Page 6, for "1855," in last paragraph, read "1865."

Page 7, for "July 26, 1866," in paragraph next to last, read "July 28,1866."

Page 10, for " Sept. 27,1861," date of enlistment of M. LaRue Harrison, read " Sept. 24, 1861."

Page 12, for date of enlistment of M. LaRue Harrison, read " Sept. 24, 1861," and for date of rank " July 3, 1862;" also, for the word "infantry," after the word "entered," in same line," read "regiment."

Page 51, for date of enlistment of William S. Johnson read " April 10, 1861."

Page 56, for " October," in line 42, read " November."

Page 166, for " Jan. 25, 1865," date of rank of William J. Hunter, read " June 20,1865."

Page 169, under the head of remarks for James M. Johnson, add "brevetted brigadier general of volunteers April, 10, 1867, with rank from March 13, 1865."

Page 225, for company "F," in remarks opposite name of Ira D. Bronson, read company "K."

Page 229, under head of remarks for James M. Bethel, captain company "K," read also "mustered out with regiment."

Page 251, for "Aug. 15, 1863," date of enlistment of Denton D. Stark, read "Aug. 15, 1861."

Page 255, in historical memoranda, read "Robert Thompson" for "Robert V. Thompson," and " Aug. 10, 1865," for "Aug. 30, 1865," as date of muster out of battery.

Page 256, under the head of enlisted men deserted in 1st Arkansas battery, insert the figures "24."

Page 265, in line 39, for "Hon. John T. Henderson" read "Hon. John B. Henderson."

Page 272, for "William Shreve" read "Wilson Shreve."

Page 273, for "James F. Clean" read "James F. Clure."

NOTE.

In November last the following report was submitted, in manuscript, to the legislature of the State of Arkansas, as a document accompanying the governor's message. That body, however, disregarding the governor's recommendation that by their order it should be printed, and having otherwise shown their hostility to the efficient management of the adjutant general's office, my petition to Congress for the publication of this report, in order that some record might be preserved of the loyal soldiery of a rebellious State, was, on the 25th ultimo, presented by Hon. Henry Wilson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Subsequently the following proceedings were had:

"ARKANSAS LOYAL TROOPS.

" Mr. ANTHONY. The Committee on Printing, to whom was referred a memorial of*Albert W. Bishop, adjutant general of Arkansas, praying that an appropriation be made for the publication of his report presented to the legislature of that State, have instructed me to report a resolution in conformity with the prayer of the memorialist; and, if the Senate will now indulge me, I will state the object of the resolution, and ask for its present consideration, if no one objects, because as the Senate nearly always indulges the Committee on Printing with the present consideration of their resolutions, I do not wish to ask for it unless it is necessary for the public service. All the loyal States have prepared rosters of the men who served in the loyal army, and they have been published, with the reports of the adjutants general of the various States.

"The State of Arkansas furnished over ten thousand men to the loyal army. The adjutant general presented his report, with a roster of those names, to the legislature of that State, which is now under disloyal control, and they have refused to publish it, so that there is no record whatever of the services of these gallant men. It seemed to the committee that it was due to them that this dereliction on the part of their own State should be made up by Con gress. They have also received a letter from General Grant, strongly urging the publication of the report. Now, if no senator objects, Task for the present consideration of the resolution.

"By unanimous consent the Senate proceeded to consider the following resolution :

"Resolved, That the report of Albert W. Bishop, adjutant general of Arkansas, be printed for the use of the Senate, and that one thousand extra copies be printed for the use of the adjutant general of Arkansas, to be distributed among the loyal officers of that State mentioned therein.

"The resolution was agreed to."

For this recognition of their military services in sustaining the national flag and defending the honor of a common country, the UMon men of Arkansas are profoundly grateful to the Senate of the United States and General Grant.

WASHINGTON, D. C., February 1867.

GOVERNOR: I have the honor to transmit herewith my report of the organization and operations of the loyal troops of the State during the late rebellion, and the transactions of this department since the establishment of the present State government.

His Excellency ISAAC MURPHY,
Governor of Arkansas.

REPORT.

The gathering storm of 1860 was nowhere snore sincerely^- regretted than by thousands in the south. In this State there was sincere devotion to the Union, but her power was mainly wielded by open or concealed enemies of the general government, and it was impossible to stay the tide that swept her into rebellion.

On the 6th day of May, 1861, the State assumed to secede. Union men who were members of the convention, and even signed the ordinance of secession, and those who sympathized with them throughout the State, were for many months powerless in council and the field, and some, indeed, never threw off their enforced adhesion to the southern confederacy until the War had ceased, and the confederacy itself was hopelessly shattered. For nearly a year, in fact, after this attempted secession of the State, there was a substantial want of concert of action among Union men, and they quietly submitted to what they could not prevent, or fled for security to the caves and hills. Thus were away the first year of the war.

After the battle of Pea Ridge, in March, 1862, and while General Curtis was traversing the northern portion of the State from the Upper White river to Helena, on the Mississippi, the Union men of Arkansas began to appear within the federal lines, and efforts for their military organization were promptly made. Some of them, meantime, participated in the battle referred to, fighting with Whatever regiment they fell in withand when General Curtis arrived at Batesville, he found several hundred men ready to enter the service of the United States. For weeks they had been partly organized, and were only waiting a favorable opportunity to identify themselves more efficiently with the Union cause. Accompanying the army to Helena, they entered the service as mounted infantry. For an account of their organization and services, attention is called to Appendix A.

The successful issue of the battle of Pea Ridge was the signal for loyal citizens, especially in northwestern Arkansas, to leave their homes for the federal lines. Many came, also, from the woods where for months they had secreted themselves, and shortly there assembled at Cassville, Missouri, a number sufficient to warrant the organization of a company. M. La Rue Harrison, of the thirty-sixth Illinois infantry volunteers, then post quartermaster at the place last mentioned, conceived the idea of effecting this organization, and with great assiduity immediately set about the accomplishment of his purpose. A company was promptly organized, with himself as captain, and attached to the sixth Missouri cavalry volunteers, then commanded by Colonel Clark Wright.,

Loyal Arkansians, however, continuing still to cross the border, Colonel

Harrison (as he afterwards became) now determined to raise a regiment, and one to be known distinctively as an Arkansas organization. Without delay he applied ,to the Secretary of War for authority to raise the first regiment of Arkansas cavalry volunteers. Hon. John S. Phelps, of Missouri, then in Washington, heartily seconded his efforts, and by dint of no little persistency succeeded in obtaining a special order to raise the regiment. At first the department was averse to granting the order, but the loyalty of these men admitted of no doubt, and on the 16th day of June, 1862, the order was issued.

As will more fully appear from Appendix A, the raising of this regiment' gave great encouragement to loyal citizens of the State, especially in the northwest, and was followed, as soon as .circumstances would allow, by the organization and muster in for three years or during the war of the first and second regiments of Arkansas infantry, the second Arkansas cavalry, and battery A, first Arkansas light artillery. To the commanders of these and all other organizations sent by Arkansas into the field to maintain the integrity of the Union, great credit is due for the prosecution of their labors under circumstances both extraordinary and anomalous.

A large proportion of the population of the State had in one form or another identified themselves with the rebellion. Public sentiment was disloyal, and a citizen of the State could do no act so odious to the majority as enlisting in the federal army. It was regarded as the clearest evidence of treason, and for a time there was a strong disposition not to accord to "Arkansas federals," as they were termed, the rights of prisoners of war. Happily, however, wiser counsels prevailed, and this feature in warfare, which at first seemed to be cul-initiating in the worst form of retaliation, was no longer observable.

After the occupation of Helena by the United States forces in the slimmer of 1862, it was thought advisable that a military governor for the State should be created, and a commission was accordingly issued to Hon. John S. Phelps, to whom the following instructions were given

Sir: The commission you have received expresses on its face the nature and extent of the duties and power devolved on you by the appointment of military governor of Arkansas.

Instructions have been given to Major General Butler to aid you in the performance of your duty and the exercise of your authority. He has also been instructed to detail an adequate military force for the special purpose of a goV-ernor's guard, and to act under your directions.

It is obvious to you that the great purpose of your appointment is to re-establish the authority of the federal government in the State of Arkansas, and to provide the means of maintaining peace and security to the loyal inhabitants of that State, until they shall be able to re-establish a civil government. Upon your wisdom and energetic action much will depend in accomplishing that i emit, It is not deemed necessary to give any specific instructions, but rather to confide in your sound discretion to adopt such measures as circumstances may demand. Specific instructions will be given when requested. You may rely upon the perfect confidence and full support of the department in the performance of your duties.

Hon. JOHN S. PHELPS,
Military Governor of Arkansas.

Establishing his headquarters at Helena, Governor Phelps discharged the duties of his position as the exigency of the times allowed, organizing the second Arkansas cavalry, and commissioning various officers in other State organizations, until July, 1863, when the maintenance of a military governorship being no longer considered necessary, the following order was promulgated:

[General Orders No. 211.]

Order abolishing military governorship of Arkansas.

Ordered, That the appointment of John S. Phelps, as military governor of the State of Arkansas, and of Amos F. Eno, as secretary, be revoked, and the office of military governor in said State is abolished, and that all authority, appointments, and power heretofore granted to and exercised by them, or either of them, as military governor or secretary, or by any person or persons appointed by or acting under them, is hereby revoked and annulled.

By order of the President:

Though the powers conferred upon Governor Phelps were, by the terms of this order,, "revoked and annulled," the commissions issued by him to officers of Arkansas regiments were not invalidated, and in every respect the operations of these troops continued as before, the War Department having always in fact had substantial control over them.

After the occupation of Little Rock by the army of Arkansas in September, 1863, Major General F. Steele commanding, authority was given by him to raise the 3d and 4th regiments of Arkansas cavalry volunteers and the 4th regiment of Arkansas mounted infantry, which was done, wholly as to the first two commands, and partly as to the last, and all of which entered upon active duty. For a sketch of their organization and services, attention is called to the memoranda accompanying rosters in Appendix A.

On the organization of the provisional government of the State in January, 1864, Captain C. A. Henry, assistant quartermaster United States volunteers,was appointed provisional adjutant general; and on the establishment of the present State government in April of the same year, F. M. Sams, then adjutant of the 1st Arkansas infantry volunteers, was duly commissioned as adjutant general of the State. Meantime, although the present State government had not been fully recognized at Washington by the admission of members of Congress, your excellency had issued a large number of commissions to officers in Arkansas regiments, upon which they were duly mustered into the service. In September of the same year I was commissioned adjutant general, and entered on duty November 15.

On the 13th day of December General Steele, then commanding the department of Arkansas, received an order from the commanding general of the division of West Mississippi directing the immediate evacuation of Fort Smith and its dependencies. The execution of this order being considered by your excellency disastrous to the State, you directed me to proceed at once to Washington to do what I could to procure its countermand. For the particulars of the mission, and its ultimate accomplishment, your attention is called to the documents herewith transmitted, marked Appendix B.

In February, 1865, under the supervision of Major General J. J. Reynolds, commanding the department of Arkansas, the organization of a local militia, without expense to the State, and for the double purpose of protection and the

cultivation of the soil, was begun. During that and the present year, sixty-three commissions have been issued to captains of companies, the most of them in the spring and summer of 1865; but the peculiar exigency for the organization of these companies having in most localities passed away, very few of them are now existing.

Commanding officers were instructed to enlist their men for mutual protection and the defence of their homes and property; they were to report to and be governed by the orders of the nearest military post commandant in all that pertained to the equipment and military discipline of their commands, furnishing such commandants with company rolls, and such statistical returns as they might require, and in the general administration of affairs were to be governed by the letter of instructions of which the following is a copy:

In issuing the attached authority, especial confidence is reposed in your integrity and ability to command; the measure of your success will determine the wisdom of the selection. You are encouraged to expect aid from the commander of the military department, who will cause arms and ammunition to be furnished for your defence, and will render such other assistance as your necessities may require until you have means for self-support.

It is expected that you will impress those enlisted under you that they are not organized as soldiers, but as farmers, mutually pledged to protect each other from the depredations of outlaws who infest the State. The main object of all must be the raising of such crops as will secure subsistence to families dependent upon them for support. The magnitude of your agricultural operations will be the full capacity of manual labor at your command, as.the combined strength of the productive labor of the State is demanded in the impending emergency to prevent starvation of citizens.

Idlers should not be permitted to domicile in your colony; their influence is mischievous, and they consume means which should be contributed to the helpless.

All able-bodied male persons in your community should be identified with your organization, there being mutual obligations for self-protection, and none should be defended who refuse to join in the common cause.

Monthly reports in detail of all that pertains to appropriation of labor, prospects for crops, and the general administration of affairs, will be made by you to this office.

To ______ ______;

Commanding Company of Militia, ______ County, Arkansas.

The surrender of Lieutenant General E. Kirby Smith, commanding the Trans-Mississippi department of the Confederate States, May 26, 1865, did away, to a very great extent, with the necessity for these companies. Quite a number of block-houses had, however, been previously built, and the loyally disposed portion of the farming population of the State were at work in communities, some of the members standing guard, while others held the plough. In northwestern Arkansas especially was this system pursued, and great material good resulted to the several counties constituting this portion of the State. Crops were planted that otherwise would not have been, and much anticipated suffering and want were thereby avoided.

An occasional company is still organized, and it is gratifying to know that the policy heretofore pursued in this regard meets the approval of Major General

Ord, now commanding the department of the Arkansas, and will be carried out by him so far as it may be considered advisable to do so. For roster of officers your attention is called to Appendix G.

The principal object of these companies being to preserve peace and good order in neighborhoods where disturbances are known to have happened, or there is good reason to apprehend them, and where it is not considered necessary to station United States troops, they have been organized of men who are believed to be quiet and well-disposed citizens of the United States government, and no restriction is placed upon the enrolling of those who, during the late war, attached their fortunes to the southern confederacy, if they are now really desirous of living in peace with, those with whom they were then at variance, and will aid in suppressing violence of persons and depredations upon property.

I do not regard it advisable, at present, to put any other militia system in practical operation, and I have, therefore, in this report, no suggestions to make with reference to that revision of the militia laws of the State which, in the progress of events, may become necessary.*

During the rebellion several organizations of local militia became necessary, but expired with the emergency that gave them rise. Created under department and district orders, their records have never been on file in this office, but their duties Were at times quite' arduous, and the services rendered by them were efficient.

In accordance with orders from headquarters of the military division of West Mississippi, a draft was undertaken in the State, in the latter part of the year 1864, but the course pursued was not appr, ived by the Provost Marshal General of the United States, and no drafted men from Arkansas entered the service, although a regiment was partially organized, of which John B. Kirkwood, of Little Rock, was appointed lieutenant colonel, by General Steele, then commanding the department of Arkansas. To quite a considerable extent, citizens of Arkansas were enlisted during the war in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois regiments, while on duty in the State, but their number and military history I am unable to give. Of the following case, however, I am able and deem it proper to make special mention. Early in 1861 George' G. Shumard, M. D., then a resident of Fort Smith, was compelled to leave the State. In April of that year he was appointed surgeon general of Ohio, and subsequently served with distinction as a medical officer, contributing largely to the efficiency of the army in the campaigns of that year in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

In August, 1861, he was appointed a surgeon of volunteers, and afterwards became medical director of the district of Kentucky. In 1864 he was a prominent candidate for the surgeon generalship of the army, receiving recommendations from Governors Yates, Morton, Andrews, and Brough, Hon. James Speed, Attorney General, Hon. Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General, Senators King of New York, and Lane of Indiana, Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and other prominent men of the nation. Though failing to obtain this appointment, he otherwise served during the war. There was, also, enlisted in the St ate a large number of colored troops„for what were at first known as Arkansas organizations, and many of their muster-in rolls are now on file in this office. Their designations, however, were subsequently changed ; copies of muster-in rolls ceased to be filed as indicated, and the control of these troops passed beyond the official knowledge of this office.

In July, 1855, a convention of adjutants general of States was held at Boston, Massachusetts, which, by your order, I attended, though I arrived too late to participate in the principal deliberations of the body. Nevertheless I had ample communication with most of its members, and was received with generous courtesy, the anomalous relations of our State to the Union being no restriction upon the full exercise of the privilege of representation.

Among the subjects discussed in the convention, and in which Arkansas has an interest, was the propriety of the enactment by Congress of a general militia law, and when the convention adjourned, it was to reassemble at Washington, in March, 1866, where this subject was further to be considered. I did not attend the adjourned session, and such a law as was had under discussion has not yet been enacted.

On the return of the State archives, in the summer of 1865, I received a large number of muster-rolls and other documents belonging to the office of the confederate adjutant general of the State, which have been carefully preserved, and are now in this office.

By section six of an act of the legislature, entitled " An act amendatory of the militia laws of the State of Arkansas," approved January 21, 1861, the staff of the governor is made to consist of one adjutant general, one quartermaster general, one commissary general, one paymaster general, one inspector general, one judge advocate, one surgeon general, and such aides-de-camp as he may think proper to appoint. I respectfully suggest for your consideration, and any legislative action in the premises that you may think proper to recommend, that at least four of these offices should be consolidated, the adjutant general to be made ex officio quartermaster, commissary, and inspector general of the State. This is the case in some other States in the Union, and it is believed that similar legislation can with propriety be resorted to in Arkansas.

In fact, the offices of quartermaster, commissary, and inspector general have been nominal only since the organization of the existing State government, the former two not even having been filled. In this office, which you tendered to me in October, 1864, there have been constant duties to perform. Aside from the organization of the militia referred to, my necessary communication with departments at Washington has been frequent, and especially so since, by order of the Secretary of War, copies of the muster-out rolls of our regiments were placed on file in this office. I am constantly in receipt of applications from the Surgeon General of the army and the Commissioner of Pensions for official certificates of the enrollment, muster, duty, death, and cause of; death of our deceased. soldiers, to comply with which involves no trifling labor.

The adjustment of the claims of our soldiers for bounty, under the act of Congress of July 26, 1866, will also require consultation with this office, and the duties thus imposed upon me must be performed. By the Adjutant General of the army and many of the adjutants general of States, I have been asked to send them my report of the organization and operations of our troops during the war, and could only reply that I had not yet had an opportunity to make it.

For the disbursements of this department since my connection with it, aside from clerk hire which I have been compelled. to pay from my own salary, your attention is called to the statement herewith submitted, marked Appendix D. For several months, however, after my acceptance of this office, when there was no money in the treasury, and State warrants had scarcely more than a nominal value, I paid all the expenses of the office, with the exception of a single small item, and could only dispose of the warrants issued to me for my own services at a sacrifice of from sixty to seventy-five per cent. But this period of stringency has passed, and it cannot but be a source of gratification to every one interested in the welfare of the State, that neither for this nor any other of the departments of its present government has any money been borrowed since the government itself went into operation.

*The protection of the loyal citizens of the State is still entrusted in a great measure to United States forces, and until civil government is re-established upon a thoroughly loyal basis, this element of strength and security cannot safely be dispensed with.