CAMP NEAR GREENSBOROUGH, April 24, 1865.

His Excellency Z. B. VANCE,

Governor of North Carolina:

SIR: I had the honor to receive your two letters of the 20th on that day.* My object in asking you for minute information of the robberies of which you complain, was to get the means of restoring the State property and punsihing the robbers. I have postponed replying until now in order, before doing so, to obtain more minute accounts of the matter in question than you had given. In that connection, I inclose matter in question than you had given. In that connection, I inclose the statements* of Major McMicken, chief quartermaster; Major James Sloan, quartermaster of North Carolina, and Major Vardell. They justify me, I think, in asking you to acquit "the troops under my command" of the charge of having "forcibly seized all the property of the State from Haw River depot to this place." The only robberies mentioned in these papers were committed by a mob in Greensborough on the 15th. The only troops that I know of then in the town were North Carolina reserves, placed there by Lieutenant-General Holmes. Those under my command marched that day but ten or twelve miles from Haw River bridge. You may remember that we passed them on the 16th, and left them encamping one mile and a half from the town. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to say that any Confederate soldier concerned in seizing public property in Greensborough on the 15th must have belonged to the Army of Virginia, not that of Tennessee. Major McMicken explans the occurrence you witnessed on the 19th at McLean's Station thus: Major Melton, quartermaster of General Hampton's corps, was that morning receiving stores for the cavalry, including blankets, at that place. He had no vehicles, and the different articles were taken from the cars by the men of the party he had brought for the purpose. Great outrages are committed on your people by Confederate soldiers I know, but they are the disbanded men of the Army of Northern Virginia. I regret this as much as you do, but cannot, with my little force, prevent it. Indeed, this army has probably suffered as much, proportionally, as the people of the State, for crowds of these disbanded soldiers seize our subsistence stores wherever they find them.

Most respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. E. JOHNSTON,

General.

[47.]

CAMP NEAR GREENSBOROUGH, April 24, 1865.

His Excellency Z. B. VANCE:

GOVERNOR: I have had the honor to receive the letter of the 22nd instant in which you propose to me, in the event of "a successful termination of pending negotiations," to deliver to you the Confederate property in North Carolina on account of the debt of the Confederacy to your State. I will readily do all I properly can to secure to North Carolina the sum due her from the Confederate Government. But the course you propose seems to me impracticable. I believe that every other State of the Confederacy has a claim similar to that which you state, and think, therefore, that it would be just do divide any means available for the payment of those debts proportionally. Most of the public prssession of the army was impressed, frequently with the condition that it should be returned. I intend, as far as

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*Not found.

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