Every day he talked these troublesome matters over with his Assistant Adjutant-General, and finally requested him to draw up, and submit to him, in writing, a plan for governing the city. This he did on the day following the request. The leading feature of the plan submitted was to organize a provost-court, over which some officer should preside as provost-judge, who should hear and adjudicate all cases of whatsoever kind brought before him. To arrest delinquents and enforce the orders of the provost-court, the plan proposed that the soldiers, detailed for sentinel duty in the city, should be organized into a provost-guard, with a provost-marshal at their head; that both the marshal and guard should be subject to the direct orders of the provost-judge; and that the provost-judge should submit his doings, every day, to the military governor for his approval, amendment, or reversal, since he alone was responsible to the general government for what was done within his command. General Montgomery considered the plan carefully and decided to adopt it. He then asked his Adjutant to accept the appointment of provost-judge, and perform its duties, in addition to such as he had as Assistant Adjutant-General of the post. At first the Adjutant declined, not seeing how it was possible for him to perform both duties, since either one of them seemed quite as much as any one man could perform. The General urged that, as he would be held officially responsible for whatever the provost-judge might do, he must have some one in whom he had implicit confidence, some one whom he could see and converse with at every meal-time, some one who was familiar with the workings of courts of justice, and since he, the Adjutant, had drawn up the plan, there was no one whom he could detail that could put the plan in operation so well as he. The Adjutant, on the other hand, urged that his duties were already quite as much as he could perform satisfactorily to himself; that almost every day he had quartermaster, commissary, and hospital reports to examine and sign; passes and permits to consider and issue, etc.; all of which involved the writing, "By order of Brigadier-General Montgomery, J. R. Freese, A. A. G.," from one hundred to five hundred times each day, which usually occupied every minute of his time. It was finally arranged that the General should detail two additional clerks for the Adjutant's office, and one to write up the records of the court at every sitting, and thereupon the Adjutant consented to enter upon the additional duty of provost-judge of the city. The General issued the necessary order, over his own signature, and on the day following the Adjutant entered upon his new duties.