# Southern Historical Society Papers/Volume 04/July/Editorial Paragraphs

Southern Historical Society Papers, July 1877
EDITORIAL PARAGRAPHS.
Our Fourth Volume begins with this number, and we think we can safely promise that it will surpass in interest and value either of the volumes which have preceded it. We will begin in our next number the publication of a series of papers on the battle of Gettysburg, which will be simply invaluable to all who desire to know the truth concerning that great battle; and these will be followed by able papers on other battles and campaigns. "We have scarcely touched our series of original MS. reports, and shall, from month to month, continue to publish the more important of these. In a word, we desire to make our Papers indispensable to all who would know the truth concerning our great struggle for constitutional freedom.
But we earnestly beg that our friends will help us by sending papers of interest on any thing concerning the war, and by securing for us subscribers to our Monthly.
The Burning of Twenty-seven Boxes of Confederate Documents in North Carolina the other day, which those in charge of them had intended to send to our Archives, is but another sad illustration of the danger of allowing valuable material to remain in private hands.
A distinguished Confederate officer wrote us last year that a fire had just destroyed invaluable reports, &c., which he had intended to send us, and we fear that other such examples will be needed to convince our friends that the right thing to do with such material is to send it at once by express to J. Wm. Jones, Secretary Southern Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia.
Remember, that where our friends have material which they are not willing to donate, we will be glad to receive it as a loan, to be carefully preserved and held subject to their order.
Mr. W. B. McEwen, a former agent of our Society in Georgia and Alabama, would find it to his interest to communicate at once with this office, and any friend knowing his whereabouts would confer a favor by informing us without delay.
Our Bound Volumes (3 of which are now ready), are very neatly gotten up, and we are not surprised that many subscribers prefer to take their numbers bound, rather than in pamphlet form. We would advise all such, ​however, to send their orders (and the money) in advance, as we may not be able hereafter to supply bound volumes to any save those who have so ordered them. We now have on hand a number of bound volumes for 1876, and for January to June, 1877, and we ask our friends to assist us in securing orders for them. We can also supply our little volume on "A Confederate View of the Treatment of Prisoners." We beg our friends to interest themselves in placing these volumes on the shelves of public libraries in all parts of the country. College libraries, Y. M. C. A. libraries, and others would be glad to purchase these books if their attention were called to them.
Contributions to our Archives are always acceptable, and gratefully received. Since our last acknowledgment we have received the following:
From Yates Snowden, Esq., Charleston, S. C.—Address of Hon. Thos. F. Bayard on "Decentralization of Power." Address before the South Carolina Historical Society, May 19th, 1876, by William J. Rivers, Esq., of Maryland. Map of Fort Moultrie. Copy of "The American Eagle," published at Vera Cruz, April 6th, 1847, containing full account of the siege of Vera Cruz, &c. Memorial Sermon of Rev. Charles Wallace Howard, by Rev. C. S. Vedder, D. D.
From Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati—A Memorial Sermon, Fiftieth Anniversary of Mount Horeb Church, in Fayette county, Ky., by W. George.
From Wisconsin Historical Society—"Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for the years 1873-74-75 and 76."
From Capt. Frank Potts, Petersburg, Va.—Ten numbers of "The Record of News, History and Literature," published at Richmond in 1863.
From Major R. F. Walker, Superintendent of Public Printing, Richmond—Bound volume "Senate Journal and Documents," 1876-77. "Report Board of Public Works." Bound volume "House Journal and Documents," 1876-77.
From Hon. John Perkins, Jr., formerly member of Confederate States House Representatives from Louisiana, through Judge Lay, of Richmond—Large box of Confederate books, documents, pamphlets, papers, &c.
We have not space to name all of these valuable documents, but they consist in part of the following: Report of Brig.-Gen. S. M. Jones of the Evacuation of Pensacola Navy Yard and Forts. Report of the Bombardment and Capture of Fort Henry. Reports of the Battle of Fort Donaldson. Reports of Operations in New Mexico. Gen. Polk's Report of the Evacuation of Columbus. Gen. Beauregard's Report and Reports of Subordinate Officers of the Battle of Shiloh. Reports of the Evacuation of Jacksonville. Report of Gen. Lovell and Subordinate Reports of Events Attendant upon the Fall of New Orleans. Report of Maj.-Gen. Huger of the Affair at South Mills. Report of Gen. Leadbeater of Operations on Tennessee River, and of the Affair at Bridgeport. Report of Brig.-Gen. Humphrey Marshall of the Affair at ​Princeton. Capt. Blocker's Report of Engagement with Enemy on Crooked River. Gen. Beauregard's Report of the Evacuation of Corinth. Report of Maj.-Gen. Pemberton and the Subordinate Reports of the Engagement on James' Island. Report of Brig.-Gen. Morgan and Subordinate Reports of the Expedition into Kentucky. Maj.-Gen. Magruder's Report and Subordinate Reports of the Operations on the Peninsula. Report of Gen. Pemberton and the Subordinate Reports in reference to the Expedition to Pinckney Island. Report of Col. J. H. Morgan of the Affair at Gallatin, Tennessee. Report of Brig.-Gen. Maxby of Operations of the Army at Bridgeport and Battle Creek. Report of Gen. E. Kirby Smith and Subordinate Reports of the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky. Answer of Col. Forrest to Interrogatories propounded by Congressional Committee, in regard to the Management of the Quartermaster and Commissary Departments, about the time of the surrender of Nashville. Official Reports of Gens. Johnston and Beauregard of the Battle of Manassas, July 21st, 1861. Also Official Reports of all the other Battles fought in 1861. Report of Gen. Bragg and Subordinate Reports of the Battle of Chicamauga. Official Reports of Battles, embracing Defence of Vicksburg by Maj.-Gen. Earl Van Dorn and the Attack upon Baton Rouge by Maj.-Gen. Breckinridge, together with the Reports of Battles of Corinth and Hatchie Bridge; The Expedition to Hartsville, Tennessee; The Affair at Pocotaligo and Yemassee; The Action near Coffeeville, Mississippi; The Action and Casualties of the Brigade of Col. Simonton at Fort Donelson. Reports of the Attack by the Enemy's Fleet on Fort McAllister, February 1st, 1863; Engagement at Fayette Courthouse, Cotton Hill, Gauley, Charleston, and Pursuit of the Enemy to the Ohio; of the Operations of Brig.-Gen. Rodes' Brigade at Seven Pines; and of the Capture of the Gunboat J. P. Smith in Stono River. Report of Maj.-Gen. Polk of the Battle of 7th November, 1861, near Columbus, Ky. Report of Gen. Jos. E. Johnston of his Operations in the Departments of Mississippi and East Louisiana, together with Lieut.-Gen. Pemberton's Report of the Battles of Port Gibson, Baker's Creek, and the Siege of Vicksburg. Correspondence between the President and Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, together with that of the Secretary of War and the Adjutant and Inspector-General, during the months of May, June and July, 1863. Correspondence between the War Department and Gen. Lovell, relating to the Defence of New Orleans. Report of the Special Committee of the Confederate Congress on the Disasters at Forts Henry and Donelson and the Evacuation of Nashville. Provisional and Permanent Constitutions of the Confederate States, together with the Acts and Resolutions of the First Session of the Provisional Congress, 1861. Large number of Confederate States Executive and Congressional Documents, embracing Messages of the President and Reports of Heads of Departments, Bills, Acts, Joint Resolutions of Congress, Statutes at Large, Reports of Special Committees, Speeches in Congress, &c. (Many of these documents are very rare, and of great value.) Report of Evidence taken before a Joint Special Committee of both Houses of the Confederate Congress to Investigate the Affairs of the Navy Department. Report of the Roanoke Island Investigating Committee. ​Confederate States Navy Register of 1862. Confederate States Navy Register to January 1st, 1863. Ordinances adopted by the Convention of Virginia in secret session in April and May, 1861. Convention between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Confederate States of America. Message of Governor Moore, of Louisiana, to the General Assembly, November, 1861. Rules and Directions for Proceedings in the Confederate States Patent Office. Jomini's Practice of War. Richmond: West & Johnston, 1863. Proceedings of the Confederate States Congress on the announcement of the death of Col. Francis S. Bartow, of the Army of the Confederate States, and late a delegate in Congress from the State of Georgia. General Orders from the Confederate States Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, for 1862. Twenty-four pamphlets discussing both sides of the Slavery Question. Sixty-seven miscellaneous pamphlets on various matters of general interest. Speech of Hon. J. P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, on the right of Secession, in the United States Senate, December 31st, 1860. Four Essays on The Right and Propriety of Secession, by a member of the Richmond Bar. Secession and its Causes, in a letter to Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of England, by Henry Wikoff. "Disunion and its Results to the South." "Recognition of the Confederate States considered, in reply to the letters of Historicus in the 'London Times,'" by "Juridicus." Commercial Enfranchisement of the Confederate States. "Cause and Contrast," by T. W. MacMahon. Address to Christians throughout the World, signed by ninety-five Clergymen of the Confederate States. "The American Union, its Effect on National Character and Policy," by James Spence. Richmond: West & Johnston, 1863. Reply of S. Teackle Wallis, Esq., to the Letter of Hon. John Sherman, published by the Officers of the First Maryland Infantry, 1863. Address on the Constitution and Laws of the Confederate States of America, by Hon. Robt. H. Smith. Confederate States' Almanac of 1862. "Senator Hammond and The Tribune,'" by Troup. Rev. J. H. Thornwell, D. D., of Columbia, S. C., on the State of the Country in 1861. "The North and the South," by John Forsyth, of Mobile, Ala. "Proceedings of the Congress of the Confederate States, on the announcement of the death of Hon. John Tyler, Jan'y 20th and 21st, 1862." Addresses of Hon. D. W. Voorhees, of Indiana, on the trial of John E. Cook, Nov. 8th, 1859, and before the Literary Societies of the University of Virginia, July 4th, 1860. "Life and Services of Hon. R. Barnwell Rhett, of South Carolina." "The Character and Influence of Abolitionism." A Sermon by Rev. Henry J. Van Dyke, of Brooklyn, preached Dec. 9th, 1860. Address before the Society of Alumni of the University of Virginia, by Hon. Jas. P. Holcombe. "The South, Her Peril and her Duty." A thanksgiving sermon preached Nov. 29th, 1860, by Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D. "God, our Refuge and Strength in this War," a fast day sermon, by Rev. T. V. Moore, D. D., of Richmond. "The Oath of Allegiance to the United States," by the Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D. A large number of Religious Tracts published in the Confederacy during the War.
This contribution by Judge Perkins is one of great value, and indicates the character of the publications we are most anxious to secure.