Summary:
Staunton, VA, served as an important supply base for Confederate armies operating in the Valley. In this June, 1861, letter, Robert E. Lee thanks Staunton's quartermaster Michael G. Harman for his role in forwarding ammunition, supplies, and troops to Confederate commands in northwest Virginia.

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HEADQUARTERS VIRGINIA FORCES,

Maj. M.G. HARMAN, Commanding at Staunton, Va.:

Richmond, Va.,

June 7, 1861.

MAJOR:

Your letter of June 6 has been received, and I desire to express my approbation of your conduct in forwarding re-enforcements of men and supplies of arms, ammunition, provisions, and clothing to Col. Porterfield, at Beverly.

Brig. Gen. R.S. Garnett has been appointed to the command of the troops at Beverly and in that region, and will proceed there at once. All the troops that can be spared from this point will be forwarded as fast as practicable to Gen. Garnett, and it is hoped that these, in addition to the forces now there and those which can be hereafter raised in that region, will form an adequate forces for the protection of the north-western part of the State.

I am, very respectfully, &c.,

R.E. LEE,
Gen., Commanding.

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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 910, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.