Letter from J. Alex Ventress to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark; February 6, 1864

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Letter from J. Alex Ventress to Mississippi Governor Charles Clark; February 6, 1864

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People

Allen, Henry Watkins, 1820-1866 Clark, Charles, 1811-1877 Dillon, Edward, 1835-1897 Polk, Leonidas, 1806-1864 Scott, Unknown Ventress, James Alexander, 1805-1867

Events

Crime Crime--Arson Crime--Destruction of property Crime--Robbery Crime--Theft Emancipation and self emancipation Impressment Military Engagements Military Engagements--New Orleans, Capture of, La., 1862 Military Engagements--Whale Wars (American Civil War)Military Events--Raid Taxation Taxation--Confederate States of America Taxation--Mississippi

Military Units

Confederate States of America--Military Service (Branch Unspecified)Confederate States of America. Army United States. Army

Organizations

Butcher Shops Confederate States of America. Congress Factories Mississippi. Executive Department

Occupations

Cotton gins and ginning Judges Louisiana. Governor Planter Sheriffs

Places

Choctaw County (Miss.)La Grange (Miss.)Louisiana Mississippi River New Orleans (La.)West Feliciana Parish (La.)Wilkinson County (Miss.)Woodville (Miss.)

Social Identifiers

Enslaved people Military Status--Military families

Vital Statistics

Death

Page 1

[Seal: CONGRESS ]

La Grange near Woodville Miss
6^th Febry 1864

^To His Excellency Gov Cha^s Clark

Dear Governor

I deem it supererogatory in one to congratulate you on your accession to the Gubernatorial chair of the State; as I, so early as last Spring, sent you a message by Gen Allen—(now Governor of the State of La) to solicit that your name might be used in connection with the exhalted station you now occupy—

Congratulation there-fore, is not the object of this letter.—The object, Governor, is to make Known to you the Condition of the County and its inhabitants, and to solicit your intervention in their behalf,—The county in some districts is lying waste; corn, Cotton, and other products of the soil are abandoned—negroes in great numbers have, either gone, or been taken ~~to the~~ away, Horses, mules, Cattle sheep and swine, have also been taken by the Enemy, our own Soldiery, robbers and thieves—The lines of our Enemy extended about two thirds around the county, and they have already made several raids through it.—
Thus the agents of distruction are around and amongst us—Anarchy hovers over us, and Despotism—that bloodhound of humanity, is on the trail: law and order exist no more: the Judge no longer with the County, and the Sheriff is powerless. To these calamities, let me [?],

Page 2

=the want of many of the necessaries of life.—The people have dug-up the foundations of their meat-houses, for salt,—and have sought substitutes for tea and coffee, in the forests and in the fields.

The Ladies have sought to cloth their families by their own labor; but cards are wanting, and they could not purchase any as they are not permitted to be brought within our lines—Notwithstanding all of these Calamities, the people of the County, (up to the distruction of the Woodville Factory) clothed and shod their own brave soldiers in the field—have ever paid ther taxes with unexampled exactitude—are now paying the heavy state and Confederate taxes with [cheerfulness?] and promptitude; and have, during the whale war contributed their labor, their means, and their blood voluntarily, in defense of the Country.—

You can not well conceive, with what astonishment—nay horror ~~that~~ there people look upon an order sent to Capt Scott ordering him to burn all the cotton in the Feliciana and in Wilkinson County—The burning was to commence in West Feliciana—The people there rose—up against it—Capt Scott refused to burn, and went immediately to Col Dillon who gave the order, and the order was suspended—For how long no one Knows—And Forsooth, this execrable deed was to have been perpetuated, because some bales of cotton had been carried Stealthily to the Mississippi during night—

The premature burning ^of^ cotton immediately after the fall of New Orleans was evidently based upon the suppersi=tion that the Enemy would seize and confiscate all the cotton that might fall into ~~there~~ ^his^ hands; such however, is more proven not to be a fact; and will our Government Knowing this now destroy that cotton that the Enemy will [respeat?]. Is it possible

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[Seal: H]

=that the order that was in the hands of Capt Scott, was em=anated from or was sanctioned by our Government? If so: Knows it not that cotton is our All—without it we can=not live—without it we can not pay our taxes—Let it remember the fact, that a large number of Officers and soldiers who are in the Army are Cotton owners, and that many man have realtives and friends at home whose sole channel of support depends upon the Cotton which they possess—

I ask then, will not the distruction of Cotton by Our government demoralize our Army?—Will it not also de-moralize the communities that will be brought to misery and ruin by it?; And does not the Government Know—full well, that the two great sinners of war, are Men and money, and that each is powerless without the other? Has it Forgotten that National wealth is naught else than the sum of the wealth of the individual Citizens of the nation!!—In a word destroy our cotton and you sever the tendon Achilles of the war—there can be no further progression; the sword of the warrior will drop from his hand; and the end of this long and bloody struggle will be at hand—our Country will be no more—we shall ~~then~~ be compelled to dig—out our miserable =exhistences with self-assuring concession ever whispering to us that the fatal calamity was brought about by inhumanity and imbecility—This, my friend, is what I deem the natural course of events. that. will follow such a course—

Simultaneously with this letter, there will be forwarded a petition of the people of this County addressed to Gen Polk, praying that he may countermand the order for burning Cotton—I hope and trust that he will do so—They do not wish that he=

Page 4

=will countermand the order merely; but that he will give full assurance that it ^cotton^ shall not be burnt—at least where the owner of it does not tresspass the law by recovering of it.—

How much better would it be for the Government instead of burning Cotton. to lay an export duty on it, of $20 or even $40 per bale in Confederate money; and then allow it to be freely exported—If it will not do this, hand it's exportation to foreigners alone:—This would ~~this woude~~ cause the exportation tax to be paid by the purchasers or Consumers; and this ~~more~~ ^duty^ more than any thing ^else^ would tend to raise the value of our down—fallen cur-rency.—

I must now, my friend, close this hasty letter, by saying; that the people of the County ^look to you^ for protection and and Comfort, in this: the hour of our distress—I have assured many of them that you are a States Rights man; and that you have inteligence, ^to forgive^ honesty to acknowl=edge, and boldness to protect ~~to protect~~ their rights; and that you will do it.—I pray you therefore, to do all that you can to prevent the burning of our Cotton: also to make every effort to obtain a permit that we can have some of the most needful neccessaries of life brought within our lives—If we are not permitted to get some Bagging Rope and twine, I am sure there will scarcely be any Cotton made this ^year^: for Our houses are filled with Cotton corn and fodder—our [teal?] rooms are filled with cotton that was ginned last year for the purpose ^of^ getting and to plant, and if we can not gin we certainly cannot plant—This dilemma is well worth your consideration and speedy action Hoping that ~~you~~ ^will^ do all that you can (and that speedily) in our behalf. I remain .Gov. with considerations of respect and esteem your friend,

J Alex Ventress