RICHMOND, VA., February 23, 1864.

His Excellency JOHN MILTON,

Tallahausse, fla.:

Dispatch of 21st received.* Congratulate you upon General Finegan's success. Major General J. Patton Anderson has been assigned to the command of East and West Florida.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

[35.]

DAVIDSON COLLEGE, N. C., February 23, 1864.

General S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector General:

Your letter not received till last night.+ The command of Charleston is impracticable at present; reasons given in full by mail. Should the delay be prejudicial to the interests of the service do not keep the position at Charleston vacant on my account.++

With great respect,

D. H. HILL,

Major-General.

[33 and 35.]

DAVIDSON COLLEGE, N. C., February 23, 1864.

General S. COOPER,

Adjutant and Inspector General:

Your letter of the 16th instant did not reach me till last night.+ I sent a telegram to Charlotte this morning that the interest of the service might not be prejudiced by delay. A review of some personal matters will show the necessity of not accepting the service tendered at Charleston by your letter until I can present a clear record to the troops of my command. A month after the battle of Chickamauga I was relieved from duty with the Army of Tennessee by the request of its commander. That officer, in an interview with me, distinctly stated that he had no fault to find with me up to the close of the battle of Chickamauga; he used similar language to officers of high rank in reference to me. Nevertheless he did bring grave charges against me in a letter to the President. Nevertheless extraordinary efforts were made to prejudice the Army and the country against me. A court of inquiry, which would have vindicated my charter and reputation, has been persistently refused me. On the contrary, the imputations against me have been vitually sustained by my banishment from the field for four months, by my reduction to the rank of major-general from that of lieutenant-general and by the appointment of a junior officer to the position vacated by this reduction. However, I cordially concur in the preference for this mutilated hero and unhesitatingly admit his claims to promotion to be stronger than my own; and I would feel in line manner with reference to the promotion of R. H. Anderson, A. P. Stewart, Early, and others. Still the circumstances attending the advancement of the gallant and accomplished Hood do constitute a reflection upon myself. These four facts, then - my being relieved from just after a great battle, my banishment from the field for so long a period, my reduction from rank, and supersedure by

---------------

*See VOL. XXXV, Part I, p.327.

+See Cooper to Hill, February 16, 1864, VOL. XLII, Part III, p.1165.

++Other correspondence relating to the assignment of General Hill to duty at Charleston will be found in Vols. XXXV and XLII.

---------------