| Richmond, Va. |
| February 15, 1865 |
| |
| General S. Cooper |
| Adjt. and Insp. Gen |
| Richmond, Va. |
| |
| General, |
| A serious question was now presented to
me. The enemy would not certainly long remain idle. He had it in his
power to continue his march to the south and force me to fall back
on Alabama
for subsistence. I could not hope to hold my position. The country,
being a plain, had not natural strength, nor was there any
advantageous position upon which I could retire; besides, the morale
of the army, greatly improved during the operations around Atlanta,
had again become impaired in consequence of the recurrence of
retreat, and the army itself decreasing in strength day by day.
Something was absolutely demanded, and I rightly judged that an
advance, at all promising success, would go far to restore its
fighting spirit. Thus I determined, on consultation with the corps
commanders, to turn the enemy's right flank and attempt to destroy
his communications and force him to retire from Atlanta. The operations of the cavalry under Wheeler, in Georgia, and under
Forrest, in Tennessee, proved to me conclusively and beyond a doubt
that all the cavalry in the service could not permanently interrupt
the railroad communications in the enemy's rear sufficiently to
cause him to abandon his position. To accomplish anything,
therefore, it became necessary for me to move with my whole force.
Causing the iron to be removed from the several railroads out of
Atlanta
for distances of forty miles, and directing railroad stock to be
restored to the West Point
railroad {I'm unsure which road he means --
the Atlanta & West Point RR or the Montgomery & West Point
RR -- or both}, the movement to the left toward that road began on the
18th of September. Arriving at that road the army took position with
the left touching the Chattahoochee
River
and covering that road, where it remained several days to allow the
accumulation of supplies at Blue
Mountain {the terminus of the
Alabama & Tennessee Rivers RR} and a sufficiency with which to continue the movement. On the 29th
of September it left its bivouac |
| ***** |
| Respectfully, your obedient servant, |
| J. B. Hood |
|