Lees Lieutenants 3 Volume Abridged by Stephen W. Sears Douglas Southall Freeman

Author:Stephen W. Sears, Douglas Southall Freeman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

3

L ONGSTREET T RIES I NDEPENDENT C OMMAND

Early in January General Lee had thought it probable that if Burnside went into winter quarters on the Rappahannock, part of his army would be transferred south of the James for operations there. A considerable Union force already occupied Suffolk. After reinforcing that command, the Federals might undertake an advance against the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad, which was for the Army of Northern Virginia the sole rail supply line east of the Blue Ridge. Southside Virginia and the corresponding part of North Carolina was, moreover, a country of hogs and corn—an easy country in which to subsist forces and not a difficult one to occupy.

For the remainder of January nothing of any consequence occurred between the James and Cape Fear, though there was vast speculation over the probable objective of the Federal flotilla now believed to be moving down the coast. At length, February 14, Lee’s headquarters heard that Burnside’s old corps, the IX, had taken transports for Hampton Roads. Scouts reported Federal camp gossip that the corps was going to Suffolk. General Lee anticipated it might, but remembered that the corps had done well in North Carolina and he counted among the possibilities a return there.

Regardless of ultimate objective, the presence in Hampton Roads of a corps of veteran reinforcements placed heavy striking power in the hands of an adversary who commanded the deeper waterways. A swift voyage up the James and a surprise expedition against Richmond might be contemplated. Precautions had to be taken. Pickett’s division was started for the Confederate capital. Hood was directed to hold himself in readiness. If these first-line troops were to be sent from the First Corps, Longstreet himself should command them. On February 18 orders were issued accordingly. There was the implication here of an independent command for Old Pete. Several times, during the absence of Lee, he had commanded the Army of Northern Virginia for a few days. It appeared that the taste of power beyond the camps of the First Corps had not been unpleasant to Longstreet. Now, in a new field, he was to have more than a taste.

Longstreet formally was appointed on February 25 commander of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, which extended from Richmond to the Cape Fear River. The department was in reality three—the Department of Richmond, over which Arnold Elzey presided; the Department of Southern Virginia, under Samuel G. French; and the Department of North Carolina, which Harvey Hill reluctandy was taking in charge. The personnel of these departments was not all that could be desired. Officers who had been tried in Virginia and then shunted southward were so numerous that Old Pete must almost have thought he was back in the old Confederate Army of the Potomac as it existed before the coming of Lee.

At Charleston was Beauregard, somewhat repressed perhaps in his Napoleonic ambitions, but otherwise the same as after Manassas. Wilmington on the Cape Fear, with its elaborate defenses, was under command of W.

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