| Executive Department |
| Tallahassee July 10th 1863 |
| |
| Hon D. L. Yulee |
| |
| Sir, |
| Your letter of the 19th of
June acknowledging the receipt of one from me dated the 8th came by due
course of mail, but intervening circumstances have prevented a reply. |
| In the commencement of your
letter you have stated "I do not perceive any probable utility in an
extended correspondence upon the subject to which it relates, nor in a
discusive controversy." If you had concluded your letter with this
sentence, I should have been indebted to your kindness and courtesy for
the commencement and conclusion of an interesting correspondence. But
you added "it is sufficiently evident that you are desirous to effect
the destruction of a considerable part of the track of this road and the
transfer of the iron to the use of the connections in Middle Florida and
Georgia." This assertion was gratuitous and unauthorized. One of the
principal objects I have had in view has been to prevent the road from
being captured and used or destroyed by the enemy; and partially to
accomplish this object have advised the iron from parts of the track to
be removed by Confederate Authority for the defence of the State and
upon conditions which would insure the future use of the road. I am not
conscious of ever having desired or expressed what might have been
reasonably considered a desire to destroy any part of the track. The
late Secretary of War, the Hon. G. W. Randolph believed from
representatives which had been made to him "that the line of Railroad
connecting Cedar Keys and Fernandina was comparatively useless to the
Confederacy, in consequence of both termini of the roads being in
possession of the enemy" and that the iron & Telegraph wire should be
removed. In a letter dated at Richmond April 3rd 1862 and addressed to
me, he stated," under these circumstances I should be pleased to receive
your views of the expedience of removing the Iron and Telegraph Wire,
and if you concur with me in opinion I will direct the General
commanding in Florida to have the rails and wire removed." In reply to
Mr Randolph I submitted to his consideration the information I had
received upon the subject from gentlemen residing in East Florida whom I
supposed to be interested in, and friendly to the prosperity of the
road. |
| Until the receipt of your
letter of the 19th ultimo, I was apprized that "the project has
all the while, during the provisional government and since been urged at
Richmond by the interests particularly concerned, with remarkable
perseverance and energy, the Legislative Department of the Confederacy
has positively refused to regard the Florida connection as a
military necessity; and that the Confederate Executive has with equal
persistency refused to recommend it." |
| Controversies have occurred
since the commencement of the War relative to Railroad iron and
Telegraphic Wire, the results of which have seemed to me more worthy of
consideration. I am informed the the Confederate authorities desired to
remove and use or reserve for use, the iron on the Railroads which
connected Petersburg with Norfolk; and Weldon with Portsmouth. The
proprietors of the roads objected, the Government yielded to their
objections, and the enemy captured and removed the iron. |
| The Confederate Authorities,
without a special act of Congress to authorize it, decided the removal
of the iron (a distance of thirty eight miles) from the Alabama &
Florida Railroad which connected Pensacola in West Florida, with
Montgomery and intermediate places, and its use for the defence of
Mobile Ala, to be a Military necessity. |
| The President of the road
objected; the Senators and Representatives of this State in the Congress
of the Confederate States protested, and I was appealed to as the
Governor of the State and citizen of West Florida, not only to protest,
but if necessary to prevent the removal and use of the iron, to
interpose State Authority. I did not feel at liberty to interfere,
First, Because Florida had entrusted the Confederate government with the
conduct of the war, and by an ordinance of the State in convention as
well as by an act of the General Assembly of the State, the faith and
honor of Florida was solemnly pledged to sustain the Confederate
Government "to the utmost of her resources." Secondly, Because, that
under the circumstances the Confederate Government had the Exclusive
right to decide upon military necessities. Thirdly, Because the iron was
liable to be captured and taken off or destroyed by the enemy, to the
irreparable injury of the Alabama & Florida Railroad Company and of the
State; and I was satisfactorily assured, as I am relative to the iron on
the parts of the Florida railroad, that the iron would be removed and
used upon equitable terms which would save the State and the Alabama &
Florida Railroad Company from ultimate loss. The iron was removed, the
Confederate Government agreed to pay a fair price for it, or upon the
cessation of hostilities, (or before if it could be done consistently
with the public interests) to replace the iron, or other suitable iron
on the road. I have been recently informed, that the parties in interest
who opposed the removal and use of the iron, now approve that the action
of the Confederate Government, and rejoice in their security against the
danger to which the rod was exposed, and the certainty of its future
reconstruction and utility. |
| When Brig Genl Joseph Finegan
commanded the military Department composed of Middle, East and a part of
West Florida, be believed it a military necessity to remove the wire
from the Telegraph wire which had connected Meridian and Tallahassee
with Apalachicola, and to appropriate it in the establishment of a
telegraph line between Tallahassee and Lake City. Upon General Finegans
recommendation and my approval the Secretary of War ordered the wire to
be removed and it was used to establish the telegraphic connection which
now exists between Lake City and this place. |
| The wire at the time of its
removal could have been made useful in keeping up communications between
Tallahassee (the head quarters of the general), Marianna and Military
posts on the Chattahoochee river, and should probably have been used for
the purpose, but the opinion seemed reasonably to be entertained that a
Telegraph line connecting Tallahassee with Lake City would be more
useful for the defence of the State generally, and therefore the removal
and use of the wire from Marianna to Apalachicola were not opposed. |
| The loss of the wire to West
Florida was felt at the time to be a grievance. The injury of that
portion of the State is becoming more apparent and will be seriously
experienced when Confederate forces shall again occupy Apalachicola or
its citizens can return there in safety. But I am not appraized that any
citizen of Wet Florida has so to expressed the opinion that Genl Finegan
was influenced by a desire to injury West Florida for the benefit of
Middle & East Florida, altho the owner of the wire and the citizens
regretted the supposed necessity for its removal and appropriation. |
| To Florida, not to West
Florida, East Florida, Middle Florida, or South Florida, but to the
State of Florida, citizens owe their allegiance and should not permit
themselves to be influenced by sectional prejudices or selfishness to
forget their allegiance and the obligations it impasses for the
maintenance of the general welfare, peace and dignity of the State. |
| But to return to the Florida
railroad. My attention was more recently invited to the exposed and
comparatively useless condition of parts of the track alluded to and the
important uses to which it might be applied, in securing the means of
transporting troops if they would be needed for the defence of the
State, as well as for the transportation of subsistence to aid in the
support of the armies in Confederate service, and to complete a gunboat
intended for service on the coast of Florida. Your attention as
President of the Florida Railroad was respectfully invited to the
consideration of the subject. My views have been frankly made known to
you and it is deemed unnecessary to recapitulate them. But permit me to
enquire, if future events shall prove their correctness and the enemy
shall capture the road, remove the iron and destroy the track, if the
Florida Railroad Company has the ability to rebuild it or refund the
money which the State has advanced or could with reasonable confidence
appeal to the State to lend its credit, for the re-connection of the
road? |
| In view of the amount of stock
owned by the State, it seems to me that the Trustees of the Internal
Improvement fund are excusable for feeling some anxiety for the safety
of the iron and the ultimate and permanent utility of the road. |
| I do not concur in the opinion
expressed by you "That the general cause and the proper defence of East
Florida and advantage of the State will be best served by preserving and
holding the military base which the Florida Railroad furnishes to the
Peninsula." I can not perceive under existing circumstances, how it can
be reasonably considered at all as a military base, nor how the
portions of the track from which it has been proposed to remove the
iron, can be indispensable for defence, or be prevented from falling
into the hands of the enemy if they shall attempt to capture it. The
number of troops in East Florida are insufficient to defend that portion
of the State against the invasion threatened by the enemy via the St
John's river and St Augustine if they shall attempt it with half the
forces they have been reported as marshalling for the purpose. Should
the enemy invade East Florida with the forces at their command divided
and brought in simultaneously from the Atlantic and the Gulf, may they
not drive off or capture the forces under General Finegan's command and
use the Florida railroad to submit their forces, maintain positions of
their own selection and take off the persons and property of the
citizens. They are well acquainted with the topography, the advantages
and disadvantages, of that portion of the State. But gentlemen when
education and experience have qualified for military service have
frequently differed in opinion, both as to the most available means of
attack and defence; and therefore our differences in opinion may be
excused. Pardon me if I have more confidence in my opinions than yours.
First, Because I have no personal interest to bias unconsciously my
judgment. Secondly, Because official duty has required more of my
attention to the defences of the State and official position afforded
greater facilities for information relative to them, and the resources
of the Confederate Government. Thirdly, because disasters have occurred
in East Florida, as predicted by me that they would occur, when those
who agree with you thought differently and advised measures of defence
which were adopted against my judgment, as made known to the Secretary
of War. Fourthly and chiefly, Because all officers of military
experience and distinguished character with whom I have conferred or
corresponded, concur with me in opinion relative to the means necessary
for the defence of the State. But I sincerely hope that the apprehension
which I entertain for the safety of East Florida may be without
sufficient causes to justify them, and that therefore the citizens of
that portion of the State generally, may not be subjected to the bitter
calamities which have been inflicted by the enemy upon the citizens of
Fernandina, St Augustine, Jacksonville, and citizens residing in the
vicinity of St John's river. But with these important parts of East
Florida subjected to the will of the enemy; and so many of our worthy
fellow citizens refugees and subjects of charity, I am utterly amazed at
the apparent security which citizens in other parts of East Florida seem
to enjoy, and especially when I consider their claims to intelligence,
superior wisdom and foresight. |
| When I reflect upon the
controverses in the Congress of the United States which preceded and
related to the threatened secession of the Southern States, when I
consider the grave national reasons which were then and there assigned
why Florida especially was necessary under the same government
with the Northern and Western States, to their commerce, national
importance and national security and remember the solemnly arrived
purpose of the most able, least fanatical and most conservative
statesmen of the North and West "to keep Florida in the Union at every
hazard and sacrifice of men and money," when I know St Augustine,
Fernandina, Jacksonville, the St John's river, Apalachicola, Pensacola
and Milton, to have been occupied by the forces of the enemy; to be now
subject o their will, and that the entire coast of the State is under
their command, When I reflect upon the feeble condition of Florida
compared with the powerful states of Virginia, North Carolina; South
Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri, When I read of
the wanton destruction of property and the cruel outrages of the enemy
in these states, When I occasionally meet with the citizens of these
States, who were brave, intelligent and social but now homeless and
penniless wanderers and listen to the recital of their calamities, and
while no reasonable calculation can be made when the war being waged for
our destruction will be terminated, I confess, that I am sadly
humiliated by the senseless or treacherous jargon of conflicting
local interests in the State, and by the groveling, debasing and
shameless desire manifested for the accumulation of wealth, regardless
of personal harm and the general welfare. |
| The soil of Florida will be
drenched by the blood of her citizens or disgraced by their degradation,
unless they shall be aroused from a false sense of security, to make
with concert of action and heroic purpose, timely preparations for the
defence of their right. |
| I know no man in Florida under
more obligations than yourself, to rise superior to personal
considerations and local interests, for the defence and rescue of the
State from the threatened and impending dangers. |
| The political honor you have
enjoyed, the rail road iron now needed for the defence of the State and
to which you cling with professional and instinctive pertinacity, were
not derived exclusively from East Florida. You are indebted to the State
of Florida for the proud positions which were conferred upon you and to
the credit of the State for the iron now required for its defence.
Should you not therefore exert the ability you may possess, to arouse
the good people of East Florida to a sense of their danger; to advise
them to organize into military bodies, under the late requisition of the
President, for the defence of the State; to rely with generous
confidence upon the better informed judgment of officers to whom the
defences of the State, by the constitutions and laws of the State and of
the Confederate States have been confided, and who are best qualified to
decide upon military necessities; to abandon all idea of appeals to the
civil authority to impede by all forms of law and technicalities in
pleading, the preparations necessary to be made promptly for the defence
of the State, rather than encourage sectional strife and riotous
conduct, not creditable to the parties engaged and disreputable to the
State. |
| You are laboring under a
misapprehension when you made the assertion that the people of East
Florida "knew that their own State has by law at its last
session, prohibited the removal of any iron now laid upon the public
roads." There was no law enacted upon the subject, but a resolution
passed simply expressive of the opinion of the General Assembly, and
about the same time another resolution was passed pledging Florida to
the support of the war. Enclosed you will find copies of the
Resolutions. |
| It is not to be presumed that
the General Assembly of Florida considered railroad iron more
sacred than the lives of their fellow citizens whom they represented; or
that it was more important to accomplish the commercial purposes of
individuals, than to use it as an auxiliary to men and muskets in the
conduct of the war; or that they desired (even if under any
circumstances they would have claimed the right) to control the action
of the Confederate Government; or to have ignored important provisions
of the Constitution intended to invest the Executive of the State with
the power necessary to its defence. |
| I have just received a letter
from Genl Beauregard, a copy of which is herewith submitted for your
consideration. |
| Your attention has been
invited to the subject as a matter of courtesy, and not because the
opinion was entertained, that your concession to the removal of the iron
was necessary, except to avoid unpleasant litigation. The State claims
to own the majority of the stock in the road, exclusive of that
belonging to alien enemies; "the Trustees of the Internal Improvement
fund" are alone authorized to represent the interests of the State; the
authority exists to remove the iron by civil process, and to execute the
process, sufficient force can be promptly commanded if a resort to force
should be at all necessary. But I am not inclined to exercise State
Authority in the premises, while I believe it to be the duty of the
Confederate Government (with or without your consent) to promptly remove
the iron from the parts of the track alluded to, for the proper defence
of the State and in despite of any opposition which may be attempted. |
| From its removal no permanent
injury can result; the rights of the State may be preserved; and the
iron at a suitable time be restored to the road. |
| With these remarks I conclude
a correspondence from which you can "perceive no probable utility." |
| I have the honor to be |
| Respectfully |
| John Milton |
| Govt of Florida |
| |
| The copies of the Resolutions enclosed were |
| Resolution No 17, Page 70 |
|
" No 34, Page 79 -- Acts 1 sess.
12th Gen Ass. |
|