細節
DAVIS, JEFFERSON. President of Confederacy. Letter signed ("Jeffers.Davis") as C.S.A. President TO FRANCIS PICKENS, GOVERNOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Richmond, Virginia, 29 November 1861. 2 pp., 4to, on lined stationery. Fine.
THREE WEEKS AFTER TAKING OFFICE, PRESIDENT DAVIS SENDS REINFORCEMENTS TO GENERAL LEE, DEFENDING THE CAROLINA COAST
A highly interesting letter, written quite early in Davis's administration (he had been elected President only on 6 November). One of his first acts as President had been to form a coastal defense force, commanded by Lee, to protect the vulnerable coast cities and forts. Governor Pickens had apparently written to Davis to express concern for the defense of South Carolina in the wake of the successful Union attacks on Port Royal and Fort Walker (on 7 November): "I have received your letter of the 24th instant, and thank you for writing so freely. Generals Evans and Pemberton will be sent to Genl. Lee, immediately. And I hope that the deficiencies, of which you speak, in the characters of your Brigadier Generals will be compensated for by the presence of Genl. Lee, and the addition of Genl. Pemberton. With reference to gun-powder for your heavy ordnance, more than half the amount received was ordered to be furnished to Genl. Lee, the whole amount being less than that asked for by you. In regard to arms, I wish, indeed, that I had more to give you. Governor Letcher [of Virginia] has now five hundred (500) for you, in addition to the five hundred (500) previously furnished. This is but a small supply, but will be increased as fast as our means will admit."
In this emergency appointment, Lee showed remarkable resourcefulness in spite of serious supply shortages and other difficulties: "in his three months in Georgia and South Carolina he built such a strong system of defense that neither Charleston nor Savannah was taken from the sea during the war. This solid achievement was made while he checked the enemy's offensive that had been mounted before his arrival..." (Dowdey and Manarin, Wartime Papers of Robert E. Lee, p.82).
THREE WEEKS AFTER TAKING OFFICE, PRESIDENT DAVIS SENDS REINFORCEMENTS TO GENERAL LEE, DEFENDING THE CAROLINA COAST
A highly interesting letter, written quite early in Davis's administration (he had been elected President only on 6 November). One of his first acts as President had been to form a coastal defense force, commanded by Lee, to protect the vulnerable coast cities and forts. Governor Pickens had apparently written to Davis to express concern for the defense of South Carolina in the wake of the successful Union attacks on Port Royal and Fort Walker (on 7 November): "I have received your letter of the 24th instant, and thank you for writing so freely. Generals Evans and Pemberton will be sent to Genl. Lee, immediately. And I hope that the deficiencies, of which you speak, in the characters of your Brigadier Generals will be compensated for by the presence of Genl. Lee, and the addition of Genl. Pemberton. With reference to gun-powder for your heavy ordnance, more than half the amount received was ordered to be furnished to Genl. Lee, the whole amount being less than that asked for by you. In regard to arms, I wish, indeed, that I had more to give you. Governor Letcher [of Virginia] has now five hundred (500) for you, in addition to the five hundred (500) previously furnished. This is but a small supply, but will be increased as fast as our means will admit."
In this emergency appointment, Lee showed remarkable resourcefulness in spite of serious supply shortages and other difficulties: "in his three months in Georgia and South Carolina he built such a strong system of defense that neither Charleston nor Savannah was taken from the sea during the war. This solid achievement was made while he checked the enemy's offensive that had been mounted before his arrival..." (Dowdey and Manarin, Wartime Papers of Robert E. Lee, p.82).