Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 31.djvu/353

 North Carolina and Virginia. 345

eracy, in all arms of the service, sixty-nine regiments, Virginia had furnished eighty-three; where North Carolina had furnished fourteen battalions, Virginia had furnished eighty; and that where North Car- olina had furnished twelve unattached companies (presumably bat- teries), Virginia had furnished one hundred and twenty -Jive batteries; and, it is worthy of remark, that the report showing the number of these Virginia organizations is dated eight months in advance of that showing the number of the North Carolina organizations.

SECOND. Another charge made by another distinguished Ngrth Carolina writer ( Cap. W. R. Bond in his pamphlet entitled ' ' Pick- ett or Pettigrew"} is, that " citizens of Virginia were filling nearly one-half of the positions of honor and trust, civil and military, ' ' in the Confederacy.

So far as the appointment of the general officers of the army is involved in this charge, we have already said that we believe they were made by Mr. Davis solely on the merits of the appointees ; and we think it will be addmitted by all that some of these appoint- ments could not have been improved upon, or perhaps made at all from any other State.

As to the charge, so far as it applies to the other military officers, this was made by Governor Vance during the war, and, if any one wishes to see a complete refutation of it, they have only to refer to the letter from General Lee to the Confederate Secretary of war, dated September Qth, 1863, Reb. Rec., Series i, Vol. XXIX, Part II, p. 723.

As to the civil positions of honor and trust, of which this writer says, one-half were filled by Virginians, and that Richmond thought "all should be thus filled :" If he means by this to charge that Virginia had a larger number of men exempted from military duty to fill these places than any other State (as would have been reasonable, since she had the largest number in the field, and was the seat of the capital, with all the departments of the government), then the report, from which we have just quoted, shows that, in this he is greatly mistaken. This report, at page 103, shows that the ''total exempts " in Virginia at that time, was twenty Jive thousand and sixty-three ; whilst those in North Carolina numbered thirty-eight thousand one hundred and sixty-six. And in the same volume in which this report is found, at page 851, will be seen this remark- able exhibit, under the heading "Number of State Officers" in each Southern State exempted on certificates of their Governors. This last report shows that whilst the number of these officers exempted