| Near Petersburg |
| December 14, 1864 |
| |
| His Excellency Jefferson Davis |
| President of the Confederate States |
| |
| Mr. President,
|
| After sending my dispatch to you
yesterday, knowing that the snow in the Valley was six inches deep
and the weather very cold, and presuming that active operations
would necessarily be suspended, I directed Rodes' division to march
for Staunton
and requested the Quartermaster-General to send cars to convey it to
Richmond {on the Virginia Central RR}. It is now on the road, and should reach
Staunton
to-morrow evening. If the Quartermaster's Department is active, it
should arrive in Richmond
Friday morning. A dispatch received from General Early last night
states that the scouts just in report that the Nineteenth Corps of
the enemy had left the Valley, and that the Eighth was under
marching orders. The latter might be preparing to move nearer the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, for I do not think they will strip it
of all defense, or both corps may be coming to General Grant.
Colonel Withers' scouts report that a New York
regiment of infantry and part of the Seventh Regiment of cavalry had
left the Kanawha for the Valley, but I supposed they might have been
intended to replace the garrison at New Creek. I do not know what
may be General Grant's next move; his last against the Weldon
railroad {Petersburg RR} and our right flank failed. The expeditions from
Plymouth
and New Berne against Fort
Branch, on the Roanoke, and Kinston, N. C., have both retreated before the forces moved against them
back to their former positions, and everything at this time is quiet
in the Departments of Virginia and North Carolina. If the reports of the prisoners and the statements of Federal
officers to the citizens of the country are true, the object of the
last expedition was to make a permanent lodgment at Weldon, draw
supplies by the Roanoke & Seaboard Railroad, and thence operate
against the railroads in North Carolina. General Grant may now be preparing to break through our center, as
the canal at Dutch Gap is reported nearly completed. As long as he
holds so large an army around Richmond
I think it very hazardous to diminish our force. We now can oppose
about a division to one of his corps. I fear Savannah
is in great danger, and unless our operations there are bold and
energetic I am apprehensive of its fall. I hope, though, if all our
troops are united, Sherman
may be repulsed. But there is no time to lose. If the Nineteenth
Corps does not come to Grant we might spare a division, but if the
Nineteenth and Eighth are both drawn to him we shall require more
men than we have. I ordered General J. A. Walker, with the Virginia
reserves, from Weldon to Kinston {on the
Wilmington & Weldon RR}, to oppose the movement against that place. He is now on his return
to his position on the {Richmond &} Danville
and South Side {rail}roads. |
| With a firm reliance in our merciful God
that he will cause all things to work together for our good, I
remain, with great respect, your obedient servant, |
| R. E. Lee |
| General |
|