and from other causes of complaint. I shall however to the extent of the power conferred upon me furnish you every hand I possibly can.

Inclosed I send you copies of Colonel Shannon's report and of a letter from Senator Mazyck on this subject.

Yours, very respectfully and truly,

M. L. BONHAM.

[Inclosures.]

CAMDEN, S. C., April 11, 1863.

His Excellency M. L. BONHAM,

Governor and Commander-in-Chief:

GOVERNOR: In obedience to the directions of the statute under which I hold my appointment I herewith respectfully submit my report, covering the time embraced within the first requisition of labor for coast defense under the statute above referred to.

The census and other statistical information demonstrated that there was a sufficiency of slave labor within this division (the Eastern Numbers 2), which had hitherto done nothing toward our defenses, to the apprehension which I entertained and which Your Excellency anxiously shared. Out of this large extent of country only about 380 slaves were forwarded in direct answer to the call.

To attribute this result to the want of patriotism in our people or to the existence of a parsimonious and niggardly spirit would be very unjust; that with too many the prevalent spirit of patriotism in wanting and the demon of selfish and grasping avarice ever present, their household god, with shame we must acknowledge and unfortunately have too many proofs beyond this instance; but it is but justice to the slaveholders of the State to say that many have promptly answered every call, and would cheerfully have responded to this but that they were excluded by the terms of the call issued in obedience to the statute; they had hitherto done their duty. Others conceived mistakenly, though innocently, that they did their duty by paying their fines. Many felt, and justly so, that the Confederate authorities had hitherto trifled with them by calling for slaves for thirty days, keeping them for ninety; by retaining their tools and implements, which they could not resupply; by sending their tools and implements, which they could not resupply; by sending their negroes home without or with insufficient rations, and by various other annoyances, all of which had been aggravated, perhaps exaggerated, by the political discussions and excitement on the subject during the last autumn and fall. For those who withheld their negroes from a mere selfish calculation it is scarcely proper here for me to express my sentiments. I could with difficulty find decorous language for that purpose.

The labor, though not adequate to the requisition, seems to have been advantageously employed, and I take pleasure in stating that the treatment and care of the negroes is far superior to that which the general opinion of the State supposed to exist and which may have existed. Rations are as regularly and as fully issued to them as to our noble soldiers; they are as well housed and protected as (any, far better than most of) our gallant sons and brothers who are inthe field, while comfortable hospitals and skillful surgeons await them in case of sickness, and after thorough inquiry I have not heard of the first case of maltreatment. The health of the negroes has been exceedingly good; not a single death has occurred during the period embraced within this re-