regiment serving in the field against the public enemy far removed from the State of which his excellency is governor. And it matters little to me whether the usurpation comes from South or North, Georgia or Massachusetts, I feel it my duty to bring the matter at once to an issue and if possible to arrest the evil b efor eits natural fruits-open rebellion-shall b e produced. The course of Major Anderson one year since in refusing to permit interefernce in the internal affairs of his command in Fort Sumter on the part of the governor of the State in which he was serving the Union was eminently distasteful to the governor of South Carolina; neverthless Major Anderson's sense of duty prevented him from fulfiolling that governor's desires.

Disagreeable as it may be to me to do anything distasteful to the governor of any State of the Union I do not feel that it is consistent with my sworn duty to permit any governor to give orders affecting the discipline of any regiment which the government of the nation has intrusted to my command. I am not aware that there are here Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota or Massachusetts troops. I do know that there are here U. S. troops collected from all those States; and they are carefully taught that their duty is to serve the United States honestly and faithfully against all those who set themselves in opposition to the Constitution and laws of the United States, whomsoever the oppressors may be.

I will merely add for the satisfaction wich I know it will give to the major-general commanding that I do not believe that in the instance of the officer referred to in the letter of the governor nor in any other instance the orders of the War Department in r eference to fugitive slaves have been violated by officers of this division; and I am equally happy to state that in no instance within my knowledge and recollection (with one exception) have the laws on the same subject of the State of Maryland in which we are serving been violated by officers of the division. In that exceptional case the officer offending promply retired from the service.

I inclose a copy of General Orders, Numbers 16, of September 23, 1861,* from these headquarters which will illustrate the course I have ursued here in reference to the loyal citizens of Maryland who are of course to be an a different footing from rebels in arms.

Very respectfully, general, your most obedient servant,

CHAS. P. STONE,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

[Inclosure.]

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

Boston, December 9, 1861.

Lieutenant-Colonel PALFREY,

Commanding Twentieth Regiment Massachusetts Voluntees.

COLONEL: His excellency, Governor Andrew, directs me to write to you that he is informed upon what he deems reliabel authority that an officer of your regiment, Lieutenant (now Captain) Macy, has subjected Massachusetts citizen soldiers to the disgrace of becoming the kidnappers of their fellow-men and returning them into the hands of persons claiming to be their owners without any observance of even the forms of law, either civil or military. His excellency is greatly pained that

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*Omitted as unimportant.

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