Rappahannock Bridge, March 13, 1862
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| His Excellency Jefferson Davis |
| President |
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| Mr. President |
| Upon the report of the
chief quartermaster that the depots would be emptied on the 6th, I
directed Brigadier-General Hill to leave Leesburg on the 7th and the
other troops of the district to march toward the Rappahannock on the
8th, their baggage leading. So much public property was still in the
depots on the 8th that the troops were detained until the evening of
the 9th, when they followed their baggage. The First and Second
Divisions crossed the Rappahannock by the Warrenton road; the Third
and Fourth at this point. Also the four regiments under Col. G. B.
Anderson, which formed the garrison of Manassas. Brigadier-General
Hill marched by Warrenton. The troops under Brigadier-General
Whiting crossed the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and are near and
above the town. The outposts, about ten miles in advance, extend
from the Warrenton road to that from Brentsville. A reserve of
ammunition and subsistence kept at Culpeper Court House is to be
removed before the army marches farther. The management of this
railroad {Orange & Alexandria and Virginia
Central} is so wretched that it is impossible to guess when
the removal of these stores will be completed. When it has been I
shall cross the Rapidan and take such a position as you may think
best in connection with those of other troops. By proper management
of the railroad it seems to me that from the neighborhood of
Gordonsville 20,000, or even 30,000, men might be thrown into
Richmond in a single day {this would have
required 25 or 40 trains, just to carry the soldiers}. This
would require military control, however. May not that be assumed in
such a time as this? We should gain greatly by that arrangement with
the help of such a superintendent as Owens, the president of the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. About four days' rations for the
army were destroyed at Manassas and a corresponding quantity of
grain, which, by a singular blunder, was put there just in time to
be destroyed. More than half of the salt meat at Thoroughfare was
left there for want of the means of bringing it away. This property
was all abandoned because I found it impossible to depend upon the
promises of the railroad officials or to make any estimate of the
time in which it might be removed. Two weeks were consumed in
removing what was saved and the sick. Much more than half of the
regimental property was left and burned, fortunately for the
mobility of the army, although personal losses are to be deplored.
This army had accumulated a supply of baggage like that of Xerxes'
myriads. |
| Most respectfully, your obedient servant, |
| J. E. Johnston |
| General |
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