BRISTOL, November 11, 1861.
Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN,
Secretary of War:
I have just returned from the burned bridge. We have at the
next bridge, 10 miles beyond, about 250 men, under Captain McClellan. They have
two cannon, which they found on the cars, and which were given to them by
General Charles Clark, who stopped until this morning with them. The camp of
the enemy is at N. G. Taylor's, 5 miles distant, with about 400 men. Another
camp, at Elizabethtown, 2 miles farther, is said to contain 500 men. The two
may be confounded. There is no doubt but that re-enforcements are every moment
reaching them from Watauga County, North Carolina, and Johnson, Carter, and
Washington Counties, Tennessee. These counties can furnish about 2,000 Lincolnites,
and each fresh occasion emboldens them. They threaten to burn Watauga Bridge
to-night. Should they be successful, it will bring forward hundreds now quiet.
It is all-important they should be disposed of before they unite their
different forces, now ranging from 50 to 500. A fight occurred last night
between 22 of our scouts and the main camp of the enemy. We captured 2, killed
9, and lost none. I have given orders for all trains to give way to the troop
trains now coming forward. They will reach here to-morrow morning. Can I do
anything for you?
RO. L. OWEN,
President Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A
Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,
Series I, Volume 4 (Serial No. 4), p. 235-6
