Summary:
Staunton, VA, served as an important point of communication in and out of the
Shenandoah Valley throughout the war. In this July, 1861, letter to Assistant
Adjutant General George Deas, William W. Loring reports finding Staunton crowded
with illegally furloughed men attempting to return to their homes in Georgia.
Loring countermanded the furloughs and arrested the men's commanding
officer.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE NORTHWEST,
Col. GEORGE DEAS,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Richmond,
Va.:
Monterey, Va.,
July 25, 1861.
COLONEL:
I have the honor to report that, upon reaching here, I found the command very much scattered, and I am now endeavoring to concentrate it at points of strength near the Alleghany and on the turnpike from Millborough to Huntersville. Before my arrival Gen. Jackson had forwarded two regiments of infantry in the direction of Elk Mountain. We have no positive information of their reaching it, but we have heard indirectly that Col. Lee had succeeded in getting to Middle Mountain, and was in position. I shall push forward re-enforcements to him, and thus secure the turnpike and Central Railroad in that direction. I shall also re-enforce Col. Johnson, who is in position on the Alleghany Mountains, which is not thought to be a very strong one.
No information has been received from Gens. Wise or Floyd, except a rumor that the former had been victorious in a fight with the enemy, and that McClellan had sent Col. McCook, with one regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery, to meet Gen. Wise. Should Gens. Wise and Floyd be delayed, it will be very necessary to send additional forces to this point and Huntersville, in order to secure beyond doubt the pass of the Alleghany and the turnpike leading to the Central Road. This is rendered more necessary in consequence of the utter demoralization of Col. Ramsey's regiment of Georgia volunteers. Two other regiments are somewhat in the same condition. Upon my arrival at Staunton, day before yesterday, I there found a large number of officers and several hundred men belonging to Col. Ramsey's and to other regiments, with leaves of absence to visit Georgia and other places. I immediately countermanded all of the furloughs, and ordered a competent officer stationed there to take charge of them, and to permit neither officer nor man to leave without authority from me. En route from Staunton I passed large numbers on the road, and was told that the farm houses on the road were filled with them. This is in consequence of Col. Ramsey-stationed by Gen. Jackson some ten miles below this point-having given his entire regiment leaves of absence. I have directed that every effort be made to concentrate them, but it may now be impossible to do so. I have ordered the arrest of Col. Ramsey. At the latest dates neither the Tennessee nor Georgia regiments of infantry, nor the Georgia battery of artillery, which were assigned to this army, had reached Staunton.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. W. LORING,
Brig.-Gen., Commanding, &c.
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 999, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
