Don --
I have a couple of questions.
1) Who is John H. Augley? I cannot locate that name on the 1860 census of Mississippi. Assuming he came to Mississippi after the war began, I checked other states for him with no success. Does anyone know of this man?
2) What's the source of this petition? Based on your post, I'm assuming that you don't have access to the actual document.
3) It's curious that a group of presumably intelligent men would petition an official of a foreign power concerning a purely domestic situation. What was Seward supposed to do about it? Why wouldn't these men write a judge, a legislator, a congressman, or even the Confederate Secretary of State? If I had a problem with the IRS, why address my complaints to the British Home Secretary?
4) The 4th Mississippi Cavalry Battalion was Baskerville's, not Roddey's. Capt. P. D. Roddey's "Tishomingo Rangers" was assigned to this battalion but never served under Baskerville's command despite orders to report. The battalion organized on Nov. 14, 1861, ten months after Mississippi dissolved its partnership with the United States.
5) If the incidents really occured as described, newspaper editors North and South would have printed numerous articles about it. Sensational news like this always sells rather well. Can anyone offer a supporting account of these activities?