months after date, with six per centum interest from date, out of the Union Military Fund hereinafter provided, and shall be redeemable at any time thereafter at the pleasure of the State. § 9. A fund is hereby created which shall be denominated the “Union Military Fund," and shall consist of all moneys that may come into the Treasury of the State from appropriations made by the Congress of the United States to the State of Missouri, for the purpose of paying the militia forces thereof, or for indemnity for expenses incurred in suppressing the rebellion, or by loan for that purpose; and all taxes, dues, assessments, fines, and other liabilities that may be levied, assessed, and collected for, or may be due or coming to said State, by virtue of this or any other act for the special purpose of paying the militia; and this fund shall be and is pledged for the payment and redemption of all the bonds, principal and interest, which may be issued under this act (and shall be set apart by the Treasurer for that purpose only), and paid out under its provisions. § 10. Each and every person liable to do and perform military service contained within the following classes, shall be exempt from such service during each year on the annual payment of a commutation tax in consideration of such exemption equal to ten dollars each, and one per cent. upon the assessed value of his property: First, all persons who have refused, or who may hereafter refuse, for any cause, to perform military service. The commutation tax, in this section provided, shall be assessed and collected on assessment rolls, to be made out for each county by such military officers as may be assigned to that duty, and such commutation tax shall be collected and paid into the State Treasury as part of said fund, as provided in the next section. § 14. The governor is hereby authorized and directed to borrow any sum of money not exceeding one million five hundred thousand dollars upon bonds of the State, signed by himself and countersigned by the Secretary of State, with the great seal of the State attached, not having less than one, nor more than three years to run, at seven per cent. interest, with coupons attached for the interest, payable semiannually at Jefferson City, Missouri. Said bonds shall be redeemable at maturity, and the principal and interest shall be paid out of the Military Fund created by this act. The bonds thus issued shall be registered in the secretary's office, and the money borrowed thereupon shall be paid out to the Enrolled Militia for active service, as prescribed in this act. These loans may be obtained from banks, or individuals, in Missouri paper, United States Treasury notes made a legal tender, or other current funds; and in case said loan is effected, the bonds in this bill provided shall not be issued. Approved, March 9, 1863. [Laws of Missouri, 1863, pp. 25–29.] In an act of the legislature approved March 23, 1863, the tenth section of the act of March 9, 1863, was so amended as to require the annual payment of $30 instead of $10 commutation tax in lieu of personal service. As reported by the adjutant-general of the State (Annual Report, 1863, p. 30), the provisions of the State law permitting exemption from militia duty on the payment of the commutation tax interfered greatly with the efficiency of the Enrolled Missouri Militia, and it was found expedient by the governor of the State to order that the law should not apply to persons who had been detailed for active service in the provisional regiments unless the payment of the tax had been made in advance of the detail. Following is a copy of the order: GENERAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS STATE OF MISSOURI, II. The section in the act of the general assembly, approved March 3, 1863, which allows of exemption from militia duty upon payment of a commutation tax is not to be so construed as to allow of an exemption to any person who may be detailed for active service in the provisional regiments, unless the payment of the tax shall be made before the person shall be detailed for service. All persons, therefore, who are liable to detail, and who desire to obtain exemptions, must comply with the law by making the payment immediately. By order of the Commander in Chief: [Annual Report Adjutant-General of Missouri, 1863, p. 30.] JOHN B. GRAY, The Measures were also adopted to compel the service of persons subject to military duty who should fail to pay the commutation tax. orders on this subject were as follows: GENERAL ORDERS, No. 23. HEADQUARTERS STATE OF MISSOURI, 1. All persons subject to military duty in this State who have been assessed by the commissaries of exemption for refusing to perform militia duty, and who fail to pay their commutation tax to the proper collector, when called on for the same, and become delinquent, shall be reported by such collector to the commander of his Enrolled Missouri Militia district, or to such other person as said district commander shall designate. The district commander shall cause all such persons to be arrested without delay, and require them to perform militia duty until said tax is fully discharged. If any delinquent be considered an improper person to bear arms, he will be required to perform fatigue duty. And all such persons will be allowed the same pay as other persons similarly employed in the Enrolled Missouri Militia. By order of the Commander in Chief: JOHN B. GRAY, [Journal Missouri House of Representatives, adjourned session, 1863-64, Part I, Appendix, p. 214.] GENERAL ORDERS, No. 5. HEADQUARTERS STATE OF MISSOURI, I. By direction of the commander in chief, the following officers of the Enrolled Missouri Militia are hereby detailed for active service as commissaries of exemptions for the counties set opposite their names, for the current year, and will at once enter upon the discharge of their duties as such. V. All persons who have heretofore or who shall hereafter fail to pay the commutation tax, when properly assessed, are required to perform military service until said tax is paid, they receiving the pay allowed to other persons in the military service of the same grade, and the commissaries of exemptions will cause all such persons to be arrested and require them to perform fatigue duty until said tax is fully discharged. By order of Maj. Gen. W. S. Rosecrans: JOHN B. GRAY, [Annual Report Adjutant-General of Missouri, 1864, pp. 38-40.] II. Commissaries of exemptions are furthermore directed to forward to the commanding officers of their respective districts, upon the date above mentioned, a list embracing the names and residence of all persons liable to perform militia duty within their counties who have failed to enroll in compliance with existing orders, and who have been assessed in consequence of such failure, or who have failed to pay the commutation tax when properly called upon, either for the year 1863 or 1864, in order that such persons may be arrested and required to perform fatigue duty until said tax be fully discharged, in compliance with the provisions of General Orders, No. 5, current series, from these headquarters. OBJECT OF ORGANIZATION, COMMAND, SERVICE, STATUS. The object of the organization of the Enrolled Missouri Militia, as given in the general orders relating to their enrollment and embodiment as a military force, need not be here repeated. Contemporaneously with the issue of those orders General Schofield addressed the General in Chief, through his assistant adjutant-general, a letter in which he said, with regard to the purpose of the organization: Col. J. C. KELTON, HEADQUARTERS ST. LOUIS DISTRICT, Assistant Adjutant-General, Washington, D. C. COLONEL: I have the honor to inclose, for the information of the major-general commanding, copies of orders recently issued by the governor of Missouri and myself, directing an enrollment of all the militia of the State preparatory to calling into service such force as any emergency may render necessary. My reasons for adopting this course are the following: Large numbers of returned soldiers from Price's army, having found their way back to their homes, have secretly organized nearly the entire rebel portion of the State and are beginning to carry out the declared intention of some of their leaders to wage a war of destruction and extermination upon the loyal people, while Price is organizing a force in Arkansas with the purpose of reentering Missouri, if possible. So much has the probability of this result taken hold of the rebel mind in Missouri that a general rising among them is certain unless prompt and vigorous measures be taken to put it down. Whether any considerable force will attempt to enter Missouri I am hardly able to judge, as it depends mainly upon the movements of General Curtis and their result. One thing is certain, there is now near the Arkansas line, south of Rolla, a much larger force than I can cope with unless I concentrate a large portion of my force and leave a corresponding portion of the State to be overrun by guerrillas. This is the immediate and pressing necessity which has induced me to call at once for all of the militia of the State to be in readiness for any emergency that may arise. The ultimate and still more important end to be accomplished is to place the State in a condition to take care of itselt without expense to the United States, and thus justify a withdrawal for more important service of troops in the service and pay of the United States. * * * * I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, * * J. M. SCHOFIELD, [Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. XIII, p. 513.] On August 11, 1862, Governor Gamble, writing to the General in Chief, said: Officers from Price's army have been for some time recruiting in north Missouri. I ordered a general enrollment of militia. [Ibid., p. 557.] A few days later it was announced in an order from State headquarters (General Orders, No. 23, of October 23, 1862): They are a body organized for the purpose of preventing violations of the law of the State. [Journal Missouri House of Representatives, adjourned session, 1863-64. Part I, Appendix, p. 89. ] On November 24, 1862, Brigadier-General Warmoth, commanding the Second District, Enrolled Missouri Militia, declared in a circular order: "The Enrolled Militia of the State of Missouri is in active service for the purpose of maintaining and executing the civil laws of the State." The full text of the order is as follows: HEADQUARTERS SECOND DISTRICT, E. M. M., The Enrolled Militia of the State of Missouri is in active service for the purpose of maintaining and executing the civil laws of the State. This being the principal object, it will be well for all militia commanders in this district to fully understand it. The laws of the State are for the protection of the lives, liberty, and the property of its citizens. Loyalty is a necessary ingredient to citizenship, and without it no man is entitled to protection, either for himself or his property. Under the laws of the State of Missouri, property is recognized in slaves. Frequent letters have been received at these headquarters asking the advice of the commanding general in regard to fugitive slaves. It is hereby ordered, "That the slaves of all loyal citizens who shall escape to the lines of the militia of this district shall, upon application and full satisfaction of the loyalty of the owner, be given up." Whatever policy may be adopted by the General Government with regard to this species of property, it is not for the militia to anticipate, but it is hoped that a special regard will be had for the property of Union men, of whatever description it may consist. While our statute books contain legal enactments and provisions recognizing property in negroes, it will be the duty of the militia to protect the owner in the free enjoyment of his property. In this way dissimulation and discord will cease, prosperity, peace, and happiness be welcomed as they return to the hearths of the great Commonwealth. By order of [Ibid., p. 89.] H. C. WARMOTH, Brigadier-General, Commanding. On December 5, 1862, General Schofield, in a letter to the president of the St. Louis County assessment board, quoted in full in another part of this report, stated, in effect, that the purpose of the organization was to suppress guerrilla warfare in the State of Missouri, "and to preserve the authority of the United States within her borders." The objects for which the provisional regiments of Enrolled Missouri Militia were formed will appear in a chapter devoted to those regiments. Under date of December 30, 1862, an order was issued by authority of the governor of the State (General Orders, No. 50, quoted above), in which it was declared: The Enrolled Militia are under the exclusive command of their own officers, except when they are by express orders placed under the command of United States officers, and they will be governed only by such orders as may be issued from these [State] headquarters. As regards the status of the Enrolled Missouri Militia, BrigadierGeneral Vaughan, commanding the Fifth Military District, said, in a general order, dated March 11, 1863: GENERAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, E. M. M., Lexington, Mo., March 11, 1863. The E. M. M. is exclusively a State force, organized by State authority and in accordance with State laws, and as such is not amenable to or bound by any other law. You are therefore required in all your dealings to obey and enforce the State law. By order of [Ibid., p. 90.] BRIG. GEN. R. C. VAUGHAN, Commanding Fifth Military District, E. M. M. On April 23, 1863, General Orders, No. 14, were issued from State headquarters prohibiting enlistments from the Enrolled Militia into the volunteer service of the United States when such militia had been detailed for active service. Following is a copy of the order: GENERAL ORDERS, No. 14. HEADQUARTERS STATE OF MISSOURI, 1. Hereafter no enlistments will be allowed from any organization of Enrolled Missouri Militia into the volunteer service of the United States when such militia shall have been detailed for active service, and shall have been embodied as a force in the field. On May 29, 1863, the command of the Enrolled Missouri Militia then in actual service within the State, including the Provisional Regiments, was conferred upon Major-General Schofield, who had been assigned to the command of the Department of the Missouri. This was done in orders from State headquarters published in general orders from headquarters Department of the Missouri, as follows: GENERAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, The following order from headquarters State of Missouri, is published for the information of all concerned: "GENERAL ORDERS, "No. 17. "HEADQUARTERS STATE OF MISSOURI, "1. The command of the Enrolled Militia now in actual service within the State, including the Provisional Regiments, is conferred upon Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, commanding the Department of the Missouri. "By order of the Commander in Chief: "ALEXANDER LOWRY, 'Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General." Commanding officers of Enrolled Militia in actual service will make the customary reports and returns to the commanders of the districts in which they may be serving. These returns will be consolidated at district headquarters and forwarded to department headquarters in the usual manner, but separate from the return of other troops. By command of Major-General Schofield: A. V. COLBURN, Assistant Adjutant-General. Under date of July 29, 1863, General Schofield declared, in an order from headquarters Department of the Missouri, that the act of Congress approved March 13, 1862, prohibiting persons in the military service of the United States from employing any of the force under their command for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, applied to the Enrolled Missouri Militia in active service, and that they would not be permitted to aid the civil authorities in the arrest and return of fugitive slaves. Following is a copy of the order: GENERAL ORDERS, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, St. Louis, Mo., July 29, 1863. No. 75. The act of Congress approved March 13, 1862, prohibits all officers or persons in the military service of the United States from employing any of the forces under their command for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor. To prevent misapprehension as to the scope of this prohibition it is hereby declared to extend to all troops in this department, including the Enrolled Militia of Missouri in active service. The latter, being under the command of the major-general commanding the department, can not be permitted to aid civil officers in the arrest or return of fugitive slaves. By command of Major-General Schofield: C. W. MARSH, Assistant Adjutant-General. |