From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Letter from several citizens of Black Hawk, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus, asking that Richard W. Cole be exempted from Confederate military service. To justify the exemption, the petitioners state that Cole is in "feable health" due to a wagon accident that left him unable to perform much manual labor. The petitioners further state that Cole is responsible for overseeing a plantation; that he is a justice of the peace; that he lost his eldest son, a Confederate soldier, at Camp Beauregard; that his wife and children depend on him; and that he collected guns for Confederate use.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Letter T. W. Winston, a former Confederate officer at Jonesville, Texas, to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus, asking whether he is exempt from the draft under the terms of the latest conscription exemption bill. Winston states that though he is thirty-four years of age and therefore within the age range of men eligible for conscription, he, his sister, and a W. H. Winston hold ninety five enslaved persons between their three properties. He further complains that he and his relatives have no one to oversee their properties.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Commission issued by Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus appointing Erwin Blythe as First Lieutenant in Company C, 6th Regiment, Mississippi Militia.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Commission issued by Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus appointing Charles N. Powell as Captain in Company A, 8th Regiment, Mississippi Militia.