No. 256.
COLONEL: Your communication dated Selma, October 23, was received by me on the 12th instant. In answer to inquiries which it contained, and for the information of the lieutenant-general commanding, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt on the 1st of October ultimo, of copy of General Orders, No. 118, from department headquarters, dated September 24, 1864, defining the territorial limits of the District of North Alabama and assigning me to command of the same. Since the receipt of this order, my reports and other official communications have been forwarded to department headquarters with as much promptness and regularity as circumstances would allow. The presence of the Army of Tennessee in my district, and the necessity which has existed since its arrival for me to communicate and co-operate with General Hood, has prevented my communicating with department headquarters as frequently as I could have desired. The condition of affairs in the extreme northeastern portion of my district, and the nature of information recently received from General Hood, have rendered it necessary that the whole of my available force should be concentrated at a point somewhat remote from the present terminus of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and other established means of communicating with department headquarters. The following statements will explain more fully the present condition of my command:
About the first of the present month I was directed by General Hood to destroy that part of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad between Decatur and Stevenson. To do this it became necessary for me to move a portion of my troops from Cherokee and vicinity. I had already received orders from General Beauregard to rebuild the railroad from Cherokee to Tuscumbia, and one regiment of my command had been employed on this work before General Hood arrived in the district.
On the 5th instant I was again directed by General Hood to destroy the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to Stevenson, and the Nashville and Chattanooga road from Stevenson to Murfreesborough, Tenn. To carry out these instructions I have been compelled to withdraw such of my troops as were stationed in the vicinity of Corinth and at Grand Junction and transfer them to the new field of operations, which is being done as rapidly as possible, in view of the great extent of territory over which they had been distributed.
I have already two regiments and a battalion beyond Decatur watching the movements of a considerable force of the enemy which appeared at Paint Rock Station, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, about the 5th instant, my object being to hold them in check until the remainder of my troops can be brought up. As soon as this is done I shall endeavor to drive this force from the line of the railroad and complete its destruction, as directed by General Hood. From the best information I can obtain the enemy is endeavoring to hold the road from Paint Rock to Stevenson, a distance of about fifty miles, with a force made up of the troops recently employed to garrison Decatur, Huntsville, Cowan's Station, and Decherd, and a small force from Chattanooga. There are also at least five gun-boats on the river above Decatur. From these, however, I anticipate but little inconvenience I succeeded on the morning of the 12th instant, after an engagement of less than an hour, in driving back three gun-boats that appeared at Decatur. I had with me at the time only a section of smooth-bore six-pounder guns and a few sharpshooters. I shall probably be able to employ guns of heavier caliber and longer range in case another opportunity for engaging them occurs.
Two engines and twenty-eight freight-cars were captured by my troops on the 2d instant near Huntsville. These are now running between Huntsville, Athens, and Decatur. The repairs on the road between Cherokee and Decatur are being pushed forward as rapidly as possible, and by the time they are completed I hope to have succeeded in getting the captured engines across the river. Boats suitable for this purpose are now being constructed. General Hood expects to have the road from near Nashville to Pulaski in running order very soon, and every effort will be made by me to have the road from Cherokee to Decatur put in order at once. The railroad iron referred to in your communication as being needed for the repairing of one of the roads near Meridian, cannot now be procured between Tuscumbia and Decatur. It can be taken, however, from the road east of Huntsville, provided the necessity of which you speak still exists. A considerable time must elapse, though, before the iron can be sent from Decatur.
My present purpose is to move from Huntsville on the 20th instant with my whole available force (which, leaving out one regiment to be left at Decatur, is about 1,500 men) on Murfreesborough by the way of Stevenson. In the event of my penetrating as far as Murfreesborough my command will, I presume, be deemed by General Hood as under his orders and subject to his control. I shall endeavor, however, to keep the lieutenant-general commanding advised of my movements, &c.
Before concluding I desire to call the attention of the department commander to certain matters touching the condition of affairs in portions of my district. I regret to state that recent developments have established the fact of the existence of a large amount of disaffection and disloyalty in that portion of the district lying north of the Tennessee River and recently in the possession of the enemy. This feeling has manifested itself since the removal of General Hood's army in acts of violence against the persons and property of loyal citizens. Murders, robberies, and arson have been of frequent occurrence in various parts of the district, and I am convinced that the interests of our cause and the safety of the loyal people of the district demand the immediate adoption of vigorous measures toward such persons as may engage in or connive at the commission of outrages of the kind above alluded to. The removal of my troops in the direction already indicated will, it is feared, be taken advantage of by disloyal persons, and result in loss of life and property to such as have been heretofore protected by the presence of an armed force. It is my purpose before going to Huntsville to make a few examples, which, I trust, will have a salutary effect; and I would urge upon the lieutenant-general commanding the adoption of such measures as may suggest themselves to him as conducive to the end in view. The organization of the reserves in the counties north of the Tennessee River, and increased vigilance and energy on the part of conscript officers and officers in charge of “supporting force," cannot be too strongly urged. You may feel assured that I shall omit no effort to secure an efficient co-operation on the part of my command with the Army of Tennessee. I have established and will continue to keep up regular communication with General Hood's army by means of couriers, though the necessity of doing so has occasioned me serious inconvenience, in reducing the available strength of my command. I hope soon to establish telegraphic communication with the army by the way of Decatur and Athens.
In view of the imperfect condition of the mail arrangements on the lines of railroad between Cherokee and Meridian, I would suggest the propriety of sending special messengers with dispatches, &c., or the adoption of such other measures as will secure their prompt transmission.
I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Assistant A djutant-General.
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