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Washington, D. C.,
SIR:
I take leave to send you the following brief statement of the facts on which the troops composing the Mississippi Marine Brigade, recently disbanded by order of the War Department, claim their discharge from the service.
As many 34 of the men composing this Brigade are citizens of your State, I respectfully ask you to examine their case and address a letter to the President of the United States in their behalf.
The Mississippi Marine Brigade was organized in
With very few exceptions, this Brigade was recruited from convalescent soldiers in hospitals throughout the States, many of whom haved served a large portion of their term of enlistment, and who were induced to re-enlist for the full period of three years in the said Brigade as a service better suited to their physical condition.
That the Government considered this service entirely different and distinct from that under their original enlistment on land is proved by the fact that the men were not transferred to the Marine Brigade, but were regularly discharged from that enlistment and re-enlisted in this new and different service.
General Ellett, representing the Government in the enlistment and organization of this Brigade, in his printed appeal to "Convalescent Soldiers" to leave the land service, and enlist in this "MARINE Brigade," distinctly declared that they would "be furnished good quarters on transports, fitted out expressly for them, where they will keep all their valuables, clothing, stores," &c., &c. He further stated in the same appeal, for the purpose of indicating the nature of the new service, that "No long hard marches, camping without tents, or food, or carrying heavy knapsacks, but good comfortable quarters and good facilities for cooking at all times," would be the conditions of the new service; and also therein stated the object of the service to be: "Keeping the Mississippi and its tribuatries clear of rebel guerrillas, and securing to the public the free and safe navigation of those great highways."
The objects of this organization, as thus set forth by General Ellett, having been accomplished, and the Mississippi reopened to navigation, this brigade was discontinued and dissolved by the following order:
[COPY.]
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF WEST MISSISSIPPI,
NEW ORLEANS, LA. August 3, 1864
[EXTRACT.]
3. Under the authority of instructions from the Headquarters of the Army, the Mississippi Marine Brigade as a separate organization will be discontinued. The enlisted men, whose unexpired term of service will justify it, will be sent back under suitable conduct to the regiments from which they were transferred, and those who have
but a short period to serve will be assigned to garrison duty at Vicksburg, and will be attached for the remainder of their term of service to regiments or batteries serving at that place.
The officers appointed for this brigade will be mustered out of service as soon as the duties connected with the transfer of the men and property under their charge are completed.
Brigadier General A. W. Ellett, after completing the transfer of the men and property under his charge, will proceed to Washington city, and report in person to the Secretary of War. The vessels of the Marine Brigade will be turned over to the Quartermaster's Department, and will be assigned, under the direction of the Chief Quartermaster of the Division, as a part of the reserve transportation required by General Orders No. 4, current series, from these Headquarters.
Officers of the general staff on duty with the brigade will report by letter to the chiefs of their Staff Departments at Division Headquarters, for assignment to duty or for orders.
The Major General commanding the district of Vicksburg is charged with the execution of this order, and will cause the transfer of the men to be made with the greatest care, and the military history of each man to be noted on the muster rolls.
By order of Major General E. R. S. CANBY:
(Signed,) C. F. CHRISTENSEN,
Major and A. A. General.
OFFICIAL:
(Signed,) W. D. CRANDELL,
Captain and A. A. General.
OFFICIAL:
(Signed,) JOS. ACKER,
Lieutenant and Adjutant.
General Canby having ascertained that the men had not been "transferred" from their original service on land to the Marine Brigade, subsequently so far modified this order as to consolidate the men of the said brigade, now numbering about a thousand men, into an infantry regiment to serve on land, instead of discharging them from the service when the organization into which they had enlisted ceased to exist. The following is the final order of General Ellett issued for this purpose:
HEADQUARTERS M. M. BRIGADE, FLAG-SHIP "AUTOCRAT,"
August 26th, 1864
Special Orders,
No. 60.}
[EXTRACT.]
II. In compliance with orders received from Major General Dana, commanding District Vicksburg, directing the disorganization of the Mississippi Marine Brigade, the 1st Infantry Regiment M. M. Brigade ceases to exist at this date. The following disposition will be made of the officers and enlisted men: The present organization of companies will continue, subject to assignment of officers and men to complete them, when they will enter into a new regimental organization, and each company will receive its designation, according to the rank of its commanding officer.
The Field and Staff of the 1st Infantry Regiment M. M. Brigade are assigned to the new regimental organization, the Consolidated Marine Regiment, Lieut. Col. John A. Ellett commanding, and will immediately enter upon the discharge of their several duties.
By command of Brig. Gen. A. W. ELLETT:
(Signed,) Capt. W. D. CRANDALL,
Assistant Adjutant General.
OFFICIAL:
(Signed,) JO. TINKER, Adjutant.
In other words, the men are held to perform ordinary military duty on land the same as under their original enlistment. This is manifestly in violation of the contract of enlistment as members of the Marine Brigade, to which their obligations of service were confined, and from which they undoubtedly should have been discharged when that organization ceased to exist as a Marine Brigade.
Service on land and service in that Brigade are radically different, as represented by Gen. Ellett to the War Department, and any attempt to confound them would operate as a fraud upon the men. This is virtually admitted by the action of the Government in requiring a di-charge from the land service before enlistment in this service upon water. A similar discharge and re-enlistment are plainly necessary to authorize the Government to hold the men to land service.
It is impossible to reconcile, upon principles of good faith, the proposed terms of enlistment published by Gen. Ellett, under governmental authority, and accepted by the men, with this attempt to hold them to a different service
Brigadier General Ellett, late commander of the Marine Brigade, has, in circular letters to the Secretary of War, Maj. Gen. Canby, and Maj. Gen. Dana, most forcibly and clearly set forth the claims of these men to discharge from the service, and asked that such act of justice shall be done.
Should it be your pleasure to make a similiar request, please enclose your letter, under cover, to me at this place, to be presented to the President with the other papers. His Excellency the Governor of Wisconsin, and others, have recently sent me strong letters to the President in support of this application, many of the men being citizens of their States.
As it is my purpose to present this case at the earliest possible moment, I respectfully ask your prompt action on the matter.
I cannot doubt, that upon examination of the facts of the case, you will concur with me, that justice, good policy, and the best interests of the country, at this moment of struggle for the Army vote, require the prompt discharge of these men.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
James Hart Purdy.
To His Excellency,
Governor Bramlette,
of the State of Kentucky,
Frankfort.
Ky.
Marine
Washington D.C --
Purdy James Hart
To
The Govr
Sends a statement of the facts on which the troops composing Missi^ss^ppi Marine Brigade, recently disbanded by order of War Dept, claim their discharge from the service --
L B No 8 --
Rec d A. G. O.