Summary:
Staunton Virginia served as an important muster and supply center during the
first months of the war. In this May, 1861, letter, Robert E. Lee writes Major
R. M. Boykin, Jr. at Grafton, VA. Lee informs Boykin that arms for new recruits
are available at Staunton.
HEADQUARTERS VIRGINIA FORCES,
Maj. R. M. BOYKIN, JR., Grafton, Va.:
Richmond, Va.,
May 11, 1861.
MAJOR:
Your letter of the 7th has just been received, and I regret to learn that the prospect of assembling the Virginia forces at Grafton is so unfavorable. You must persevere, however, and call out companies from the well-affected counties, and march them to Grafton, or such other point in that vicinity as you may select. Four hundred rifles and some ammunition have been ordered from Staunton to Maj. Goff, Virginia Volunteers, at Beverly, Randolph County, who has been directed to communicate their arrival to Col. Porterfield, and take his directions as to their disposition. You can by this means arm certain companies and prepare them for service, preparatory to receiving those from Harper's Ferry. I do not think it prudent to order companies from other parts of the State to Grafton, as it might irritate, instead of conciliating the population of that region. On Col. Porterfield's arrival at Grafton communicate this letter to him.
Very respectfully, &c.,
R. E. LEE,
Maj.-Gen., Commanding.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 2, Serial No. 2, Pages 830, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
