Richmond, Va.
| July 27, 1863 |
| |
| Maj.
Gen. Arnold Elzey, |
| Commanding at Richmond, Va. |
| |
| General, |
| I am just informed
by Lieutenant Stuart, from Fredericksburg, that he has 50 men at
work in removing the iron from the railroad north of Fredericksburg.
With proper support and assistance from Major Collins and his
command, I still hope all can be saved. I will communicate with
General Lee on the subject. At Falmouth and other points across the
Rappahannock, there are many sand bags in the Federal batteries;
possibly the men of Major Collins' command remaining at or near
Fredericksburg could save some of these, if not rotten, and destroy
the remainder. General Lee's orders to the major, dated 28th of June
last, require him to remove the material of the railroad, if
possible. To this end he has as yet given no assistance. |
| Your obedient servant, |
| J. F. Gilmer |
| Colonel of Engineers, and Chief of
Bureau. |
| |
| [Enclosure] |
| Headquarters Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry |
| July 22, 1863 |
| |
| Major-General
Elzey, |
| Commanding,
&c., Richmond |
| |
| General: I have just
received orders from General R. E. Lee, dated June 28, directing me
to destroy the railroad from Fredericksburg to Aquia Creek, and have
the material removed, if possible, and, in order to facilitate its
removal, to let the agents of the railroad have the material, and
also directing that everything that cannot be removed must be
destroyed. |
| The bridge over the Potomac
River is still standing. I think it important it should be
destroyed, but it should be allowed to stand if the iron on the
other side is to be removed. I have no means of removing this
material whatever, but should any immediate necessity arise, I can
have it torn up and the bridge burned. If those in charge of this
matter are taking steps to have this material removed, I will wait
their action, but I think that it should be hurried up. If my
command was larger, I could spare some men for this purpose, but
cannot well do so now. |
| Very respectfully, your obedient servant, |
| C. R. Collins |
| Major, Commanding Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry. |
| |
| [Indorsements] |
| Headquarters Department of Richmond |
| July 24, 1863 |
| Respectfully referred to
Colonel Gilmer, chief of Engineer Bureau, with request that this
paper be returned as soon as possible, with his remarks. |
| By command of Major-General Elzey |
| T.
O. Chestney |
| Assistant Adjutant-General |
|