| War Department, C. S. A. |
| Richmond, Va. |
| August 23, 1864 |
| |
| General R. E. Lee |
| Commanding Army of Northern Virginia |
|
|
| General, |
| I have the honor to acknowledge your
letter of yesterday, and hear, with regret, that the enemy have
effected a permanent lodgment on the Weldon railroad {Petersburg
RR}. I appreciate
the consequences likely to follow in diminishing the conduits of
supply and increasing the facilities of attack on our only remaining
southern line, the {Richmond &} Danville
railroad. Every effort must be made to defend and maintain that
road, and the Department will enjoin enhanced vigilance on the
officers charged with that duty. We may be subjected to serious
embarrassments in procuring supplies, but I entertain sanguine
confidence that we shall not be compelled to evacuate your positions
for want of subsistence for men or animals. There have been of late,
as you are aware, interruptions from raids of the enemy on the
southern roads, and, in consequence of this, and of the fact that
the support of both armies, yours and that of General Hood, has been
thrown on the same district of country, there has been greatly
diminished supplies coming forward. The breaks have all been
repaired, or nearly so, and, as I am pleased to learn, there is no
real deficiency of supplies existing in the south, there should be
soon a decided increase in the quantity forwarded. Since the breaks
occurred some of the most efficient officers in the employment of
the Department have been sent south, and especially assigned to the
duty of collecting and forwarding these supplies. There shall be no
want of aid to the Danville
railroad to transport all that can be brought to its terminus. At
the same time all the efforts which my earnest injunctions can
induce shall be made by the officers of the quartermaster's and
subsistence bureaus to obtain supplies of wheat and oats in this
State. Of corn, I regret to say, there is literally none until the
new crop comes in, and the scarcity of it, with the prospects of a
bad crop, diminishes largely the quantity of wheat which can be
spared from the wants of the people. The late reduction, too, in the
schedule of prices, notwithstanding the outcry which was raised
against the previous extravagant rates is, I fear, operating very
seriously to prevent deliveries. I do not disguise from you or
myself that there may be very serious strain within the next two
months in providing adequate supplies. Still, I believe it can and
will be done, and certainly no exertion shall be spared on my part
to accomplish it. |
| Very respectfully, yours, |
| James A. Seddon |
| Secretary of War |
|