| Headquarters, Alexandria, Va. |
| April 24, 1861 |
| |
| Maj. Gen. R. E. Lee |
| |
| Sir,
|
| Your dispatch of the
23d instant, by telegraph, has been received. I had fully
anticipated all your instructions. I recognized from the moment I
took position and command on this line of operations the policy of
preserving the anomalous military position now existing, but which
may at any moment be overthrown in the present disorganized and
feeble military position of our State, and especially on this line
of operations. ***** I am moving back the flour from Alexandria to
the depots on the railroads in the interior. I am also moving back a
large amount of railroad iron, which we shall want for batteries.
*****
|
| Philip St. Geo. Cocke
|
| Brigadier General |
|