Gen. Longstreet writes that it will be well to winter in
East Tennessee (Rogersville), unless there should be a pressing necessity for
him elsewhere. But his corps ought to be at least 20,000. He says provisions
may be got in that section; and if they be collected, the enemy may be forced
to leave.
The Secretary of the Navy has requested the Secretary of War
to open the obstructions at Drewry's Bluff, so that the iron-clads, Richmond
and Fredericksburg, may pass out. This he deems necessary for the defense of
Richmond, as our iron-clads may prevent the enemy from coming up the river and
landing near the city.
The Lynchburg Virginian has come out for a dictator,
and names Gen. Lee.
The Raleigh (N. C.) Progress says we must have peace
on any terms, or starvation. I think we can put some 200,000 additional men in
the field next year, and they can be fed also.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's
Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p.
123
