Autograph letter signed by Adjutant General Henry C. Wayne (1815-1883), to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown. Milledgeville, Georgia, 11 March 1861. 1 page, 4to. On Executive Department, Adjutant General's Office letterhead.

An excellent letter revealing early Confederate army organization in Georgia, penned before the official outbreak of hostilities. 

Henry C. Wayne (1815-1883), the son of U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Moore Wayne, was a graduate of the 1838 Class from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He embarked on a lifelong military career, participating in the Aroostook War, the Mexican-American War, where he was promoted for his bravery at the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco, and was a member of the U.S. Camel Corps. 

After Lincoln's electoral victory, Wayne immediately resigned his commission and became involved in the formation of the nascent Confederate military in Georgia. He was appointed the adjutant and inspector-general of Georgia by Governor Joseph E. Brown, with whom Wayne writes here. 

In full: "Your telegraphic dispatches relative to Generals Semmes + Phillips was received about 8 1/2 last evening, and immediately telegraphed them both to report to you in person at Savannah without delay. At the same time telegraphed your 'General Semmes and Phillips ordered down,' that you might have instant acknowledgement as your order and of its execution. 

Today I am furnishing the List of Volunteer Companies called for through Major Williams. I had made the List up 1 Febry. inst so that it can be readily brought up to date. You may tell the Convention too that the Militia are, by returns received at this Office, being re-organized and as rapidly as could be expected." 

He directly refers to Confederate officers who were promoted early to lead Georgia troops: Pleasant Jackson Philips (1819-1876) and Paul Jones Semmes (1814-1863), the cousin of Raphael Semmes, the future Confederate Captain of the CSS Alabama, who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. 

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