Hd Qrs Dist Western La

Natchitoches May 17^th 1865

(Confidential)

                       

Governor.

                                                I enclose you copies of a letter from Gen Buckner to me & accompanying orders, also a copy of my answer to him. I have consulted with all the Louisiana officers civil and military within my reach and my views are fully sustained and endorsed. A rumor reached us that you might come down on the flag of truce of boat, and I suspended action until that boat arrival, hoping to have the aid of your advice and counsel before final action, but in this I am disappointed. Events have precipitated themselves so rapidly that I cannot wait. If I order the troops to the Sabine, and if it be understood that all arrangements with the enemy have failed; or, even if it be believed that negotiations are pending & under their cover, the troops are being attempted to be hurried into Texas, the State is irretrievably ruined. The country is now swarming with deserters, having arms in their hands. These men need food & they take it from the suffering citizens, they wish horses and mules / to ride, & they sweep the country. To move towards the Sabine in the present temper of the troops is to break up our military organization & turn the troops loose to desolate our desolated state.

 

In addition, Gen Canby will act immediately. No pretence of negociation will delay him and it is known that he is fretting at the long delay of Col Sprague. Let him advance to Alexandria & we will have no army, & having no army he will refuse to give us terms, as we will have nothing to surrender. Our bleeding state will again be ravaged with fire & sword; and our people fall beneath the rule of our enemy without any terms to protect them.

 

I view the letter of Gen Buckner as a virtual abdication of his and Gen Smith's positions as Confederate Officers and as a substitution of the purposes, ends and wishes of a secret colonization organization, in lieu of the objects to which the Louisiana troops and citizens pledged themselves in conjunction with her sister states. No Confederate object is comtemplated in these orders & instructions, no successful resistance to the enemy is even promised, and it is calmly intimated that when the troops reach the Rio Grande, they will then have left to them the option of crossing into Mexico or returning / to their homes near a thousand miles distant. Gen Buckner says the Missouri Infantry and Cavalry regard him as their leader. By the Confederate Commission he bears he is already their leader & it is evident he cannot refer to a fact so patent as this; and this expression must have reference to some occult & unknown agreement to which the Louisianians are not parties. I cannot consent to have Louisiana again ravaged by the enemy, the blood of its devoted soldiers wasted and their confidence in their officers abused, merely for the purpose of acting as a cover for the movement of a secret organization to the Rio Grande.

 

            The Confederate organization of the Trans Mississippi Department being thus voluntarily destroyed, it behooves us, who hold the sad destinies of Louisiana in our hands to act so to staunch her wounds & to yield to the same sad necessity that has overpowered Lee, Johnston & Taylor. If it were proposed to make a stand & fight the enemy, I and those with whom I act would not hesitate to obey the order to face the enemy with such force as we could muster and brave the perils which like yourself we have not shrunk from; but we are specifically informed of what all the orders point to, that further fighting is not intended, abandoned / probably as hopeless.

 

Under these circumstances I have thought that the claims of the soldiers & citizens could not be disregarded without a sacrifice of honor; & my letter to Genl Buckner announces my final & irrevocable determination. Every Louisiana Officer, & they are many that I have consulted, agrees with & will support me and our course has been taken. It would have been very grateful for me to have acted in conjunction with you but circumstances are too rapid to permit delay. I shall instruct my commissioners to omit no effort to obtain for the civil authorities of our State the same terms that we may obtain for ourselves; & if that should fail to yield only to inexorable necessity & to endeavor to provide for future negociations with you, if possible. Left by circumstances in a position, which I did not seek, I feel myself the representative of the Confederate Army left in this State and I cannot decline the grave responsibilities that are cast on me. I state these facts to you frankly and invite your co-operation.

 

            I also enclose to you copies of Gen Orders that I have issued. In view of the fact that I cannot possibly leave here, I earnestly and respectfully invite you to visit me immediately, as it is of the highest importance that we should confer together for the common interest of the States.

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