WAR DEPARTMENT, Montgomery, March 7, 1861.
Brig. Gen. BRAXTON BRAGG,
Provisional Army, C. S. A., Comdg. Troops near Pensacola, Fla.:
SIR: By the inclosed order you will perceive that you have
been signed to the command of the troops at and near Pensacola, Fla. It is of
the greatest importance that the Government here should be accurately informed
of the state of affairs in that quarter. The Secretary of War, therefore,
desires that you will as soon as possible forward to this office a
comprehensive report of whatever may come under your observation, especially in
regard to affairs immediately connected with Fort Pickens. You will also be
pleased to make reports to this Department as often as it may be convenient for
you to do so. Very little information in respect to the nature of the service
and its requirements at the station to which you have been assigned to command
has reached this Government. The Department is anxious to know accurately the
condition of things there and the necessities of the service, so that it can
act with full intelligence, which is so much wanting at present. A return of
your command is required.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
GEO. DEAS,
Acting Adjutant-General.
SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 1 (Serial No.
1), p. 448; Don Carlos Seitz, Braxton Bragg, General of the Confederacy,
p. 31
