HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Jitu. 15, 1864.— Referred t 
 
 the Committee on Claims and ordered to bu ptinted. 
 
 [By Mr. Staplh^.' 
 
 'To the H&norahu the Senait and House nf Repre&entatu'es of itit 
 
 Conftderate ^tott: oi' America, hi Congrtss aastt/ibkc' 
 
 1 ii^.t; lUc iiouor to curumuiiioatt; to your iiouoiuble body cojjies ^ 
 lately passed curreiipoudence betweoU the Secretary of .War and myseU, 
 re^pL-etfuliy begging you that it may be. considered conjointly with 
 uther papei-a. relating to my claim of brigadier's salary, or of refund- 
 ing to me expenses actually, incurred in raising my brigade, being 
 luw before the Commitli^c on Claims f the Iljuse of llepresentacives. 
 "With grea-t respect, I am, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 G. TOCHMVX. 
 Richmond, Va., Jan. 13, 18G4. 
 
 GEX. TOCHMA.N TO MR. SEDDON. 
 
 Richmond, Va., Jan. a, 1864, ) 
 ^0. 1U7, Spottswood Hotel. < 
 Hon. James A. Seddon, 
 
 Secretary of War Confederate Stales : 
 
 SfK : 1 do not hnd recorded in the document's office of your Depart- 
 iiunttbe letter which I addressed, and personally handed to ycu, on th^ 
 4ih of December last, requesting you to review your decision thcreia 
 referred to, iu the case relating to the claim, either of brigadier's aal- 
 aiy, due mo for the period I raised ny brigade, (its troops being in 
 the service of the Confederate States since the commencement of this 
 T.ar,) or of refunding to me five thousand nino hundred and twenty- 
 live dollars, in gold, and one thousand six hundred dollars in the cur- 
 rency of the Confederate States, expended in raising that brigade, 
 •VC- — its command having been taken from me without c&uee attributa- 
 ble to mo. 
 
 Anxious to bring thia matter to a iinal issue, to enable me to 
 go to Europe, to help my native land (Poland) in her present struggle, 
 
I have, almost simultaneously with han<linji: that letter to you, ad- 
 dre>H<l inj%elf to Congress, too;_:itiil the case is now before the Com- 
 miifee on Claims, as you ^11 see l>y rrferei ce to the'enclosed record, 
 (primed by order of the House,) and a c<>py of the letter I subse- 
 quently addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
 Aflfiiirs, to which this case was oiiginally ieferre<i. Bu* Jt is obvious 
 that \o«r decision, whatever it may be, would enable that committee 
 to take up the case and report it sooner than they can do it without 
 heuing' from you. 
 
 Ihere are only two ways of bringing this case to its proper conclu- 
 sion. The record before you settles the fact that the command of 
 troops I raised, under the express agreement that I would command 
 them. VHS tak«*n fn»m me without a taiiso attriliutable to me. If, 
 then, the Piesident is disposi-d to do me full justice, it is in his power 
 to do HO, by directing you to issue my brigadier s commission, dating 
 from the time I reported my brigade raised. If he persists in his un- 
 TvilliDgness to do me this justice, 
 
 " Tlic njild Imuor of luj UHiiie I buavt, 
 Ad 1 find oi; empire iLero." 
 
 And respectfully beg you to recommend to Congress that my ex- 
 penses (five thousand nine hundred and twenty-five dollars, in gold, 
 and otie thousand six hundred dollars in the Confederate States cur- 
 rency) be refunded to me : 
 
 This last request, I hope, will not be objected to ; for this is the 
 only way of settling this matter, when the President has already 
 directed you to '• notice my claim for money, as it shall be found to 
 relate to any object for which the funds of your Department are appli- 
 cable," (page twelve of the enclosed recoid,*) and when you have de- 
 ci<led thai you '* hive not been invested with the power or means of 
 paying for official services where no commission had been issued." 
 (The same page ol the enclosed recotd.) 
 1 Lave the hoiior, sir, to be, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 (jr. TOCHMAN. 
 
 GEN. TOCHMAN TO MR. FOOTE. 
 
 Richmond, \x.yDec. 16, 1863. 
 Hon. II. S. Foote: 
 
 LtAR Sir : Hon. ^\ . i*. Miles, Ilon. J. Mc(^ueeu,and several other 
 members of Congress, are of the opinion that the Committee on For- 
 eign AfF.iirs cannot take cognizance of my cluim, set forth in the let- 
 ter I addressed to you, as the chairman thereof, on the 5th of Decem- 
 ber. They consider the motives stated in that letter, which led me to 
 submit the case to the " cognizance, mediation or recommendation," 
 
 *It refers to the recori printed by order of the Houae, DeceTabor 10, ISOo. 
 
of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, to be '* incidental," and the 
 claim of brigadier'.s palary, or of refundirifr me the expenses incurred 
 in raising niv brigade, as the subject settling the jurisdicion of the 
 case, which, in their opinion, belongs exclusively to the Committee on 
 Cliiims. It has not been my intention to have the benefir, of preference of 
 either of these two coinraittees. I begged you to have referred this case 
 to the Committee on Foreign Aflfjiirs solely because it appeared to me 
 rhiil. the Store policy iot forth in my ietler to the Secretary of State 
 wns paramount to my p ouniary claim. When, however, there ap- 
 pearcs to bp a difference of rpinion on this point. I ^neld mine, and 
 respectfully beg you, and the committee over which you preside, to 
 secure its unanimity by leoommending that th s case be referred to 
 the Committee on Claims. 
 
 With the assurance of regard. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 G. TOCHMAN. 
 
 MR. SEDDON TO GEN. TOCHMAN. 
 
 CoNFF.nRRATE StaTES OF AmE!UCV, ^ 
 
 War Df'partment, > 
 
 Richm)nd, Va, Jan. Tth, 1864.) 
 
 G. TocHMAN, Esq., Bickmomly Fa. : 
 
 Sir: I have received and considered your letters of the 4th of 
 December, 1863, and the 2<i inst., relative to your cl lim for expenses 
 incurred in raising troops for the Confederate service. 
 
 On a review of the whole case presented by you, 1 cannot see that 
 injustice ha>^ been done you. The nature of the authority given you, 
 manifestly, in my judgmeat, shows that the troops were to be raised 
 abroad; else why the stipulation that ofhcers should be sunt to enlist 
 them? The r^^ference to the regim^'nts, wiih the o'licers. if acceptable, 
 are all the same view. 'JVoops emit i not be enli->ted abroad ; thny could 
 only be engaged to c )me in. Hence, they had to be enlisted by C.^ufed- 
 erate authorities liere. Officers, too, might be engaged abro id, and 
 arrangements were made to accept ihem, likewise. No pecuniary 
 claim could arise against the depirtment unless from a commission 
 issued, and as that of itrigadier general was not conferred, no power 
 f'u- the pay of such olSce or iis ecjuivaient can exist Besides, the 
 matter had limg been determined before my connection with this 
 department. I do not see the force of equities presented in the case, 
 but if they exist, they pertain to the jurisdiction of Congress, and 
 would not justify an^' action or recommendation on my part. 
 
 Vour obedient servant, i 
 
 JAMES A. SEDDON, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
4 
 
 GEN. TOCHMAN TO MR. SEDDON. 
 
 RrciiMOND, Va., Jan. 12tb, 1SG4. 
 To Hon. Jamfs A. Seddon, 
 
 Secretary of War, C. S. : 
 
 Sir : On the 17th of February, 1863. you wrote' to me a letter, 
 ■which reads as follows: 
 
 " Your claim for perviccp as recruiiinfi agent is apparently a just 
 one, but Congress has not aftorded to this department the power or 
 means of paying for official services in cases where no commission 
 has been issued. A great many claims of this vaturc, whose merits 
 'ire not denied, have been rejected for this reason. The department 
 has recommended to Congress to make same provision for them, and 
 until that is donp, it is without power or means to act. 
 
 "Respectfully. Jamf.s A, Skddon, 
 
 **Secr(tary of IFflr." 
 
 By an answer, bearing the date of March 2, 1863, I have corrected 
 your misconstruction of the authority under which I raised my brigade, 
 informing you therein, that I have never acted in the capacity of a 
 recruiting agent ; that, being a field officer of the Polish army, in 
 183(1 and 18;il, I would have never sacrificed my property in the 
 United States, th.e Avelfare of my family I left there, and all my 
 prospects at the North, to be a mere recruiting agent, ray most sincere 
 devotion to the cause of the Confederate States, notwithstanding ; that 
 I raised that brigade of troops for my own corxmand, which was 
 taken from me in violation of the authority stipulated for under the 
 provisions of the act of Congress, No. I<i9. approved May 8, 1861. 
 and accepted by me from your predecessor, Mr. Walker ; and 1 
 respectfully requested you to inform me what occasion gave place to 
 your addressing me as a recruitmg agent. 
 
 Your reply bearing date of March 4, 1863, was as follows: 
 " Your letter of the 2d instant, has been received. In reply, you 
 are respectfully informed that the Department, in its letter of the 17th 
 ultimo, had no inUntion of disparaging the character or justice of your 
 claims, but merely desired to communicate the fact that (congress had 
 notinvested it with the power to acknowledge and pay them.*' 
 
 Respectfully, 
 Ig r;^ ^ _ James A. Seddon, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 After this reply, which 1 considered as disclaimer of the oj/'ensive 
 construction «f that authority under which I raised my tro:>ps, you 
 again returned to that olfensive construction in the letter bearing date 
 January 7, 1864, addressed to me in answer to the claim, either of 
 paying me brigadier's salary for three years, this being the period 
 for which I raised my brigade, and its regiments being in service of 
 the Confederate States since the commencement of the war; or, of 
 refunding to me five thousand nine hundred and twenty-five dollars in 
 jgold, !wad oxxe thousand six hundred in tb© currency of the Confede- 
 
rate States, actually expended in raising those troops, <fec., exclusive 
 of heavy losses in pr< perty. &c., to which my siding with the South 
 has submitted m*^ ; which last mentioned losses I consider as the 
 result arising from the ordinary inci<lents of war, and claim nothing 
 therefor. 
 
 In that letter, bearing date of Jnnuary 7, 1864, you say: '* On a 
 review of the whole case presented by you, I cannot see that injustice 
 has been done you." 
 
 And to support this, your view of my case, you allege — 
 
 " The nature of the authoiity given you, raanifestly, in my judg- 
 ment, shows that the troops were to be raised abroad; else why the 
 stipulation that officers should be sent to enlist them ? The reference 
 to the regiments with the officers, if acceptable, are all the same 
 view." 
 
 Now, sir, the record on file in your Department shows, that though 
 the President endorsed on the bundle of my papers filed in Moat- 
 gomery, Ala., "appointed colonel May 11, 1861, file carefully ,^^ my 
 regular commission was not issued. The authority under which I 
 rai.sed my troops, was addres?ed to me as major, which rank I held in 
 the Polish army in lSrJU-3l. The regular commission was to be 
 issued when I raise my troops : of colonel, if I raised one regiment, 
 and of brigadier, if I raised a brigade ; which privilege was extended 
 and granted to me by that authority, subsequently to the foregoing 
 endorsement, " appointed colonel May 8, 1861." It is obvious, then, 
 that not being a regularly commissioned officer of the army of the 
 Confederate States at the time of raising my troops, I could not enlist 
 or muster into service ray men. An agency of commissioned officers 
 to do this was required, and as it was not expected that I could raise 
 all my troops in one pluce in the Confederate States, being allowed to 
 accept but a small number of the natives of this country, it Avas stipu- 
 lated and inserted in the autiiority accepted by me. that " such officers 
 of the army, as may be necessary, will be detailed at such points within 
 the Confederacy, as I may indicate, to enlist the men." That so was 
 understood at the time of my accepting that authority, and so must 
 be understood now " the stipulation that officers should be sent to 
 enlist the men," and not so as you have been ph-ased to construe it, 
 proves the fact, which cannot be over-leaped t>y any cavil, that your 
 predecessor, Mr. Walker, who stipulated with me for raising these 
 troops and drew the authority, knew where 1 was raising them, and 
 fully endorsed my proceedings in this respect, as the following official 
 correspondence, herein attached in a printed cut, shows it: 
 
 TELEGRAPHIC DISPATCHES. 
 1st. From the Secretary of War. 
 
 " Dated Richmond, June ifl, 1861. Received. New Orleans, Juno 
 19, 1861, o'clock, min. M." 
 
 To Col. Gasper Tor inn an : 
 
 •♦ Our supply of arm i is so limited that you had better not undertake 
 to raise exceeding a regiment. 
 
 L. P. Walkka." 
 
2d. Answer to above, by tekgrnph. • 
 
 " Hk^DQUARTERS OF THE POLTSH BrIRADE, C. S. A., ) 
 
 " N(V) Orleans, La., 57, St. Charles Street, June 20, IbGl. ] 
 
 *' Hon. L. P. IValksr, Secretary of ]V<ir, Rirhmond, Fa. : 
 
 " Twenty companies are already raised, uniformed .aitddrillinjj, here, 
 and some in Mississippi; seven iwustered into service and encamped at 
 Amite. Six were to be mustered in to-day, and the rest on Saturday. 
 Shoul<l you curtail me now to one regiment, it would cause a good deal of 
 troul)le, loss at»d diss It ist'action. Tlieconfiiionceof those who responded 
 to my proclamation w-.uld be irretrievably lost, and the iavorable reac- 
 tion amongst the foreigners, which the announcement of my forming 
 the Polish Brigade has elicited in Missouri and the North, wouli be 
 checked. Blease, then, advise with the President. I will keep up 
 the work quietly, until further orders. Should you send me arms im- 
 mediately, the whole Brigade would take the field in less than thirty 
 days. 
 
 '« G. TOCHMAN." 
 
 3rd. Secretary's answer to the above, })y telegraph. 
 
 " Dated Richmond, June 2ii, ItfGI. Received, New Orleans, June 
 30, 18GI " 
 
 '' To Col. G. Tochman : 
 
 *' If the companies are raised, of course I shall not interfere. Let 
 them be mustered into service. 
 
 ''L. P. Walker.." 
 
 It follows, from the foregoing facts, establi?lied by this official cor- 
 respondence, which is conclusive, and settles the interpretation of my 
 authority in question, that *' the reference to the regiments, with the 
 officers, if acceptable,"'?ha8 no other raeanii.g than the assurance stipu- 
 lated that f uch officers, as I may bring into service with my regiments, 
 should be accepted by the Government, if there was n.thing objec- 
 tionable to their character. And this pledge of your predecessor was 
 fully respected. Only one officer, Frank Sohaller, Major of the 2d 
 Polish r.giiuen!. oi my brigade, which is now designated "fifteenth 
 Louisiana regiment," as droppd by him to make room for another 
 individual But, upon my protesting against it. His Excellency the 
 President reinstated him in the service, and promoted him to the rank 
 of Lieutenant Colonel of the twenty-second Misssissippi regiment, oi' 
 which he is now coinmandmg Colonel. 
 
 To strengthen hese faulty postulates, and to maintain, based upon 
 it, your view of my case that " no injustice has been done to me," you 
 further allege in that letter, '-Troops could not be enlisted abroad; 
 they could only be engaged to come in. 'Hence, they had to be en- 
 listed by the Confederate authorities here. Officers, ttio, might be 
 engaged abroad, and arrangements were made to accept them like- 
 wise.^' 
 
 All this could have been done. I do not contest it ; but I have not 
 w»dertaken to go abroad to bring here men or officers to be enlisted 
 
by the Confedederate aiitborities. Nor have 1 ever made arrange- 
 ments you speak of that " they were made to accept the officers like- 
 wise." My authority is toopUiin and unHmbi;iU'.;us to admit so strange, 
 and oflen'sive to me, construction. Your predecessor who drew it 
 and stipuhited with me, for its acceptance, never dreamed of giving it 
 a construction so inconsistent with what I have undertaken to do for 
 the Confederate States, and so adverse to the prinriples of the inter- 
 national law, to which I referred you in ray lefter of December 4, 1863, 
 which defines the action urged by you, to be a •' crime, " a " kidnap- 
 ping or stealing men," punishable by " hanging,'' and exposing the 
 State, that would adopt or authorize it to a '* war, unless suitable rep- 
 aration is made." {VatteVs Law of Nations, book III, chap. 2, section 
 1.5.) 
 
 Resting your view in my case upon so strange, singular and faulty 
 postulates, you conclude that letter : 
 
 " No pecuniary claim could arise against this Department unless 
 from a commission issued ; and as that of Brigadier General was not 
 confered, no power to pay of such office, of its equivalent, can exist. 
 Besides the matter had long been determined before my connection 
 with the Department. I do not see the force of equities presented in 
 the case, but if they exist, they pertain to the jurisdiction of Congress 
 and would not justify any action or recommendation on my part. 
 ** Your obedient servant, 
 ^ *' James A. Seddon, 
 
 ". Secretary of Wu/r." 
 
 Disclaiming any intention to be indiscreet, I am compelled lo answer 
 this, your conclusion, by saying that, had the Confederate States no 
 laws regulating and securing rights of individuals, acquired by deal- 
 ing with their Government, my pecuniary claim might be barred by 
 the arbitrary v/ithholding of that commission to which lam entitled by 
 having performed my part of the contract, stipulated with your pre- 
 decessor. But thanks be to God, we live yet under the laws regula- 
 lating our conduct and guarding our rights. I will, therefore, search 
 to recover what is due to me where you direct me. 
 
 But, sir, I cannot close this communication without expressing the 
 sense of my deeply hurt feelings. I lost all mr.terial wordly gQods in 
 1834, because I did not bend my neck before the autocrat of Russia, 
 and refused to accept, four times offered me, amnesty, when I was in 
 Prussia, and subsequently in France. I carried only from the old 
 world, and brought to the new, my honor, good name and character. 
 That, for the purpose of subserving a mistaken political convenience of 
 no public interest, an attempt should be made by a republican Executive 
 of the Confederate States, whose cause I have embraced, to assign to me 
 a degrading position, to deprive me of that which the Czar did not dare, 
 and could not grasp ; and that it should be attempted with unrelenting 
 obstinacy, without the least regard to their own interest, and upon 
 strained faulty postulates, is more than can be endured. I will not, 
 however, turn a Marcius Coiolanus. But I sincerely wish I had not 
 lived to record so sad a fact, which I am compelled to do in defence of 
 ray honor, good name and character. For, Mr. Secretary, it is not for 
 
brigaditrb eomtnitssion that I am ccutendiag. I defend my right to J 
 it sultly bcoauoe tl:c uiauner in which the command of my brigade was j 
 taken from me, indepeudeut of what I have yaid just above, wouM 
 leave a suspicion ofia: adeuieanor having been committed by me, uislet 
 liese faulty nud atrii'ued postulates, apuu Avhich the Executive base 
 its pio8ecuti'.>n against mc,be fully exposed to the view and reoordt> . 
 1 bave the honor to be, sir, 
 
 Yunr obedieiil ;:5ervant,