Summary:
Union Chief of Staff Henry Halleck replies to General Phil Sheridan's December,
1864, request that he be authorized to distribute rations to citizens in the
Shenandoah Valley between Winchester and Staunton. Halleck informs Sheridan that
his request has been denied, since rations could end up aiding disloyal
families. Halleck instructs Sheridan to send any loyal refugees north to find
work, and to send disloyal citizens south into Confederate territory.
Maj.-Gen. SHERIDAN,
Winchester:
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
December 27, 1864.
GEN.:
Your communication of the 25th asking authority to issue rations to people of the country between Winchester and Staunton has been received and submitted to the Secretary of War. I am directed to reply that it is within the authority of a commanding officer to afford temporary relief to those whom the fortunes of war have placed in his hands or under his immediate protection, but that no authority can be given for the subsistence of rebel families outside of our lines, nor even within, and longer than till they can be removed or sent to their friends and natural protectors. The disloyal people of the Shenandoah, south of Winchester and outside of our lines, have been and are now at full liberty to join friends in the rebel service or in other places in the rebel territory. The disloyal within our lines should be sent South to feed upon the enemy. Loyal refugees should be temporarily assisted and sent North, where they can earn a livelihood. While the men of Virginia are either serving in the rebel ranks, or as bushwhackers are waylaying or murdering our soldiers, our Government other sufficient reasons the Secretary of War has declined to approve your application, except to the limited extent above mentioned.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. HALLECK,
Maj.-Gen. and Chief of Staff.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 43, Serial No. 91, Pages 830-831, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
