Summary:
Citizens of Winchester write Robert E. Lee in April, 1861, to complain of the
lack of defenses along Virginia's northwestern border. They express fear of a
Union build-up of forces at Chambersburg, and describe the state of Confederate
forces in the area.
Maj.-Gen. LEE:
WINCHESTER,
April 30, 1861.
DEAR SIR:
As citizens of the town of Winchester we deem it our duty to call your attention to the defenseless condition of the place and of all the region of country which lies between this and the Pennsylvania border, the quarter from which an attack on this part of Virginia is to be apprehended. Our distance from the Pennsylvania line is not over forty miles, and at Chambersburg, within a day's travel, we are informed a large force of Northern troops is concentrating, already numbering, as reported, 5,000, and with daily accessions. If the enemy is designed for offensive operations, their destination is doubtless the Valley of Virginia, which may be reached at Harper's Ferry, Shepherdstown, or Martinsburg, where there are bridges, ferries, and turnpike roads, to say nothing of intermediate points and points higher up the Potomac, where the transit across Maryland is only a few miles; at one place (Hancock) only one mile and a half. To repel this invasion, should it come, we have at Harper's Ferry, all told, no over 2,500 troops, made up promiscuously of raw and uninstructed volunteers, who have entered the service at a moment's warning, without arms or uniforms, and some pretty well armed and drilled companies. To form this force at the Ferry, all the organized companies of this part of the Valley have been required, so that this town and other towns above mentioned, and the whole line of frontier from Harper's Ferry to the head of the Potomac, is utterly defenseless. To repel an enemy at this point we have in and about the town no artillery, not fifty muskets, and literally no arms of any kind. We have remaining in the town a company of aged and middle-aged men, organized into what is called the home guard, ready to fight to the death in defense of their homes, but with nothing to fight with. In the neighboring country, which is populous, there is a large force of the ordinary militia, but wholly undisciplined, unorganized, and unarmed, and they have no officers who have any training or efficiency for active service. We submit these facts to your consideration and commend them to your earnest and anxious attention. If devastation and plunder are to form a part of the system of this war, this is certainly an inviting field for it. This was selected as the theater of John Brown's raid, and if the destruction of slavery and the liberation of slaves is an object with our enemy, as it is proclaimed to be a chief object, these northern troops will be apt to follow the footsteps of their great file leader. We make free to suggest that good drill officers be sent in sufficient numbers to this section of country, around whom volunteer companies can be rallied, and above all, that arms and ammunition be promptly furnished to men who are willing to fight but in their condition are perfectly impotent. In the article of ammunition we are even more deficient than in arms.
Very respectfully,
RICHARD PARKER.
J. H. SHERRARD.
P.
WILLIAMS.
D. W. BARTON.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 51, Serial No. 108, Pages 58-59, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
