NEW ORLEANS, LA., October 31, 1864. Maj. Gen. E. R. S. CANBY, Commnanding Military Division of West Mississippi:
...The political status of this section of country is favorable to the Union. The people generally are tired of the war, and, in fact, many of them were never in favor of it. For eighteen months past the forests amid canebrakes have swarmed with men who have fled thither for concealment from conscript officers and squads of soldiers sent to arrest them. In many instances they have assembled in sufficient numbers to resist their persecutors and compel them to leave their neighborhoods. The country is barren, and many of the people in a starving condition. Before the war they procured their subsistence by the sale of wood, lumber, and naval stores, and now that they have not that source of supply they can scarcely obtain enough to sustain life, and, as usual, those who suffer most are those who are in no manner responsible for the present state of affairs. Such as had no property to leave have very generally come within our lines, and nearly all who remain would gladly do so had they the means of subsistence here. These statements apply more especially to the eastern parishes of Louisiana and the southern counties of Mississippi. In these counties are a few wealthy men who formerly owned plantations amid a large number of slaves. Their plantations they retain, but their slaves are in the employ of the U. S. Government, they having almost without exception left their masters and come within our lines. Two years ago these wealthy men were nearly all secessionists, but now it is difficult to find one who would not gladly embrace the first opportunity to renew his allegiance whenever he could be protected in the expression of his loyalty. This brief and general statement is most respectfully submitted. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ELIOT BRIDGMAN.
------------------
No mention of a secessionist movement, the Free State of Jones, Newt Knight, or a military relationship between these people and the Union. There is discontent with the war with some. And the report mentions that Jones County is under the military control of a post of about twenty-five Confederate soldiers. I believe this report is very true, his report of the condition of and armament of the Confederate Navy at Mobile and the Army defenses of the city in late 1864 is dead-on.
______________________
David Upton