an angry governor brown countered by publishing an aggressively tough letter in all georgia newspapers on may 21, 1861. among other things, he alleged that bartow was seeking his own glory by assuring a high command and aspiring to a promotion to colonel. to him, bartow was actually deserting the war "to serve the common cause in a more pleasant summer climate." he wrote that the muskets bartow's men had carried to virginia were exclusively for "local" "public service," and that the governor had the power of disarming the local military companies arbitrarily. he also alleged that bartow had written the law beforehand, tailoring it for his own plans and forcing davis to ignore the authority of the confederacy's "independent" states. in brown's opinion, the governor was bartow's unique officer by the confederate constitution. he argued that the congress was encroaching georgia's rights.