I have no additional information, but just reading LTC Franklin's words we can infer that perhaps he discussed this with President Davis some time before his Illinois tour, but maybe not. I know from my reading that a number--perhaps scores, perhaps hundreds--of south Illinois southern men felt so strongly about the Rebel cause that they traveled out of the state to join Confederate units. I met a man at work who had one to three ancestors from south Illinois do just that, if my memory of what he told me is true. Obviously, LTC Franklin was interested to gauge public opinion in Illinois about the Confederacy and its cause, but I infer from his words that he wanted to explore the possibility of increased recruiting of Illinois men and looking for a way to do that. The timing of his letter in middle November 1863 is appropriate to the Confederacy looking for friends and supporters.

Bruce Nichols