All this action of mine was approved of by the Secretary of War, as will appear by his message of June 10, which I shall give later on. I was very much puzzled to know whether this policy of burning the crops was that of the rebel government or of an insane wretch, one Thomas O. Moore, governor of Louisiana and commander-in-chief of its militia, who issued some crazy orders once as to hanging instantly without trial any person who should be found to have my pass in his possession. Upon examination I now find the evidence conclusive that this burning of the crops was a premeditated and preconceived design of the rebels, pervading the congress and the executive. A question arose in the mind of General Lovell whether they should burn any other property than Confederate, leaving the property of foreigners untouched. But it was determined by the cabinet and Jefferson Davis that the property of foreigners should also be destroyed, in order to inflame foreign nations against us as the cause of loss, so as
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