203 dress you in relation to the raising of one of the companies of the new regiment, in this district of country. I have no doubt you will be burdened with applications some of which must be refused, however strong may be your desire to accommodate all. It is perhaps not saying too much to express the opinion that the men of the actual frontier posses qualifications for the serv- ice, equal to those of any part of the state in every respect & su- perior in some. Acquaintance with the character of the country to be protected & of the enemy to be watched-habitated to the use of the arms most efficient in Indian Warfare used to the privations incident to frontier life-interested in the protection of their own & the property of their relatives friends & neigh- bors, are considerations which it is deemed cannot fail to have weight in your distribution of companies. Superadded to all this, the people of this part of the frontier have suffered greatly from the depredations of the Indians for several years past. The fail- ure of crops from drought & grasshoppers for two years has added greatly to their calamities & left unemployed many of the most active & energetic young men. A company is now enlisting under the lead of Mr. John S. Hodges, of exclusively young men, principally from the counties of Comal, Blanco, Kerr, & Bandera, and will be ready for recep- tion into Service at any designated day. Most of these men have long resided on the frontier-and have already seen service as rangers & are therefore qualified for immediate active & effi- cient service from the first day they take the field. The protection of the frontier of Texas has ben so inefficient for years past, while confided to the regular army of the Federal government, that now when it is confided to the citizen soldiery of the State itself, Your Excellency will doubtless give the raising of the companies such direction as will insure the most efficient troops & officers that the state can provide. From a long resi- deuce on the frontier and pretty thorough acquaintance with the whole subject in its most important bearings. I take the liberty of earnestly recommending the men of this part of the frontier as eminently qualified for the service.
I am most respectfully Yr Obt Servt
WILLIAM E. JONES
His Excy Govr Runnels Austin
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