| Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia |
| August 22, 1864 |
| |
| Jefferson Davis |
| Richmond, Virginia |
| |
| Mr. President, |
| The enemy availed himself of
the withdrawal of troops from Petersburg to the north side of James
River, to take a position on the Weldon Railroad {the
Petersburg RR}. He was twice
attacked on his first approach to the road, and worsted both times,
but the attacking force was too small to drive him off. |
| Before the troops could be
brought back from north of James River, he had strengthened his
position so much, that the effort made yesterday to dislodge him was
unsuccessful, and it was apparent that it could not be accomplished
even with additional troops, without a greater sacrifice of life than
we can afford to make, or than the advantages of success would
compensate for. As I informed Your Excellency when we first reached
Petersburg, I was doubtful of our ability to hold the Weldon road so
as to use it. The proximity of the enemy and his superiority of
numbers rendered it possible for him to break the road at any time,
and even if we could drive him from the position he now holds, we
could not prevent him from returning to it or to some other point, as
our strength is inadequate to guard the whole road. These
considerations induced me to abandon the prosecution of the effort to
dislodge the enemy. |
| I think it is his purpose to
endeavor to compel the evacuation of our present position by cutting
off our supplies, and that he will not renew the attempt to drive us
away by force. |
| His late demonstration on the
north side of the James was designed I think in part, to cause the
withdrawal of troops from here to favor his movement against the road,
but also to endeavor if possible to force his way to Richmond. Being
foiled in the attempt, he has brought back all the troops engaged in
it, except those at Dutch Gap, and it is possible that they too will
be withdrawn to this side of the James. It behooves us to do
everything in our power to thwart his new plan of reducing us by
starvation, and all our energies should be directed to using to its
utmost capacity our remaining line of communication with the south.
The best officers of the Quartermaster Department should be selected
to superintend the transportation of supplies by the {Richmond
&} Danville road and
its Piedmont {RR} connections and all the roads south of it. |
| I shall do all in my power to
procure some supplies by the Weldon road, bringing them by rail to
Stony Creek, and thence by wagons. One train has already been sent
out, and others are prepared to go. I think by energy and intelligence
on the part of those charged with the duty, we will be able to
maintain ourselves until the corn crop in Virginia comes to our
relief, which it will begin to do to some extent in about a month. It
should be our effort to provide not only for current wants but if
practicable, to accumulate a surplus to provide against those
occasional interruptions of the roads which the enemy's policy
justifies us in anticipating. I think this can be done with proper
effort, and by the full use of all the rolling stock we can
accumulate. |
| Our supply of corn is
exhausted today, the small reserve accumulated in Richmond having been
used. I am informed that all the corn that was brought from the south
was transported to this place and Richmond, but the supply was not
sufficient to enable the Quartermaster Department to accumulate a
larger reserve. If this be true, it is desirable that steps be at once
taken to increase the quantity brought over the southern roads, and if
practicable, corn should be brought into Wilmington until our crop
becomes available. |
| I trust that Your Excellency
will see that the most vigorous and intelligent efforts be made to
keep up our supplies, and that all officers concerned in the work, be
required to give their unremitting personal attention to their duty. |
| With great respect, your obt servt |
| R. E. Lee |
| Genl |
| Also in OR Series 1, Vol. 42, Part 2, Page
1194 |
|