Summary:
Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General Cooper writes John D. Imboden via
Staunton on December, 1862, plans to reorganize Imboden's partisans as a regular
force. Imboden is authorized to recruit in western Virginia.
Col. J. D. IMBODEN,
First Virginia Partisan
Rangers,
Camp Hood, Hardy County, W. Va., via Staunton, Va.:
RICHMOND, VA.,
December 23, 1862.
COL.:
Under the various orders which from time to time have been given yourself and others relative to the raising and organizing of troops in Western Virginia, much confusion and difficulty have arisen, and with the view of harmonizing these difficulties, and rendering the branch of the service with which you have been connected still more effective, the Secretary of War directs me to invite your co-operation in an endeavor to change your entire present organization from partisan rangers to a regular command for the war. You will be intrusted with the reorganization of the whole force in the section of country in which you are now engaged, and authorized to fill up the old companies and regiments with conscripts, and to recruit all the men you can from counties within the enemy's lines and also from non-conscripts. From the energy and zeal you have displayed in the service, the Department has no hesitation in committing to you this important undertaking, and it is hoped, in view of the public interests, that you will at once signify your willingness to make the desired change and engage in the new duties proposed. Should you do this, all former orders for the organization of troops in the disputed country will be withdrawn. Of course, it is understood that the consent of the men now enrolled as partisan rangers must be obtained before the desired change can be undertaken, and this consent it will be necessary for you to secure as a preliminary step in the matter.
Very respectfully,&c.,
S. COOPER,
Adjutant and Inspector Gen.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 21, Serial No. 31, Pages 1076, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
