| Richmond, Va. |
| September 21, 1863 |
| |
| R. E. Lee |
| Commanding Army of Northern Virginia |
| |
| General, |
| ***** |
| These dispatches indicate
that the attention of the enemy will be concentrated on General
Bragg, and that General Jones will thereby be relieved for the
present. I have been, since you left, anxious to go to the Army of
Tennessee, but have been delayed by causes which you readily
understand. Unless we receive more decisive intelligence than that
herein communicated, it is still my purpose to go as soon as other
duties will permit. If we can obtain a complete victory in that
quarter, and drive the enemy, broken and discouraged, from the
present field of operations, the forces you sent can most readily
return to you through East Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia {on
the East Tennessee & Virginia RR and the Virginia &
Tennessee RR}, and I trust it may be practicable then to
bring them to you before the enemy shall render their presence with
you a necessity. In the meantime, I have urged that the greatest
efforts should be made to procure and send recruits to you, and I
hope the Legislature, now in session here, will adopt such action as
will bring out the arms-bearing population who are not subject to
enrollment for the Confederate Army, and thus afford to you an
auxiliary force, which will relieve you from the necessity of
detaching troops to guard localities and lines of communication. |
| I have not been able to
avoid vain regrets at the detachment of troops by the southern route
{through Raleigh and Atlanta}, which,
if the course of General Bragg could have been foreseen, would have
been more valuable in
East Tennessee {protecting/retaking Knoxville
and keeping the railroad open}, whence they could have been
more readily withdrawn to support you in time of need. If, however,
General Bragg's operations should be successful, and rapidly
followed up, it may prove that the course adopted was, after all,
the best. |
| Only one battalion of
artillery (Alexander's) has gone beyond Petersburg
{as part of the movement of Longstreet's Corps
to the Army of Tennessee}, and I have directed that no horses
should be sent. The supply at Atlanta, if correctly reported, will suffice for that battalion, but no
more, and you will no doubt require all the artillery horses which
General Longstreet had. |
| Colonel Ives, who some time
since gave his attention to the obstruction of rivers in North
Carolina, informs me that torpedoes are in the course of
construction, and it is intended, as soon as any are ready, to place
them in the Roanoke River. He says, however, a difficulty has been
encountered in the want of a proper officer to take charge of laying
them. He will inquire what has been done, and is doing, in relation
to works of defense at Weldon and other vulnerable points on the
railroad {the Wilmington & Weldon RR and
the Petersburg RR}. The works some time since commenced at
Weldon were too extensive for a small force, and we could not expect
to keep a large garrison there. |
| The progress of the
Danville
and Greensborough Railroad {Piedmont RR},
if recent promises are fulfilled, should be more rapid hereafter
than heretofore. |
| ***** |
| Very respectfully and truly, yours, |
| Jefferson Davis |
|