HEADQUARTERS CONSCRIPT SERVICE,
Capt. EDMUND P. TURNER,
CAPTAIN: I have the honor to call the attention of the commanding major-general to the fact that in certain German settlements resistance to conscription is seriously contemplated, and, if in his judgment it seems proper, I would be glad to have placed at my disposal a mounted force sufficient for the enforcement of the laws. The letter, copy herewith inclosed, is only one of several that I have received of the same tenor from enrolling officers.
J. P. FLEWELLEN,
ENROLLING OFFICE,
Maj. J. P. FLEWELLEN,
SIR: The above thirty-two names* are all Germans except four. They are remarkably stubborn, and I am satisfied do not intend to submit to enrollment. I shall therefore need a force to bring them in, and as the militia nearly all sympathize with them I cannot safely rely upon them, and would suggest that a military force of at least one good company be placed under my orders, and to be well supplied with provisions or money to obtain them in the country, and to be mounted and well armed.
I deem it my duty in this connection to say that there is evidently a spirit of insubordination existing among the Germans in this region. I have it from the most reliable authority that they contemplate resistance to the conscript law as well as to the contemplated draft. Sundry meetings have been held to concert measures of resistance. Several of the meetings were held in secret, and the last a public meeting, in which they resolved to petition to the Governor, asking that their families be provided for and themselves armed and clothed as a preliminary to their submitting to the laws and entering the service. These meetings were largely attended-by 400 to 500 persons. If I am furnished with force sufficient to vindicate the majesty of the law at once I think they will submit without a struggle; but there is danger in delay. If it suits your convenience I would prefer that Capt. R. W. Hargrove or Capt. J. B. McCown (both are now stationed at Hempstead, this county) be detailed for this duty.
A. J. BELL,
*Names Omitted SOURCE: Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 15, pgs. 886-887
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