CHAPTER XIV.
OPERATIONS IN MARYLAND, NORTHERN VIRGINIA, AND WEST VIRGINIA.
August 1, 1861-March 17, 1862.
(Carnifex Ferry, Ball’s Bluff)
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CONFEDERATE CORRESPONDENCE.

{p.766}

CAMP BEE, ALLEGHANY COUNTY, August 1, 1861.

His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Confederate States:

DEAR SIR: I arrived here to-day, and determined to send Colonel Heth at once to Richmond, for the purpose of giving you full information about the condition of this country, and get your orders as to the line of action to be pursued.

General Wise has retreated and burned the bridge over Gauley, leaving the enemy in undisturbed possession of Kanawha Valley up to the Great Falls. His retreat lays open completely the southwestern part of this State. The road by which I intended to reach Kanawha, through Mercer, Raleigh, and Fayette, is now entirely at the command of the enemy. This is a state of things well understood by the whole country, and produces a great alarm. It emboldens the tories and disspirits our people. If you think these forces now in Kanawha should be driven out at once without reference to the operations about Monterey, I think with a union of my people and General Wise’s force it might be speedily done. If this force should prove insufficient, I am sure 10,000 men could be quickly raised for the campaign at no more cost to the Government than their food and transportation. In such an event the Yankees could be immediately driven out, and a foray of 80 or 100 miles into Ohio could be successfully made.

I advance these views with hesitation, but the facts upon which they rest you may not possibly be in possession of, and I venture them for what they are worth. I am just from Wythe, through the country where the men would in part be raised, and I never witnessed a better spirit than seems to be almost universal. Whilst for any long service there is a little hesitation, there is none whatever for a campaign. If a force strong enough to drive out the Yankees was sent promptly to effect it, their march could be then directed towards the rear of the enemy at Beverly, which I think would be better than to concentrate all forces in his front, leaving our rear to be threatened from Gauley or the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, to be exposed to the damage of an attack.

Colonel Heth will get the arms you were kind and thoughtful enough to order me from Manassas, and for which I most cordially thank you. We will have stirring work in the west before a great while, I think.

With the highest regard and esteem, I am, very truly, your friend,

JOHN B. FLOYD.

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RICHMOND, VA., August 1, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON:

MY DEAR GENERAL: Inclosed you will find a letter* which will I suppose, only assure you of that which was anticipated, as, except among sharpshooters, it is the rule. The troops generally need more of instruction {p.767} than in the face of an enemy it may be practicable to give. To insure something, it was sought to put at least one instructed officer in each regiment organized here. If a major, well; if a lieutenant-colonel, better; if a colonel, best; and in this connection I suggest to you that the instructed officer, as far as possible, be not detached from regimental headquarters, and be employed in instructing especially the commissioned and non-commissioned officers in tactics and field duties.

A few days since I received a telegram from General Beauregard, stating that some of the regiments were without food. An addendum was appended by Colonel Lee, commissary, that the deficiency was of hard bread and bacon, and that he was offered abundance of beef and flour by the inhabitants of the surrounding country. I returned the telegram to General Beauregard, and called his attention to the inconsistency. If, under such circumstances, the troops have suffered for food, the neglect of the subsistence department demands investigation and the proper correction, not only to remedy the evil, but to afford an example which will deter others from thus offending.

We are anxiously looking for the official reports of the battle of Manassas, and have present need to know what supplies and wagons were captured. I wish you would have prepared a statement of your wants in transportation and supplies of all kinds, to put your army on a proper footing for active operations.

General Lee has gone to Western Virginia, and I hope may be able to strike a decisive blow at the enemy in that quarter; or, failing in that, will be able to organize and post our troops so as to check the enemy, after which he will return to this place.

The movement of Banks will require your attention. It may be a ruse, but, if a real movement, when your army has the requisite strength and mobility, you will probably find an opportunity, by a rapid movement through the passes, to strike him in rear or flank, and thus add another to your many claims upon your country’s gratitude.

General Holmes will establish a battery above his present position, near the mouth of the Chopawamsic, where it is reported the channel can be commanded so as to cut off that line of the enemy’s communication with their arsenals and main depots of troops. This measure will no doubt, lead to an attack, and hence the preference for a position between his column and yours, rather than one lower down the river, as that of Mathias Point.

Nothing important from James and York Rivers. The movements at and near Fort Monroe were probably only due to the discharge of the three months’ men of the enemy.

We must be prompt to avail ourselves of the weakness resulting from the exchange of the new and less reliable forces of the enemy for those heretofore in service, as well as of the moral effect produced by their late defeat. Let me hear from you as your convenience will permit.**

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

* Not found.

** Some personal details omitted.

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RICHMOND, August 1, 1861.

General G. T. BEAUREGARD, Manassas:

Your telegram received and submitted to the President, who instructs me to say that information from other sources renders Banks’ movement so doubtful as to require further information. He desires you will seek to obtain full and exact knowledge.

S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

{p.768}

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MANASSAS, August 2, 1861.

Colonel S. COOPER, Adjutant-General:

One thousand of Banks’ forces sent eastward July 30, by cars.

G. T. BEAUREGARD, General, C. S. Army.

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RICHMOND, VA., August 3, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Commanding Forces, Manassas:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of August 1, and in reply beg leave to say that prompt steps have been taken to procure wagons and teams and artillery horses for your command.

It is expected wagons and teams in quantity to answer your purposes will reach Manassas on Monday, 5th instant. You will oblige me greatly if you will say what number of artillery horses will be required.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. C. MYERS, Acting Quartermaster-General.

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HEADQUARTERS, Huntersville, Va., August 3, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE, Commanding Kanawha Army, Lewisburg, Va.:

GENERAL: I have just received your letter of the 1st instant to General Loring. The object of your returning from the Kanawha Valley towards Covington and uniting with General Floyd was for the protection of the Virginia Central Railroad, which, after the disaster that befell the Northwestern Army, was threatened through this place and Monterey. The enemy are now held in check from the two last-named points, and if they can be prevented from reaching Lewisburg they will be cut off from Covington and Newbern, on the Central and Southwestern Railroads. Are there any strong positions in front of Lewisburg that you can hold, re-enforced by General Floyd and the people of the country, that would accomplish this object, and can you get correct information of the force, movements, and apparent object of the enemy? It is necessary to stop his advance on both roads, if possible, and his progress east of the mountains. You must take care of the safety of your column, and if that does not require a further retrograde movement, you are desired to halt at Lewisburg till further notice. If obliged to retire, retard the advance of the enemy. Send back to General Floyd to support you. Inform General Loring of the positions you will take, and be prepared by a concentration of forces to strike a blow at the enemy.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 4, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: I received yours of the 3d this evening at this place, where I have come to encamp, with infantry and artillery, leaving 500 {p.769} cavalry, under Colonel Davis, to be backed by the militia of Monroe and Greenbrier, guarding the passes from Fayetteville, Gauley, and Summersville.

I was very reliably informed last evening that the enemy in the valley had no orders to proceed farther than Gauley as yet. He will scout in strong force to Fayetteville and Summersville. I have ordered axmen to block his way at Bunger’s Ferry and on the Big and Little Sewell Mountains. As soon as I refresh and refit my men here I will return in force to the Meadow Bluff, and go on westward as far as our forage and supplies can be had. The first 30 miles this side of Gauley is very poor, and destitute of both. I am fully informed of all the passes and roads. General Loring will have to look out on the road from Summersville by the Birch Mountain.

To defend the Central Railroad was not the main object of my leaving Kanawha Valley. Had I remained there, I should have been shut in, cut off, or driven down through Berkeley and Princeton to Wytheville. The valley was conquered by the enemy already when I got there from Charleston to Point Pleasant. The treasonable population themselves are worse than the invaders. It was rotten with infection in it and all around it so as awfully to expose a minor force. In the second place, if Lewisburg, or the Warm Springs, or Covington was reached by the enemy, we were isolated and cut off from supplies, ammunition, and re-enforcements. In the third place, I would have been jammed at Gauley or driven to the southwest, where forces are not for the present needed, when if I fell back I could be re-enforced or re-enforce. In the fourth place, most of my men from the east and most of the western men are from Greenbrier, Monroe, Allegany, Rockingham, &c., who desire to defend their own homes. These considerations governed General Cooper, I presume, as well as myself, in ordering to fall back to Covington. It was well I did so as early as I did, for McClellan’s forces are augmenting largely every day at both Gauley and Weston, and they are spurring eastward, converging at Summersville, where now they have large advance parties. Their force at Charleston is at present 1 000 and at Gauley 3,500, with re-enforcements coming up the river from Gallipolis every day. Positions at Lewisburg or Covington will not cut them off from Newbern. If General Floyd moves up this way, he ought at present to tend towards Fayetteville, whence he may unite with me at any time on the Gauley turnpike or Old River road, if the enemy moves towards Summersville.

But to answer your questions. There are several very strong positions in front of Lewisburg, which I can hold against 5,000, without re-enforcements from General Floyd; certainly with them, and especially by his moving towards Fayetteville. The people of the county next to Gauley are against us, and are fully demoralized. I have got pretty correct information of the movements of the enemy. Beauregard’s victory and my escape and McClellan’s call to Washington have staggered them to a stand-still. But I am sure their next move will be, after strong re-enforcements, from Weston and Gauley, to converge on the Summersville road, to re-enforce Huttonsville very powerfully. He may try, I repeat, to fall on General Loring’s rear, and if he does, General Floyd and I may fall on him. I can reach the Huntersville road from here or via Lewisburg. To be sure of the safety of my column, I must be allowed to remain here a week or ten days to organize, to refit, and refresh my very worn men, and to procure for them blankets, shoes, tents, and clothing, and to get arms fit for service. I implore you, sir, {p.770} to order 1,000 stand of good percussion smooth-bore muskets for my command. We have marched and counter-marched, and scouted and fought to some effect, too, and our old arms are found worn-out already in the service. At least 500 of the State troops have deserted since I left Charleston, and they have carried off many good arms. My cavalry, in strong force, are in good pastures, scouting the enemy to their teeth. Will advise of every movement in time for me to advance in front of Lewisburg. I am anxious to meet them somewhere in Nicholas, on ground which I have had well mapped out by Hutton, an able topographer. I will retire no farther; advance as soon as I refit. Will effectually retard and check the enemy, and call on General Floyd when I cannot do so, and General Loring shall be kept vigilantly advised. A concentration of forces soon will be needed.

With the highest respect,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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RICHMOND, VA., August 5, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Manassas, Va.:

Troops have been detained here in order that supplies might be sent by rail. When you are sufficiently supplied with subsistence stores troops will be sent forward on notice from you.

S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

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SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 239.}

HEADQUARTERS, Huntersville, W. Va., August 5, 1861.

I. Brig. Gen. S. R. Anderson, in pursuance of orders from the Adjutant and Inspector General of the C. S. Army, is assigned to the command of the First, Seventh, and Fourteenth Tennessee Regiments, with the Army of the Northwest, under Brig. Gen. W. W. Loring.

...

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 5, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: Mr. Hutton, my chief engineer and explorer, is so accurate and reliable, that I fail not to send you the inclosed, just received from him.* He is getting observations on every point between this and Covington. Lest you may want precise maps of Stroud’s Glades, formerly Stroud’s Knob, and to show what beautiful flying sketches Mr. Hutton is doing for me, I send you a report and map of the very locality to which the enemy is reported by his informant to have advanced. You can reach the cattle he speaks of nearest from Huntersville by sending runners and drivers through the mountain paths to head of Cranberry Creek and down that creek to Gauley, and thence to Beaver Creek. I will order my cavalry to scout the enemy close from the mouth of the Hommony up to Beaver Creek, and assist in driving {p.771} off the horses, cattle, and all stock. They are encamped at Meadow Bluff in full force.**

It will take me ten days, at least, to refit here. We have many sick and furloughed, and many naked of everything. Many State troops deserting, and a bevy of Kanawha officers resigning. I am glad to get clear of the latter.

Very respectfully, yours,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

* Not found.

** Some matters of detail omitted.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 5, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: The copy of your letter to Col. A. Beckley was handed me this morning, and though I wrote you fully last night by express, I hasten to say that the militia, under Beckley (that of Fayette and Raleigh), is awfully demoralized. Capt. Thomas L. Brown has just arrived from Boone, with 105 out of 175 new volunteers (70 deserting), and he met hundreds of deserters from the State forces in my camp; attempted to arrest some 20, and had to desist from the state of popular feeling. The people demand that the Yankees shall not be fired upon, lest it exasperate them. Such is one of a thousand specimens of the disloyalty in which I have been operating. I have advised General Chapman to call out his regiments, make no en masse call, but select only true and loyal men, however few, arm them, and supply them with ammunition-say 750 men, ten rounds, and supply them with pickaxes, log wood axes, and shovels, to obstruct roads, passes, and ferries, and to make breastworks. I will return to Meadow Bluff as early as I can refit, and send ahead of me Captain Hutton, with a company, to select positions, construct works, and cause obstructions. Four-fifths of the militia, en masse, cannot be relied on, and if they could be, cannot be armed and supplied with ammunition. We want good arms and powder, and can, when we get them, arm the militia with those we now have. I therefore again urge, supply me, sir, I pray you, with 1,000 good percussion muskets.

With the highest respect,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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HEADQUARTERS, Huntersville, Va., August 5, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE, Commanding Wise’s Brigade, White Sulphur Springs, Va.:

GENERAL: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 4th instant, and am glad to learn the precautions you have taken to cheek the advance of the enemy. I hope they may be successful, and that as soon as possible you will advance west of Lewisburg to Meadow Bluff, or such other point as you may deem best, to oppose his eastward progress. As far as I am advised, General Floyd is at the Sweet Springs, unless he is on his march to your support at Lewisburg. If his command was at Wytheville, a movement in sufficient force, as you propose, to Fayette Court-House, would materially lighten the pressure of the enemy on your front. But you will perceive he is not in position for such a move, and I hope will join or precede you to Lewisburg.

{p.772}

From the information I get, perhaps not as reliable as that you receive, the number of the enemy at Summersville is about half that you give. I can only learn of five regiments, about 4,500 men, having left Huttonsville for Summersville, to be increased by about the same number from other points. The advance on this line to Middle Mountain Valley Mountain, and Cheat Range may bring them back to securely guard the railroads to the Ohio. In that event it will relieve your front, and may permit your advance to the Gauley, if desirable.

I much regret to hear that your arms are so poor. There are no percussion muskets for issue by the State of Virginia, unless some have been altered since my departure from Richmond. The only available guns that I am aware of are the flint-lock muskets. I am very sorry to hear that you have lost so many good arms by the desertion of the State troops. They will probably rejoin you on your advance. General Loring will expect to be kept advised of any movement against his rear by your vigilant and energetic scouts.

I am, with much respect, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

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HEADQUARTERS FLOYD’S BRIGADE, Camp Bee, near Sweet Springs, Va., August 5, 1861.

The Forty-fifth and Fiftieth [Va.] Regiments, Floyd’s brigade, under command of Cols. Henry Heth and A. W. Reynolds, respectively, will move from Camp Bee to-morrow at 5 a.m., and take up the line of march in the direction of Lewisburg. The quartermaster of each command will furnish the same with all the transportation at hand. The commissary will furnish the same with such rations as he has. No unnecessary baggage will be allowed.

By order of Brigadier-General Floyd, C. S. A.:

H. HETH, Colonel.

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ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE, Richmond, Va., August 6, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Commanding Army of Potomac, Manassas, Va.:

GENERAL: Your letter of 30th ultimo, suggesting that the troops instructed to re-enforce the army under your command be placed by brigades in camps of instruction located in healthy neighborhoods, has been submitted to the President, and I am instructed to suggest that you cause to be selected some position possessing the required advantages on the north bank of the Rappahannock River, or in advance, near the Manassas road, in the direction of the Bull Run Mountain. Having regard to the position occupied by your forces, the President is of opinion that the direction above indicated would afford the best location for the camps referred to.

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

{p.773}

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ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE, Richmond, Va., August 6, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Commanding, Manassas Junction, Va.:

GENERAL: General Beauregard was authorized under an emergency to retain at Manassas the Eleventh North Carolina Regiment, then en route for your command at Winchester, but this retention was not intended to be permanent, and it rests with yourself, as commander of the Army of the Potomac, to make such disposition of the regiment as in your judgment the interests of the service require.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

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HEADQUARTERS WISE’S BRIGADE, White Sulphur Springs, Va., August 6, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: Having an opportunity, by a messenger of General Loring’s camp, I report to you that General Floyd is within 2 miles of me, encamped. He will see me here this evening. I have not seen him as yet. He is reported to me by Colonel Tompkins as well equipped. I am not far from it. All I had is worn out, and we need almost everything, especially tents, clothing, shoes, and means of transportation. To obtain these, I have sent to Staunton, and it will take at least two weeks from this time for me to be anything like prepared for marching. I informed you last evening of reported positions of the enemy. My calvary will scout him from Hommony to Cherry Tree River. I venture to suggest that General Loring’s scouts might meet mine at Beaver or Cherry Tree. If General Floyd can be ordered to guard New River and turnpike between Gauley and Lewisburg, I can throw my forces in between Huntersville and Gauley.

Respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 7, 1861-7 a.m.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: I saw General Floyd yesterday evening. He asked whether I had orders from you. I replied none specific. He then notified me that he would move this morning to Lewisburg, and that it was his intent to proceed immediately to attack the enemy at Gauley, but gave me no orders. I dissented from the policy of this attack, suggesting the better course of allowing me to refit my command with clothing and to obtain wagons. I will require ten days or two weeks to do so, and I ask from you special orders, separating the command of General Floyd from mine. Please assign to each one respective fields of operation. I think it would be best to assign him to the guard of the Fayetteville and Beckley roads, and my command to the guard of the Lewisburg turnpike and the roads leading from Summersville to Huttonsville or Lewisburg.

Respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

{p.774}

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HEADQUARTERS, VALLEY MOUNTAIN, VA., August 8, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE, Commanding Wise’s Legion, White Sulphur Springs, Va.:

GENERAL: I have just received your letters of the 6th and 7th instant, and am glad to learn that General Floyd is moving on to Lewisburg. In regard to the request to separate the commands of General Floyd and yourself, and to assign to each respective fields of action, it would, in my opinion, be contrary to the purpose of the President, and destroy the prospect of the success of the campaign in Kanawha District. Our enemy is so strong at all points that we can only hope to give him an effective blow by a concentration of our forces, and, that this may be done surely and rapidly, their movements and actions must be controlled by one head. I hope, therefore, that, as soon as your command can move forward, in the preparation for which I feel assured no time will be lost, you will join General Floyd, and take that part in the campaign which may be assigned your brigade.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

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No. 2.*]

HEADQUARTERS, CAMP ARBUCKLE, Near Lewisburg, Va., August 8, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: I desire to make a movement towards the valley of the Kanawha as speedily as practicable. To this end I desire to know as soon as possible the exact force upon which to rely. Will you have the goodness to inform me the number of men you can furnish, the different arms and ammunition fit for use, the amount of transportation you can rely upon for the movement, and the supplies you will be able to furnish? An answer in detail to these inquiries will much oblige, yours,

Very respectfully,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

* The numbering of this and following dispatches between Floyd and Wise is taken from General Wise’s letter-book.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 8, 1861-6 p.m.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD:

SIR: I reply immediately to yours of to-day, by saying that I am now endeavoring to complete the returns of the exact force of my command. These returns have been hindered and delayed by various causes, then beyond control. My command has, from the first, been composed of mixed troops-State troops and those of the Provisional Confederate Army. Neither have been organized, and both have been without commissioned officers; they have been necessarily intermingled in active service; have been necessarily distributed at four different posts, in parts far distant from each other, and have been doing hard marching service, keeping guard, scouting, and fighting the enemy, and lately falling {p.775} back from the valley of the Kanawha, under orders from Adjutant and Inspector General S. Cooper, and from General Robert E. Lee, commanding forces in the State of Virginia. This has prevented the assembling even of my command up to this time. Now, while organizing my artillery and infantry corps, the cavalry of my command are on active duty in checking the enemy and observing their movements on the New River and on the Gauley. Another cause (obstructing returns) is that a considerable portion of the State volunteers considered that they had engaged to serve the time of their enlistment in the valley of the Kanawha alone and on the march from that valley, under orders to defend the Central Railroad, many of them have deserted, and several leading officers of their command have resigned their commissions, after having given furloughs to some of their men, who are now daily returning from their homes to duty. How many will return cannot be ascertained for several days. Connected with the march from the valley thus embarrassed, several serious cases of arrest have occurred, and courts-martial are now sitting and ordered for their trial. More than all, the state and condition of my troops here caused the difficulty and delay of organization, and will cause the delay of my movement for some reasonable time, for refitting, recruiting, and procuring sufficient arms. My men have not been supplied at any time with half-sufficient clothing, camp equipage, arms, or ammunition, and many of them not at all with their tents. Many of them are now destitute of blankets, shoes, tents, and clothing, knapsacks, cartridge and cap boxes, mess-pans, and camp-kettles, and have not half enough of wagons for transportation. My sick list in hospital is upward of 300, and we need medical stores of every kind. I have made large requisitions on the Department, and have sent special agents to Richmond to procure these and all other necessaries.

This will require, for indispensable supplies, at least ten days or two weeks to come. By to-morrow I hope to have consolidated reports, as exact as possible, of my whole force here. They will show the number of men; the different arms to which they are attached; the few arms fit for use; the amount of ammunition, and the want of transportation and supplies. I should mention that at no time as yet have I been furnished with a separate commissary and quartermaster. One officer has had to perform the duties of both departments, and the person nominated for quartermaster is now gone to Richmond to give bonds and obtain necessary orders, devolving the duties of both officers still on my commissary alone.

You shall have, as you request, a detailed answer to your inquiries very soon as to the artillery and infantry of my Legion, and somewhat later a detail of my cavalry and of the State volunteers under my command.

I respectfully suggest that I be allowed ample time for the best preparation I can make, under general orders, which I have received from General R. E. Lee, commanding, &c., and then I will cheerfully cooperate with you, sir, in checking the advance of the enemy. In the short interview I had with you the other evening, I informed you I had no special orders from General Robert E. Lee, but the next morning (yesterday) started to exhibit to you my general orders, received from General Robert E. Lee since I left Lewisburg. They are to check the enemy on both roads to Covington and Newbern, and prevent, if possible, his progress east of the mountains, and to halt at Lewisburg till further notice. If obliged to retire, to retard the advance of the enemy, and to send back to General Floyd to support me; to inform General Loring of the positions I will take, and be prepared, by a concentration of forces, to strike a blow at the enemy.

{p.776}

These orders (dated the 3d instant) I have been and am obeying, and have advised General Lee and General Loring that I propose to advance on the Gauley by the Cherry Tree Bottom road.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

N. B.-I ought to add that new companies are coming in every day, and some of them require everything to be provided for a campaign.

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No. 3.]

CAMP ARBUCKLE, near Lewisburg, Va., August 9, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE:

DEAR SIR: I write this note to ask the favor of you to send me, if you have them, sabers and pistols, such as you may have to spare, for 300 mounted men. I will return them to you punctually in a short time, and see that they are kept in good order. If you could spare me a company and two 6-pounders for a week’s service you would greatly oblige me. The horses should be good and the pieces provided with forty rounds of ammunition.

With high regard, I am, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

N. B.-It is important to have the arms and company here to-night, if possible.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 9, 1861-5 p.m.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

DEAR SIR: Your note is just at hand. The only sabers furnished to my command were 260, without scabbards, and all that were scabbarded have been distributed, and 3 or 4 of my troops are now waiting to be furnished. In lieu of the sabers and pistols, of which but fifty-three flint and steel have been furnished to my command, I inclose an order to Colonel Davis, at Meadow Bluff, to co-operate with your cavalry, and be, for the time, at your immediate orders, to-night. A company of artillery I cannot spare you. I have but one that can in any degree serve as artillery, the company of Captain McComas, who is absent from the loss of a child; but I send you a detachment of 24 men, of Colonel Tompkins’ regiment of State volunteers, the remnant of the Kanawha Artillery, who fought at Scarey, and are pretty good artillerists. It is too short a notice to get them ready to-night, but they will be got ready at once, and be sent to you early in the morning. This is the best I can do at present, and I assure you, sir, it will always gratify me to do the best I can in co-operation with your command.

Very truly and respectfully, yours,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General, &c.

P. S.-Captain Caskie reports to me to-day that some scouts of the enemy advanced on the Fayetteville and turnpike roads. We send you forty rounds of ammunition with the pieces.

{p.777}

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HEADQUARTERS, MANASSAS, August 10, 1861.

To the PRESIDENT:

Mr. PRESIDENT: I have suggested, through the Adjutant and Inspector-General, the importance of increasing our forces of artillery and cavalry-the first by borrowing guns from the States, or by casting, especially at Richmond. If guns are to be made, or if different kinds are to be obtained from States, I urgently recommend 12-pounder howitzers to constitute the addition to our present material. We are now deficient in those pieces, even on the principle which regulated the composition of the United States batteries-four 6-pounders and two howitzers. The effect of the howitzers on a field of battle is, I think, more than double that of 6-pounders. With fifty of them respectably served (in addition to our present artillery) we will not fear the enemy, whatever his numbers, in the open field. I beg you, therefore, to aid us by adding what you can to our strength in this arm. I am confident from observation that the Northern troops, like other raw soldiers, fear artillery unreasonably, and that we shall gain far more by an addition of these guns than by one of a thousand men. We are now, you know, far below even the proportion fixed by military writers for an army of veteran infantry. Without that proportion of artillery and cavalry, without further addition of infantry, we ought to be able to drive back all the Northern hordes that may cross the Potomac. It is certain to my mind that all of Napoleon’s successes in 1813 were due to his large proportion of artillery. His infantry was as new and far from being equal to ours.

May I remind you that I have more than once mentioned our deficiency in cavalry? We have not half enough for mere outpost duty. If it had been greater our results on the 21st of July would have been better. For a battle I am sure that 3,000 or 4,000 cavalry in a field would be resisted by no Northern volunteers if they had artillery to open their way. For the last two months I have had one regiment of Virginia cavalry, under Stuart, in the presence of superior forces of regular cavalry, who have never appeared in front of their infantry. Our men, and we can find thousands like them, are good horsemen, well mounted. We can find thousands more like them. Can you not give them to us, and with Stuart to command them? He is a rare man, wonderfully endowed by nature with the qualities necessary for an officer of light cavalry. Calm, firm, acute, active, and enterprising, I know no one more competent than he to estimate the occurrences before him at their true value. If you add to this army a real brigade of cavalry, you can find no better brigadier-general to command it. With our present force we shall be obliged to depend much upon the country people for information of the enemy’s movements.

Very truly, your friend and obedient servant,

J. E. JOHNSTON.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 10, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, General, Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: Yours, dated the 5th at Huntersville, post-marked the 8th at Staunton, is just received. I am pressing every means to advance as far as will meet the enemy on the Gauley turnpike and Summersville road. This morning I re-enforce General Floyd with a detachment of artillery (two 6-pounders, forty rounds), and a corps of cavalry, under Captain Corns, in addition to Colonel Davis’ force of about 500 {p.778} horse. As fast as a battalion or regiment is ready, I will lead it on to wherever General Floyd may have advanced. There is no ammunition sent for my howitzer, and there is none (I mean ball and cartridge) for my 10-pounder brought from Malden. General Floyd, with two regiments of his own, all my cavalry nearly, and this detachment of artillery, advances from Camp Arbuckle this morning. I will follow from day to day, as I can clothe my men and fit them for a march. The militia here are wholly unreliable, though I have ordered Colonel Beckley to pick all true men he can select, and arm and supply them with ammunition. The enemy conceal their forces very adroitly. They left 1,000 at Charleston and came up to Gauley with 3,500 and eight pieces of rifled cannon, with re-enforcements constantly coming up the river to Charleston and advanced to Gauley. From Gauley they radiate, via Fayetteville, the Gauley turnpike, and the Summersville roads, converging towards Meadow Bluff the forces from Weston (not Huttonsville) coming down from Sutton, being now in advance, about 600, under Colonel Tyler. Thus at Gauley they have probably at present from 4,500 to 5,000, with re-enforcements coming up the Kanawha and down through Braxton in moving columns of unknown numbers. General Floyd’s command and mine will number, all told, not more than 5,500 efficient men, badly armed. By the time the enemy gets through the Gauley and Sewell Wilderness he will be found in force-8,000 at least. His advance through that Wilderness shall be effectually checked. The advance to the Gauley is not desirable at present, because we can get no provisions from Kanawha, and for 30 miles from Gauley east there are no provisions or forage to be had. My idea is to stop the enemy on or near the eastern verge of the Wilderness, and keep him there in the Wilderness by fronting him on the turnpike and by detours on the Fayetteville and Summersville roads. I repeat that we are not half armed. May I not beg you to use your influence with Adjutant-General Cooper to give us some of the arms captured at Manassas or those which are surplus from the crop of that victory? We ought not to be so neglected as not to have what our glorious victors reject. Many of our deserters are coming in, and that induces me to detain the State volunteers here for a few days. I will be active to scout for General Loring, and to give him the earliest intelligence obtained by me. But one thing, of which we are destitute, is absolutely necessary-the portable forge. I beg you to send us at least two for my command, and I suppose General Floyd needs as many. He has about 300, and I about 500, cavalry, and they are barefooted, and blacksmiths cannot be got here, nor shoes, nor iron to make them.

With great respect, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

N. B.-At 10.30 a.m., since the above was written, I have received intelligence that the enemy has moved up, 3,500 strong, to Summersville.

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MANASSAS, VA., August 11, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Commanding, Manassas, Va.

DEAR GENERAL: In order to prevent a coup de main from McClellan, as already communicated to you, I have ordered Longstreet to Fairfax Court-House, Jones to Germantown, and Bonham to full back on Flint Hill, leaving a strong mounted guard at or about Vienna. Cocke goes {p.779} to Centreville; Ewell, to Sangster’s Cross-Roads; Early and Hampton, to intersection of Occoquan road with Wolf Run Shoals road; Evans has gone to Leesburg. The Louisiana Brigade remains for the present at or about Mitchell’s Ford.

Will you permit me to suggest that Elzey should concentrate his brigade at or about Fairfax Station, and Jackson at or about the cross of (Stuart to remain where he is) Braddock’s road with the Fairfax Court-House and Station road.

From those advanced positions we could at any time concentrate our forces for offensive or defensive purposes. I think by a bold move we could capture the enemy’s advance forces at Annandale, and, should he come out to their support, give him battle, with all the chances in our favor; but for that object we must have all our artillery ready in every respect.

Yours, very truly,

G. T. BEAUREGARD.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 11, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: Colonel Davis, from Meadow Bluff, informs me by last night’s dispatch that he is confident Tyler has joined Cox, near Gauley, and that the enemy is now 7,000 strong. Their scouts are within about 20 miles of Colonel Davis. General Floyd is at Camp Arbuckle, 4 miles beyond Lewisburg. I have sent him a detachment of artillery (two pieces, 6-pounders), and will send on every corps I can get ready in the next three to five days. General Chapman has recalled his militia, and General Beckley can raise no force of any efficiency at all. I have ordered both to call out select men, but do not rely upon them. The cavalry are actively vedetting, and report the enemy as having 250 to 300 cavalry at Summersville, threatening Davis’ rear by the Wilderness road. Colonel Croghan is upon the Cherry Tree Bottom road, but returns today to Colonel Davis. With General Floyd’s force and my cavalry, the enemy cannot advance before I am ready to make our joint forces some 5,500 men.

Very respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 11, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: Your dispatch [8th instant], by special messenger, came to hand within the last fifteen minutes. I answer immediately, at 8 p.m., that I will cheerfully and earnestly obey your orders to unite with General Floyd’s command. The most intimate co-operation, in separate command, was all I sought. I seek no further now than to obey your orders. I am inspecting and organizing still, making good progress, and am in strength and condition of force daily improving. All we want now are tents, good small-arms, and some clothing. I will move before all are had, and as early as possible, to do justice to my men. The enemy are reported at junction at Gauley and at Summersville and a part occupying Fayette (Cox and Tyler); in all, 7,000 strong. I have {p.780} written to Beckley and Chapman, urging selection of militia corps, such as are willing and are armed, and will work with axes and spades. Chapman had recalled his men and orders. I have insisted on his renewing his call. Our teams are shoeless, and there are but very few blacksmiths. This delays me as much as any other cause.

Respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 11, 1861-6 a.m.

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, &c.:

SIR: Your note of yesterday reached me last night at 11 o’clock. A letter from Colonel Davis, of the 9th, from Meadow Bluff, was found unopened on my table with yours, no opened dispatches accompanying them. I have received none intended for you. Lest the letter of Colonel Davis to Adjutant-General Harvie may not have been the one opened and read by you, I inclose a copy to you.*

Please inform him that I have sent to you two 6-pounders and a detachment of artillery. I will re-enforce him with about 90 cavalry as soon as blacksmiths can be got to shoe the horses, nearly all of which are barefooted. In two or three days I may be able to move with my artillery and some companies of infantry. If you advance, sir, to Meadow Bluff and beyond to Little Sewell, I will follow as fast as my corps can be organized and made ready for the field.

I regret to learn from General Beckley that General Chapman has recalled the select militia he ordered out. I have ordered General Beckley to proceed in selecting militiamen to co-operate with Major Bailey and Captain Caskie on the Fayetteville road. The militia had better be provided with pick and log wood axes, shovels, and spades to obstruct the roads, which may admit the enemy to our rear from Summersville and other points east of that place on the Gauley. Colonel McPherson, of Lewisburg, might readily select a corps of that description to operate on the road leading from near May’s and Meadow Bluff to the Gauley.

Very respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF KANAWHA, Camp Arbuckle, near Lewisburg, August 11, 1861.

His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS, President Confederate States of America:

DEAR SIR: After a few days’ close observation in this part of the country I am quite sure the enemy’s policy now is to hold all the western portion of the State lying on the Ohio River and as far eastward as the Cumberland range of mountains. They have at Gauley between four and five thousand men, and a like number at Summersville. They are 35 miles distant from each other. The interests of all the west imperatively demand that these people shall be driven out across the Ohio, which I think can be done with the proper management of the force to be secured in this region. I am a few miles west of Lewisburg and 14 miles west of General Wise.

I have deemed it proper, all points fully considered, to assume the command of all the troops about here. I accordingly have issued the {p.781} order, a copy of which I send herewith. One line of policy only should be pursued, and this is the only means by which it can be secured.

There is great disorganization amongst the men under General Wise’s command, as he told me himself, and the course I propose will help to remedy the evil. I hope to be speedily able now to make a movement towards the enemy, and I trust the course I have taken will meet your approbation. I think the inspection I have ordered will result in showing a force sufficiently large, with the volunteer militia who will join us for the campaign, to enable them to move against them.

When we do move it will require great circumspection, attention, and tact to mollify the temper and feelings of the people west of here, if half be true of what has reached me relative to their present exasperated and excited state of feeling.

If the enemy were attacked and driven from Summersville, Cox, at Gauley Bridge, would be helpless and at our mercy, and the junction between these forces I think can be prevented by a prompt but quiet movement. Two well appointed batteries would be of inestimable value to us now. Can’t you send them? The service we will render if we can get into the field will amply repay everything, I think. If we can dislodge these people from Kanawha Valley the whole force could be turned against the rear-Rosecrans. But of course you understand all these views perfectly well, and can order what is best to be done.

With the highest regard, I am, truly, your friend,

JOHN B. FLOYD.

* Not found.

[Inclosure.]

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 12.}

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF KANAWHA, Camp Arbuckle, near Lewisburg, August 11, 1861.

I. The undersigned hereby assumes the command of the forces intended to operate against the enemy now occupying the Kanawha Valley and the country adjacent thereto.

...

JOHN B. FLOYD.

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HEADQUARTERS, VALLEY MOUNTAIN, VA., August 12, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE, Wise’s Legion, White Sulphur Springs, Va.:

GENERAL: I have just received your letter of the 10th and 11th Instant, and I am glad that you are enabled to re-enforce General Floyd so promptly. Your reasons for our troops not advancing to Gauley at present are conclusive, and your plan of stopping the advance of the enemy on the eastern verge of the Wilderness you describe is concurred in until ready to open and penetrate the Kanawha Valley, whence you may draw your supplies. The line of defense you propose, embracing points of strength, is the best.

I have written to General Cooper in reference to arms and forges for your command and forges for General Floyd. I recommend that you forward to Colonel Deas, assistant adjutant-general, headquarters Richmond, a State requisition for such supplies as you may be deficient in. I will direct him to see what can be furnished. As already advised, there are no arms at my disposal, except the State flint-lock muskets; of these you have probably sufficient. I recommend that you also make requisition for ammunition for your howitzer upon Major Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, C. S. Army. There being no 10-pounders in the service, he {p.782} has not, probably, any ammunition for it. The information of the enemy being re-enforced in front of this position is repeated. Also that he is fortifying at the bridge over the North Branch of the Potomac at New Creek Depot, and occupies Romney. I think it probable that he is spreading his troops over a line of operations from the Kanawha to the Potomac, with a view of influencing the local elections of the Peirpoint dynasty. I hope we shall be able to cut him up in detail. For this purpose our troops must be kept ready for concentration.

I am, with high respect, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

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No. 5.]

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE KANAWHA, Camp Arbuckle, near Lewisburg, Va., August 13, 1861.

General WISE:

SIR: As requested to do, I send you the accompanying communication from Colonel Davis. I have reason to doubt the authority of the report. Yet, coming to me with the official sanction of Colonel Davis, I do not feel at liberty to disregard it. I shall therefore move immediately to his relief with 1,000 men, and request that you will send tomorrow one battery of artillery, with such other forces as you can spare. I understand that the enemy is strong in large guns.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

[Inclosure.]

CAMP AT MEADOW BLUFF.

General FLOYD:

I have reasons to apprehend an attack from the Federal troops tomorrow-probably to-night. They are probably Tyler’s force, from Summersville, who have come into this road by the Sunday road (33 miles from here), re-enforced by a detachment direct from Gauley Bridge. Their number is estimated at 3,000. It is now known that there has been a current of Federal troops passing down the Gauley, which confirms the statement. Mr. Tyree, just taken prisoner by the enemy, has continued to send the news to my scouts, in the neighborhood of his father’s. I can stop them with 1,000 men and two pieces of cannon. Please urge on re-enforcements. Send this to General Wise, and ask him also to send all the aid he can spare.

Your obedient servant,

J. LUCIUS DAVIS, Colonel First Regiment Wise’s Leg-ion.

P. S.-If the report is modified as to numbers, &c., I will inform you.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 13, 1861.

General JOHN B. FLOYD, General Commanding, &c.:

SIR: I imagine, from the reports to me, that Colonel Davis must have received exaggerated reports. Your advance will, at all events, only anticipate any probable movement of the enemy. Your request should be promptly complied with, but for the fact that our horses for {p.783} the artillery have no shoes fit to march with, and it is impossible to find smiths, shoes, or nails. I have sent for iron, and am just setting up a shop. This causes, in part, my delay here. In a short time I will be ready to move some 1,500 men.

Very respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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No. 6.]

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE KANAWHA, Camp Arbuckle, near Lewisburg, Va., August 13, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: You will please send the regiment of volunteers from beyond New River, recently commanded by Colonel McCausland, to join me at Meadow Bluff immediately upon receipt of this order.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, C. S. Army.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 13, 1861.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: Your order to “send the regiment of volunteers, from beyond New River, recently commanded by Colonel McCausland, to join you at Meadow Bluff immediately upon the receipt of this order,” I respectfully represent cannot possibly be complied with.

The regiment of State volunteers, which you describe, as lately commanded by Colonel McCausland, is in a state of great dilapidation and destitution, from the many resignations of its officers and desertions of its men. It is now being reorganized, under the orders of Colonel Tompkins, who has not yet completed his report, and the men who are left to it are without clothing or equipments fit for a march or any efficient service whatever. Many of them are barefooted, and we have received the first supply of shoes for them this evening, and they are unopened. They are bare of clothing, have not a single tent, and number less than 550 men, many of whom have the measles. Colonel Heth has not inspected them, or his report would show you, sir, how utterly unfit in all respects these men are for any movement against an enemy or to march at all from a place where they are sheltered, and where they are just beginning to receive their supplies and outfits.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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No. 7.]

MEADOW BLUFF, VA., August 13, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE:

DEAR SIR: Upon arriving here I found much to confirm the reports concerning the approach of the enemy. Colonel Davis’ pickets were driven in this evening by the enemy. We are separated to-night only by the distance of 18 miles, which will be much reduced by morning, as the enemy march at night. I hope you will, with all speed, bring up all your force, and furnish one of my companies with arms. It is a fine {p.784} one, but unarmed, as their guns are behind, with Colonel Wharton. The enemy are very numerous and strong. No artillery. I hope to see you early.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, C. S. Army.

[Indorsement.]

Received by General Wise’s messenger at 3.30 a.m., August 14, 1861.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 13, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, General, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: General Floyd yesterday assumed command of the forces for the defense of the Kanawha Valley, announced an adjutant and inspector general for his entire command, and ordered my Legion to be first inspected. That Legion is now ready for inspection, and will soon be ready for active service, as soon as the horses can be shod, and the men can be got some clothes, shoes, and blankets, which are daily expected. I now ask for two general orders from you, being desirous to promptly obey General Floyd and to preserve the harmony of our respective brigades: First, that no order be passed from him to my brigade except through me. Second, that the separate organization and command of my brigade, subject of course to his priority of rank and orders for service, be not interfered with. I beg leave to inquire, also, whether I am to consider the State volunteers, under Colonel Tompkins, and the militia, under General Beckley, as still attached to my brigade and command, subject to General Floyd’s general orders of course, or as immediately subject to his orders alone? The enemy have nine regiments in the Kanawha Valley, about 7,200 men. Colonel Croghan reports about 1,500 at Summersville. I hear about 500 are at Fayetteville, 1,000 at Charleston, and about 4,200 at Gauley.

Respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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RICHMOND, VA., August 13, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON:

MY DEAR GENERAL: I have stated to Major Gorgas your wish for a larger proportion of 12-pounder howitzers, and he says he can make, say, six per week, and mount them as made, but there is great difficulty in supplying harness. Please send me a statement of the number and caliber of your guns, distinguishing between smooth-bored and rifled also the number of howitzers. This information has been needed in the preparation of ammunition. It is well to avoid mixing the ammunition further than necessary; say smooth-bore or rifle to be with howitzers, but not both kinds and howitzers in one battery.

I have ordered cavalry to join you, and hope you will soon have a regiment and one or more separate companies.

Your friend,

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

{p.785}

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RICHMOND, August 13, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Commanding, &c., Manassas:

GENERAL: I have your letter of the 10th instant, and will forward to your command a portion of the shoes here. We have sent to Europe for shoes, and I have officers traveling over all the Confederate States purchasing shoes, making contracts with tanners for leather, and with manufacturers for making leather into shoes. Still, if our force is increased to half a million of men, there must be deficiency. The resources of our country are far too limited for the great demand an immense army creates for supplies of every kind. The demand is double what it would be from the same population in times of peace.

A. C. MYERS, Acting Quartermaster-General.

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HEADQUARTERS, VALLEY MOUNTAIN, VIRGINIA, August 14, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE, Wise’s Legion, White Sulphur Springs, Va.:

GENERAL: I have had the honor to receive this morning your letters of the 11th and 13th instant, and am highly gratified at the rapid progress you are making in organizing your forces, and that their strength and condition are daily improving. I hope you will receive your supply of tents, clothing, &c. As to small-arms, I do not know when they will be obtained. There were none in Richmond when I left. I hope I need not assure you that I never entertained the least doubt as to your zealous and cordial co-operation in every effort against the common enemy. Your whole life guarantees the belief that your every thought and act will be devoted to the sacred cause, dearer than life itself of defending the honor and integrity of the State.

As regards the command of your brigade, the military propriety of communicating through you all orders of its movement is so apparent, that I think no orders on the subject necessary. I have always supposed that it was the intention of the President to give a distinct organization to your Legion, and for it to be under your command, subject of course to do service under the orders of a senior officer. General Floyd, I think, understands this, and I apprehend no embarrassment on the subject. As regards the troops hitherto serving with your Legion, it is within the province of the commanding general to continue them, as hitherto, under your command, to brigade them separately, or detach them, as the good of the service may demand. The incessant rains and constant travel have rendered the roads impassable, and so prevented the transportation of supplies as to paralyze, for the present, operations in this quarter.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

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No. 8.]

HEADQUARTERS, NEAR MEADOW BLUFF, VA., August 14, 1861-5 a.m.

General HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: You are peremptorily ordered to march at once, upon the receipt {p.786} of this order, with your Legion and all the forces under your command, to join me at this point.

Your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General Commanding.

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No. 9.]

HEADQUARTERS, NEAR MEADOW BLUFF, VA., August 14, 1861-7 a.m.

General HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: The cavalry company sent me by you at Camp Arbuckle inform me that they are without ammunition. They are, as you will remember, armed with carbines and shot-guns, and number about 45 men. Please send 40 rounds of cartridges for 40 men. For the portion of the company armed with shot-guns I can furnish buck-shot and powder. The bearer of this will take charge of the cartridges.

Your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General Commanding.

[Indorsement.]

AUGUST 14, 1861.

The adjutant-general will cause this request to be complied with.

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 14, 1861-9.30 a.m.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: Your peremptory order, to march at once upon the receipt of it, with my Legion and all the forces under my command, to join you at Meadow Bluff, shall be executed as early as possible and as forces and means of transportation are available.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE.

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No. 10.]

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 14, 1861-11 a.m.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: I am hastening my march by all the means in my power. The quartermaster, by every exertion, has been unable to procure half enough wagons. Will you please send me all the wagons you can spare, to assist the expedition of my march to join you?

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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HEADQUARTERS VIRGINIA VOLUNTEERS, White Sulphur Springs, Va., August 14, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your orders of this date, directing the movement of troops from this camp, and I feel impelled, most respectfully, to enter my protest against its immediate application {p.787} to the volunteer forces under my command. I beg you to remember that these troops are now decimated by disease and casualties incurred by weeks of exposure; that they never have been furnished with tents, or even equipments regarded as essential to the ordinary requirements of service, and, above all, that they are actually destitute of clothing, except such as they bore upon their persons in the hurried march from Kanawha. The Twenty-second Regiment especially may be mentioned as having incurred losses by the destruction of the steamer Maffet, and their inability to communicate with Charleston, which should be remembered by you as worthy of immediate consideration. I cannot, therefore, under the circumstances report any companies of the volunteer regiments as fit for the field, and believe that their removal from quarters at present would be attended with detrimental consequences in every respect.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

C. Q. TOMPKINS, Commanding Volunteer Brigade.

[Indorsement.]

AUGUST 14, 1861-12.30.

Colonel Tompkins will move only such of the troops under his command as are fit for marching orders. The rest, or, if all are unfit for service, all will remain with him at this post, under my general order of this morning, until further orders or the command is fit to move.

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 14, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

Dispatches were received last night from Colonel Davis, and this morning from General Floyd, giving intelligence of the enemy approaching in full strength from Summersville, via what is called the Sunday road, leading into the Lewisburg turnpike, reported 6,000 strong. I do not credit the report, but, under the peremptory orders from General Floyd, received within the hour, I shall move my entire available force at once to join the general at Meadow Bluff. If my counsel prevails, I shall advance to the west side of Little Sewell. I shall take eight sixes, one rifled piece of artillery, and General Floyd has two sixes. The howitzer was, and is, without ammunition. General Floyd’s whole force, all told, he says, is but 1,200; mine available at once, 2,000. The measles is raging here, and I am reduced nearly half of one regiment of my Legion and the State regiments are nearly wholly unavailable. At most, in two and a half days, I can put forward 1,500 and in five days 2,500 men. General Floyd now has his own force, my whole cavalry (550), a detachment of artillery, with two 6-pounders; in all, say, 1,800 men. In three days he will have 100 more of State cavalry. Thus in four or five days he will have available with him 3,800 men, leaving the sick and unfit for service, say 1,000 men, here. I write in haste, while hurrying on the march of all I can move to-day. There is not half the means necessary for transportation here.

Very respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

{p.788}

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HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE KANAWHA, Camp Six miles west of Meadow Bluff, Va., August 15, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE, White Sulphur Springs, Va.:

SIR: Your favor of yesterday, informing me of the inability of your quartermaster to procure wagons, &c., enough for your march, and requesting me to send you all the wagons I can spare, has been received. In reply, I have to say that I would take great pleasure in hastening your march to join me, by sending you the necessary transportation, were I able to do so. I have sent quite a number of wagons to Jackson’s River to transport subsistence stores for my men from that point. I have a considerable number of men not able to march and not sick enough for the hospital. These must have transportation. I have left at Camp Arbuckle, near Lewisburg, the tents of my people, because of the appropriation, for the purposes just stated, of the wagons intended for their transportation. These causes, I regret to say, place it out of my power to comply with your request.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD.

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, VA., August 15, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: I thank you, sir, for your approval of my endeavors to obey your orders to look to the safety of my command and the proper plans of defense; and I am especially thankful for the promise of your influence to aid me in obtaining good small-arms and for instructions as to requisitions, &c. The ammunition for my howitzer came yesterday, and this morning at 4 a.m. I moved a corps of artillery, with eight pieces, a howitzer, and three 6-pounders, with three companies, under Colonel Gibbs, and three regiments of infantry of my Legion (in all about 2,000 men), to join General Floyd at Meadow Bluff this evening. My corps of cavalry, 50 strong, and 50 artillery, with two pieces, of the State volunteers, are already there, and of the State volunteer cavalry two companies will join him to-day or to-morrow, making my re-enforcements to him about 2,600. His whole force I understand to be but 1,200 all told, making the joint force by to-night 3,800 troops. This is enough to check the enemy until I can have the two State volunteer regiments, now reduced to about 1,200, got ready for marching orders. They are without shoes, tents, clothing, and ammunition, and the measles is raging among them, and cases for the hospital multiplying daily. I leave Colonel Tompkins here in my command, who will report to you, by my orders, my instructions to him, and explain their import. I regret to say that there is a manifest disposition to mutilate my command. General Floyd asked me when here to transfer the State volunteers to his brigade. I declined, both for want of authority and inclination. Since then his orders have been almost peremptory to send one of the regiments to him, which is totally unfit for service in every respect. Colonel Tompkins is faithfully trying to have it ready and efficient. They were the men who guarded Tyler’s Mountain and fought at Scarey unpaid, unclothed, unattended, and have kept the field among deserters. I am obliged, in duty to them, to fit them for the field before they march again. Certain influences have crept in among their officers, and I fear that secret applications have been entertained to have them transferred. I beg you will protect hearty co-operation against any such attempts, which I shall firmly, but calmly, resist to the utmost of my authority. I rely upon you, sir, to interpose admonition to all in time. I protest {p.789} that I desire harmony and co-operation in every sense of cheerful, as well as efficient and healthful, service, but I cannot, in honor, submit to have my brigade mutilated without you order it. I refer to Colonel Tompkins for full explanations, and he, too, seeks the maintenance of his just authority and the observance of the respect due to him. I will be ready for co-operation.

Yours, &c.,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

P. S.-My excellent secretary, Mr. Lucas, has extracted from fragments of a mail thrown out by General Floyd some items which may aid you. Colonel Croghan, of my cavalry, penetrated the Birch Mountain and captured this mail; killed 2 and captured 3-a captain, a corporal, and a private.

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WHITE SULPHUR-SPRINGS, VA., August 15, 1861.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your order of yesterday, received at 7 p.m., and it shall be promptly and punctually obeyed. I have procured some shoes; enough, I hope, to supply the immediate wants of my command. Those regiments were first supplied which marched this morning to join you at Meadow Bluff and now the regiments left here will be supplied. Transportation, as soon as it can be obtained, shall be furnished, but it is very difficult to obtain sufficient; and, in addition, what is equally necessary, clothing and tents shall be furnished, if possible, under the order of Colonel Tompkins, who is in command of the State volunteers, forming a part of my brigade. I have ordered him to prepare both regiments under him as speedily as possible to join me under your command; but it is impossible for those regiments to join you without some reasonable and necessary delay. To show this, in respect to both regiments, I send you copies of the reports sent to me yesterday by Colonels Tompkins and McCausland.*

Respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

* Not found.

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MANASSAS, August 16, 1861.

Mr. PRESIDENT: The subject of supplying this army with provisions gives us here much anxiety.

In this connection it has been suggested to me that the quantities of some articles of the ration, such as salt, coffee, and bacon, in the Southern States are too small for our wants: that we will probably be unable to procure bacon enough for two issues a week until that of the next season is ready for use. It is said further that certain responsible business men are known to be ready to undertake to introduce a large stock of bacon into the Confederacy and at a price far below that now paid in Virginia, the payment to be on delivery, and in Confederate States funds. I would make this arrangement without hesitation were the necessary amount of money at my disposal. Permit me to urge its adoption by you, and an order to the Commissary-General to carry it into effect, or authority to myself to have the proper persons employed, contracts made, and measures taken to insure their fulfillment.

{p.790}

I will not apologize for troubling you with any matter which seems to me to demand prompt action.

Very truly, your friend and obedient servant,

J. E. JOHNSTON.

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No. 11.]

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE KANAWHA, On the march, forty miles west of Lewisburg, Va., Aug. 16, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: I understand that an order has been issued by you, requiring the officers of your Legion to communicate with me through you. Such an order can result in nothing but the most serious embarrassment, as your headquarters are 40 miles from my position and that of some of your officers co-operating with me. You will see, therefore, the necessity of revoking immediately that order, if such a one has been issued.

I hope you will hurry up all your available force to my support. I shall in all human probability stand in great need of them almost immediately. I learned from a source deemed worthy of full credit that a large force of the enemy has crossed Gauley, and are advancing by this road. Two hundred of their wagons have been counted this side of Gauley. There is the utmost need for promptness and speed in sending your forces to my support.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brig. Gen., Comdg. Forces in the Valley of the Kanawha.

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HEADQUARTERS, Manassas, August 17, 1861.

To the PRESIDENT:

Mr. PRESIDENT: I took the liberty yesterday to trouble you on the subject of our commissariat, and now beg leave to add a few words to what was then written.

There is rarely in store here a stock of provisions sufficient to make us feel secure-never enough for an expedition either to the Potomac or to the Blue Ridge. The latter may, indeed probably will, be necessary; for it seems to me unlikely that McClellan will follow General Scott’s plans. We ought, therefore, to have always here stores for twelve or fifteen days at least. We have now for two-if the flour arrived which was expected to-day.

While in the valley, depending upon a commissary quite new to the service, we had always an abundance of those portions of the ration which are not imported.

I am sure that if bacon could be issued four times a week instead of twice, our Southern troops would be more contented and far healthier. The last consideration is fast increasing in importance. On my last morning report the total present is 18,178; the sick amount to 4,809.

Let me beg you to glance at the inclosed papers.

With high respect, your obedient servant,

J. E. JOHNSTON.

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HEADQUARTERS, Richmond, Va., August 17, 1861.

Brigadier-General CARSON, Commanding Virginia Militia, Winchester, Va.:

SIR: At the earnest request of several citizens of Hardy County the governor of the State has been induced to recommend that the militia {p.791} from that section be returned to their homes, as it is believed that their presence there will be of service in preventing the inroads of the Federal troops, which have become frequent of late. You will therefore direct the men from Hardy to return to that county under Colonel Harness, who will make such disposition of them as may best conduce to the public protection.

Very respectfully, &c.,

GEO. DEAS, Assistant Adjutant-General.

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TOP OF BIG SEWELL, VIRGINIA, August 17, 1861.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: Lieutenant-Colonel Croghan sent to me yours to him of the 15th instant, giving orders to him directly (and very properly under the circumstances) of the apprehended approach of the enemy, saying: “These orders will be conveyed to you after this through General Wise.” On the 16th, at or near Henning’s, while present with my command, at the head of my column, I received yours of that day, remonstrating against my general orders to my command that orders from you and reports to you to and from my officers should be communicated through me, on the ground of the distance of my headquarters, &c., and calling on me to revoke that order. On the same day, and at the same place, Lieutenant-Colonel Richardson, of the First Infantry Regiment of my Legion, reported to me in person your order to him, immediately on its receipt, to advance with all the force under his command to join you, and “any orders whatever-in any way confiding with yours you thereby revoke.” Desiring most cordially and cheerfully to co-operate with your command, and to obey and cause to be obeyed all orders properly communicated by you, I extract from a letter of instructions from General Robert E. Lee, dated Headquarters, Valley Mountain, August 14, 1861, the following:

Bound to maintain the integrity of my command, and whatever is due to it in military propriety, I respectfully reply to your order to Lieutenant-Colonel Richardson, that my general order that your orders to my command must be communicated through me is not revoked.

I await your further orders, and am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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No. 12.]

HEADQUARTERS KANAWHA FORCES, August 17, 1861.

GENERAL: You will occupy with your command the encampment located by me this morning-the top of the Big Sewell Mountain.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

P. S.-Remain there until further orders.

{p.792}

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HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE KANAWHA, Camp on the Sewell, Virginia, August 18, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: I learn that your Third Regiment is some distance, probably 12 or 15 miles, in your rear. If this be so, you will please hurry them, as we shall in all probability have need of them to-morrow. I have fallen back to this point from Tyree’s on account of the advantage of position which it others for making a stand. I hope to have to-day minute and accurate information of the movements and numbers of the enemy. For this purpose I have sent out large scouting parties.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, Commanding Forces in Kanawha Valley.

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TOP OF THE BIG SEWELL, VIRGINIA, August 18, 1861.

General R. E. LEE, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: In yours of the 14th instant you say to me:

I regret to say that orders on the subject have become necessary by the action of General Floyd, which my letter to you anticipated. You will please understand, sir, that when I marched to the White Sulphur I left my whole cavalry force, some 450, in the rear of Meadow Bluff, to guard and scout against the enemy, checking their advance. General Floyd, with about 1,200 men, passed on to Meadow Bluff, and became interposed between my post at the White Sulphur and my cavalry advanced on this road. Passing Meadow Bluff, he addressed the following very proper note of command to Lieutenant-Colonel Croghan, of my Legion:

Previous to this I had issued an order to my command that all orders to them from General Floyd and all reports to them from him must pass through me. Yet no objection could reasonably be made under the supposed, but usual, necessity of the case and the position of commands to the above to Lieutenant-Colonel Croghan.

Again on the 16th I was on my march with my First and Second {p.793} Regiments of infantry and corps of artillery, and on the evening of that day reached the eastern slope of Big Sewell, followed by my Third Regiment of Infantry (expected here to-day), nearly all of my Legion, leaving the State volunteer regiments to come on as early as Colonel Tompkins could refit them, showing every disposition to join General Floyd promptly, even before I was half prepared to do so with justice to worn and destitute troops. At Meadow Bluff; on the way, present with my forces, I received the following note myself, and Lieutenant-Colonel Richardson, of the First Regiment of Infantry, received the one following that:

To Lieutenant-Colonel Richardson he says:

Neither myself nor Colonel Richardson has noticed either of these orders. Yesterday morning General Floyd ordered me to occupy this point, which I am doing until his further orders. He advanced 5 miles; has found no enemy, except some scouts, this side of Gauley, and is now, I am told, returning, his advance just arriving. We are here now together, he with about 1,200, and I soon with about 2,000 of my Legion, with this question of communicating orders unsettled. My officers of the Legion cannot be permitted to disregard my general orders nor to take orders directly from General Floyd, and I shall utterly disregard his attempted revocation of it. I lay the case before you in time to prevent collision. If it comes it shall not be my fault, but I will resist, by lawful and respectful means, all encroachments on my legitimate command and the respect which is due it. I will abide your orders, sir, and await your interposition. If General Floyd desires to attach the command of the State volunteers (two regiments) now under Colonel Tompkins to his brigade, I will gladly consent to it, under your orders. Let it be done immediately, and leave me the independent command of my Legion. I beg for this, and prefer to take orders from you. My men will fare better, and our cause will be better served. The enemy have not crossed Gauley at all in any considerable force, {p.794} and have now entirely retired. I am ignorant of the recent movement. Three, or two, or one thousand men cannot be subsisted between Little Sewell and Gauley without great sacrifice. My regiments are reduced by measles 30 per cent. and the cavalry are ruined; nothing but hay, and no shoes.

With the highest respect,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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No. 13.]

HEADQUARTERS KANAWHA FORCES, August 19, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: I received last night yours of the 16th instant, in relation to the military propriety of transmitting from these headquarters, through you, orders touching your command. I have the honor to state that the military propriety of thus communicating orders affecting any part of the troops composing your Legion immediately under your command has never been questioned by me. I was informed that you had issued a general order to the officers of your command not to communicate information of any kind directly to me, but first through you only. This will necessarily result in requiring your officers to disobey the orders of your superior, should an occasion arise which in my opinion rendered it necessary for me to give an order directly or to demand a report to be made directly to me by any officer of your Legion. If such an order has been issued, you must see the necessity of its being immediately countermanded. Should troops be detached from your command, I am the judge of the propriety whether my orders should be transmitted through you or directly to the officer in command.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

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BIG SEWELL, VIRGINIA., August 19, 1861.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: I have received your note of this day, in reply to mine of the 16th instant, and regret that it disclosed some difference of understanding between us as to the relations of our respective commands, and some misapplication, I apprehend, of the military propriety even about which we agree. To make my views clear I will call to your mind the different forces which constituted my command when yours became united to it, and when, as senior in commission, you became superior. My command consisted, first, of my Legion; secondly, of the State volunteer force; and, thirdly, of the militia, under General Beckley, assigned by orders of the President and General Lee. The whole of that force is, and ever has been since assigned to me, “immediately under my command.” I am informed of no order, from any authority whatever, detaching any of these forces from my immediate or other command. But without detaching Colonel Richardson from my command, and while I was marching to join you, you directed an order to him, purporting to revoke a general order of mine, of which you were incorrectly informed, and while I was present, leading him, in obedience to your orders, and was at the head of my column at the time.

{p.795}

You say that you was informed that I had issued a general order to the officers of my command not to communicate information of any kind directly to you, but first through me only. Permit me, respectfully, to say that had you required me to inform you what general orders I had issued. I would have copied and sent to you the following General Orders, No. 82, the only one relating to the matter which I had issued, and which will assure you how erroneous was the information given you of its character, to wit:

Thus, you see, sir, that my order applied not only to my Legion, but to the entire brigade commanded by me, and that, so far from requiring my officers to disobey the orders of my superior, it expressly enjoins both obedience and respect, and prescribed only the proper formality to secure both to the command of my superior. And now, in respect to detaching portions of my command and removing them from my immediate orders, I refer you again to instructions to me from General Lee. In the same letter, of August 14, 1861 (the day of my general orders), in which he said, “as regards the command of your brigade, the military propriety of communicating through you all orders for its movement is so apparent, that 1 think no orders on the subject necessary,” he adds:

He also adds, in contrast or opposition to this:

Thus, sir, I am instructed to command my Legion as a distinct organization, subject to do service under the orders of a senior officer, communicated through me. It cannot be discontinued from my command except by orders of the President or by due course of military law. It cannot be brigaded separately or detached from my command, in whole or in part, by a senior only, for, if it may be detached in part, it may be in the whole, and a junior brigade might be dissolved by being detached, so as to merge it into the senior. Nor can it be mingled with your command, except to unite in the service, under your orders, passed through me, for it is a distinct organization. But as respects the State volunteer forces and the militia the case is otherwise. As yet there have been no orders from you to discontinue my command of them, but you may so order, or you may brigade them or detach them. In respect to these troops, I will cheerfully accede to either order and obey it promptly. But in respect to my Legion, sir, I must respect my sense of duty to maintain its command as my own, subject to your superior orders to do service. Its entirety will be maintained by me, and I will not consent to the whole or any part of it being detached. If the contrary is claimed as your province, I will judge of the propriety of appealing to the superiors of both you and myself in command. In the mean {p.796} time, and in the face of the enemy, I trust we may rationally adjust our relative commands, and harmoniously co-operate, by your detaching from my command all the forces except my Legion and leaving that in the category described by General Lee.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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SPECIAL ORDERS, No. -.}

CAMP WISE, VA., August 19, 1861.

Brig. Gen. Henry A. Wise will take up the line of march to-morrow at 730 a.m., and proceed with all the forces under his command in the direction of the Kanawha Valley, by way of the James River and Kanawha turnpike. He will place, for the march, his artillery next to his advanced guard of cavalry, and his horse in the rear of his column.

By order of Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, commanding, &c.:

WILLIAM E. PETERS, Assistant Adjutant-General, Floyd’s Brigade.

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HEADQUARTERS WISE’S DIVISION, Camp Arbuckle, Va., August 19, 1861.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding Forces, &c.:

SIR: I have received your note of orders for 7.30 o’clock to-morrow morning. The part relating to the cavalry will require Colonel Davis to be notified to fall back with his command in your advance, in order to comply with your order to proceed with my whole command and to place a portion of my cavalry in front and rear. Colonel Davis and Lieutenant-Colonel Croghan have been stationed, under your orders, where exactly, I do not know. Will you please have a messenger dispatched to Colonel Davis to fall back and meet me on the march, to form the order of march under your command? A portion of the cavalry of my command are at Meadow Bluff and I will order them up immediately. Am I to consider the detachment of artillery which you borrowed as included in your order in respect to my whole command? They have not yet been detached from my command, and were to be returned to me in a week. We are deficient in wagons. It will be difficult to take our ammunition or to move with all our baggage and tents. Can you assist us with wagons?

Very respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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No. 16.]

CAMP WISE, VA., August 19, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: General Floyd’s order of this date is hereby countermanded in so far as you will take up the line of march to-morrow at 9.30 a.m., instead of at 7.30 a.m., as specified in said order. Colonel Davis had orders from General Floyd yesterday to report to him at these headquarters, for the purpose of taking command of the cavalry here, with a view to its better organization. A copy of said order is herewith sent you. General Floyd was not aware until the receipt of your letter of {p.797} the absence of Colonel Davis from the command temporarily assigned him here. As requested, Colonel Davis will be ordered to fall back and meet you on your march. General Floyd will detach from your command all the forces not belonging to your Legion, hence the detachment of artillery at these headquarters is not included in his order in respect to your command.

As stated in a former communication to you, General Floyd is deficient in the means of transportation. If however, he ascertains tomorrow morning that he can spare any wagons, it will afford him very great pleasure to place them at your command.

By order of Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, commanding forces, &c.:

WILLIAM E. PETERS, Assistant Adjutant-General, Floyd’s Brigade.

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MANASSAS, August 19, 1861.

To the PRESIDENT:

Mr. PRESIDENT: On the 22d of July, just before Brigadier-General Holmes returned to Fredericksburg, he, General Beauregard, and myself agreed as to the expediency of erecting at Evansport a work capable of resisting a coup de main. This work, it was further agreed, General Holmes was to have constructed immediately. He selected for its armament five of the captured guns, the 30-pounder and two small Parrott rifles, and two 12-pounder howitzers, which I had sent to him a day or two after. I was much surprised yesterday to learn that the work had not been commenced. We think it of great importance; that its effect would be to prevent the turning that position on its right by the enemy. It will therefore be begun by us. The guns which General Holmes still has should be sent to the place, however, and for the thorough command of the Potomac three or four of the, large rifles, which it is understood have been made in Richmond, should be added, and a detachment from Fredericksburg might, I think, be advantageously employed in conjunction with ours.

While on this subject may I suggest that this frontier of the Potomac would better form one command than two? Colonel Wigfall has reported, and without other field officers. I was glad to find it, so, because it gives me a hope that you will believe that my Texan friend, R. A. Howard, is the fittest Texan living for military service. He served with me four years in Texas on Indian service. In that I formed the highest opinion of his military character-an opinion which I shared with his West Point associates of highest standing, such as Whiting, Bee, and E. K. Smith. He accompanied Bee in the recent campaign. In the battle I had an opportunity to observe him, and was delighted with his conduct and enthusiastic courage. Colonel Wigfall says that this appointment would be agreeable to him.

We hear of several officers as in Richmond who would be of great value here, Colonels Van Dorn and Walker among them. We require more brigade commanders. It seems to me that our whole strength is to be put forth. In this connection let me recommend as two of the best officers whose services we can command, G. W. Smith and Lovell. They are as fit to command divisions as any men in our service. Smith is a man of high ability, fit to command in chief. These two have not come forward, because, not belonging to seceded States, they didn’t know how officers would be received. Perhaps they have not taken the right course. At any rate they have always wanted to serve {p.798} us. They are now in Lexington, Ky. I venture to recommend, too, from the importance of his position, that our chief quartermaster have the provisional rank of colonel.

Most respectfully, your friend and obedient servant,

J. E. JOHNSTON.

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RICHMOND, VA., August 20, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON:

GENERAL: Frequent complaints have been made to me of improper food for the well and a want of care for the sick. I most respectfully invite your attention to both these subjects, and hope that abuses may be promptly corrected. Is it not practicable to construct bake-ovens at or near Manassas, that good bread may be supplied to the troops? The main complaint is of bad bread and of inattention to the sick. I have repelled grumblers, but the clamor has increased in specifications until I have deemed it proper to obtain the facts from you. Captains and colonels, instead of correcting evils by personal attention, seem to have been the sources of no small part of the impressions received and circulated. I have for some time designed to organize a medical board to examine the appointees, and hope soon to do so.

Your friend,

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

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BIG SEWELL, VA., August 20, 1861-8.15 a.m.

Capt. WILLIAM E. PETERS, Assistant Adjutant-General, &c., Floyd’s Brigade:

SIR: Please inform General Floyd that, owing to one of my infantry ammunition wagons breaking down, I fear delay in advancing at the hour ordered, but every means of transportation shall be exerted.

Respectfully,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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CAMP WISE, VA., August 20, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: I am instructed by General Floyd to say to you that he cannot spare you any wagons. He finds that he has not enough, by a good many, for the transportation of the equipments of his own people and their provisions.

By order of Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd:

WILLIAM E. PETERS, Assistant Adjutant. General, Floyd’s Brigade.

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No. 17.]

DEET’S, AT FOOT OF SUNDAY ROAD, VA., August 20, 1861.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

I hastened on in person to the front this morning. Found Lieutenant-Colonel Croghan reported in danger of being cut off by the advance on the Sunday and Hopping roads, and sent two companies of cavalry to re-enforce him and cover his retreat. The scouts came in immediately {p.799} afterwards from the Sunday and Hopping roads, reporting they were fired upon, and I heard three volleys, apparently from the Hopping road. Our scouts killed 2 on the Sunday road, and Lieutenant-Colonel Croghan had two encounters on the turnpike; the first about one and a half miles beyond Piggot’s, killing 2 and taking 2 prisoners of the enemy. The second was about 2 p.m., half mile this side of Hawk’s Nest, at Hamilton’s, losing 1 man of Captain Buchanan’s company, and 3 wounded. The latter are in a wagon, sent back to a surgeon. A surgeon, if possible, should be sent to the cavalry in front. Colonel Croghan has been met by about 580 of the enemy at Hawk’s Nest, and he was obliged to retire. He will report more in detail to you.

Having executed your special orders, I send him back to bring up the cavalry of my Legion in the rear. Several companies are there, refitting and recruiting men and horses exhausted and worn-out by excessive scouting. Several troops of your brigade are very much shattered, and I have ordered Colonel Croghan to take them to the rear to get horses and some grain. I will order the best of the cavalry to be detailed for an advance guard. I think the enemy will be in force tonight at Hawk’s Nest, and we ought to have a strong artillery and infantry force at Dogwood Gap and upon the Sunday and Hopping roads. The advance should be made to-night.

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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HEADQUARTERS, Valley Mountain, Va., August 21, 1861.

General HENRY A. WISE, Commanding Wise’s Legion, Camp, Sewell Mountain, Th.:

GENERAL: I have received your letter of the 18th instant, and, according to your request, have issued the accompanying special orders, of this date, placing the Twenty-second and Thirty-sixth Regiments of Virginia Volunteers subject to the assignment of the commanding general of the Army of the Kanawha, and confining your immediate command to that of the Wise Legion, as organized, by direction of the War Department.

It is proper, as well as necessary, for the commanding general to organize his troops in the field according to the exigencies of the service. It also becomes necessary to detach troops for special service from their appropriate brigades, and thus place them temporarily under other commanding officers. The rights of officers are not thereby violated, provided they are under their senior in rank, whose orders are always respected and obeyed in well-constituted armies. The necessities of war require the organization of the forces to be adapted to the service to be performed, and sometimes brigades and separate commands have to be remodeled accordingly. This must be done in accordance with the judgment of the commanding officer. The transmission of orders to troops through their immediate commanders is in accordance with usage and propriety. Still, there are occasions when this cannot be conformed to without detriment to the service. Obedience to all legal orders is nevertheless obligatory upon all officers and soldiers.

These remarks are not supposed to be necessary for your information, but to show why I have not considered orders on the subject necessary. Feeling assured of the patriotism and zeal of the officers and men composing the Army of the Kanawha, I have never apprehended any embarrassment {p.800} or interference in the execution of their respective duties believing they would make everything yield to the welfare of the republic.

I remain, with high esteem, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

[Inclosure.]

SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 243.}

HEADQUARTERS, Valley Mountain, W. Va., August 21, 1861.

I. The Twenty-second and Thirty-sixth Regiments Virginia Volunteers, under Colonels Tompkins and McCausland, will be formed into a distinct brigade, or be attached to other brigades of the Army of the Kanawha, as the commanding general of that army may determine.

II. The Wise Legion, as organized, under the directions of the Secretary of War, will be under the immediate command of General H. A. Wise.

III. The militia called into the service of the Confederate States, together with all the troops operating in the Kanawha Valley, will be subject to the orders and under the control of the commanding general of the Army of the Kanawha.

R. E. LEE, General, Commanding.

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No. 18.]

CARNIFIX FERRY, W. VA., August 22, 1861-10 p.m.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD:

SIR: Yesterday you left two pieces of artillery at Dogwood Gap, which have been ordered to this point this morning. These, added to my eight pieces, make ten under my command. Your verbal orders to me now are to have four pieces of artillery crossed over the Gauley this evening, with one of my regiments of infantry. Permit me to inquire whether you order four of my pieces in addition to your own? And will you please state in written orders the points you wish me to occupy with the remaining portions of my Legion.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General.

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CARNIFIX FERRY, W. VA., August 22, 1861.

HENRY A. WISE, Brigadier-General:

SIR: You will please send me four pieces of your artillery in addition to my own two; also one of your regiments (the strongest), to have crossed over the Gauley this evening. You will likewise please send me early to-morrow-say 7 a.m.-100 of your most efficient horse. With the remainder of the force under your command you will take such a position as will enable you to watch the movements of the enemy and to check any advance by them. I understand that the regiments commanded respectively by Colonels McCausland and Tompkins are on the march from the White Sulphur and are to-day near you. Should the force of your command, after making the above deductions, be deemed inefficient for the purpose of watching the enemy and checking {p.801} his advance, you will retain under your command the regiment commanded by Colonel Tompkins, and order the regiment of Colonel McCausland to join me as soon as practicable. I do not think that any serious apprehensions need be entertained of the advance of the enemy from Gauley Bridge. Should you be likewise thus persuaded, you will please send me the regiments of both Colonels McCausland and Tompkins. At all events you will keep a vigilant eye upon the movements of the enemy and keep me informed of the same.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

P. S.-Since the above was written I have had a conversation with Colonel Heth, which induces me to recall my request for one of your regiments. I will try and make good my position with my own force and your guns. In lieu of the regiment I must beg of you to send me early to-morrow 100 horse.

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ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE, Richmond, August 22, 1861.

General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Commanding Army of Potomac, Manassas, Va.:

GENERAL: In transmitting the inclosed copy of a letter this day sent to General Holmes on the subject of a battery at Evansport, I am instructed by the Secretary of War to state that it is of the first importance that a competent engineer officer should be sent to locate the work and superintend its construction. He therefore desires that you will furnish such officer from your command, and, if practicable, detail Captain Stevens, of the Corps of Engineers, for that duty.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector GENERAL

[Inclosure.]

ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE, Richmond, August 22, 1861.

General T. H. HOLMES, Commanding Fredericksburg, Va.:

GENERAL: In answer to your several communications on the subject of the establishment of a battery at Evansport, I am instructed to inform you that it was intended when you were last here that the erection of a battery at Gray’s Point, on the Rappahannock, should be suspended, with the understanding that you would direct your attention to batteries on the Potomac, the point above your position being preferred to that of Mathias Point, if equally effective, because of the advantage it possesses of being in the direction of our forces at Manassas. You will now, therefore, cause to be erected, with as little delay as practicable, the battery at Evansport, as suggested by you. General Johnston, to whom a copy of this communication will be sent, will be instructed to furnish a competent engineer officer from his command for the purpose of locating the work and superintending its construction. General Johnston reports that you had arranged with him when at Manassas to have the work constructed at Evansport immediately on your return, {p.802} and that you selected for its armament five of the captured guns, viz, the 32-pounder and two small Parrott rifles and two 12-pounder howitzers, which he had sent to you a day or two after your interview with him. Besides these guns, Major Anderson, of the Tredegar Works, has been instructed to send you a rifled columbiad for the same battery. It is presumed these guns will be a sufficient armament for the battery in question. If how ever, the rifled columbiad should not be made available at Evansport, it is conceived it might be used with effect at the mouth of Aquia Creek.

Very respectfully, yours, &c.,

S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General.

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CAMP GAULEY, August 23, 1861.

Hon. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War:

SIR: I have been enabled, after some days’ march, to cross the Gauley River at a point near the village of Summersville, in the county of Nicholas, which we now command. It has been heretofore held by a strong force of the enemy, and constituted an important link in their chain of communications and defenses between the Kanawha River and the forces in the northeast, under Rosecrans. I learned that all the forces from this point had been sent to the mouth of Gauley, with a confident expectation of an attack from us there. Immediately upon hearing this I turned suddenly in the night, and by a forced march, and succeeded in crossing the Gauley River 25 miles above its mouth and in taking possession of this pass and position, which effectually cuts the enemy’s line of communication and enables us, when sufficiently strong, either to attack General Cox in his flank or rear, on the Kanawha River, or to advance against the flank of General Rosecrans, should General Lee so direct.

If three good regiments could be sent to me by way of the Kanawha turnpike to replace the Legion of General Wise, which can be used to better advantage by General Lee, I think the entire valley of Kanawha can be speedily reoccupied and permanently held. I cannot too strongly enforce upon you the importance of this measure, and the sooner it is done the better. Newbern and Dublin Depot, on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, would be the best point to start from, and their march to Kanawha Valley would be through Giles, Mercer, Raleigh, and Fayette, by a good turnpike road.

The militia west of Kanawha River are embodied, and I hope in a few days to render General Cox’s position untenable.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier-General, C. S. Army.

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No. 20.]

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE KANAWHA, Camp Gauley, Va., August 24, 1861.

Brig. Gen. HENRY A. WISE:

SIR: I have good reason to believe that the enemy have abandoned all idea of crossing the Gauley River in force. If they have any thought of an attack upon us it must be against all at this point, and this I greatly doubt. But I am fully able to defend myself against the combined forces of General Cox and Colonel Tyler both together, and court {p.803} their assault. I learn that some silly reports are in circulation among the teamsters and camp followers, to the effect that I am in danger of being surrounded and cut up. I hope you will take pains to have this silly and absurd notion exploded, if, indeed, it has made any progress on that side of the river. Such an idea, however absurd, might have a tendency to demoralize the troops. May I ask you to send over the mail, with all dispatches. I have ordered a strong scouting party of my cavalry, still on the left bank of the river, to proceed to Gauley Mountain, and ascertain the position of the enemy, if indeed he is still on that side. I shall be able to cross with the artillery to-morrow.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN B. FLOYD, Brigadier General, Commanding the Army of the Kanawha.

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CAMP AT DOGWOOD GAP, NEAR SUNDAY ROAD, August 24, 1861-8.30 p.m.

Brig. Gen. JOHN B. FLOYD, Commanding, &c.:

SIR: Your messenger met me within the hour, returning from a personal view of the enemy. I could get no reliable information from scouts or citizens, and determined to go in person to the Gauley Mountain and see their camp for myself. I passed our camping ground and rose the gorge on the other side of Liken’s Mill, guided by Westlake. He supposed they were encamped in and about a school-house on the hill. I got to the turn of the ascent with a small detachment of cavalry and halted-dismounted, with Colonel Davis and Adjutant Tabb, and went directly up the hill into their camp of the night before, at the school-house. At first it appeared as if evacuated, but going farther and observing ahead more closely, we discovered the smoke of their camp beyond, about 400 yards distant. We returned a short distance to a mound, which failed to command a view, and I then sent Colonel Davis and Adjutant Tabb back, who got a pretty close sight of their sentinels. The camp could not be seen fairly without exposing our party, but the immediate neighbors reported them to be about 700 strong, though but two companies had occupied the school-house last evening. Mrs. Wood, Westlake’s daughter, and an intelligent servant, it is said, escaped from their camp last evening, and report that they have moved over to Rich Creek. The latter is the only indication of an intent to attack you. To watch that movement I detailed the returning scouts from Captain Tyree’s company, as it passed here to-day. I also detailed Captain Bailey and same 20 men and scouts to cross Bowyer’s Ferry and scout that and Miller’s Ferry to Fayetteville turnpike down to Montgomery’s Ferry, and to report upon the practicability of mounting a 6-pounder on the cliffs on the south side of New River, to give a plunging shot into their camp and barricades at Gauley; and, finally, to descend into their rear on the south side of the valley of the Kanawha, by the Loop, or Paint Creek, or Coal River. This to divert them from an attack upon you. I trust you will approve these orders. I have ordered all my available and shod cavalry to guard as low down as Liken’s Mill, and shall move a battalion of infantry to the same point, and gradually step up towards the enemy. To-morrow I will order a daring scout of the Rich Creek road. Colonel Tompkins must before this have reached Carnifix with two regiments, less than 800 men. They have been reduced less than one-half by desertion and {p.804} measles. I sent Captain Corns’ cavalry yesterday and Captain Beckett’s to-day and left three p