| Extract of letter from General Bragg, dated 3 miles
south of Chattanooga, September 29, 1863 |
| |
| The question of subsistence should
receive early attention, as our supplies are nearly exhausted at Atlanta. |
| |
| October 6, 1863 |
| Furnished for the information of Commissary-General. |
| S. Cooper |
| Adjutant and Inspector General |
| |
| First Indorsement |
| Office Commissary-General of Subsistence |
| |
| October 7, 1863 |
| Respectfully referred to the Secretary of War. |
| The subsistence of General Bragg's army
has been a subject of solicitude since its withdrawal from Kentucky,
and the efforts of the Commissary-General of Subsistence to get the
railroad running from Columbia{, Tenn.}
to Decatur {Central Southern RR and Tennessee
& Alabama Central RR}, so as to supply his army,
and many other incidents must have informed General Bragg that it
has received constant attention. His army has consumed largely of
the reserves at Atlanta. He knows that his army is drawing its supplies from the South. The
present call for early attention is superfluous. The Secretary of
War is respectfully referred to an indorsement of the
Commissary-General of Subsistence on paper of Major Hillyer, chief
commissary of General Bragg's army, and on the remarks of the
general commanding. This indorsement was dated September 4 and sent
to Adjutant-General. |
| It is needless to go into detail. An
indorsement placed on a paper yesterday (the 5th) expressed my
opinion of the military exigency existing. (See letter of Major
Guerin, of October 2, referred to Secretary of War, in which I
stated that the recovery of
East Tennessee
is absolutely necessary to the subsistence of Bragg's army.) Every
move in Tennessee
by General Bragg has intensified my anxiety. Its dependence has long
been mainly on Georgia
and Florida, and before the accession to his forces the railroads were scarcely
adequate to sustain it. Some time ago the Secretary of War was asked
to write to Mr. Cuyler, president of the Georgia Central {Central
(of Georgia)} Railroad,
in respect to this subject. Major Walker, chief commissary of Alabama, was directed to try and assist General B.'s army on September 4. I
have not heard from Major Hillyer on that point. I will try and aid
that army from Mississippi, but everything converges to prove that
East Tennessee
must be recovered and Rosecrans driven from the country. |
| Respectfully, |
| L. B. Northrop |
| Commissary General of Subsistence |
|