George Martin,
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In McCulloch's Jun 1864 letter below the asterisks, my questions are:
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Question: 1) Who was James N. Collins, CSA beef contractor?
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Question: 2) Who were Doctors Burks and Hamilton? CSA contractors? Beef?
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COLONEL [James Bourland, Comdg. on Frontier]:
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Mr. James [N.] Collins, agent of Maj. [Michael H.] Campbell [of the Chickasaw-Choctaw Battalion], who is the purchasing Commissary for your section of country informs me that his [cow] hands have been [kept] from driving beef cattle to the army and notified that all the cattle have been sold through your section to contractors.
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If Mr. Collins is prevented from driving beef, the army must suffer. ..This might not be under obligations to see that Mr. Collins gets beef if there is any in the country and he has the right to impress the beef of contractors unless they have a special guarantee against impressment and the law indicates very clearly a disposition to impress produce in the hands of contractors and speculators before taking it from producers and you know I have held to the same doctrine as was too plainly shown in the case of Doctors Burks and Hamilton.
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The people are under no obligation to sell to contractors while they are bound to sell to agents from the fact that they (the agents) have power to impress. It is hoped that Mr. Collins will drive or purchase no more beef than is actually necessary before the first of July but he must have what is necessary and you must render him the necessary aid to obtain it.
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Most respectfully your Obt. Svt.,
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Henry E. McCulloch, Brig. Genl. Comdg., N.S.D., Hd. Qrs., Jun 18, 1864 Bonham, Fannin Co TX
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per BP-DM4406-3O-149 (THE BOURLAND PAPERS)
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re: Doctors Burks and Hamilton. .
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In my 146-page Name Index, I could not find a physician named Hamilton, Hambleton, etc., but I did find a Dr. William S. Burkes of Cooke Co TX. Although from the tone of McCulloch's statement, I suspect that "Doctors Burk and Hamilton" were locals who abused impressment laws. They were possibly tithing agents. Below are entries from my 146-page Name Index that can be found on my cited web page.
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ECONOMICS: tithe, tithing agent, impressment, foraging, or taxation, 136, 154, 228, 230, 243, 298, A-32
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FOODSTUFFS: impressment of food, to levy by force for public service, 206, 222, 228, 230, 238, 239, 243, 261, 265, 277, 298, 300, 303, 308, 311, A-32, A-335, A-viii
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http://www.bourlandcivilwar.com/CollectiveTerms.htm
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Maybe "Doctors Burks and Hamilton" were from beyond the 34 Texas counties that I address in my 1,046-page book that is taken primarily from THE BOURLAND PAPERS, the OFFICIAL RECORD (entries that mention Bourland, Fort Arbuckle, and Fort Cobb), plus the militia brigade listings and their accompanying correspondence.
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Patti, prochette@Juno.com
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