith |
| Major & CS |
|