The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-12
I.e,ly ,aa.e up I e,r ls.ys .o 5, sayI.s .yiou

:! fnasnauch as Congress has not yet maes any provision for the publication oI tne fgster, and as the compilation of # is very far from ocplpiete. you will reaoHy - that there will be ample time for fuli anu freauent conferences between the ne- partment and. the representatlyss pr, tne various States in interest with regard 70 the form of the publication; its scope. ana inc measures necessary to insure It's ac- cairaey and completeness. The 'compiia- lfion that is now in progress comprises alT items. of the military history Of eacn .ofacerl ana, soldier that can be found or record. but of course 1t will be impossible Eto determine how many of those items shall be Included In the published roster untii, after Congress shall have deterrnin- ed the scope of the publication.
 < The Department has received numerous requests from various States for check lists or descriptive lists of the rolls and other papers that pertain to organizations from those States and that are on file in the Department. But have been con strained to deny thpae requests because cnmpl with them would involve the expenditure of 8 great deal of time and clerical labor, thus delaying the much more important work of compiling the records. and because 1t Is evident that such lists are not necessary as an aid or a States In their effort to gather up origi- nal mustef rolls and, other records to be forwarded to the Department for copy ing! '-'''''''..' l ,,se...
 . It should be borne in mind that, in order to make the Confederate part of the roster as nearly complete as possible, It is Of the first importance that every origi- nal. Confederate muster roll. or other similar. paper. that can be found any where shall be forwarded to the Depart ment for copying. This should be done regardless of what records may be In the possession of the Department. because it is very seldom that any two rolls of the same organization and of the same date are found, and even irsrare instances in which two such rolls ale found 1t Is almost invariably the case that one of them contains important information that Is missing from the other. You will see, therefore. how important 1t Is that every record that can be found shall be gath cred up, and I am sure that you will agree with me that 1t would be a useless waste of valuable time and labor to pre- pare check. lists. or descriptive lists. such as those in question. .t E..
 The desire of the representatives of the States that furnished troops to the, Con federate armies that the Confederate part of ,-the roster shall be made as neariy complete as possible is natural one, and Is one In which am in full sympathy with thein. I do not think, however, that it would be either wise or safe. even if the law permitted it.. to depart from the rule that have felt constrained to establish to the effect that only contenl- poFaneous offlcisl records of the war period shall be accepted as the basis for roster. It was the manifest intention of Congress that this roster, like the of- ficial records of the Union and Confeder-
 ate armies. shall be a compilation of of
 ficial data, and that its accuracy shall
 not be subject to question by reason of Its
 including data gathered up since the close
 of the war, or compiled from unofiicial
 sources-or from the fallible and uncertain
 memories of a long-past period. | As l view the law, 1t was the intent of Congress to publish, and thus to make
 accessible to the various States and to all persons concerned, all the historical data
 that are contained in the original rolls
 and other similar official records of the
 war period that are fin the possession of the War Department or that can be
 found elsewhere. The information thus
 placed at the disposal of the States will
 enable them. lf they So desire, to compile
 their. own rosters, in their own way, using
 as source of additional information tnelr pension lSts, or any other data that may seem to them to be sufficiently reliable to be incorporated in the roster. This. being the case. I think you will
 agree with me that it IS neither necessary | nor advise ble that the general govern ment, in compiling the recently authoriz- | ed roster, shall depart from the rule of
 procedure that governed 1t in compiling l and publishing the official records of the
 UnIsa and Confederate armies, in which
 no document was included that was not
 an official record of the Civil War periods Very respectfully, = -.. Eihu Root, ,... ...,.j Secretary of War. The work of compiling the Confederate
 rosters was taken up with the freshet l ohieiRl records at hand. those of troops
 paroled at the surrenders of the various 1 organisations at the close of the war.
 Next follows the rosters of troops that
 were confined as prisoners of war. and
 so oh.- 'rs R. H. Watkins.