The Patriot. (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 28, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 24, 1864 Page: 2 of 2
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Uhe gatriot.
oners of war, whose duty it shall
ar-
it.
proved prospects.
We would look
lion
attached thereto, >the
on a paper
not capable of
lieving that a condition of slavery
race, have
character of the negro
tick's sent for distribution, and who
shall see that they are distributed
ment which has been entered into
between the Confederate and Uni-
ted States Governments to supply
the prisoners of each with food and
clothing. It says:
a commissioned officer of each par-
ty be selected from among the pt is
is the only one
ly the arrangement of domestic and
social relations and grant to the
ContederateStates no authority to
molest them. the several States be-
being so intrusted their own
fare and that of society forbids their
Flake’s Bulletin says, the rapid
increase of retail stores and shops in
But in the West, it was
bought with a price; for freedom is
not marketable. These ideas being
true, then without a distruction of
Battalion Commander, to be by him
forwarded to these II d. Qr s., with
such remarks as he may deem nec-
essary. If the company be unat-
tached, the company commander
will forward direct to these Head-
2
t * .
upon her complete recovery from
het adverse and untoward fortune,
as the restoration of the brightest
jewel in the coronet of Texas.
The facts presented, in the "Dia-
ry of an officer,” of the campaign
allotted them that relation tosovies
ty, and have made thei r servitude a
part of the social and domestic in-
stitutions of the country. The Con-
federate States Government are not
authorized to interfere with this,
directly or indirectly. and cannot
act in any way in regard to it, with-
out transcending its power, and cau-
sing peril andderangment to State
policy.
It is difficult to imagine any act
of the Confederate States Govern-
ment more unauthorized and more
dangeious, than to assume the
ground that negro slaves may be-
come entitled to their freedom by
meritorious services; but if there
can be a greater assumption ofpow-
er, ora more dangerous exercise of
it, it is an act of the Confederate
States Government " by which it is
declared that slaves who have been
January.
ordered to be observed on the 25th
By command of -2
BRIG. GEN. ROBERTSON.
Jxo. G. Scott, A. A, G.
The Henderson Times says, it is
reported that Senator Wigfall was
captured by the enemy in crossing
the Mississippi River on his way to
Richmond.
rder, the responsibility for the im-
mediate and efficient discharge of
the duty will rest on the officer to
whom the order is given.
6. On receiving instructions from
the enrolling. and the order, as re-
quired by’ paragraph V, the officer
will require such force as he may
deem necessary to report to him—
using a sound discretion as to the1
number of men necessary for the
roper discharge of the duty—and
when the duty is performed, he will
endorse on the back of the order, or
ifthey are capable of being safely
entrusted with freedom. they ought
to be emancipated without condi- time occupied in the discharge of
Tae Island City deserves a better
fortune. She has had a sore tine of
a brief description of him, if a con-
script or citizen, which accounts or
lists, will be forwarded at short in-
tervals, to these Head Quarters in
accordance with paragraph VI, of
this order.
8. The commands of thia corps are
liable to be called into the field •ma
any moment; Commanding officers,
are, therefore, ordered to adopt, and :
rigidly enforce such rules as will se-
cure the prompt assembling of their
men at company and regimental
rendezvous.
in fbe military service shall be free; this order, immediately notify the
that the freedom of negroes is to be
Quarters. *
7. All persons arrested under
this order, will be turned over to the
consistent with the nearest enrolling officer, or such dis-
position made of him as he may di
rect; the officer or man making the
arrest, keeping an account of the
name and command (if a soldier.) A
emancipation upon conditions of
any kind.
The principles of our Govern
ment leave to the States exelu ive.
A Richmond letter gives the fol- cry human being when it does not
lowing particulars of the arrange- conflict with the welfare of himself
or the community. It cannot be
Regimental or Battalion Commad-
er of such order, who will take con-
trol of the men, and direction of the
work; and in cases where the Regi
mental or Battalion Commander
can be reached with readiness, the
Enrolling officer will notify him of
the necessity for the use of the men.
true principles, we cannot employ
I am glad to have it in my power negro slaves in our military ser-
" ’ ‘ ‘ t vice, and pay them for their eflic-
I the duty, the number of men used,
wel- and results accomplished, and for-
ward the same to his Regimental or
11 D. QRT S. RESERVE CORPS, )
STATE OF TEXAS,
BRENHAM, Nov. 30th, 1864.
GEN. ORDER. )
NO. 10. 5
1. By the law placing in service
the torce constituting the Reserve
Corps, they ars declared, when on
duty, to be governed by the laws
rules and regulations established by
i he Confederale States for the gov-
ernment of their armies in the field.
2. In the discharge ofthe duty of
arresting deserters, conscript*. and
other persons liable to service, each
and every officer and man of the
Reserve Corps is always on duty, as
much so when he is at home, as
w hen his company is called togeth-
er, and ordered out in squads for
duty.
3. Any soldier failing to arrest
any and all such person# in his ims
mediate neighborhood—or. after he
has made a prompt and vigorous
effort to arrest, and has failed—neg-
lecting to report the case mmedi-
ately to his commanding officer, will
be arrested and charges prefered a-
gainst him for disobedience of or-
ders, ana tried by court-martial, &
such punishment as may be adjudged
will be promptly inflicted.
4. It is not incumbent on, or nec-
essary for Enrolling officers, or any
other persons to notify the officers
or men of this command, that there,
are such persona in their neighbor-
hood, in order to make the third
I aragraph of this Order binding
upon them. It is their duty to in-
form themselves; and if they fail to
use the energy necessary to obtain
such information, they must suffer
the consequences of that neglect.
5. When an inrolling officer has
any duty for the Reserve to perform
in bis county, he will order the of-
ficer commanding the nearest forue
to report to him, and after giving
such information as will enable him
1» understand the nature of theduty
required, will give the comma’ding
officer a written order, requiring its
performance. After receiving such
lions. If they’ are
Galveston, and the auctioneering
that is going on, indicate improve- be to receive and receipt for all
ment in the business of the City.
IX. In all cases; where there is
a Regimental or Buttalior organi-
zation, the Enrolling officers will,
upon issuing to the commands of
Reserves in his county, the order
contemplated in paragraph V, of
according to the wishes of those sen-
Werujoiceto hear of her im- ding them; and to this suggestion
Gen. Lee gives his ready assent.
Upon consultation with General
to state that, in view’of the fact that . .
a large number of prisoners will ieucy and fidelity with emancipu-
probably be held in captivity by
noble our baser natures. It is a
want of our moral being; and at
such seasons and festivals, this want
should be generously indulged, to
create witbin us an additionaldegree
of interest in the event, which may
be thus commemorated. In proof
of this moral want, all the festivals
of Christian communities, will find
their types in Paganism, or judaism.
The first Christian festival was
Easter, the resurrection of our Lord,
which is prefigured by the Jewish
Passover. Whit-Sunday, or the
day of the outpouning ofthe Holy
Spirit, was but a recognition of the
Jewish Pentecost. And all our civ-
il festivals and observances, find
their prototypes in the FERI ofthe
Romans, or the Heortai of the
Greeks, or the three yearly festivals
ofthe Jews. Thus, from the earli
est ages, man, from a conviction of
its necessity, has adopted, or has re-
ceived, by the appointment of God,
periodic terms of relaxation from
the ordinary pursuits and business
of life, to be appropriated to festivi-
ties and rejoicings. As a Christian
observance, many of the festivals, .
which once obtained inthe Church,
have been repudiated and discon- I
tinned by the Protestant part of it;
in some cases, no doubt, growing
out of the inveterate prejudices cre-
ated during the Reformation against
the perversions of Rome. Some,
perhaps, very properly; but others
inconsiderately, from a too great
moral and mental bias of the refor-
mers. The Christmas festival, how-
ever, was too closely interwoven
with the feelings and habits of the
people to be thus unceremoniously
thrust aside. It still holds its place
as the great gala day of Christen-
dom; and Christians, every where,
and of all persuasions,- tolerate its
observance. In the moral economy
of the world, what then is the pur-
pose and design of this annual fes-
A bright oasis, it the desert of
war, has been reached, which re-
gales the heart of weary humanity,
in the reported arrangement of the
two heligerents to supply their re
spectivo captives with comfortable
food and clothing. The best symp-
tom we have yet seen of returning
sanity to the madcaps of war !
We copy from the Galveston
News a very sensible and well—
written article, by the editor, upon
the recommendation of President
Davis to employ slaves in our army.
In our opinion, his views are sound
and just, and the measure recom-
mended by the President, is not on-
ly in conflict with the spirit and
genius of our institutions; but as a
matter of policy, is unwise, and will
prove fatal and disastrous, both to
the institution, and to our existence
as a government. Tie sad to think
such madness rules the hour. Yet,
there are not only apologists, but
advocates, for it!
Another recurrence of the Anni -1
versary of the Savior of the world, I
is just at band, which for more than
fourteen hundred years, in Christian
countries, has been established as a
time of rejoicing and festivity, not
only in the church, but out of the
church, by all classes of persons,
both believing and unbelieving
History records, that the feast of
Christmas, in memory of the birth
of Christ, was established in the
fourth century; hut the particular
time of its celebration was then in-
determinate. But in the fifth cen-
tury, the Western church, fixed it
upon the 25th day of Dec., the old
Roman feast of the birth of Sol:—
the precise day ofthe birth-of Christ,
with reference to the astronomical
phases of the world, being still un-
settled and undetermined. In the
East, it was celebrated on the 6th of
both belligerents during the coming
winter, Judge Ould, Confederate
Commissioner of Exchange, has
proposed to the Federal Secretary
of War and Major Mulford the As
distant Commissioner on the part of
the United States, that each Gov-
ernment shall have the privilege of
forwaruing, tor the use and comfort
of such of its prisoners as are he'd
by the other, all necessary articles
of food and clothing; and that Gen.
Grant has notified Gen. Lee of the
acceptance of the proposition. The
dEtails of the agreement have not
yet been fixed, but it is understood
that it .will include necessary cloth-
ing and blankets, & rations of meat,
bread, coffee, sugar, pickles, vinegar
and tobacco.
Judge Ould suggested that it
would be necessary that the Confed-
erate authorities should make pur-
chase of these articles outside the
limits of the Confederate States, and
then ship them to one of the Fed-
eral ports, since it would be imprac
ticable to send the stores by flag of
truce boats—the supplies thus sent
to be considered as being in addition
to such rations as are furnished by
the Government which has the pris-
oners incustody. TothisGen.Grant
replies: ‘ In the proposition submit-
ted by Judge Ould I see no one t hing
to object to I shall be perfectly
willing to receive at ary place held
by the Federal troops all clothing
an J delicacies sent for the use of
prisoners in ourhands, provided the
same privilege is extended for sup-
plying the wants of those held by
the Confederate authorities. No
objection will be urged to receiving
supplies for like distribution at any
of our Northern ports direct from
Europe, or to allowing purchases in
Northern cities for the same pur-
pose.”
Such is the spirit of the entire
correspondence, which is highly
honorable to all t he parties concern-
i ed in it. Gen. Grant suggests that
Lawton, the Quartermaster (ien’l
it was ascertained that clothing
cannot be purchased in Europe and
delivered to our prisoners in the
North before the middle of January
or first of February next; ai d in
that view, as blankets are their first
and greatest need, Judge Ould has
recommended to Mr Seddon. the
Secretary of War, the immediate
purchase of Thirty thousand pairs
to be made in a Nori hern city. He
suggests, also, that the Federal au-
thorities be asked to allow us to
ship an amount of cotton from Wil-
mington, or some other port, sufi
centtomake the purchase. Mr
Seddon approves of the recommen
dation and suggestion, and has au-
thorized Judge Ould to proceed at
once to their execution
Mr. Davis’ Recommendation’ ofthe
Employment of Slaves in the Ar-
my.
To the charge that negro slav-
ery is wrong in morals, and inex-
pedient in political and social econ-
emy, it has been replied (as we
think justly ) by the South that the
negro race is not capable of being
entrusted with personal freedom,
without injury to theniselves as
well as danger and mischief to soci
ety.
If it be admitted that the negro
can enjoy freedom. witheut injury
to their own condition or to thore
around them, but that, having the
pby-ical power, we will compel their
servitude, the declaration would be
ignoble; for it would assert the
maintenence of injustice by force
Th is position the South never has
taken, and it is to be he ped will
never take.
The right to freedom (unless for-
feited by crime) is inherent in ev-
won by their fighting for it.
We purposely avoid discussion of
this subject at this time in ali its
various aspecis and relations, but
present the foregoing as our reasons
in part, for hoping that the recom-
mendation of Mr. Davis in his late
message, in regard to the employ-
ment of slaves in military service,
may not be adopted by Congress.
Galveston Sews.
tival? Religiously considered, it is
to deepen in the hearts of men, the
conviction of the great and inesti-
mable blessings bestowed upon the
human race by the coning of a
Teacher, who spoke as never man
spake, and whose mission was to
preach peace on earth, and good
will to man:—a mission of moral
sublimity & granduer, unparallelled
in time, and only to be comprehen
ded by eternity. In this aspect, it
might, at each recurrence, and un-
der all circumstances, have its ap-
propriate influence over the l ves
and conduct of men. But viewed
as a mere worldly institution, as a
mere moral pause at the close ofthe
cycle ofthe year, to take a retro-
spect of the scenes, the incidents
and the events of that cycle, for the
purpose of animating our hearts to
exultation, rejoicing and festivity,
the Christmas just before us, gives
no cheering promise of its usual hi-
larity, merriment and glee. Still,
we-can tender to our readers our
congratulatory hopes, that the sad-
ness of the past, & the gloom which
envelopes the future, may soon be
dispelled; our despondency quick-
ened into bouyancy, our visions of
the future brightened into reality, by
the non trolling superintendence of
Him who rules in the counsels of the
just;—satisfied as we are, that His
ways are not as man’s ways; and
that whatever He may do, will not
only be right in itself, but will re-
dound tothe lastingpermanentgood
of his intelligent, though erring,
creatures. Under this consoling
conviction, we hope all may pass
through the approaching holiday,
pleasantly and happily, untroubled
by the corroding consciousness of a
mispentyear.
We acknowledge the receipt of
“A Compendium of English Gram-
mar,” from the publishing Estab-
lishment of E. H. Cushing &Co.,
Houston, Texas—a very small book,
of 26 pages, for very small children.
It was prepared and arranged by J.
C. G. R. Patton, Principal of the
Do jglasville Academy, Texas. The
work is unpretending in its charac-
ter; but from the plan and arrange
ment, seems well adapted to the ca-
pacity of the juveniles. We think
it will answer a very valuable pur-
pose in imparting a knowledge of
the elements of Grammar.
of December, which connects with
it the feasts ofthe martyr Stephen,
and of the evangelist St. John and
that of the Holy Innocents. And
now, since the reformation of the
calendar, in all Christian Europe &
America, there is one general obser-
vance of the same day. Thus it is.
the memories and practices, connec-
ted with the observance of this hol-
iday, are partly of Pagan, and part.,
ly of Christian origin. Its obser-
vance has some of the characteris-
tics of the old Roman Saturnalia, in
the general freedom and boisterous
hilarity of the popular mind, at each
recurrence of this festival. It is
however set apart by ecclesiastical
authority for relig ious observance,
‘ in commemoration of the nativity
of our Savior, as a day appropriate
to the expression of our thankful-
ness and gratitude for a God made
manifest in the flesh. Whether it
be observed in conformity with the
Pagan custom, or in obedience to
ecclesiastical appointment,it is ben-
eficial to our race. There is an in-
nate propensity inhuman nature to
observe, with festive solemnities,
the return of certain periods of time
when there may be a general relax-
ation from all serious business, for
the purpose of cherishing the recol-
lection of important events, and har-
monizing the circumstances around
us with the internal feelings of the
mind. Such indulgences, too, are
well calculated to elevate and to en-
SATUEDAY,---DEC. 24. 1864.
We welcome the familiar “phiz”
ofthe “Ranchero” back to our board,
whose place has been so long va-
cant, but always hospitably reser-
ved, fora guest of so much vivacity
and spirit. The Ranchero has chang
ed its domicil from the Southren
coast to the Western border of our
Empire State—from Corpus Christi
to Brownsville—and is now the on-
ly direct intellectual medium be-
tween us and the outside world; and
we trust it will be able by its great
I powers of convergence, to collect
all the scattered rays of intelligence
from that out side world, and throw
them in full focal blaze upon every
point of its direction. The paper
is good, the typography well exe-
cuted; is almost certain to be well
edited, and in every way, a good
and interesting newspaper. We
Bond the Patriot, greeting.
of Price’s Army through Misson,
which we find in the Galveston
News, show, that it was a most dis-
astrous expedition. It is by no
means a favorable augury of the
feelings of the Missouri people to
wards our cause. We infer one of
two things, from this account of it:
either, Gen. Price was grossly de
ceived, as to the temper and dispo-
sition of the Missouri people, to-
wards oursuccess; or, the expedition
was undertaken, under express or-
ders from higher authority, to make
a diversion in favour of Gen. Hood,
and prevent re-enforcemer ts being
senttc Sherman. If the latter was
the purpose, it does not detract from
Gen. Price’s military reputation.
If the former was the case, then it
would somewhat wither the laurels
which were before green and fresh
upon his brow.
The general complexion of the
dispatches ofthe week rather indi-
cates the successful transit of Sher-
man with his army through the
State of Georgia to the seacoast.
Hood has his Head Quarters within
six miles or Nashville, and has the
lower Cumberland blockaded, and
seems to have a fair prospect of
taking the Rock City. No intelli
gence from Lee and Grant. The
message of the Northern President
was read in the Congress, but we
have received no intimation of its
temper and tone.
Proposal of theConfederate Author
ties to Purchase Blankets in the
North.
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The Patriot. (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 28, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 24, 1864, newspaper, December 24, 1864; La Grange, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1582658/m1/2/: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Fayette Public Library, Museum and Archives.