HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF
NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
January 25, 1865.
To arm and equip an additional force of cavalry there is
need of carbines, revolvers, pistols, saddles, and other accouterments of
mounted men. Arms and equipments of the kind desired are believed to be held by
citizens in sufficient numbers to supply our wants. Many keep them as trophies,
and some with the expectation of using them in their own defense. But it should
be remembered that arms are now required for use, and that they cannot be made
so effectual for the defense of the country in any way as in the hands of
organized troops. They are needed to enable our cavalry to cope with the
well-armed and equipped cavalry of the enemy, not only in the general service,
but in resisting those predatory expeditions which have inflicted so much loss
upon the people of the interior. To the patriotic I need make no other appeal
than the wants of the service; but I beg to remind those who are reluctant to
part with the arms and equipments in their possession that by keeping them they
diminish the ability of the army to defend their property, without themselves
receiving any benefit from them. I therefore urge all persons not in the
service to deliver promptly to some of the officers designated below such arms
and equipments (especially those suitable for cavalry) as they may have, and to
report to those officers the names of such persons as neglect to surrender
those in their possession. Every citizen who prevents a carbine or pistol from
remaining unused will render a service to his country. Those who think to
retain arms for their own defense should remember that if the army cannot
protect them, the arms will be of little use.
While no valid title can be acquired to public arms and
equipments except from the Government, it is reported that many persons have
ignorantly purchased them from private parties. A fair compensation will, therefore,
be made to all who deliver such arms and equipments to any ordnance officers,
officer commanding at a post, officers and agents of the Quartermaster and
Commissary Departments at any station, or officers in the enrolling service or
connected with the nitre and mining bureau. All these officers are requested,
and those connected with this army are directed, to receive and receipt for all
arms and equipments, whatever their condition, and forward the same, with a
duplicate receipt, to the Ordnance Department at Richmond, and report their
proceedings to these headquarters. The persons holding the receipt will be
compensated upon presenting it to the ordnance bureau.
While it is hoped that no one will disregard this appeal,
all officers connected with the Army are required, and all others are
requested, to take possession of any public arms and equipments they may find
in the hands of persons unwilling to surrender them to the service of the
country, and to give receipts therefor. A reasonable allowance for their
expenses and trouble will be made to such patriotic citizens as will collect
and deliver to any of the officers above designated such arms and equipments as
they may find in the hands of persons not in the service, or who will report
the same to those officers. A prompt compliance with this call will greatly
promote the efficiency and strength of the Army, particularly of the cavalry,
and render it better able to protect the homes and property of the people from
outrage.
R. E. LEE,
General.
SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of
Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 350-1
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