Today in History:

903 Series I Volume XLIX-II Serial 104 - Mobile Bay Campaign Part II

Page 903 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. - UNION.


HDQRS. CAVALRY CORPS, MIL. DIV. OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Macon, Ga., May 25, 1865. (Received 26th.)

Major General GEORGE H. THOMAS,

Nashville, Tenn.:

Your dispatches of May 23 are received. Please accept my thanks for the kind interest you have taken in the Cavalry Corps. With the four divisions, I am sure we can do splendid service anywhere. If your suggestion is adopted it should be done without delay. All the regiments in this State except the ten regiments mentioned heretofore are on the march to the Tennessee; it would be impossible to maintain them here any longer. We have received no forage by the way of Savannah, and the means of getting it by the way of the Savannah and Ocmulgee Rivers are, I fear, very inadequate. I have telegraphed to General Canby to send supplies to Apalachicola and he has agreed to do it. The people in the counties adjacent to Atlanta are suffering greatly for food. I am compelled to issue 250 bushels of corn per day to prevent actual starvation. This is an additional tax which we are poorly provided with means to meet. The money Carling brought was all in checks and therefore worthless to us. He has gone to Savannah to convert it into greenbacks. The order to muster out men whose terms of service expire before the 31st of October and to consolidate regiments will almost entirely disorganize the corps as it at present exists. This, together with the opinion prevailing among the men that the war is over, will do much to break down discipline. I am therefore very anxious to know what kind of service and for how long exacted of that part of the command which is to be retained, and to have all necessary information upon which to base a reorganization. With Hatch's division and the veterans of the First, Second, and Fourth Divisions I think I can organize, arm, and equip about 12,000 of the best cavalry in the world. I can say that they would hail with delight the order to go to Texas. It would require probably two or three weeks to get the changes made. My suggestion in regard to Croxton was made entirely without his knowledge or consent. As a matter of course, he would prefer to go to Texas if he is allowed to do so. I have received orders to muster in the negro regiments, and am making all necessary arrangements for that purpose.

J. H. WILSON,

Brevet Major-General.


HDQRS. CAVALRY CORPS, MIL. DIV. OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Macon, Ga., May 25, 1865. (Received 26th.)

Major-General THOMAS,

Nashville, Tenn.:

General Bate and a large number of Confederate soldiers, paroled under the agreement between Johnston and Sherman, wish to know if they will be allowed to go to their homes in Tennessee without taking the oath. What is the decision in the case? My opinion is that the convention should be carried out in good faith; the oath may be administered afterward. Any other policy will give us trouble.

J. H. WILSON,

Brevet Major-General.


Page 903 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. - UNION.