Summary:
In the first week of May, 1862, Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson gathered
troops at Staunton, Virginia, from which to launch an offensive in the
Shenandoah Valley. In this dispatch, Lee, directing Confederate forces from
Richmond, writes Jackson at Staunton on his concentration of troops.
Maj. Gen. THOMAS J. JACKSON,
Cmdg., Staunton, Va.:
Richmond, Va.,
May 8, 1862.
GEN.:
Your letter of the 5th instant, reporting your presence at Staunton and the movements of the troops en route to that place, has been received. I have not seen Capt. Imboden. If I can find him I will urge him to join you with such men as he can at once, as you desired. From the retrograde movement of the enemy down the valley, and their apparent intention to leave it, it is presumed that Gen. Banks contemplates a move in the direction of Fredericksburg, for the purpose of forming a junction with the column of Gen. McDowell in front of that city. Should it be ascertained that this is his intention there will be no necessity for retaining the division of Gen. Ewell at Swift Run Gap, and I have already so advised Gen. Ewell by telegraph on the 6th and again by letter to-day, at the same time suggesting to him the practicability of striking Banks a blow while en route to Fredericksburg. With this view it was recommended that he move the bulk of his command to Gordonsville or the line of the Rappahannock,leaving a sufficient force to watch the pass through Swift Run Gap. Moreover, in this latter position he would be enabled the more readily to en-enforce Gen. Anderson, who is this side of Fredericksburg, if necessary; of course the above course would only be pursued when it was positively ascertained that the enemy intended leaving the valley. Gen. Ewell states in his letter of the 6th instant that he will not leave his position at Swift Run Gap until the enemy have entirely left the valley or until he has orders to that effect from you.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. E. LEE,
Gen.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 12, Serial No. 18, Pages 883-884, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
