Part 14 (1/2)
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _Jackson, August_ 18, 1865.
Sir: Your order No. 16, disbanding police guard for Claiborne county, has been laid before me. I apprehend you are laboring under a mistake in regard to the character of this organization. I had express authority from the President himself to organize the militia if I thought it necessary to keep order in the country. This I did not do, but authorized the organization of patrol guards or county police, for the purpose of suppressing crime, and for arresting offenders. This organization is therefore part of the civil organization of the State, as much so as sheriff, constable, and justices of the peace, and I claim the right to use this organization for these purposes, and hope you will revoke your order.
Your obedient servant,
W.L. SHARKEY, _Provisional Governor of Mississippi_.
Colonel YORK.
Official copy:
J. WARREN MILLER, _a.s.sistant Adjutant General_.
HEADQUARTERS POST OF PORT GIBSON,
_Port Gibson, Mississippi, August_ 26, 1865.
General: I have the honor to state that my reasons for issuing the enclosed order, (No. 16,) was, that a party of citizens acting under authority from Captain Jack, 9th Indiana cavalry, and having as their chief C.B. Clark, was by their own acknowledgment in the habit of patrolling the roads in this section of the country, and ordering any one they came across to halt. If this was not promptly done, they were ordered to fire upon them. In this way one negro woman was wounded, and Union men and negroes were afraid to be out of their houses after dark. The company was formed out of what they called picked men, _i.e._, those only who had been actively engaged in the war, and were known to be strong disunionists.
The negroes in the section of the country these men controlled were kept in the most abject state of slavery, and treated in every way contrary to the requirements of General Orders No. 129 from the War Department, a copy of which order was issued by me to C.B. Clark.
Hoping, general, to receive instructions as to the manner in which I shall regulate my action,
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P. JONES YORK, _Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Post_.
Provost Major General DAVIDSON, _Commanding Southern District of Mississippi_.
Official copy:
J. WARREN MILLER, _a.s.sistant Adjutant General_.
[Special Orders No. 16.]
HEADQUARTERS POST OF PORT GIBSON,
_Port Gibson, Mississippi, August_ 10, 1865.
The permission given from these headquarters, dated July 3, 1865, by Captain Jack, provost marshal, is hereby revoked.
C.B. Clark, chief of police, under the permission, will notify the parties forming the said patrol to discontinue the practice of patrolling the roads and country armed. All arrests must be made by the proper military or civil authorities.
P. JONES YORK, _Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Post_.
Official copy: