Headquarters Military Division of the West
| Augusta,
March 4, 1865 |
| |
| General G. T. Beauregard |
| Charlotte, N. C. |
| |
| General, |
| I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your communication of the 20th ultimo, in relation to the
troops and trains at Augusta, on the 27th ultimo. It was brought by
Captain Hazzard, not Lieutenant Trenholm, who has not yet reported.
I was therefore in the dark in respect to the condition of the army
and affairs which Lieutenant Trenholm was charged to communicate.
The orders and instructions embraced in your letter have all been
carried out. The troops arriving here are being organized and
equipped, and would have moved forward, in pursuance to your
instructions from Charlotte of the 24th ultimo, to General Hill,
received on the 2d instant, but the non-arrival of army trains and
stores prevented. The trains are detained at Milledgeville in
consequence of the high freshet in the Oconee, which has caused the
pontoon bridge to be removed. Every effort is being made to hurry
them up, in order that they can move with the troops. Your
communication of the 13th ultimo, directing me to report with others
of the staff, was not received until the 2d instant. I had made
preparations to leave this morning, but last night your orders to
General Young of the 27th ultimo were received, by which I am
directed to remain here. General Young is preparing to carry out his
instructions, but will be delayed for want of pontoon train. This
was detained at Macon, in pursuance of orders from
Lieutenant-General Taylor and General M. L. Smith. I send telegrams
on this subject for your information. |
| In pursuance of your letter of the 24th,
orders have been issued to the staff of the Army of Tennessee to
report to General Joseph E. Johnston at Charlotte. Major-General
Elzey, chief of artillery, will remain here with the light
batteries. I would respectfully suggest that it would be well, under
existing circumstances, that the larger portion be removed to some
interior point, not only on account of safety, but for convenience
to forage, &c. After the departure of General Young and the
trains and troops of the army Augusta will be uncovered. Nothing
will be left but Cumming's small brigade of Georgia Reserves and
Browne's Reserves. On the 28th [25th] instant Governor Brown sent a
dispatch to General Fry, notifying that he intended withdrawing his
militia; and on Sunday, the 26th, without any notification, the
militia abandoned the lines and left. I telegraphed Governor Brown
on the subject, but received no answer. I send you copy of
communication from him to you on this subject. In this state of
affairs it would be better to remove the artillery. All the
artillery companies left in Mississippi have gone to Mobile, under
orders from Lieutenant-General Taylor, except five companies sent to
Demopolis. The order for its reorganization General Elzey informs me
he did not receive, and was not aware of its existence until I
called his attention to it and gave him a copy. The railroad has
been completed to Atlanta from West Point {Atlanta
& West Point RR}, and I have directed Major Hottel to transfer his force to the east of it and work eastwardly {on
the Georgia RR?},
until he meets Captain Grant. Captain Grant reports that he cannot
complete the work until the middle of April. The bridge over the
Alcony will be finished in ten days. I should be glad to have your
views in relation to the amount of stores to be kept on hand in this
section, and the best points for their location; what lines of route
are most likely to become important, in order that repairs may be
looked after. Under existing circumstances, the route from
Washington to Abbeville seems to have lost some of its value. The
reconnaissance of that route shows the dirt road to be very bad and
at present impracticable. I would call your attention to the fact
that the gauge of the West Point and Montgomery road is the narrow
one. It is highly important that this be remedied. There is no
commanding officer at Columbia, and great confusion exists there.
Beyond there is no courier line. I have ordered Colonel Rudler to
that place as commandant, with instructions to establish a through
line. |
| Respectfully, your obedient servant, |
| George
Wm. Brent |
| Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General |
|