At Camp Robinson, in the county
of Garrard, there are now ten thousand troops, if the newspapers
can be relied upon, in which men from Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana,
and Illinois are mustered with Kentuckians into the service of
the United States, and armed by that Government for the avowed
purpose of giving aid to the disaffected in one of the
Confederate States, and of carrying out the designs of that
Government for their subjugation. Notwithstanding all these and
other acts of a similar character, the Confederate States have
continued to respect the attitude which Kentucky had assumed as
a neutral, and forborne from reprisals, in the hope that
Kentucky would yet enforce respect for her position on the part
of the Government of the United States.
"Our patient expectation has been disappointed, and it was only
when we perceived that this continued indifference to our rights
and our safety was about to culminate in the seizure of an
important part of her territory by the United States forces for
offensive operations against the Confederate States, that a
regard for self-preservation demanded of us to seize it in
advance. We are here, therefore, not by choice, but of
necessity, and as I have had the honor to say, in a
communication addressed to his Excellency Governor Magoffin, a
copy of which is herewith inclosed and submitted as a part of my
reply, so I now repeat in answer to your request, that I am
prepared to agree to withdraw the Confederate troops from
Kentucky, provided she will agree that the troops of the Federal
Government be withdrawn simultaneously, with a guarantee (which
I will give reciprocally for the Confederate Government) that
the Federal troops shall not be allowed to enter nor occupy any
part of Kentucky for the future.
Pages:
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621