HEAD-QUARTERS, February
25, 1865.
GENERAL, — I have received your letters of the 23d
and 24th insts. I fear I did not entirely comprehend your views expressed in
your letter
of the 14th. I think, however, my reply meets your supposition, in the
event of concentration by the enemy. I shall in that case unite all the forces
possible. I think you are misinformed as to the number of men in Lynchburg. At
my last call upon General Colston, commissary there, he said he had not one
hundred men, and they were unarmed. I am very glad to hear that General Ewell
can get force enough from Richmond to man the lines north of James River. I
know him to be a brave old soldier, ready to attempt anything, but I do not
know where he will find the men. Please see him and get a definite statement,
for if that can be done it will lighten our labor considerably. You cannot
afford to keep your wagons by you. They will have to be kept collecting
provisions, forage, etc., or you will starve. I am making great efforts to
gather supplies, and send you some documents which will show what the
commissary-general is doing in addition to the operations of the officers of
his department. It will be a grievous thing to be obliged to abandon our
position, and I hope the necessity will never arise, but it would be more
grievous to lose our army. I am fully alive to the benefits of procuring gold,
but fear it cannot be obtained in the way you suggest; still, I will try. I am
much gratified by the earnestness and zeal you display in our operations; and
were our whole population animated by the same spirit, we should be invincible.
The last reports from S. C. indicated that Sherman was turning eastward. It may
be to reach the Pedee in search of supplies.
Very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE,
General.
GENERAL LONGSTREET,
Commanding, etc.
SOURCE: James Longstreet, From Manassas to
Appomattox, p. 645-6
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