| C. S. A. War Dept. |
| Richmond, Va March 2, 1864 |
| |
| Gov. Z. B. Vance |
| Raleigh N. C. |
| |
| Your Excellency, |
| I am duly in receipt of yours of 17th
ult. I have already written you of the difficulty of transporting to
Wilmington a sufficiency of cotton to meet our urgent and pressing
wants. Lt. Col. Sims, Chief of the Railroad bureau, to whom I had
referred your letter, returns it endorsed: "All the rolling
stock that can be found is now employed in running cotton to
Wilmington, and instructions have been sent out to load all trains
with Government cotton to the exclusion of that owned by private
parties. Nothing more can be done, without diverting some of the
corn trains." You will see therefore, that every effort is
being made to transport the Government cotton to Wilmington. On 26th
ult. Mr. Seixas was enabled to borrow 600 b/c from some parties in
Wilmington, and I at once telegraphed him to pay over 300 of them to
your agent. The balance of the debt will be cancelled as rapidly as
possible. |
| Very Respectfully |
| Your obt svt |
| J. A. Seddon |
| Secretary of War |
|