HDQRS. DEPT. OF NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA,
Yeager’s, 24 miles south of Huttonsville, Va., June 13, 1861.
General S. COOPER,
Adjutant and Inspector General C. S. Army:
SIR: I overtook Colonel Heck’s command at this point to-day, seven hundred and fifty strong, with four pieces of cannon. I shall reach Colonel Porterfield to-morrow. Accounts from the front are not very encouraging, very contradictory; but, as the information, in my judgment, is not reliable, I will defer giving you details until I reach Huttonsville, and can get something authentic. The condition of things is due to the want of proper officers to conduct the reconnoitering. The cavalry of this region is entirely raw; the officers without experience or confidence. The purpose of this letter is to beg, urgently, that three or four officers of experience, to conduct reconnoitering parties, may be sent me at the earliest possible moment.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. S. GARNETT,
Brigadier-General.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. II. With additions and corrections. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902.
Spirit of '61 