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TO TH^MEN OF .HUNTS BRIGADE
IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
A large number of officers and men of the Brigade, captured at various times during its long
and arduous service, are, or soon will be, in this State'upon the usual parol furlough. A very-
considerable number of the cotnmand are,- also, in the State absent without proper leave. . A
minority of the whole is in the field- In the present interrupted condition of communication,
both within the State, and from the State to the army, Gen. Johnston has thought it necessary to
adopt some other than the usual means to secure the prompt return of these men to their
standard, and lias ordered me to repair to South Carolina to give my personal efforts to this
desirable end.
It will be seen by the orders annexed that a pardon is announced to those who avail themselves *
of this opportunity, and that General Lee solemnly declares that no general amnesty will be again
granted. • ;
My Headquarters will be at the terminus of travel on the Charlotte and Columbia Railroad.
At present this is Blackstocks. Members of the Brigade absent without leave will report at once
to me at that point to be forwarded to their commands, or will report, when more cc /enient, to
the enrolling officers of their respective districts, to be by them forwarded to my Headquarters.
They will bring with them all rifles and accoutrements in their possession.
Exchanged men will report as above as soon as they hear of their exchange, and if not ex¬
changed at the termination of their parol furlough, will report to me instead of to the parol camp
at Richmond.
Our regiments have a sufficient number on the rolls to save each from consolidation. They
are not for the present to.be consolidated, and your speedy return will ensure the continuance of
your service in the organizations to which you are used, and in which you naturally desire to
serve. Among the absentees are some who, in a moment of weakness, oppressed with the toils
of war, or perhaps influenced by exaggerated accounts of the sufferings and trials of the * dear
ones at home, have fallen off from their standard and sullied a glorious and hard won record.
Let these men return and blot out the memory of their weakness by again standing shoulder to
shoulder with their battle-scarred comrades, under Johnston and Lee, on such fields as \Ve have
before, and will win again. ' The greater number of absentees without leave from the brigade are,
however, those who, coming home on proper leave, have allowed a spirit of sloth to overcome
them, and insignificant reasons to detain them from their duty. Let these men recall the spirit
that animated them when almost single-handed they held the myrmidons of Bfitler at bay, at
Walthal, until the arrival" of Beauregard's avenging army. Think on your triumph at Drewry's;
your services at Cold Harbor; at Bermuda Hundreds; the sixty-seven days in the trenches on the Appomattox; the bloody but
glorious Sunday on the Weldon road; the Richmqnd lilies; Fisher, Anderson, Town Creek, Kinston, Bentonsville. Will you let
such a history terminate ingloriously: and the verdict of posterity be, that the men who maife the record perished in the making,
and the degenerate survivors were unable even to sustain the weight of glory their more gallant comrades had already won?
. To the returned prisoner I have nothing to say, but to. name the rendezvous. The man whose captivity is oftenest owing to the
very manhood which carried and kept him to the iro^t 011 returning from the insults and indignities of a Northern prison, cannot sit
patiently by the ashes of his desolated home, with the wail of outraged women and foodless children in his ear, while a fair blow may
be struck for freedom and vengeance.
Soldiers of the Brigade—comrades of so many fields-—you have never failed me before. Rally once more to your colors and let
us again fling their tattered folds to the breeze, where thev have so often "floated, first among the foremost in our country's battle.
April 6, 1865. JOHNSON" IIAGOOD, Brig. General.
General Orders { ' Headquarters Armies-of the Confederate States, (
Ho. 2. j ' February 11th, 1865. j
By authority of the President of the Confederate States, a pardon is announced to sucl/vk\serters and men improperly absent,
as shall return to the commands t A which they belong within the shortest possible time, not exceeding twenty days from the
.publication of this order, at the headquarters of the department in which they may be. f
Those who may be prevented by interruption of communications, may report within the time specified to the nearest enroll¬
ing officer or other officer on duty, to be forwarded as soon1 as practicable, and upon presenting a certificate from such officer
showing compliance with this requirement, will receive the pardon hereby offered.
Those who have deserted to the service of the enemy, or who have deserted1 after having been once pardoned for the same
offence, and those who shall desert, or absent themselves without authbrity after the publication of this order, are excluded
from its benefits. Nor does the offer of pardon extend to other offences than desertion and absence without permission.
By the same authority, it is also declared that no general amnesty will again be granted, and those who refuse to accept the ■
pardon now offered, or who shall hereafter desert or absent themselves without leave, shall suffer such punishment as the Courts
may impose, and no application for clemency will be entertained. , ■
:J.* si: sjt # & fjs :j; -X- . * •» , -X- *
R. E. LEE, General.
Headquarters Hardee's Corps, }
Near Smithfieldi N. C., March 31st, 1865. j
General Orders No. 2, Headquarters Armies of the Confederate States, dated 11th February, 1865, not having been as yet
published in the Department of Suith Carolina, Georgia and Florida, formerly commanded by Lieut. Gen. Hardee, its legal
publication in that Department will be its publication by Brig. Gen. Hagood, who goes to South Carolina for the purpose of
colJectiEg and returning absentees to their commands. -. ' ■
By order of Lieut Gen, Hardee ; * T« B« HQYj A, A. Gf&'h