NA, QM 3/21/1864

Quartermaster General's Department
Richmond, March 21st, 1864
 
Genl. R. E. Lee
Comdg etc
 
General,
   I had the honor to receive on the 14th inst yours of the 10th ins. Appreciating fully the great importance & extreme difficulty of supplying the army with food & forage, I have spared no efforts to have them promptly transported from the far South, now our (almost) sole reliance.
   Great pressure has recently been brought to bear on the main trunk railways, by the stoppage of passenger trains, express cars etc, and a very large amount of corn & commissary stores have reached Richmond in the few days that have elapsed since I had the pleasure of seeing you here. Never before during this way, have so many public stores been moved within the same number of days by these Roads. But like "forced marches" in an emergency these results cannot be kept up permanently. Our efforts will not be relaxed, however; & I hope for better things in future.
   I will add, that I received the first notice of subsistence stores being at Goldsboro awaiting transportation after your letter reached me; & they have now all come forward.
   I take leave, General, to quote from your letter as follows: "I believe that our Railroad transportation can be so managed as to bring all these supplies without delay besides doing the other work required of them, & that all the difficulties can be overcome by attention, energy, & diligence on the part of the officers in charge of this transportation." As this opinion differs from any I have received elsewhere, I would be truly pleased to have any suggestion which would tend to insure this result; & if there is an officer who can discharge the duties with satisfaction, & with a fair prospect of accomplishing what you think quite possible, I beg that you will not hesitate to indicate him that the assignment may be made. I beg you to remember, General, that up to this time last year, not a car load of corn nor subsistence stores had been brought from points beyond Raleigh for your army. Now, we are feeding the soldiers & horses of that army to a great extent from Georgia. If the supply of Railroad transportation was even then found so deficient as to cause serious alarm to the Govt. how can they now meet these immensely increased demands "without delay?" "& besides doing the other work required of them?" Not a bar of R. R. iron, nor a single Locomotive has been brought into the Confederacy during that time, nor has the call for transportation of troops, ordnance stores, etc. been such as to diminish the "other work required of them." I am willing to be stimulated to the discharge of my duty General & shall always be glad to know your wants & your views. But I beg you not to expect impossibilities. I admit that we have been able to accomplish so much now in the way of transportation; & sustain life with so much less in the way of food than we dreamed of 3 years since that my hopes are strong for the future. The arrivals at Richmond within the last week were such that your supplies for the present will only be limited by the capacity of the {Virginia} Central RR. One passenger train only each day is now permitted between Richmond & Augusta, Geo. And it is hoped that this arrangement will increase our supplies here.
A. R. Lawton, Q. M. Genl.

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