| New Orleans, April 17, 1862 |
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| His Excellency Jefferson Davis |
| President of the Confederate States |
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| Sir, |
| The board of
provost-marshals for the city of New Orleans and the adjoining
parishes now under martial law most respectfully represent that by
reason of the occupation of the valleys of the Tennessee and
Cumberland Rivers by the enemy this city is cut off from its main
resource for a supply of wheat and flour; that very little is
produced for shipment in Texas and Louisiana, and the facilities for
its shipment are quite limited; that Virginia is our only remaining
source of supply; that the seizure of portions of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad by the enemy for the present entirely obstructs
that route from Virginia; that in consequence we are now upon the
verge of a bread famine, the stock of wheat and flour in the hands
of dealers here being totally exhausted; that the Army of the West,
as well as our own population, depend mainly upon the bakers of New
Orleans and the commissariat department here for their supply of
bread, and that our only chance of averting the most disastrous
results, both to the Army of the West and the people of this city
and vicinity, is in procuring leave to transport wheat and flour
from Virginia by the railroads through North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi via Mobile, Meridian,
and Jackson, that two through freight trains per week will be
necessary to furnish a supply at all adequate to the necessities of
the case; that these trains in returning could take to Virginia
sugar and molasses, of which we have large quantities at cheap
rates, and that for the purpose of procuring the necessary
transportation the committee of public safety, composed of prominent
citizens of New Orleans, have determined to dispatch a special
messenger to Richmond, wherefore the board of provost-marshals,
concurring fully in the views hereinbefore expressed, most earnestly
recommend and pray Your Excellency to grant such facilities as may
be within the control of the Government at Richmond toward carrying
out the plans of the committee of public safety for securing a
supply of wheat and flour to New Orleans in the manner aforesaid. |
| Respectfully submitted. |
| By order of the Board. |
| H. M. Spofford |
| Provost Marshal |
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