Jonesborough, Tenn., November 13, 1861
| |
| J. P. Benjamin |
| Acting Secretary of War |
| |
| The Lincolnites are forming
an encampment at Elizabethton; now have from 1,000 to 1,300 men, and
more coming, within 6 miles of our railroad, at Watauga Bridge. They
also have from 600 to 1,000 men near Strawberry Plains Bridge, the
most important and expensive bridge on our road, and still
collecting in greater numbers, and threatening to take and burn the
bridge and take possession of the road. If these two bridges are
burned our road stops. The demonstrations are such in East Tennessee
that a much larger force is necessary. They are cutting the
telegraph wires as fast as we put them up. |
| John R. Branner |
| President East Tennessee & Virginia
Railroad |
|