America Remembers Robert E. Lee

In a September 17, 1863, letter to the War Department, Gen. William Sherman wrote:

"The United States has the right, and ... the ... power, to penetrate to every part of the national domain. We will remove and destroy every obstacle — if need be, take every life, every acre of land, every particle of property, everything that to us seems proper."

President Lincoln liked Sherman's letter so much that he declared that it should be published.

On June 21, 1864, before his bloody March to the Sea, Sherman wrote to the secretary of war:

"There is a class of people [in the South] — men, women, and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order."

How would U.N. war crimes investigators react if Slobodan Milosevic had made this comment about ethnic Albanians?

The three gentlemen from whom I have quoted - Early, Imboden, and Slingluff, - refer to the humane manner in which General Lee conducted his campaign in Pennsylvania in 1863, and claim that no wanton destruction of private property was made. This is freely admitted. With the exception of the railroad buildings in Chambersburg, and one or two buildings on the field of Gettysburg, no houses or barns were destroyed. Private property was taken for the use of the army, but, except in a few cases by stragglers, the regulations of seizure laid down by General Lee in general orders No. 72, and issued specially for the Pennsylvania campaign, were strictly observed.

On June 25, Jubal Early's division passed through Cashtown Gap on their way to Gettysburg. Located there was an iron smelter belonging to U.S. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Early ordered the smelter destroyed and the supplies siezed. In the process, Early's men also looted the homes of the workers employed at the smelter. This is detailed in "Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage" by Noah Andre Trudeau, pp. 82-83 and the source is Jubal Early's own papers at the Library of Congress. So I guess my question is did this act just slip Jubal Early's mind? Or maybe he thought it just didn't count? Or maybe he was lying in your account?

Union commanders weren't very effective at curbing looting, burning, etc.

Apparently neither were the confederate commanders.

If you read back, I did not criticize your side. You will see that I took objection to your misdirections, sophistry, use of logical fallacies, and peter powder puffing of historical accounts that you use to purposefully misrepresent history, while maintaining the "airs" of a pensive intellectual.

Well, that was before, and now you are resorting to personal attacks and sectional stereotypes..........?

Your fuse is too short these days.

In his memoirs Sherman boasted that his army destroyed more than $100 million in private property and carried home $20 million more during his "march to the sea."

Actually I think you are confused. You are misquoting from his official report and not his memoirs. His memoirs contain no dollar figures while his official report states, "...we have also consumed the corn and fodder [for] thirty miles on either side of a line from Atlanta to Savannah, as also the sweet potatoes, cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry, and...more than 10,000 horses and mules, as well as countless...slaves. I estimate the damage done at $100,000,000, of which $20,000,000 has inured to our advantage, and the remainder to simple waste and destruction." So your claim is wrong. Sherman is talking about total monetary damage to things like railroads, gins, industrial sites, livestock, food and supplies. Of that about a fifth were used to the advantage of the army in the form of horses, mules, food and supplies, and the remained was destroyed to keep it from aiding the confederate military effort. Sherman carried home nothing. In fact, it is well documented that he had excess wagons burned rather than allow them to tie up his column. He and his men had nothing to carry loot away in.

"So anyone in the South should have remained in involuntary servitude to the Union?"

Well, there were already plenty of people in "involuntary servitude" in the South. Not the theoretical type - but the type where you get lashed and your family gets ripped apart. But I digress. I would deny that the Louisianna Purchase and the Adams-Onis Treaty and similar land acquisitions were intended to only benefit the South. They were obviously intended to benefit the entire nation. The South, however, sought to deny the rest of the Country of the benefit of those transactions. When you enter into a joint venture and accept the benefits of the joint venture, you cannot unilateraly terminate the joint venture and confiscate the property of the joint venture. And yes, I believe that when the States of Florida, Arkansas and Lousianna were acquired from France and Spain by the federal government with federal money and then granted Statehood by the federal government, I do not think the residents of such areas had any expectation that they could secede. By the way, did blacks, women or poor/non-land owning whites all get to vote on whether to secede? Do you contend that a majority of the adult population of the South (including blacks and women)supported secession?

For the battle of Atlanta, 10,000 soldiers and civilians.

Ten thousand total causalties? That would place it well behind the casualty count for Antietam and Gettysburg and Shiloh. I haven't seen anything that would indicated 10,000 dead at Atlanta. What's your point? Are you claiming that there were thousands of civilians killed at Atlanta? Where is your evidence for that? Not even Fellman claims that, and he's about as hard on Sherman as any biographer is.

The claim that was made was that secession was debated at the Hartford convention.

On the contrary, the claim was made in reply 245 that delegates were sent to Washington to discuss secession as well as the amendments laid out in the Hartford Declaration. Some delegates did come to the convention wanting to discuss secession, but all accounts indicate that they were a small minority and that their proposal was voted down very early on.

Thaddeus Stevens' iron mill was a legitimate military target as were any supplies in it. As far as the looting of mill worker homes, if it occurred as you say it did, it shouldn't have happened. I gather such looting was not widespread, unlike the looting and burning by Northern troops in the South that I've been documenting in these posts to you.

Here are some more instances of the behavior of Northern soldiers:

Major General Gillmore (Union) to General Hatch (Union), South Carolina, Mar. 1, 1865: "I hear from all sides very discouraging accounts of the state of affairs in Charleston; that no restraint is put upon the soldiers; that they pilfer and rob houses at pleasure; that large quantities of valuable furniture, pictures, statuary, mirrors, &c., have mysteriously disappeared ..."

General Howard (Union), Brightsville, SC, to General Logan (Union), Mar. 7, 1865: "General Blair reports that every house in his line of march to-day was pillaged, trunks broken open, jewelry, silver, &c., taken."

General Logan (Union) to General Howard (Union), January 7 - March 31, 1865 report: "In accordance with your Field Order, Numbers 29, I moved the corps from McPhersonville to Hickory Hill, breaking camp at 7 a.m. Before the rear of my column passed through McPhersonville I regret to inform you that the village was in flames. This was doubtlessly induced by the desertion of their houses by the entire population, for on our entrance into the village not a human being was to be found."

General Howard (Union), Field Orders No. 175, November 22, 1864: "The crime of robbery and arson have become frequent throughout this army."

Your turn.

Explain to me how, by seceding, South Carolina expected to reap wonderful benefits of the Louisiana Purchase? That's some fantasy you've built.

And explain to me how South Carolina was going to "deny the rest of the Country [I assume you meant the states remaining united] of the benefits of the Purchase. Were they going to send a massive army out there and keep everyone else off?

Woo-Hoo... And tell me again about the perpetual motion machine you've invented...?

The three gentlemen from whom I have quoted - Early, Imboden, and Slingluff, - refer to the humane manner in which General Lee conducted his campaign in Pennsylvania in 1863, and claim that no wanton destruction of private property was made. This is freely admitted. With the exception of the railroad buildings in Chambersburg, and one or two buildings on the field of Gettysburg, no houses or barns were destroyed.

Your quote. Only a couple of railroad buildings and a house and barn or two. They apparently lied.

I agree that the case can be made that the Stevens smelter was a legitimate military target. But so was most of the destruction done in Georgia. One can also make the case that VMI was a legitmate military target since it trained officers for the confederate army. But Chambersburg was not, and VMI was used as an excuse to torch that.

I gather such looting was not widespread, unlike the looting and burning by Northern troops in the South that I've been documenting in these posts to you.

On the contrary, as Trudeau and Sears document the looting was far more widespread than has been previously admitted.

Back at you.

On the contrary, the claim was made in reply 245 that delegates were sent to Washington to discuss secession as well as the amendments laid out in the Hartford Declaration.

And that is true.

Some delegates did come to the convention wanting to discuss secession, but all accounts indicate that they were a small minority and that their proposal was voted down very early on.

And that is NOT true.

Despite the deaths of several of the hardliners before the Convention convened (and the Arkansas Mafia wasn't even around!), they were still more than a "small minority," and it's easy to find accounts of the surprise at the moderate nature of the Declaration----even though it DOES say that drastic measures would be necessary if the demands weren't met.

Besides, senators and representatives made comments about the need to secede based on the Louisiana Purchase, etc., and it was openly discussed in some debates of the time.

I agree that the case can be made that the Stevens smelter was a legitimate military target. But so was most of the destruction done in Georgia.

I sincerely doubt that. Mills, industry, and rails would have been legitimate targets, but the widespread pillaging and burning of private houses by Northern troops that I have been documenting was not. I notice that you've not expressed any regret over such outrages. Do you not feel that what they did was wrong?

Let's continue with more reports of barbarity by Northern troops.

General Clinton Fisk (Union) to Major General Dodge (Union), Macon, Missouri, Mar. 31, 1865: “In the spring and summer of 1864 one Truman, a detective, was sent into my district by General Rosecrans, with orders to do as Captain Meredith has done. Truman killed several citizens, burned houses, and sequestered much property. He was arrested, imprisoned, tried by military commission, found guilty of murder, arson, and larceny, and sentenced to be hung. He is now at large. Most of the witnesses and informants against Truman have been murdered and burned out by parties as yet unknown.”

CSA Gen. Beauregard to Union Gen. Gillmore, July 4, 1863: “My present object … is … to acquaint you formally that more than one of the large plantations thus visited and ravaged were otherwise and further pillaged, and their private dwellings, warehouses, and other buildings wantonly consumed by the torch. All this, be it observed, rendered necessary by no military exigency; that is, with no possible view to the destruction of that which was being used for military purposes, either of offense or defense, or in near vicinage to batteries or works occupied by your adversary, or which, if left standing, could endanger or in any military way affect the safety of your forces or obstruct your operations, either present or future, and, finally, the owners of which were men not even bearing arms in this war.”

A day or two later, another expedition burned about two-thirds of the village of Bluffton, a summer resort of the planters of the sea-coast of South Carolina, and undefended and indefensible place. The best houses were selected for destruction, and for the act no possible provocation may be truthfully alleged.

Late yet, the 11th of June, the village of Darien, in the State of Georgia, was laid waste by your soldiers, and every building in it but one church and three small houses burned to the ground; there, as at Bluffton, no defense having been made, or any act of provocation previously committed, either by the owners of the devastated place or by the soldiery of the Confederate States there or in any part of this department.

Again, as far back as the last of March, when evacuating Jacksonville, in East Florida, your troops set on fire and destroyed the larger part of that town, including several churches, not, assuredly, to cover their embarkation, but merely as a measure of vindictive and illegitimate hostility.

I've been to Darien and Bluffton. Nice places.

[NJ Neocon #438] OH! RIGHT! THAT is whay Beauregard attacked Sumter!

There was no food shortage. Subsistence provisions were supplied on a regular basis by Mr. McSweeney, a Charleston merchant, under an existing contract until this was terminated on April 7, 1861. Supplies were cut off after South Carolina learned of the invasion force having left New York.

CONFEDERATE CORRESPONDENCE

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HEADQUARTERS QUARTERMASTER’S DEPARTMENT,

Charleston, January 19, 1861. Quartermaster- General:

You are ordered to procure and send down with the mails for Fort Sumter to-morrow a sufficient quantity of fresh meat and vegetables to last the garrison of Fort Sumter for forty-eight hours, and inform Major Anderson that you will purchase and take down every day such provisions from the city market as he may indicate.

D.F. JAMISON.

[Inclosure.l

HEADQUARTERS OF THE PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S.,
Charleston, S. C., April 7, 1861.

Maj. ROBERT ANDERSON,
Commanding at Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor S. C.:

Sir:

In compliance with orders from the Confederate Government at Montgomery, I have the honor to inform you that, in consequence of the delays and apparent vacillations of the United States Government at Washington relative to the evacuation of Fort Sumter, no further communications for the purposes of supply with this city from the fort and with the fort from this city will be permitted from and after this day. The mails, however, will continue to be transmitted as heretofore, until further instructions from the Confederate Government.

I remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G.T. BEAUREGARD,
Brigadier- General, Commanding..

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CHARLESTON, April 8, 1861.

Hon. L. P. WALKER:

Anderson’s provisions stopped yesterday. No answer from him. I am calling out balance of contingent troops.

G.T. BEAUREGARD.

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O.R. Series 1, Vol. 1, Part 1, page 291

APRIL 8, 1861.

"I am directed by the President of the United States to notify you to expect an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, or in case of an attack upon the fort."

The above was communicated to us on the evening of April 8 by Robert S. Chew, esq., of the State Department in Washington, and Captain Talbot stated that it was from the President of the United States, as did Mr. Chew, and was delivered to him on the 6th instant at Washington, and this was read in their presence and admitted.

F. W. PICKENS.

G. T. BEAUREGARD.

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O.R. Series 1, Vol. 1, Part 1, page 292

O.R. Series 1, Vol. 1, Part 1, page 293

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,

Headquarters, April 9, 1861.

Honorable Mr. WALKER, Secretary of War:

SIR: At the request of General Beauregard I inclose the within. I took possession of the mails this morning from Sumter, and retained the packages marked "official." These are all sent you. The private letters are all sent, as directed, to their owners. I did this because I consider a state of war is now inaugurated by the authorities at Washington, and all information of a public nature was necessary to us. The mails and all intercourse of any kind with Sumter are now forbidden, and I immediately refused Captain Talbot any interview with Major Anderson, and also his request to be restored to his command in the fort. I called in General Beauregard, and made Captain Talbot and Mr. Chew repeat in his presence what they had said and what the former desired as to Sumter, and General Beauregard entirely and immediately concurred.

You will see by these letters of Major Anderson how it is intended to supply the fort; but by God's providence we will, I trust, be prepared for them; and if they approach with war vessels also, I think you will hear of as bloody a fight as ever occurred. We now have three thousand seven hundred men at the different posts and batteries, and will have by to-morrow three thousand more, which I have called down. From my calculation, I think they will have about two thousand six hundred, and will attempt to land in launch-boats with 24 and 12 pounders, and it will probably be on the lower end of Morris Island, next the light-house. If so, we will have a fine rifle regiment to give them a cordial welcome from behind sand hills (that are natural fortifications), and two Dahlgren guns will be right on them, besides four 24-pounders in battery. I have four hundred fine Enfield rifles that have been practiced at nine hundred yards, and on that island, altogether, we have now one thousand nine hundred and fifty men, and are increasing it to-day.

There has just arrived on the bar a fine rifled cannon from Liverpool, of the latest maker (Blakely gun), an improvement upon Armstrong, of steel rolls or coils, with an elevation of seven and one-half degrees to a mile. It throws a shell or twelve-pound shot with the accuracy of a dueling-pistol, and only one and one-half pounds of powder. Such, they write me, is this gun, and I hope to have it in position to-night. We expect the attack about 6 o'clock in the morning, on account of the tide.

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O.R. Series 1, Vol. 1, Part 1, page 292

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,

Headquarters, April 9, 1861.

To the PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES:

MY DEAR SIR: I send by the bearer important dispatches to the Secretary of War, and beg to call your immediate attention to them. The bearer is Colonel Hayne, an aide of mine, and will return immediately to me. If you have anything particular to General Beauregard or myself, you can trust it to him, and he will bring it back immediately. Since I inclosed the dispatch to the Secretary of War Major Anderson has written a polite note to General Beauregard, requesting that the letters taken from the mail might be returned, as he had been notified that his mails would be stopped entirely. The general returned for answer that the private letters had been sent to their destination, but the official letters were sent to the Confederate Government, because rumors, well established, indicated that Mr. Fox had violated his faith to me in visiting the fort, under the guarantee of Captain Hartstene, who went with him. The pledge was that he visited Major Anderson by authority, for pacific purposes entirely. You see that the present scheme for supplying the fort is Mr. Fox's. It is thought that the attempt will be made to-night, and we have doubled our steamboats on the harbor and bar.

Since I wrote to the War Department we have increased the forces on Morris Island to two thousand one hundred men, and ten companies of fine men arrive to-night, in the next train, of eight hundred men, and two more regiments arrive to-morrow. We hope to have about six thousand men there on the harbor batteries and posts. I trust we are ready, and if they come we will give them a cordial reception, such as will ring through this country, I think. I hope we are not mistaken; but, at any rate, we will try and do our duty.

With great esteem, yours, very truly,

F. W. PICKENS.

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OFFICIAL RECORDS: Series 1, vol 1, Part 1, page 368

APRIL 3, 1861.

Honorable WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State:

DEAR SIR: We expect to touch at Key West, and will be able to set things in order there and give the first check to the secession movement by firmly establishing the authority of the United States in that most ungrateful island and city. Thence we propose to send dispatches under cover to you. The officers will write to their friends,

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OFFICIAL RECORDS: Series 1, vol 1, Part 1, page 369

understanding that the package will not be broken until after the public has notice through the newspapers of our success or defeat. Our object is yet unknown on board, and if I read the papers of the eve of our departure aright our secret is still a secret in New York. No communication with the shore, however, will be allowed.

* * *

The dispatch and the secrecy with which this expedition has been fitted out will strike terror into the ranks of rebellion. All New York saw, all the United States knew, that the Atlantic was filling with stores and troops. But now this nameless vessel, her name is painted out, speeds out of the track of commerce to an unknown destination. Mysterious, unseen, where will the powerful bolt fall? What thousands of men, spending the means of the Confederate States, vainly beat the air amid the swamps of the southern coast, and, filling the dank forts, curse secession and the mosquitoes! [nc - The ship's name was painted out, it was flying British colors, and it was burning British coal.]

* * *

God promised to send before his chosen people an advance-guard of hornets. Our constant allies are the more efficient mosquitoes and sand-flies. At this time the republic has need of all her sons, of all their knowledge, zeal, and courage.

Major Hunt is with us, somewhat depressed at going into the field without his horses. His battery of Napoleon guns, probably the best field guns in our service, is to follow in the Illinois; but the traitor Twiggs surrendered his horses to the rebels of Texas, and the company

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of well-trained artillerists finds itself, after eight years of practice in that highest and most efficient arm, the light artillery, going into active service as footmen. They, too, feel, the change deeply.

* * *

I am, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

M. C. MEIG,

Captain of Engineers.

OFFICIAL RECORDS: Armies, Series 1, Volume 1

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EXECUTIVE OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF WAR
Charleston, January 19, 1861.
Maj. ROBERT ANDERSON:

SIR: I am instructed by his excellency the governor to inform you that he has directed an officer of the State to procure and carry over with your mails each day to Fort Sumter such supplies of fresh meat and vegetables as you may indicate.
I am, sir, respectfidiy yours,

D. F. JAMISON.

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FORT SUMTER S. C., January 19, 1861
Hon. D. F. JAMISON,
Executive Office, Department of War:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this date, stating that you are authorized by his excellency the governor to inform me that he has directed an officer of the State to procure and carry over with my mails each day to Fort Sumter such supplies of fresh meat and vegetables as I may indicate. I confess that I am at a loss to understand the latter part of this message, as I have not represented in any quarter that we were in need of such supplies. As commandant of a military post, I can only have my troops furnished with fresh beef in the manner prescribed by law, and I am compelled, therefore, with due thanks to his excellency, respectfully to decline his offer. If his suggestion is based upon a right, then I must procure the meat as we have been in the habit of doing for years, under an unexpired contract with Mr. McSweeney, a Charleston butcher, who would, I presume, if permitted, deliver the meat, &c., at this fort or at Fort Johnson, at the usual periods for such delivery, four times in ten

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days. If the permission is founded on courtesy and civility, I am compelled respectfully to decline accepting it, with a reiteration of my thanks for having made it. in connection with this subject, I deem it not improper respectfully to suggest that his excellency may do an act of humanity and great kindness if he will permit one of the New York steamers to stop with a lighter and take the womeu and children of this garrison to that city. The confinement within the walls of this work, and the impossibility of my having it in my power to have them furnished with the proper and usual articles of food, will, I fear, soon produce sickness among them. The compliance with this request will confer a favor upon a class of persons to whom similar indulgences are always granted, even during a siege in time of actual war, and will be duly appreciated by me.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, First Artillery, Commanding Fort Sumter.

P.S. -- I hope that the course I have deemed it my duty to take in reference to the supplies will have a tendency to allay an excitement which, jndging from the tenor of the paragraphs in to-day’s paper, I fear they are trying to get up in the city.

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HEADQUARTERS QUARTERMASTER’S DEPARTMENT,
Charleston, January 19, 1861.
Major ANDERSON:

DEAR Sir: Inclosed please find copy of letter from Secretary of War. Not waiting your request, I shall send by the mail-boat in the morning two hundred pounds of beef and a lot of vegetables. I requested Lieutenant Talbot to ask you to let me know this evening what supplies you would wish sent daily.

Very respectfully,
L. M. HATCH,

Quartermaster- General, South Carolina Militia.

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HEADQUARTERS QUARTERMASTER’S DEPARTMENT,
Charleston, January 19, 1861.
Colonel HATCH,
Quartermaster-General:

You are ordered to procure and send down with the mails for Fort Sumter to-morrow a sufficient quantity of fresh meat and vegetables to last the garrison of Fort Sumter for forty-eight hours, and inform Major Anderson that you will purchase and take down every day such provisions from the city market as he may indicate.

D.F. JAMISON.

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FORT SUMTER, S. C., January 20, 1861.
Col. L. M. HATCH,
Quartermaster-General:

DEAR Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 19th instant, and also to state that as no arrangements have been made by me with your government in reference to supplies for this post,

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I feel compelled to decline the reception of those supplies. I wrote to the honorable Secretary of War yesterday in reference to this matter.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, First U. S. Artillery, Commanding.

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FORT Sumter, S. C., March 17, 1861.
Hon. D. F. Jamison, Executive Office, Department of War:

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 15th instant in reply to mine of the 13th to his excellency the governor.

I hasten to ask you to refer to my letter to his excellency, and you will see that I did not solicit any modification of his original permission about receiving supplies of fresh meat and vegetables. I am satisfied with the existing arrangement, and only called attention to a reported interference of it. I thank you for your promise in reference to the property of Captain Foster.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ripley did kindly offer to attend to collecting any "private property” left on the island by the officers, and I thanked him for having done so.

The property alluded to in my note is not, strictly speaking, private, but belongs to the regiment or post, and therefore was not, in my opinion, embraced in his offer. My object in mentioning this matter was to call attention to it, in order that such directions might be given regarding it as might be deemed proper.

I beg leave to assure you that I had no desire to discuss the question of right or of courtesy in reference to the treatment my officers received in the failure to return the hired boy, and my remarks were intended to apply to the professed owner of the boy, who, neglecting his duty as owner or master for months, had permitted the boy to hire himself out, every one supposing him to be free, and now, at a time when the exercise of his “undoubted right” puts gentlemen here to a serious inconvenience, for the first time asserts his rights of ownership.

His excellency mentions in his letter to me, received yesterday, that the boy is a slave, and, of course, that ends the matter. In justice to myself I must state that I did not intentionally place a forced construction on your words. The day your first letter was received about the boy a gentlemen came down to see me about the “improper correspondence, which he was told had reference to the negroes joining us in the event

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of a collision. He remarked to his informants, as he told me, that he thought it a foolish story, advised them to say nothing about it, and said that he was certain, at all events, that I had no idea of anything of the kind, and came down to tell me of the rumor.

I regret exceedingly that your letter contains the remark it does in reference to the effect of a residence at Fort Sumter on the boy’s “temper and principles,” and I am satisfied that, upon farther consideration, you will regret it.

I am, sir, respectfully, yours, &c.,
ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, U. S. Army, Commanding.

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FORT SUMTER, S. C., April 1, 1861.
(Received A.G.O., April 4.)
Col. L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General U. S. Army:

COLONEL: I have the honor to report that everything is still and quiet, as far as we can see, around us. The South Carolina Secretary of War has not sent the authority, asked for yesterday to enable me to send off the discharged laborers. Having been in daily expectation, since the return of Colonel Lamon to Washington, of receiving orders to vacate this post, I have kept these men here as long as I could; but now, having nearly completed the important work of cleaning up the area, &c., I am compelled, in consequence of the small supply of provisions on hand, to discharge them. An examination of the accompanying report of the A. A. C. S. will show that the supply of provisions brought over would, had the issues been limited to my command, have lasted for a longer period than that mentioned in my letter of December 26, 1860. I have not made frequent mention of the question of our rations, because the Department was kept fully informed, from time to time, of the state of our supply. Lieutenants Talbot and Hall gave full information in reference to it when they went on, and on the 27th of January a detailed statement was sent on, from which any one in the Commissary Department could have told, knowing the number of souls in the fort, including the Engineer laborers, the exact amount on hand at any given time.

I told Mr. Fox that if I placed the command on short allowance I could make the provisions last until after the 10th of this month; but as I have received no instructions from the Department that it was desirable I should do so, it has not been done. If the governor permits me to send off the laborers we will have rations enough to last us about one week longer.

I am, colonel,very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

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FORT SUMTER, S. C., April 1, 1861.

Maj. ROBERT ANDERSON, First Artillery, Commanding:

MAJOR: In compliance with your request, I have the honor to submit the following list of provisions sold to Capt. J. G. Foster, Corps of Engineers, for the subsistence of the employes in his department at this post, and have expressed the quantities in numbers of rations, viz:

Five and one-half barrels of pork -- one thousand four hundred and sixty-seven rations.

Twenty barrels of flour -- three thousand four hundred and eighty-five rations.

One hundred and eighty pounds hard bread -- one hundred and eighty rations.

Two and one-half bushels of beans -- one thousand rations.

One hundred and seventy-four pounds coffee -- one thousand seven hundred and forty rations.

Seven hundred and seventy-four pounds sugar -- five thousand one hundred and sixty rations.

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These provisions, which have necessarily been consumed by others, would have added to the time we have already been at this post subsistence for the following number of days, respectively:

Pork -- Sixteen and twenty-seven-ninetieths days.
Flour and hard bread -- Forty and sixty-five-ninetieths days.
Beans -- Eleven and one-ninth days.
Coffee -- Nineteen and one-third days.
Sugar -- Fifty-seven and one-third days.

Or, with what is now on hand, at least thirty-five days of comfortable subsistence for the command, including the laundresses, who were sentaway about two months ago.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
NORMAN J. HALL,
Second Lieutenant, First Artillery, A. A. C. S.

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No; 96.

FORT SUMTER, S. C., April 7, 1861.
(Received A. G. O., April 13.)

Col. L. THOMAS,
Adjutant- General U. S. Army:

COLONEL:

I have the honor to report that we do not see any work going on around us. There was more activity displayed by the guard-

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LINK

boats last night than has been clone for some time. Three of them remained at anchor all night and until after reveille this morning, near the junction of the three channels. You will see by the inclosed letter, just received from Brigadier-General Beauregard that we shall not get any more supplies from the city of Charleston. I hope that they will continne to let us have onr mails as long as we remain. I am glad to be enabled to report that there have been no new cases of dysentery, and that the sick-list only embraces six cases to-day.

I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

LINCOLN LIED TO SOUTH CAROLINA, CONGRESS, AND THE PEOPLE

O.R. Series 1, Vol. 1, Part 1, page 291

APRIL 8, 1861.

"I am directed by the President of the United States to notify you to expect an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, or in case of an attack upon the fort."

The above was communicated to us on the evening of April 8 by Robert S. Chew, esq., of the State Department in Washington, and Captain Talbot stated that it was from the President of the United States, as did Mr. Chew, and was delivered to him on the 6th instant at Washington, and this was read in their presence and admitted.

F. W. PICKENS.

As documented by Official Records, Lincoln's special messenger, Mr. Robert S. Chew of the State Dept., delivered Lincoln's lie on April 8, 1861.

As documented by Official Records, military orders had already been issued to reinforce Fort Sumter (and Pickens).

The message delivered by Mr. Chew was a documented lie. Lincoln subsequently repeated that lie to Congress.

[Lincoln 4 Jul 1861 special message to Congress] |LINK| It is thus seen that the assault upon, and reduction of, Fort Sumter, was, in no sense, a matter of self defence on the part of the assailants. They well knew that the garrison in the Fort could, by no possibility, commit aggression upon them. They knew -- they were expressly notified -- that the giving of bread to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison, was all which would on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves, by resisting so much, should provoke more.

LINK

Cornell University Library

Author: United States. War Dept., United States. Record and Pension Office., United States. War Records Office., et al.

Title: The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. / Series 1-Volume 1

Publisher: Govt. Print. Off.

Publication Date: 1880

SOURCE: OFFICIAL RECORDS, OPERATIONS IN CHARLESTON HARBOR, S.C. , Series 1, Volume 1, Page 236.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY Washington, D.C., April 4, 1861
To: Lieut. Col. Henry L. Scott, A.D.C. [Aide de Camp], New York

SIR: This letter will be handed to you by Capt. G.V. Fox, ex-officer of the Navy, and a gentleman of high standing, as well as possessed of extraordinary nautical ability. He is charged by high authority here with the command of an expedition, under cover of certain ships of war, whose object is to re-inforce Fort Sumter.

To embark with Captain Fox you will cause a detachment of recruits, say about two hundred, to be immediately organized at Fort Columbus, with a competent number of officers, arms, ammunition, and subsistence. a large surplus of the latter -- indeed, as great as the vessels of the expedition can take -- with other necessaries, will be needed for the augmented garrison of Fort Sumter.

The subsistence and other supplies should be assorted like those which were provided by you and Captain Ward of the Navy for a former expedition. Consult Captain Fox and Major Eaton on the subject, and give all necessary orders in my name to fit out the expedition, except that the hiring of vessels will be left to others.

Some fuel must be shipped. Oil, artillery, implements, fuses, cordate, slow-match, mechanical levers, and gins, &c., should also be put on board.

Consult, also, if necessary, confidentially, colonel Tompkins and Major Thornton.

Respectfully, yours,

Winfield Scott

April 1, 1861 by General Scott
April 2, 1861 approved by Abraham Lincoln
To: Brevet Colonel Harvey Brown, U.S. Army

You have been designated to take command of an expedition to reinforce and hold Fort Pickens in the harbor of Pensacola. You will proceed to New York where steam transportation for four companies will be engaged; -- and putting on board such supplies as you can ship without delay proceed at once to your destination. The object and destination of this expedition will be communicated to no one to whom it is not already known. Signed: Winfield Scott
Signed approved: Abraham Lincoln

Note... Robert E. Lee content below...not off-topic... :-)

One can also make the case that VMI was a legitmate military target since it trained officers for the confederate army. But Chambersburg was not, and VMI was used as an excuse to torch that.

Oh, HOW CREATIVE!

I'm sure you're QUITE aware that VMI was only one of the properties burned by Hunter's broad destruction. And it was torched during an invasion of a sovereign state, so even though it was a military property, it wasn't "okay"...but let's set that aside for now.

Many civilian properties were destroyed by Hunter, also (see below). In fact, the proclamation for the Chambersburg raid listed "...the homes of Andrew Hunter, A.R. Boteler, E.J. Lee, Gov. Letcher, J.T. Anderson, . . . and others" as having been destroyed by Hunter, and the money demanded by Gen. McCausland (reparations) was to be given to those who'd been looted/vandalized by Hunter's troops (not just to enrich the Confederate coffers). The burning of Chambersburg was definitely in retaliation, but would have been averted by repayment.

Does this make it right? Perhaps not. But what it does do is illustrate that the wanton destruction of Hunter's army was not reciprocated by the Confederates, and the burning of Chambersburg was a very specific incident done at the provocation of Hunter's actions.

Note the following letter....

July 20, 1864

Gen. Hunter:

Yesterday your underling, Capt. Martindale, of the First New York Veteran Cavalry, executed your infamous order and burned my house. You have had the satisfaction ere this of receiving from him the information that your orders were fulfilled to the letter, the dwelling and every outbuilding, seven in number, with their contents, being burned. I, therefore, a helpless woman, whom you have cruelly wronged, address you, a major general of the United States army, and demand why this was done? What was my offense?

My husband was absent, an exile. He has never been a politician, or in any way engaged in the struggle now going on, his age preventing. This fact David Strother, your chief of staff, could have told you. The house was built by my father, a revolutionary soldier, who served the whole seven years for your independence. There was I born; there the sacred dead repose; it was my house and my home; and there your niece, who lived among us all this horrid war, up to the present moment, met with all kindness and hospitality at my hands.

Was it for this that you turned me, my young daughter, and little son out upon the world without a shelter? Or was is because my husband is the grandson of the revolutionary patriot and Rebel, Richard Henry Lee, and the near kinsman of the noblest of Christian warriors, the greatest of generals, Robert E. Lee? Heaven's blessings be upon his head forever! You and your government have failed to conquer, subdue, or match him; and disappointed rage and malice find vent upon the helpless and inoffensive.

Hyena-like, you have torn my heart to pieces; for all hallowed memories clustered around that homestead; and, demon-like, you have done it without even the pretext of revenge, for I never saw or harmed you. Your office is not to lead (like a brave man and soldier) your men to fight in the ranks of war, but your work has been to separate yourself from all danger, and, with your incendiary band, steal unawares upon helpless women and children, to insult and to destroy. Two fair homes did you yesterday ruthlessly lay in ashes, giving not a moment's warning to the startled inmates of your wicked purpose; turning mothers and children out of doors, your very name execrated by your own men for the cruel work you gave them to do. In the case of Mr. A. R. Boteler, both father and mother were far away. Any heart but that of Capt. Martindale (and yours) would have been touched by that little circle, comprising a widowed daughter, just risen from her bed of illness, her three little fatherless babes, the eldest not five years old, and her sick sister. I repeat, any man would have been touched at that sight but Capt. Martindale. One might as well hope to find mercy and feeling in the heart of a wolf, bent on its prey of young lambs, as to search for such qualities in his bosom. You have chosen well your man for such deeds; doubtless you will promote him.

A colonel of the Federal army has stated that you deprived forty of your officers of their commands because they refused to carry out your malignant mischief. All honor to their names for this, at least; they are men; they have human hearts and blush for such a commander.

I ask who that does not wish infamy and disgrace attached to him forever would serve under you? Your name will stand on history's page as the hunter of weak women and innocent children; the hunter to destroy defenseless villages and refined and beautiful homes, to torture afresh the agonized hearts of suffering widows; the hunter of Africa's poor sons and daughters, to lure them into ruin and death of soul and body; the hunter with the relentless heart of a wild beast, the face of a fiend, and the form of a man. O Earth, behold the monster!

Can I say, 'God forgive you?' No prayer can be offered for you. Were it possible for human lips to raise your name heavenward, angels would thrust the foul thing back again and demons claim their own. The curses of thousands, the scorn of the manly and upright, and the hatred of the true and honorable will follow you and yours through all time, and brand your name, Infamy! Infamy!

Again, I demand, why have you burned my house? Answer, as you must answer before the Searcher of all hearts. Why have you added this cruel, wicked deed to your many crimes?

Mrs. Edmund I. Lee
Shepherdstown, VA (now WV?)

LINCOLN LIED TO CONGRESS REGARDING AN ARMISTICE

In his special message of July 4, 1861 to Congress, seeking to justify his illegal actions and to obtain Congressional forgiveness, Lincoln lied repeatedly. He gave false information and he withheld information. His lies and omissions were relevant and material. Below is one documented example of a Lincoln Lie.

The first return news from the order [nc- to Captain Adams near Fort Pickens] was received just one week before the fall of Fort Sumter. The news itself was, that the officer commanding the Sabine [nc- Captain Adams, USN), to which vessel the troops had been transferred from the Brooklyn, acting upon some quasi armistice of the late administration, (and of the existence of which, the present administration, up to the time the order was despatched, had only too vague and uncertain rumors, to fix attention) had refused to land the troops.

Lincoln told Congress the administration only had uncertain rumors of some quasi armistice. Let us review some official records.

Page 355

Page 356

O.R. Series 1, Vol. 1, Part 1, p. 355-6

WASHINGTON, January 29, 1861.

TO JAMES GLYNN, commanding the Macedonian; Captain W. S. WALKER, commanding the Brooklyn, and other naval officers in command; and Lieutenant ADAM J. SLEMMER, First Regiment Artillery, U. S. Army, commanding Fort Pickens, Pensacola, Fla.:

In consequence of the assurance received from Mr. Mallory in a telegram of yesterday to Messrs. Slidell, Hunter, and Bigler, with a request it should be laid before the President, that Fort Pickens would not be assaulted, and an offer of such an assurance to the same effect from Colonel Chase, for the purpose of avoiding a hostile collision, upon receiving satisfactory assurances from Mr. Mallory and Colonel Chase that Fort Pickens will not be attacked, you are instructed not to land the company on board the Brooklyn unless said fort shall be attacked or preparations shall be made for its attack. The provisions necessary for the supply of the fort you will land. The Brooklyn and other vessels of war on the station will remain, and you will exercise the utmost vigilance and be prepared at a moment's warning to land the company at Fort Pickens, and you and they will instantly repel an attack on the fort.

The President yesterday sent a special message to Congress commending the Virginia resolutions of compromise. The commissioners of different States are to meet here on Monday, the 4th February, and it is important that during their session a collision of arms should be avoided, unless an attack should be made or there should be preparation for such an attack. In either event the Brooklyn and the other vessels will act promptly.

Your right, and that of the other officers in command at Pensacola, freely to communicate with the Government by special messenger, and its right in the same manner to communicate with yourself and them, will remain intact as the basis on which the present instruction is given.

J. HOLT,

Secretary of War.

ISAAC TOUCEY,

Secretary of the Navy.

Page 358

O.R. Series 1, Vol 1, Part 1, page 357-8

PENSACOLA HARBOR, FLA., February 7, 1861.

Colonel L. THOMAS, Assistant Adjutant-General, U. S. Army:

SIR: I have the honor to report that I arrived on this station yesterday in the U. S. steamer Brooklyn, with Company A, First Artillery. I met orders here which prevent the landing of my company or the reenforcement of the garrison of Fort Pickens at present. Yesterday I landed at Fort Pickens, assumed command of the forces on the station, inspected the defenses, and had a consultation with Lieutenant Sleemer. I am compelled to remain on board the Brooklyn for the present, and can, of course, only give general instructions to Lieutenant Slemmer. I am sorry to inform the Department that I found Fort Pickens in a very inefficient state of defense. At the time Lieutenant Slemmer removed his command to Fort Pickens there were only forty guns mounted in the fort. At present there are fifty-four in position. The accompanying sketch indicates the position and class of guns now in position; total, fifty-four of all kinds.

Lieutenant Slemmer has with him only forty-six enlisted men for duty, and thirty ordinary seamen from the yard at this station, and the latter are entirely untrained, insubordinate, and of but little use in case of attack. There are fifty-seven embrasures that are unprovided with cannon, and are only about seven feet from the bottom of the ditch, and at present but few of them have only the common wooden shutter, presenting only a slight obstacle to an enemy. There are only very imperfect means of barricading them. Such as they are, however, I have given orders to be immediately employed.

Lieutenant Slemmer has been obliged to employ his command in getting guns into position and in barricading the embrasures. He is obliged to keep one-half of his men under arms every night, and they are nearly all exhausted with fatigue. The guns and carriages and implements are all old, and nearly unserviceable. I have made a requisition direct on the Department for the necessary supply of guns, carriages, and ammunition. The supply of this last is very inadequate. There is no ammunition for the columbiads, no cartridge bags for them, nor flannel to make any. In fact, had it been the intention of the government to place the fort in the state to render its defense impossible, it could not have been done more efficiently that it has been done. The post is without any medical officer, and if it is intended to defend it there should be an Engineer officer sent at once to the station. I trust that the Department will immediately order that the supplies requested be sent. There are no bunks either for the hospital or for the troops, and but little bedding for the sick. I request a supply may be sent. There are plenty of provisions for the present, although I should like some desiccated vegetables and supplies for the officers. I would mention that all of the troops will be compelled to live in open casemages, and many of them will soon be on the sick-list.

The seceders have a considerable force in and about Pensacola; what number I am unable to say positively, but they are estimated at about 1,700 men. They are disorderly, and very unwilling to be controlled. Their leaders, from what I can learn, I believe are sincere in their intention to observe the armistice, but their ability to control the men under their command is very doubtful. They are engaged in erecting batteries, are making sand bags, &c. They have plenty of means of transportation their troops to Saint Rosa Island, and can attack the fort on all sides at once. At present there is not one trained man to a gun within the fort. Should the enemy decide to attack, it is exceedingly probable that he might succeed in penetrating into the fort before my company could be landed or any succor could arrive from the fleet. I should therefore urge upon the Department the necessity of the fleet taking up a position such as to prevent the landing of any forces within one and a half miles of the fort; this would give time to provide for the defense of the work and the landing of the troops from the fleet; otherwise we may have the mortification and disgrace of seeing the fort taken by a body of untrained troops under our very noses.

Should the armistice be broken, my company, all the marines, and as many sailors as may raise the garrison to four hundred men should be immediately landed. All of the advantages of the present armistice are entirely on the side of the seceders. I would therefore urge upon the Department the necessity of immediately re-enforcing the garrison. The two additional companies ordered to Forts Taylor and Jefferson are not immediately required for the defense of those works. In fact, in their present state, and with the forces now in them, they would be stronger than Fort Pickens will be when garrisoned with four hundred men. Captain Meigs kindly offered his services, if necessary, to assist in the defense of this place, and I request the Department that he may be ordered to repair to this place.

Lieutenant Slemmer has done all that it has been possible to do with the small force under his command. His resolution to defend his post at all hazards evinces the highest moral courage on his part, but at the same time I must state that with any amount of vigor on the part of the assaulters his defense would have been hopeless. His resolution has probably been the means of preserving Fort Pickens from the seceders.

Yours, &c.,

I. VOGDES,

Captain, First Artillery.

P. S.-I must not be understood as recommending any violation of the existing armistice, but the collection of an amount of troops on the station as may be necessary for the defense should anything occur to rupture the present armistice.

FORT PICKENS, FLA., February --, 1861.

Page 440

Page 441

O.R. Series 1, Vol. 1, Part 1, Page 440-1

Message of the President of the United States, in answer to a resolution of the Senate requesting information concerning the quasi armistice alluded to in his message of the 4th instant.

JULY 31, 1861.- Read, ordered to lie on the table and be printed.

To the Senate of the United States:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, requesting information concerning the quasi armistice alluded to in my message of the 4th instant, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

JULY 30, 1861.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,

July 29, 1861.

The Secretary of the Navy, to whom was referred the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, requesting the President of the United States to "communicate to the Senate (if not incompatible with the public interest) the character of the quasi armistice to which he refers in his message of the 4th instant, be reason of which the commander of the frigate Sabine refused to transfer the United States troops into Fort Pickens in obedience to his orders; by whom and when such armistice was entered into; and if any, and what, action has been taken by the Government in view of the disobedience of the order of the President aforesaid," has the honor to report that it is believed the communication of the information called for would not, at this time, comport with the public interest.

Respectfully submitted.

GIDEON WELLES.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

But Chambersburg was not [a legitimate military target], and VMI was used as an excuse to torch that.

Chambersburg was retaliation for far more than VMI. I've pointed that out to you before on another thread. I even made mention of the 60 miles full of houses destroyed by Union General Hunter shortly before Chambersburg on a post further up this thread.

Early pointed out that Chambersburg was torched to make the Feds think twice about their own scorched earth policy. And to some extent it worked.

WASHINGTON, D. C., August 14, 1864 - 1.50 p. m.

Lieutenant-General GRANT,
City Point, Va.:

The Secretary of War and I concur that you had better confer with General Lee and stipulate for a mutual discontinuance of house burning and other destruction of private property. The time and manner of conference and particulars of stipulation we leave, on our part, to your convenience and judgment.

A. LINCOLN.

LINCOLN LIED TO CONGRESS ABOUT LT. WORDEN

In his special message of July 4, 1861 to Congress, seeking to justify his illegal actions and to obtain Congressional forgiveness, Lincoln lied repeatedly. He gave false information and he withheld information. His lies and omissions were relevant and material.

July 29, 1861.

The Secretary of the Navy, to whom was referred the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, requesting the President of the United States to "communicate to the Senate (if not incompatible with the public interest) the character of the quasi armistice to which he refers in his message of the 4th instant, be reason of which the commander of the frigate Sabine refused to transfer the United States troops into Fort Pickens in obedience to his orders; by whom and when such armistice was entered into; and if any, and what, action has been taken by the Government in view of the disobedience of the order of the President aforesaid," has the honor to report that it is believed the communication of the information called for would not, at this time, comport with the public interest.

LET'S SEE ANOTHER STONEWALL

LINK

EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 30, 1861.

To the SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 23rd instant requesting information concerning the imprisonment of Lieutenant John J. Worden [John L. Worden], of the U. S. Navy, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

[Inclosure.]

NAVY DEPARTMENT, July 29, 1861.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

The Secretary of the Navy, to whom was referred the resolution of the Senate of the 23rd instant requesting the President of the United States to inform the Senate "under what circumstances Lieutenant John J. Worden [John L. Worden], of the U. S. Navy, has been imprisoned at Montgomery, Ala., whether he is still in prison, and whether any and if any what measures have been taken by the Government of the United States for his release," has the honor to report that it is believed the communication of the information called for would not at this time comport with the public interest.

Respectfully submitted.

GIDEON WELLES.

[Lincoln special message to Congress July 4, 1861] An order was at once directed to be sent for the landing of the troops from the Steamship Brooklyn, into Fort Pickens. This order could not go by land, but must take the longer, and slower route by sea.

[Lincoln special message to Congress July 4, 1861] To now re-inforce Fort Pickens, before a crisis would be reached at Fort Sumter was impossible

First Lincoln lied about his knowledge of, and the nature of, the existing Armistice. Then he lied that a message to Captain Adams could only go by sea. Here he stonewalls the Congressional inquiry about Lt. Worden. The Official Records quoted below document that Lt. Worden carried a message to Captain Adams and did so by traveling overland, by train, to Pensacola, where he lied to the Confederate officials to obtain a pass.

First, Lt. Worden saw Lieutenant Slemmer, of Fort Pickens. Then he visited with Capt. Adams. He then left without checking back in with General Bragg. The Confederates soon became aware of the Union violation of the Armistice and Lt. Worden was captured and held as a prisoner of war.

Lt. Worden filed a report to the Confederate Secretary of War on April 16, 1861. He also filed a report with the U.S. Navy explaining his activities. He filed the latter report in September 1865, after the war was over.

LINK

MONTGOMERY, April 12, 1861.

General BRAGG,

Pensacola:

Lieutenant Worden, of U. S. Navy, has gone to Pensacola with dispatches. Intercept them.

L. P. WALKER.

LINK

BARRANCAS, April 12, 1861.

Honorable L. P. WALKER:

Mr. Worden had communicated with fleet before your dispatch received. Alarm guns have just fired at Fort Pickens. I fear the news is received and it will be re-enforced before morning. It cannot be prevented. Mr. Worden got off in cars before I knew of his landing. Major Chambers is in the cars. He will watch Mr. Worden's movements. If you deem it advisable, Mr. Worden can be stopped in Montgomery.

BRAXTON BRAGG,

Brigadier-General.

LINK

MONTGOMERY, April 12, 1861.

Honorable L. P. WALKER:

Just received the following from our manager in Mobile:

Worden was arrested yesterday and is in the hands of General Bragg.

Very respectfully,

HUBERT.

LINK

MONTGOMERY, April 13, 1861.

General BRAGG,

Pensacola:

When you arrested Lieutenant Worden what instructions, if any, did he show you? Did he communicate to you that he had verbal instructions, and, if so, what were they? He is here under arrest, and it is important for you to reply fully.

L. P. WALKER.

LINK

PENSACOLA, April 13, 1861.

Honorable L. P. WALKER,

Secretary of War:

Re-enforcements thrown into Fort Pickens last night by small boats from the outside. The movement could not even be seen from our side, but was discovered by a small reconnoitering boat.

BRAXTON BRAGG,

Brigadier-General.

Page 460-61

Page 460

Page 461

PENSACOLA, April 14, 1861.

Honorable L. P. WALKER:

Captain Adams, commanding the fleet, writes on 13th, just received.

Subsequently to the date of your last letter, as you are probably aware, re-enforcements have been placed in Fort Pickens, in obedience to orders from the United States Government. Lieutenant Worden must have given these orders in violation of his word. Captain Adams executed them in violation of our agreement.

BRAXTON BRAGG.

LINK

Honorable L. P. WALKER,

Secretary of War:

Lieutenant Worden assured me he only had a verbal message of pacific nature. The re-enforcement of Pickens was preceded by signal guns from there. What caused it I cannot ascertain. Worden's message may have had no connection with the move. He was in Pensacola when the move was made. Five thousand men here now, and two thousand more coming. Subsistence, forage, and transportation should be hurried. You can now spare the supplies from Sumter, which is ours.

BRAXTON BRAGG,

Brigadier-General.

LINK

MONTGOMERY, ALA., April 15, 1861.

Honorable L. P. WALKER,

Secretary of War, Montgomery:

SIR: Very unexpectedly I find myself a prisoner of war at this place. May I be permitted to request that you will do me the kindness to inform me of the grounds upon which I am so detained?

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN L. WORDEN,

Lieutenant, U. S. Navy.

Page 462

Page 463

MONTGOMERY, April 16, 1861.

Honorable L. P. WALKER,

Secretary of War, Montgomery:

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following statement in relation to my recent visit of Pensacola to your attention:

I left Washington City on the morning of April 7, with a communication from the Secretary of the Navy to Captain Adams, of the United States ship Sabine, and was informed by the Secretary that I would have no difficulty in making the communication to Captain Adams under the existing agreement. I arrived at Pensacola on the morning of the 11th instant, announced myself to Mr. LeBaron as an officer of the U. S. Navy, who sent an officer with me to General Bragg. I informed General Bragg that I had come from Washington, and desired to communicate with Captain Adams, of the Sabine. He wrote me a pass authorizing me to go to the Sabine, and upon handing it to me he asked if I had dispatches for Captain Adams. I replied that I had not written ones, but that I had a verbal communication to make to him from the Navy Department. I then asked him if I would be permitted to land on my return towards Washington. He replied that I would, provided Captain Adams or myself did nothing in violation of the agreement existing between them. I then left General Bragg and went to the navy-yard, from whence I embarked for the Wyandotte about 4 o'clock p.m. On reaching her I was informed by her commander that he could not carry me out to the Sabine that night, in consequence of the strong wind and rough sea on the bar.

During that evening Lieutenant Slemmer, of Fort Pickens, came on board, and I had a few moments' social conversation with him. I had no dispatches for him whatever, and I gave him no information as to the nature of the communication which I had to make to Captain Adams. Of course he knew, as did every officer on board, that I came from the Navy Department to communicate with Captain Adams. On the next morning, the 12th instant, while waiting for the sea to subside on the bar, so that the Wyandotte could go out, one of the officers suggested that we should go on shore and take a look at Fort Pickens, to which I assented. We accordingly, about 9 o'clock a.m., landed there, and walked about the ramparts for half an hour, and then returned on board. During my visit to the fort I did not see Lieutenant Slemmer, as he was asleep and I did not desire to disturb him, as I had no object in seeing him, except to pay him the proper visit of courtesy on going within the limits of his command.

At about 10.30 or 11 o'clock a.m. the Wyandotte went out of the harbor and put me on board the Sabine, somewhere near 12 o'clock. I made my communication to Captain Adams, and stated to him what General Bragg had said in relation to the agreement between them. He, nevertheless, gave me a written order to return to Washington as "special messenger," which order you have. Of course I proceeded to obey the order, and was landed by the Wyandotte at Pensacola about 5 o'clock p.m. I was told by Captain Adams that it was not necessary for me to see General Bragg on my return, and therefore I did not stop at his quarters.

I make this statement, ready with the solemnity of an oath to be confirmed. It is made, not with regard to personal safety, or of any consequences that might result to me personally, but purely in defense of my honor as an officer and a gentleman. Several officers in the Confederate service-among them I will mention Captain D. N. Ingraham and Surg. W. F. Carrington-I think I can appeal to with confidence.

I respectfully submit this statement to the consideration of the honorable Secretary of War.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN L. WORDEN,

Lieutenant, U. S. Navy.

Robert E. Lee perfectly personified everything which used to be understood under the term "Gentleman." His was the true nobility of one whose honor, integrity and fundamental decency was never questioned by anyone who knew him. He was a model of what a man should aspire to, both North and South, for generations after his, all too early, passing.

Thank you for posting this.

William Flax

BTTT