PROCEEDINGS 
 
 AND MEMORIAL OF A 
 
 CONFERENCE 
 
 O F 
 
 ConfederaLte Rooster 
 Commissioners 
 
 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 
 
 J U L ^'^ ii ()~£^ 1 , 1 9 O ii 
 
 ALABAMA PRiNTiNG CO. 
 MONTGOMERY 
 
if' :--''->,.^'>'i'!/0i!;' ?!';^!5^'^"'M'c .' "' "■' ;;;' , 
 
PROCEEDINGS 
 
 AND MEMORIAL OF A 
 
 CONFERENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 ConfederoLte R.oster 
 Commissioners 
 
 AT 
 
 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 
 
 JULY aO-31, 1903 
 
 ALABAMA PRINTINS CO. 
 
 MONTGOMERY 
 
 1903 
 

 iM\it 
 
 '\ 
 
INTR.ODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 This pamphlet has been compiled and issued by the 
 Secretary in accordance with the wishes of the confer- 
 ence. Pending its publication the chairman, Hon. 
 Allen D. Candler, has been actively engaged in the per- 
 formance of the duties assigned him. There can be no 
 doubt that the conference has been productive of very 
 valuable results in stimulating the public mind, and in 
 calling attention to the importance of the compilation. 
 
 In accordance with the provisions of the seventh 
 paragraph of the proceedings of the second day (June 
 21st), a copy of the memorial to the Secretary of War 
 was sent by Gov. Candler to the Compiler of Confeder- 
 ate Eecords, or in states in which no official has been 
 designated, to the Governor of the state, suggesting that 
 if the memorial and its object met with his approval 
 he sign the copy sent him. In response to this sugges- 
 tion the memorial was signed by Col. S. H. Nowlin, 
 Compiler of Military Records for Arkansas, Hon, John 
 A. Hulin, Adjutant -General of Texas, Hon. H. H. 
 Hannah, Adjutant-General of Tennessee, Governor 
 A. H. Montague of Virginia, and Governor A. 
 M. Dockery of Missouri. In the last two states, 
 no other officer having been named to co-operate with 
 General Ainsworth in the work, the Governors patri- 
 otically consented to assume the onerous duty, and 
 Governor Montague has arranged to meet with the 
 representatives of Georgia and North Carolina in "Wash- 
 ington at an early date, for the purpose of presenting 
 the memorial to the Secretary of War, and urging that 
 the prayer ot the memorialists be granted. 
 
 Governor Jennings of Florida replied that no one had 
 been appointed in Florida, but that a little later action 
 would be taken. 
 
 Governor Beckham of Kentucky, designated Capt. 
 Ed. Porter Thompson as Compiler of Confederate 
 Eecords. Upon his death the Governor named Ed. 
 Porter Thompson, Jr. No response has been received 
 from him. 
 
 Doubtless, however, the representatives of these 
 states who have not been heard from will join in the 
 memorial. 
 
 It is incumbent on all patriotic citizens to render the 
 commissioner for their respective states prompt and 
 active assistance in this noble enterprise. 
 
COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 Alabama. — Thomas M, Owen, Montgomery. 
 
 Arkansas. — S. H. Nowlin, Little Eock. 
 
 Florida. — 
 
 Georgia. — Allen D. Candler, Atlanta. 
 
 Indian Territory. — 
 
 Kentucky. — Ed. Porter Thompson, Jr., Frankfort. 
 
 Louisiana. — Gen. Leon Jastremski, Baton Eouge. 
 
 Maryland. — 
 
 Mississippi. — Dunbar Eowland, Jackson. 
 
 Missouri. — Gov. A. M. Dockery, Jefferson City. 
 
 North Carolina. — Dr. B. F. Dixon, Ealeigh. 
 
 South Carolina. — M. P. Tribble, Columbia. 
 
 Tennessee. — Harvey H. Hannah, Nashville. 
 
 Texas. — John A. Hulin, Austin. 
 
 Virginia. — Gov. A. H. Montague, Eichmond. 
 
 West Virginia. — A. S. Hutson, Charleston. 
 
1. PR.OCEEDINGS. 
 
 JUNE 20, 1903. 
 
 At ten o'clock a. m., the following gentlemen repre- 
 senting their respective States, viz : Gov. Allen D. 
 Candler, Compiler of State Eecords, Atlanta, Ga., 
 Hon. B. F. Dixon, State Auditor, Ealeigh, N". C, Hon. 
 M. P. Tribble, Confederate Eoster Commissioner, Colum- 
 bia, S. C, Gen. Leon Jastremski, Private Secretary to 
 the Governor, Baton Eouge, La., and Thomas M. Owen, 
 Director of the Department of Archives and History, 
 Montgomery, Ala., met in the State Library, Atlanta, 
 Ga., in obedience and response to the following call : 
 
 To all Compilers of Confederate Rosters : 
 
 The officers designated by the Governors of Southern 
 States to co-operate with General Ainsworth, Chief of 
 Eecord and Pension Office, in securing complete rosters 
 of the officers and enlisted men of the Union and Con- 
 federate armies, in the war between the States, are 
 invited to meet in the State Library in the city of Atlanta, 
 at ten o'clock, on Monday, the 20th of July, for the 
 purpose of conferring and agreeing on some uniform 
 plan of proceedure in the prosecution of their work. 
 The most absolute accuracy possible in the compilation 
 and publication of these rosters is desirable, to the end 
 that no injustice be done any soldier of the South. The 
 name, and a brief military history, of every officer and 
 man who was in the Confederate army or navy should 
 appear in these rosters to be published by the Secretary 
 of "War at Washington, and the name of every impostor 
 should be excluded. 
 
 Owing to the loss or destruction of many of the origi- 
 nal rosters, during the progress and since the close of 
 the war, our task is difficult, and unless extraordinary 
 effort is made to establish correct copies of lost rolls, 
 and to perfect imperfect ones now in existence, the pub- 
 lication to be made will possess but little value, and will 
 do injustice to many gallant soldiers. Hence the under- 
 signed, designated by the Governors of their respective 
 States to co-operate with General Ainsworth in his im- 
 portant work, realizing the importance of concert of 
 
6 
 
 action, to the end that satisfactory results may be 
 reached, earnestly invite their co-workers in the other 
 Southern States to meet for conference and interchange 
 of ideas, at the time and place named above. 
 
 B. F. Dixon, 
 State Auditor of North Carolina. 
 Thomas M. Owen, 
 Director Department Archives and History, Ala. 
 Allen D. Candler, 
 Compiler of State Records, Georgia. 
 
 Gov. Candler briefly explained the proposed objects 
 of the Conference, and suggested a postponement of 
 formal organization until the next morning at 9 o'clock. 
 He expressed the belief that other commissioners might 
 arrive, and he read a telegram from Hon. Dunbar Row- 
 land, of Mississippi, in which he stated that he would 
 reach the city in time for the second day's session. The 
 postponement was agreed to, after which there was a 
 full and general discussion of the character of the work 
 committed to the commissioners, its difficulties, possible 
 remedies, etc., etc. 
 
 Mr. Owen was asked to prepare a statement or me- 
 morial, embodying in a formal way the views of the 
 conference, to be submitted at the next session. 
 
 JUNE 21, 1903. 
 
 The second day's session of the Confederate Roster 
 Commissioners convened at 9:30 o'clock a. m., in the 
 Historical Room of the State Library. There were 
 present : Messrs. Candler, Dixon, Tribble, Jastremski 
 and Owen, and also Hon. Dunbar Rowland, the Director 
 of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 
 
 Gov. Allen D. Candler and Thomas M. Owen were 
 elected chairman and secretary respectively. 
 
 Mr. Owen then read the memorial which he had pre- 
 pared in accordance with previous request. After it 
 was presented Mr. Rowland was called for and gave at 
 
length his views on the work imposed on the commis- 
 sioners. An earnest and general discussion followed in 
 which each commissioner took part. 
 
 John W. Lindsey, State Pension Commissioner of 
 Georgia, was then introduced and participated in the 
 discussions. 
 
 On motion of Gen. Jastremski the memorial as read 
 was unanimously adopted. (Printed in full herein- 
 after.) 
 
 Mr. Eowland submitted certain resolutions, which 
 were read by him, and on motion they were unani- 
 mously adopted. (Printed in full hereinafter.) 
 
 On motion, Gov. Candler, the chairman of the con- 
 ference, was appointed a committee of one to secure the 
 signatures of all Confederate commissioners to the me- 
 morial, not only of those participating in the conference, 
 but also those of States not represented. 
 
 On motion a committee of three was appointed to 
 consist of Gov. A. D. Candler, chairman, Dr. B. F. 
 Dixon, and the commissioner from Virginia, to call on 
 the Secretary of War and formally present the memo- 
 rial of the conference. 
 
 The members of the conference here entered upon a 
 review and discussion of all points of interest involved 
 in the work of the proposed compilation. 
 
 Attention was directed to the fact that the State of 
 Arkansas had not as yet appointed a commissioner, and 
 on motion the chairman was directed to urge the Gov- 
 ernor of Arkansas to appoint such a commissioner and 
 to otherwise co-operate with the War Department in the 
 premises. 
 
 The secretary was requested to prepare the proceed- 
 ings of the conference in pamphlet form for the use of 
 the commissioners, to be accompanied by such pertinent 
 documents as to him were important. 
 
 A rising vote of thanks was then tendered Gov. 
 Candler for his courtesy as chairman and as host, after 
 
8 
 
 which the Conference adjourned sine die. Immediately 
 after adjournment, the commissioners called in a body 
 on Gov. J. M. Terrell, who expressed the keenest inter- 
 est in the proceedings. The two houses of the Legisla- 
 ture were then visited, and the commissioners had the 
 opportunity of meeting several of the distinguished 
 members of those bodies. 
 
 Allen D. Candlee, 
 
 Chairman. 
 Thomas M. Owen, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
II. MEMORIAL. 
 
 To the Hon. Secretary of War Eliliu Boot: 
 
 Sir — Your memorialists, duly and regularly appointed 
 to act for their respective States in the compilation of 
 the rosters of the Union and Confederate armies, au- 
 thorized by Act of Congress, February 25, 1903, respect- 
 fully represent that immediately following their ap- 
 pointment they entered upon the duties required of 
 them, and have diligently labored to render to the War 
 Department all possible assistance. 
 
 They had not proceeded far, however, in an effort to 
 perform their part of the work before they realized, 
 under the construction of the statute governing the 
 compilation, as interpreted by Gen. F. C. Ainsworth, 
 the officer of your Department having the work imme- 
 diately in charge, that so far as the Confederate troops 
 were concerned, anything like even an approximately 
 complete or perfect roster could not be made. 
 
 The history of Confederate records is doubtless 
 familiar to you. Daring the progress of hostilities, and 
 since the close of the war, the official records of the Con- 
 federate States Government as well as the records of the 
 several Southern States, were subjected to depredations, 
 and in many cases destruction. Many of these records 
 were captured during the war, and fortunately some of 
 them so taken are preserved in your Department, but 
 in other cases the most valuable records were burned. 
 In other cases these records were concealed, and before 
 being brought from their hiding places had suffered in 
 many ways. The result is that no Southern State has 
 a complete body of the records of its soldiers, and in no 
 case are these records complete even where supplemented 
 by the records on file in the War Department. Such 
 being the condition of the Southern States with refer- 
 ence to their records, it is absolutely impossible under 
 the rules laid down by Gen. Ainsworth, above men- 
 tioned, to compile the rosters of Confederate soldiers 
 with accuracy and fulness. Inevitably, therefore, 
 
10 
 
 grave injustice will be done the South, and the memory 
 of many a gallant and meritorious soldier. 
 
 It is conceded that the best records only should be 
 used in the proposed compilation, but it is urged in this 
 connection that the best should have reference to such 
 as are obtainable. In the event that no roster is found 
 to be in existence in any given case it is insisted that a 
 substitute should be allowed . In permitting this course, 
 under appropriate restrictions, no new principle would 
 be invoked, only the well established and universal doc- 
 trine that where a record or document has been lost it 
 may be substituted in the proper way, or that the best 
 obtainable evidence in a given case shall be admitted. 
 Your memorialists are well aware that some abuses 
 would occur, but it is believed that rules can be formu- 
 lated whereby excellent and satisfactory results can be 
 obtained. 
 
 It is further submitted that the Confederate pension 
 records of the several States should be used in the com- 
 pilation. So far from being secondary in point of evi- 
 dence, these records are in fact a part of the formal 
 archives and records of each State, and, as such import 
 verity; they are not, therefore, to be classed as ordinary 
 compiled records. 
 
 It is further found by your memoralists that their 
 work progresses very slowly even when it is most per- 
 sistently pushed, and notwithstanding they are using 
 their utmost endeavor they are here unable to indicate 
 how soon they can complete the work. 
 
 Eealizing the very great importance of the work in 
 hand, and to the end therefore, that a better, more per- 
 fect and complete record may be compiled, and in order 
 that full and ample justice be done the several States 
 of the South and the Confederate soldiers, as well as the 
 Union soldiers and the descendants of the men in both 
 armies, and that no criticism may be hereafter urged 
 against the War Department, or against any one con- 
 nected with the work of the compilation, we most earn- 
 estly and respectfully urge and pray: 
 
11 
 
 (1) That there should be no undue haste in publish- 
 ing the proposed compilation, but that all the time 
 necessary be given the States to complete their rosters 
 as far as possible before they are placed in permanent 
 form. 
 
 (2) That prior to final publication, the representa- 
 tives of the several States be given an opportunity of 
 examining the proof sheets of the compilation for the 
 purpose of correcting errors in names, dates and facts 
 therein, and that they be also allowed to suggest correc- 
 tions or alterations, to be embodied, either as foot notes 
 or in some other appropriate way, in the roster when 
 published. 
 
 (3) That each State may be permitted to submit to 
 your department its Confederate pension records for use 
 in the said compilation. 
 
 (4) That your department as soon as practicable 
 supply to the duly appointed commissioner from each 
 State, who may apply therefor, and upon the payment 
 of lawful fees for transcription, a check list of the 
 rosters or rolls of the commands from said State, in order 
 that the said commissioners may more intelligently 
 direct their labors towards supplying deficiencies. This 
 list need show nothing except a mere statement of the 
 regiments, battalions, or other commands, with the rolls, 
 and the date of each that may be on file. 
 
 (5) That in the said compilation the detailed record 
 of each soldier be given as far as possible. And, finally, 
 
 (6) That in each and every case where no 
 roster of a command is to be found, or where only an 
 imperfect or incomplete roster is preserved, you will 
 admit for the purpose of said compilation a compiled 
 roster certified by the Governor of the State offering the 
 same as carefully, accurately and correctly made up, 
 and as being the only available record of said command 
 discovered and known to him, after diligent search on 
 the part of the commissioner or other representative of 
 the State charged with making search for the same. 
 
 Your memorialists, representing in an official way 
 their several States, and after careful and mature delib- 
 eration and consultation together respectfully prefer the 
 above petition. Early attention is asked, and you are 
 requested to reply to the several commissioners to their 
 addresses as indicated below. And your memorialists 
 will ever pray, etc. 
 
III. RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Whereas, At the second session of the fifty-seventh 
 Congress a provision was inserted in H. E. 16021, an act 
 making appropriation for the legislative, executive and 
 judicial expenses of the government, making special 
 provision for the compilation and publication, under the 
 direction of the Secretary of War, of valuable historical 
 data relative to both Union and Confederate soldiers, in 
 the following words, to-wit: 
 
 "Provided, That under the direction of the Secretary 
 of War, the Chief of the Record and Pension Office shall 
 compile from such official records as are in the posses- 
 sion of the United States, and from such other authentic 
 records as may be obtained by loan from the various 
 States and other official sources, a complete roster of the 
 officers and enlisted men of the Union and Confederate 
 armies." 
 
 Wiereas, In order that the proposed roster of the 
 Confederate soldiers shall be historically true, the Gov- 
 ernors of the various Southern States have appointed 
 commissioners for the collection of official rosters and 
 other material which may be of value for the use of the 
 war department, be it 
 
 Resolved, (1) That the commissioners of the Southern 
 States, in conference at Atlanta, Ga., recognize in the 
 publication oi a complete roster of officers and enlisted 
 men, by the national government, of both Union and 
 Confederate armies, a just and patriotic appreciation of 
 the heroism of the American soldier. 
 
 Resolved, (2) That we hereby indorse the wise and 
 beautiful conception of preserving in the same record 
 the evidence of the gallantry of those who wore the 
 blue and of those who wore the gray as a common heri- 
 tage of a great country. 
 
 Resolved, (3) That we urge upon Confederate veter- 
 ans everywhere the importance of making every effort 
 to assist the commissioners of the Southern States in 
 their praiseworthy work of collecting rosters, in order 
 that a complete and accurate record may be compiled. 
 
 Resolved, (4) That we extend to Secretary of War 
 Elihu Eoot and to Gen. F. C. Ainsworth, chief of the 
 record and pension division ol the War Department, 
 sincere thanks for their efforts in bringing about the 
 passage of the bill for the publication of the roster. 
 
IV. Comm\jnicak.tioi\s from the Watr De- 
 partment in Reference to the Proposed 
 Compilation of Roosters. 
 
 Secretary Root to the Governors of the Several 
 
 States. 
 
 War Department, 
 Washington, March 16, 1903. 
 
 Sir: There is a very general desire on the part of 
 the surviving participants of the great struggle in which 
 the country was engaged from 1861 to 1865, and on the 
 part of the descendants of those who have passed away, 
 for a publication that shall be accessible to the general 
 public and shall show the names of those who, either as 
 officers or enlisted men, bore arms for the Union or for 
 the Confederacy during the great war. In the opinion 
 that this desire is one th}»t should be gratified, and that 
 can be gratified, in great measure at least, by compiling 
 and publishing, as a continuation of the publication 
 known as the "Official Records of the Union and Con- 
 federate Armies," a complete list or roster of the officers 
 and men who served in those armies during the civil 
 war, this Department recommended at the last session 
 of Congress the enactment of a law authorizing the 
 compilation and preparation of such a roster for publi- 
 cation. That recommendation was followed by the 
 enactment of a provision of law, which is embodied in 
 the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Appropriation 
 Act approved Febiuary 25, 1903, and which is as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 ''That under the direction of the Secretary of War 
 the Chief of the Record and Pension Office shall compile, 
 from such official records as are in the possession of the 
 United States and from such other authentic records as 
 may be obtained by loan from the various States and 
 other official sources, a complete roster of the officers and 
 enlisted men of the Union and Confederate armies." 
 
14 
 
 The Department is prepared to enter at once upon the 
 work of making the compilation thus authorized, and to 
 push it to completion as rapidly as possible. There will 
 be little or no difficulty in making the Union part of the 
 roster complete, but there will be great difficulty with 
 regard to the Confederate partly because of the incom- 
 pleteness of the collection of Confederate records in the 
 possession of this Department. It is of the first import- 
 ance, therefore, that no effort shall be spared to secure 
 the temporary loan to the War Department, for the pur- 
 pose of copying, of any and all authentic Confederate 
 records that can be found anywhere. Many of these 
 records are in the possession of the various States and it 
 is hoped will be made readily accessible, but there are 
 others that are widely scattered among historical and 
 memorial associations and private citizens. The prob- 
 lem of how to find and procure the loan of these scat- 
 tered records is a difficult one, but is one that must be 
 solved in order that the Confederate soldier shall receive 
 the full credit that is due him in the roster that is to be 
 compiled. 
 
 I earnestly invite your co-operation with the Depart- 
 ment in an effort to make this compilation as nearly 
 complete as it is possible to make it, and I shall be 
 glad to have the benefit of any suggestions that you can 
 make as to the manner in which that end can be best 
 attained. The work will be in the immediate charge of 
 Brigadier- General F. C. Ainsworth, Chief of the Eecord 
 and Pension Office of this Department, and I beg leave 
 to suggest that, if the plan herein outlined meets your 
 approval, you designate some official of your State to 
 communicate with him relative to the details of the 
 work and the steps to be taken in the furtherance of it. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) I^lihu Eoot, 
 
 ' Secretary of War. 
 
Gen. F. C. Ainsworth to the Commissioner for 
 Alabama.* 
 
 Eecoed and Pension Office, 
 War Depatment, 
 Washington City, March 30, 1903. 
 
 Deak Sir: I am gratified to learn, through a letter 
 from Governor Wm. D, Jelks to the Secretary of War, 
 dated March 28, 1903, that you have been designated to 
 co-operate with the Department in the effort to make 
 the recently authorized roster of the officers and men of 
 the Union and Confederate Armies as nearly complete 
 as it is possible to make it, so far as Alabama troops are 
 concerned. 
 
 A considerable collection of the rolls of Alabama Con- 
 federate organizations is now in the possession of this 
 Department. While that collection does not by any 
 means show all the names of the officers and men who 
 were in the Confederate service from Alabama, and 
 while it does not show the complete military histories 
 of those whose names it does show, it is hoped that the 
 list of names and the histories of individual officers and 
 men can be made much more nearly complete by record 
 evidence obtainable from other original rolls that may 
 now be in the possession of the State of Alabama, or of 
 historical societies, memorial associations and indi- 
 viduals of Alabama and other States. 
 
 The legislation authorizing the compilation of the 
 roster is construed by the Department to restrict it, in 
 making the compilation, to the use of original records 
 made during the war period, and to preclude the use of 
 printed or manuscript copies or compilations made sub- 
 sequently. For this reason, and in order that there 
 shall be no ground for doubt as to the accuracy of the 
 proposed roster, the Department will be unable to use 
 in the compilation any of the rosters that have hereto- 
 fore been published, but must in all cases seek the 
 original records upon which those rosters were based. 
 
 *A similar note was addressed each of the Commissioners of 
 the other States. 
 
16 
 
 You will readily see that, in order that the compila- 
 tion now in progress shall be as nearly complete as it is 
 possible to make it, it is essential that the War Depart- 
 ment shall obtain the temporary loan, for the purpose 
 of copying, of any original official rolls, lists or other 
 documents that show the names of Confederate officers 
 and men and that are now in the custody of State offi- 
 cials, historical or memorial associations, public or 
 private libraries, or that are in the possession of private 
 citizens. 
 
 It is impracticable for the War Department to com- 
 municate with the various holders of these scattered 
 records, and consequently the Department must rely 
 upon each State to collect, by loan or otherwise, such 
 records of its own or other Confederate organizations as 
 may be obtainable within the State, and to forward the 
 collection when completed to this Department, by which 
 the records will be copied and returned to the State 
 with the least possible delay. Of course, the express 
 charges incident to shipping records to and from the 
 State will be defrayed by the Department. 
 
 Permit me to suggest, if the plan herein outlined 
 meets with your approval, that you take such steps, 
 through the public press and otherwise, as you may 
 deem to be advisable and proper to give the plan wide 
 publicity, and to enable you to gather together all orig- 
 inal Confederate records that can be collected in your 
 State by loan or otherwise. 
 
 If it occurs to you that a different plan from that 
 indicated herein should be adopted, or if during the 
 progress of the work you can make any suggestion tend- 
 ing to facilitate or improve it, you will confer a favor 
 upon the Department and myself by advising me freely 
 and fully with regard to your views. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) F. C. Ainsworth, 
 
 Brigadier-General, U. S. A., 
 Chief Record and Pension Office. 
 
m-ri:-: 
 
 ^^■'■^1 
 
 mm^m-'-mmf