HEADQUARTERS,
Wilmington, October 6, 1864.
Major-General GILMER,
Chief of Engineers, Richmond:
GENERAL: Your two
letters of 30th of September and 1st of October received. In reference to
impressment of labor, I have telegraphed, both to you and the Secretary of War,
requesting the enrolling officers to effect this purpose. They have been
gathering the free negroes, and they are prepared with officers, detailed men,
and districts to do the work promptly, much more so, than I can, who have not an
officer and man to spare. My district is limited to defenses of Wilmington, and
includes but a few counties, which I have heavily taxed already, and which has
supplied three-fourths of all the labor expended. I am at them again. You have
no idea of the difficulty, the delay, and the obstacles. Since the 16th, when I
wrote you so urgently, I have not received seventy-five hands, and that would
not make up the deficiency incurred in the meantime by sickness and desertion.
The demands are enormous on the very small space I have. The quartermaster and
commissariat of General Lee's army depends on my engineer labor, and I can
neither help it nor remedy it. Instead of carrying on all the necessary works at
once, which ought to be done in ten days by such a force as North Carolina can
spare from her 300,000 negroes, I can only slowly carry on one work at a time.
All aid is grudged and precious time lost. The works you propose have all been
well considered and approved long since between General Hebert and myself. They
are practicable only with a force very largely increased, both of labor and men,
not otherwise, because I must complete the water defenses first, especially
since Farragut's success may embolden their navy. You may see what my prospect
for aid is, either in troops or labor, by the accompanying correspondence,(*)
which I inclose for your information and that of the War Department. The lines
you propose can only be constructed by troops in position. Only after the attack
is developed and a foothold gained will anybody be convinced that Wilmington is
not safe, and only then will an unarmed and
disorganized body of old farmers be sent down here. In the meantime, I am doing
all I can. Please have the Conscript Bureau impress the slaves out of my
district. Order it by telegraph.
Very respectfully,
W. H. C. WHITING,
Major-General.
SOURCE: United States War Department. THE WAR OF THE REBELLION: A
Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
[CIVIL
WAR - CSA LETTERS]
[CIVIL
WAR]