Today in History:

357 Series I Volume XXXIV-IV Serial 64 - Red River Campaign Part IV

Page 357 Chapter XLVI. CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.- UNION.

Eighth. To enforce orders in respect to the manufactures and sale of into executing liqueurs.

Ninth. No passes for persons or merchandise within the military lines are to be recognized unless signed by a provost-marshal or a military commandant, nor any for persons beyond the lines unless signed by the commanding general or provost-marshal-general of the department.

Tenth. All passes for vessels within the lines will be signed by the provost-marshal-general, and all passes for vessels going beyond the lines will be signed by the commanding general, except vessels engaged in fishing, which will be signed by the provost-marshal-general of the department.

Eleventh. All horses, mules, carts, plows, and other agricultural implements are to be restored on the application of their respective owners, except when required by the public service, to the end that the cultivation of the land may not be hindered.

Twelfth. Provost-marshals and others capturing vessels, goods, or supplies intended, without proper authority, for the use of the enemy or for consumption beyond the lines of the army in the department, will be entitled to receive, according to the service rendered in such capture, one-half of the net proceeds of the sale of the vessels, goods, or supplies so captured and forfeited to the United States. The provost-marshals, other than the provost-marshal of New Orleans, are judges for their respective districts; they hear and determine in cases of minor offenses by a fine exceeding $50 or imprisonment for thirty days. They also take cognizance of such military offenses as may be refereed to them by proper military authority.

all cases, except for trifling amounts of contraband goods seized, are refereed to the provost court in New Orleans for adjudication. Provost-marshals reports directly to the provost-marshal-general of the department, but they are subject to the supervision of the commanders of the district in which their parishes may be situated, who may at all times require reports of their proceedings and annual the acts of provost-marshals.

The foregoing is a statement of the specific duties of the parish provost-marshals. They have the general charge of all matters other than purely military within their respective parishes, and are analogous in many respects to the boards of supervisors of counties in the Northern States. The system appears to work well. It commends itself to the planters by the simplicity of its operation and by the speedy determination of cases within its jurisdiction, while the late slave looks to the provost-marshal as his protector against the injustice of his employer.

Respectfully submitted.

JAMES BOWEN,

Brigadier General, Provost-Marshal-General, Dept. of the Gulf.

In continuation of the foregoing, I beg leave to state that the system of labor devised by the major-general commanding is enforced through the provost-marshals. All questions arising under the orders relative to labor are submitted for adjudication to these officers, and the rights of the parties, whether employer or employed, determined by them.

Very respectfully,

JAMES BOWEN,

Brigadier-General, Provost-Marshal-General.


Page 357 Chapter XLVI. CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.- UNION.