Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 03.djvu/109

Rh Still further to increase receipts of meat and other supplies from beyond the Confederate lines, requisitions for coin were approved by the President and the Secretary of War, and were met as called for by the Treasury Department. It would be an omission not to add in this direct connection that all aid and support possible under the circumstances were rendered to the Commissary-General by his superior and associate officers, and especially by the old corps of his predecessor.

With these combined agencies, it was found practicable during the ensuing three weeks to materially improve the collection of supplies for the Army of Northern Virginia and in part for their delivery: sufficiently so to become the subject of special note in the correspondence of the General Commanding (General Lee) with the War Department, to which reference is made in the appended letter of the late Secretary of War (General Breckinridge). On or before March 15th, 1865, the Commissary-General was able to report to the Secretary of War that in addition to the daily issue of rations to the Army of Northern Virginia, there lay in depot along the railroad between Greensboro' (North Carolina), Lynchburg, Staunton and Richmond, at least ten days rations of bread and meat, collected especially for that army, and subject to the requisition of its chief commissary officer: also that considerably over 300,000 rations were held in Richmond as a special reserve, and that the Post Commissary, Major J. H. Claiborne, had marked down and was prepared to impress a still larger quantity of flour and other supplies secretly stored by hoarders and speculators.

In the accompanying statement of the Assistant Commissary-General, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas G. Williams (see appended papers), it will be further observed that there was collected by April 1st, 1865, in depot, subsistence stated in detail as follows: In addition, there were considerable supplies of tea, coffee and sugar carefully reserved for hospital issues chiefly. These returns did not include the subsistence collections by the field trains of the Army of Northern Virginia under orders from its own