II. Officers will be calm and considerate in the performance of the duty enjoined by these orders. They will not be justified in the destruction of property unless the necessity thereof be reasonably established.

III. As far as practicable notice of the approach of danger should be given owners of property, and every precaution for its removal that circumstances will permit should be taken.

By order:

S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector General.

GLEN ALLEN, HENRICO, February 8, 1865.

[President DAVIS:]

MY DEAR SIR: Impelled by the perils of our country and the thousand conflicting theories as t the cause and cure to continually have these things before me, I have been amazed to see that no one thus far has conceived, or it conceived had the boldness to present, in my judgement, the only solution of all these perils and difficulties. I address you because you have already taken a long stride in the right direction, and because I believe your mind has already reached the true solution, but owing to peculiar circumstances has hesitated to enunciate it. The history of this war demonstrates the wonderful fact that the Confederate States mainly subsists both of the immense armies engaged in the conflict, and actually, after furnishing all the soldiers to one army, contributes about one-half of those making the army of its enemies, and should the war continue for another year the South will probably furnish two-thirds of the army of her foes. These facts, which cannot be controverted, show certainly anything but weakness of inferiority on the part of the South; but it does show that a change of policy in relation to the conduct of the war, and that a radical one, must be adopted or we shall be destroyed. Let us look at a few facts: The Yankees have now in their service 200,000 of our ex-slaves, and under their next draft will probably have half as many more. We have not one soldier from that source in our ranks. It is held by us that slaves will not make soldiers, therefore we refuse to put them in the service, and I think are correct in so doing; but while we thus think and thus act our enemies are creating, in addition to their white force (which we have found to our cost in the last year to be quite as large as we could manage), and auxiliary army of our own escaped slaves of 300,000 or 400,000 men. Now, however we may decry the negro as a soldier, every one knows that if the white troops of the Yankees are numerous enough to hold all ours in check, then this negro army can at will ravage and destroy our whole country, and we will be absolutely conquered by our own slaves. We allege that slaves will not fight in our armies. Escaped slaves fight and fight bravely for our enemies; therefore a freed slave will fight? If at the beginning of this war all our negroes had been free does any one believe the Yankees would have been able to recruits an army amongst them? Does any one know of a solitary free negro escaping to them and joining their Army? If our slaves were now to be freed would the Yankees be able to raise another recruit amongst them? If freedom and amnesty were declared in favor of those already in the Yankee lines would they not almost to a man desert to their old homes? Would not our freed negroes make us as good soldiers as the make